Stuttgart, Germany | Photo Diary

The past few years I've considered visiting the 'real' Christmas markets, priced it up and ultimately left it too late to get a good deal. But this year, I was on the ball.

In September, my Mum, Sister and I decided to look for some Christmas markets to visit in Germany. We looked at lots of Groupon deals but the dates didn't suit us work wise so we went ahead and booked flights and a hotel ourselves. It cost us £100 each for flights to Stuttgart and 2 nights in a hotel.

We had such a good time, perusing the markets and enjoying the festive spirit. We learnt some new words like gluhwein and didn't get lost on the trains which was a winner, so today I wanted to share my photos with you before it becomes too unacceptable to discuss Christmas!

We arrived around 4.30 on Saturday evening and after getting a train to Stuttgart Stadmitte, finding our hotel and checking in, time was getting on. We went for something to eat and had a quick walk around the central markets which were in a huge market square and went back for some sleep. As you can see, it was incredibly busy on Saturday night.

... On Sunday...

... apparently Germans don't do a lot on Sundays. It was much quieter and far more enjoyable. There was still plenty of hustle and bustle but you could actually walk around without banging into people and take your time looking at the stalls.

The weather was so lovely, the sun was out but there was still a winter chill in the air. I'm so glad it didn't rain because we were outside for the whole of Sunday.

Here are some Hausschuhe a.k.a slippers. I have a running joke with one of my German friends about these so I found it amusing to see them in reality. Those Germans do love their house shoes.

None of my pictures do the markets any justice, I wish I could have gone to the top of a tall building to take a bird's eye view picture because they were literally everywhere, every street and corner we turned there were more decorations and market stalls. It was brilliant! 

I definitely want to go again one year, I'd love to visit Munich next. One suggestion I would make is that you go during the week rather than a weekend because Saturdays are very busy and no other shops open on Sundays so if you find yourself all market-ed out there isn't a lot else to do. 

Other than that, Germany is a beautiful place, I went to Berlin a few years ago and would love to go there again too. 

Have you ever been to / considered going to Germany? 

Let me know about your experiences in the comments!

Thanks for reading, 

Leanne x