After our visit to Berlin, Regensburg sealed the deal that Germany has the best Christmas markets. The well-preserved medieval town was a great contrast to the bustling capital of Berlin and its tumultuous history. Here you will find tiny, winding car-free streets, a romantic castle, a towering cathedral, an old stone bridge, and a quaint central square surrounding a church with twin spires.
The markets were incredibly charming and delivered on top-notch food and drink too. Christkindlmarkt in Neupfarrplatz boasts that they have 40 different glühwein (mulled wine) varieties. Ironically, the first drink we tried there was a spiked hot chocolate.
The historic downtown is quite compact and easy to explore in a few hours. The Christkindlmarkt is in the main central plaza, so we could circle back for treats or drinks whenever we wanted. Our first snack was the town specialty, the original Regensburger Knackersemmel (broiled pork sausage on a crusty roll with a sweet mustard-horseradish sauce).
As the sun went down on our first evening in town, we knew we were in for a real treat. We climbed to the top of a building adjacent to the square to get a breathtaking view of the Neupfarrkirche, the 16th-century church overlooking the Christmas market.
Our first morning we wandered around town soaking in the history and beautiful architecture. The 13th century cathedral was just around the corner from the central market and across the street from our hotel.
Interesting fact, the different color stones were due to the fact that the town ran out of funding during construction and had to switch to cheaper material. Originally, the cathedral was painted white, so this difference was not noticeable.
The northern border of the Roman Empire extended to Regensburg, so side by side with the medieval architecture are remnants of Roman structures including Porta Praetoria, the gate of the city fortification built in the 2nd century.
Regensburg lies on the Danube, which is why it was both a strategic location for the Romans and a bustling trading hub for merchants during medieval times, which was the heyday for Regensburg. The famous stone bridge across the Danube was built in the 12th century.
We enjoyed lunch on the Danube at the oldest sausage house in the world. When the stone bridge was finished in 1146, the construction office became the sausage kitchen and has been serving sailors and cathedral workers ever since. The cute, green hut that currently sits on this spot was constructed in the 17th century, and since there is only room for a few guests inside, we enjoyed our mini charcoal grilled sausages served on sauerkraut (with bun and pretzels on the side) outdoors on wooden tables with a view of the river.
I never was a huge fan of sausage until coming to Germany. The wide variety means there is a sausage specialty for every taste, and the Regensburg varieties make it pretty high up on my list. For dessert, we circled back to the Christmas market to try a dampfnudel (sweet roll topped with custard) and another mulled wine variety (rosé for me; blueberry for Jimmy) in a commemorative glass.
Regensburg was the first capital of Bavaria, so a swing by the old town hall is required on any tour of the city.
We did a short walking tour with a guide to learn more about the history of the city. One interesting tidbit is that the wealthy merchants tried to outdo each other by building taller and taller towers to be more like fashionable Italy. But, unlike Italy, these towers were just for show, unused and completely empty inside.
After the “strenuous” walking tour, we earned another round at the central square Christmas market. We first tried Königspunsch, a hot alcoholic fruit punch.
Then, I went perhaps a bit over the top with the apple strudel glühwein. Topped with whipped cream, this one was incredibly sweet, but it really did taste like apple strudel. However, after the drink, I realized I hadn’t actually tried one of the local strudels, so we splurged on a gingerbread strudel too.
While sipping our glühwein, we wandered the market checking out the various arts and crafts. We picked out a lovely hand-painted ornament ball at this market to add to our European ornament collection.
Even when strolling with every intention to just shop, the aromas of all the delicious food entice you back into eating more. Roasted nuts are a big favorite all across Europe, and we finally broke down and got a to-go baggy of Christmas almonds here because they had a very unique flavor – Lotus Biscoff cookie. Yum!! Admittedly, that treat didn’t last too long either.
Our first night in town, we crashed what appeared to be a frat party at Spitalgarden Christmas market just across the stone bridge. We may have been the oldest people there, but we loved the unique vibe with a rock band playing Christmas tunes. Although we discovered Feuerzangenbowle at the Nicolaiviertel in Berlin, here we got our first Feuerzangenbowle that was served in a special glass to hold the flaming rum-soaked sugar cube.
Since one of the claims to fame for the Regensburg markets is their endless flavors of glühwein, we tried a few more new flavors including apple. We also had a nice conversation with a local woman who ran a booth and let us taste test all her varieties of homemade glühwein. Our favorite from her stand was quite unique with a ginger focus and a touch of cinnamon.
Our second night in town, we traded in the frat party for the most romantic of all the Christmas markets at Thurn and Taxis Castle. Stone fire pits and beautiful palace grounds, including a Christmas tree in the central courtyard, definitely made for a cozy romantic atmosphere.
This large market had many talented tradesmen and artists. The festively decorated wooden stalls filled with impressive artwork and homemade crafts wrapped all around the palace complex.
We planned to have dinner here, and we made the right choice considering all the delicious options would have made it impossible to pick just one small treat. We started with finger noodles with pulled pork, tomato sauce, onions, and peppers with garlic sauce.
Our second course was langos. We saw these at numerous Christmas markets previously and although they didn’t look super impressive they seemed incredibly popular, so we had to try one. We chose mozzarella cheese, pork crumbles, and garlic sauce toppings, and we were blown away.
This wasn’t just any fried dough pizza-like thing. Not overly greasy, just perfectly crispy with savory toppings that paired well together. Dessert was lebküchen, German gingerbread cookies. Nothing fancy but a German staple that must be consumed at least once around the holidays. Lastly, keeping with our theme of trying ALL the glühwein flavors in Germany, we had a mulled mead (honey wine) and a blueberry glühwein.
A nice touch at this market was the central courtyard firepit serving Feuerzangenbowle with a shot of flaming rum. Everyone huddled around the fire sipping drinks that quickly warm you up from the inside out.
With Christmas tunes filling the air, this market just oozed charm and a relaxed holiday ambience. Our time in Regensburg was short, but we got a great overview of this cute medieval town with some of the best Christmas markets in Europe.
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