Road Trip to Europe: Visiting Traditional Christmas Markets

Mid-November is when we plan our annual ‘Christmas Adventure’. For the last 7 years, on the evening that the children break up for Christmas, we head to Europe in our car. We’ve been on a quest to find snow in the Alps, we’ve searched for a Black Forest Gateaux in Germany, and we’ve visited non-touristy Festive Markets in France, Germany and Poland. Wherever we go, we always take the dogs with us, and we always return on Christmas Eve. We love it – it’s quality family time, it helps us get all ‘Christmassy’, the children are distracted from the excitement of presents, while we escape the unnecessary urge to stockpile festive food and drink!

Poland, December 2016

Planning

Planning a road trip needn’t be stressful. I guess we are so familiar with the process now, it’s easy to arrange. Here are some tips that we’ve learned along the way …

Prepare your car in advance

There are different rules for driving in Europe – some specific to the countries you’ll be driving through, so do check online. You’ll need an emergency kit in your car, containing a yellow vest for each passenger, a warning triangle, and a spare set of headlight bulbs. You’ll need to add headlight beam deflectors onto your headlight glass (quite fiddly, recommend you don’t leave this to the last minute). Also, you need a GB sticker displayed on the back of your car, if your registration plate doesn’t include it. If you wear glasses, you must carry a spare pair, and you must carry your driving license, insurance documents and sometimes even the car’s V5 in the glovebox.

Once you have all this sorted, check your car over – are the tyres good (tread and pressures); are all lights working etc. Check your car insurance papers – are you covered to travel overseas? Does your policy include breakdown assistance? Because we travel with children and dogs, we don’t want to find ourselves stranded in the middle of nowhere if the car breaks down, so this is important, if only for peace of mind. Inside the car, try to put as much in the boot as you can (or topbox if safer); give each passenger as much space as possible as you’ve a long way to go. Provide entertainment for the children, even if that’s just back-up batteries and leads for the tablets and phones. Some small travel games are good too.

Make sure you pack drinks, snacks, water and biscuits for the dogs.

Finally, make sure you have some good (festive in our case) music to play on the journey – French radio isn’t up to much!

Cross the English Channel in the evening

Because our trips are often time-restrictive (depends on what date the children finish school), we want to make the most of our time away. As we travel with dogs, we always use Eurotunnel. Our crossing time is almost always 10:20pm as this gives us time to pick up the children and drive to the terminal. This crossing is also one of the cheapest … and often the least busy.

Eurotunnel Train, December 2017

We pack the children’s PJs and Snugglesacs, and they change while we’re on the train. In the boot we pack a picnic and two large flasks filled with enough hot water for quite a few coffees!

Once we drive off the train in France, we start to head to our destination using the excellent French Autoroutes. These are toll roads, but they are the quickest and easiest way to get from A to B. Every 60 to 90 minutes we stop in an Aire (fabulous set-back laybys) for a quick leg stretch, use their facilities, and to change drivers. At some point during the drive you start to feel tired (usually around 2am). At this point we either stop at a motel, or more usually recline the front seats and nap for a few hours. The Aires are really good for this.

When you wake up, with a new day in front of you, you’ve already come quite a distance. You can be in the French Alps for lunchtime if that’s your final destination!

Chamonix, December 2015

Choose accommodation near the Christmas Markets

Having driven so far, once you reach your destination you will be quite happy to not drive anywhere for a few days. This is fine if you can find accommodation that includes secure parking, and is walkable to the Christmas markets. Last Christmas, when we visited Grenoble, we didn’t use the car at all once we arrived at our self-catering apartment. Directly outside was a tram stop that took us wherever we wanted to go.

Grenoble, December 2017

Check to see if there’s free use of public transport for tourists where you are staying. We found this to be the case when we stayed in the Black Forest area of Germany. Pets can usually travel with you, though may need to wear a muzzle (again, research your destination).

Travelling with pets

If, like us, you travel with your dogs, you’ll need to adhere to the UK Pet Passport Scheme. This of course may change after Brexit, but at the moment the rules are that your pet needs to be microchipped; It must have had a rabies vaccination at least a month before you travel; Annual vaccinations need to be up to date. Of course, it’s important that your pet is healthy and fit to travel. You will have a UK Pet Passport for your pet that will contain all the necessary details (microchip number, vaccinations and stamps). You MUST travel with this; it will not be checked on your outward journey, but you won’t be allowed back to the UK without it.

Izzy and Jack in a cable car, Grenoble, December 2017

Between 24 and 120 hours before you cross back to the UK you must see a vet – they will check your pet’s microchip, give a health check to pass them fit for travel and administer worming medication. They will then stamp, sign and date the pet passport. This needs to be filled in correctly – if there are any errors, or you miscalculate your times, your pet will not be allowed back into the UK. There are no margins for error – we’ve seen people in tears at the Tunnel check-in because they’ve not followed the rules. The rules are quite simple – we’ve written about our European pet travel adventures in a standalone post – take a read if this applies to you.

Why Travel to Europe at Christmas?

There are lots of Christmas Markets in the UK now, and these are great. I visited one yesterday in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk.

Bury St Edmunds, November 2018

However, nothing quite beats a traditional Christmas market in Germany or Austria (or Prague). Sometimes you’ll even have snow, making the whole experience more festive. If you head for smaller towns, rather than cities, you’ll come across markets aimed at locals rather than tourists. These are the markets we like, and we shop for local delicacies and small gifts to take home. We also explore the town, visiting any attractions or museums etc.

Germany 2014

Our 2018 Plans

Well, having said all of the above, this year – for the first time in many – we’re staying in the UK! The children don’t break up from school until 19^th December, and we need to be back on 23^rd. When you take into account the cost of the tunnel crossing, toll roads, fuel, vet appointment etc, and knowing you’d only have 2 full days at your destination, we couldn’t really justify it. So, instead, we’re heading to the Isle of Wight! Hopefully we’ll find some Christmassy things to see and do there too.

Disclosure

I’m working on a paid partnership with Aviva but all words, opinions and content are entirely my own.