Christmas Holiday in Europe

Hi All, My husband and I would like to take a holiday to Germany Switzerland and Italy this coming December. There is an abudance of info and its getting quite confusing.

The Italy section of the trip was easy to sort out but the Germany and Switzerland section is still unknown.

We are planning the trip from around the 20th December to about the 4th January.

We have the following in mind:

A traditional (Snow, carols and whatever more) Christmas (in South Africa we don't have snow etc therefore this is a prerequisite)
We don't like going on planned tours for the whole duration.
We would really like to experience the people more than go to the tourist traps.
We love scenery.
We are not sure what we want to do New Year so suggestions are welcome there too!
We don't want to go skiing - we feel it might jeapordize the whole holiday if one of us should get hurt, though we are very adventurous and would try most anything!

Please help!

Regards
Lee-Ann

Hi LeeAnn, and welcome to the forum! If snow is very important, you should look for places at higher altitudes. Some examples are Wengen and Mürren in the Bernese Oberland, and Zermatt and Saas-Fee in Wallis. However, these are quite popular and touristy towns. A small town in the Engadine valley in Graubünden may be exactly what you're looking for. The Engadine is situated at high altitude, which guarantees great chances of snow in the valley. There are popular tourist towns, such as St. Moritz and Pontresina, which will offer Christmas celebrations and lots of (family) activities. But you can also choose from several smaller, authentic towns, such as La Punt, Zuoz or Zernez.

You'll find beautiful scenery surrounding all towns I mentioned above. And apart from skiing, there are many other possiblities in all regions as well. Winter hiking paths are available and viewing points can be visited by mountain train or cable car.

This topic on Christmas markets may be interesting for you as well.

I hope this helps a bit in deciding where you want to go. Of course you could go for a round trip as well, which would enable you to visit several towns and regions. Good luck on your preparation and feel free to post further questions here as well!