I can't say much about the markets, but Tübingen is VERY worth visiting. It is a 500 y old university town, was mostly spared in the war, and it's geographical location results in very interesting architecture.

www.tuebingen.de

Tuebingen is one of our favorite places to repeatedly visit. It is an old college town with hilly cobblestone streets in the Altstadt, and there are a lot of interesting shops that are not tourist oriented. An excellent restaurant to eat in is Die Forelle a little ways east of the marketplace.

I think that Tuebingen will have fewer stalls than the others' Christmas markets. Because it will be for only a few days, I imagine it won't be as elaborately decorated as longer markets such as Stuttgart's where a considerable time is spent beautifying the stalls. Esslingen also has a well preserved enjoyable medieval center, and its Christmas market is medieval-themed, making it different. People who go to the Ludwigsburg market may tend to not enjoy it as much as others. It is Baroque-themed and I imagine the angels made of lights would be at their best in the evening. If I went to Ludwigsburg, I would combine the Christmas market in the evening with a visit to Germany's largest perfectly preserved Baroque palace during the day. A tour of the royal chambers, the fashion museum with lots of cloths from the 1700s, and the ceramic museum (Ludwigsburg porcellan is made at the palace) with one of the duke's rooms make for an interesting visit, although there is much more to see there. All of Ludwigsburg is only a few centuries old, so it is completely different than Tuebingen or Esslingen or Stuttgart, parts of which are much older.

My personal preferences would be Stuttgart, Esslingen, Tuebingen and then Ludwigsburg in that order only for the Christmas markets and their surroundings.

I note what you say Marcopolko and I'd planned to visit both Esslingen and Ludwigsburg when visiting Stuttgart later this week - how difficult is it to get to Tuebingen from Stuttgart and how long is the journey time?

Disregard previous post - I've done a google search on the markets and note that Tuebingen doesn't begin until 15/12/07 so no point as we will be well gone by then - will stick to our original plan Esslingen (so looking forward to that one) and Ludswigburg.

we are a family visiting this area 12 - 16 December this year to see the Christmas markets and general sightseeing. we also were thinking of tuebingen, stuttgart, esslingen and ludwigsburg. does anyone know whether it likely to be snowing at this time of year and if so what is the driving like ? we are unsure whether to hire a car or take the train between the towns ? ? also, hotels - are suggestions. we would really like a hotel with personality rather than the bland type. we would appreciate all help. thanks

"we are a family visiting this area 12 - 16 December this year to see the Christmas markets and general sightseeing. we also were thinking of tuebingen, stuttgart, esslingen and ludwigsburg. does anyone know whether it likely to be snowing at this time of year and if so what is the driving like ? we are unsure whether to hire a car or take the train between the towns ? ? also, hotels - are suggestions. we would really like a hotel with personality rather than the bland type. we would appreciate all help. thanks"

As to snow, it's highly unlikely, and all four places are at low elevations so that if it does snow the snow will probably quickly melt. However, if you rent a car, make sure that it has snow tires because you are automatically liable for an accident if there is snow. Driving if there is snow shouldn't be bad as the snow should quickly melt at that time of year, and the major roads are quickly plowed, sanded and salted if necessary.

For visiting these places, a car is not necessary. Both Esslingen ( www.esslingen.de ) and Ludwigsburg ( www.ludwigsburg.de ) are 15 minutes away from Stuttgart ( www.stuttgart-tourist.de ) by S-bahn, and a three zone group day ticket on local transportation can be used. Tuebingen ( www.tuebingen.de ) is 40-60 minutes away by regional train, and a Baden-Wuerttemberg group day train ticket for 27€ valid for 2-5 people can be used to travel there, and is valid on most public transportation anywhere in BW, including Stuttgart's U-bahnn, S-bahns, and buses. The only true restriction in this case is no travel before 9AM on a weekday, anytime on weekends is fine, and the ticket is valid until 3AM the next day. Metzingen ( www.metzingen.de ) is on the way and has Germany's most factory outlets if that would interest you.

The only reason to use a car is if you were to visit somewhere more remote such as the fairytale-like Burg Hohenzollern ( www.burg-hohenzollern.com )castle by Hechingen. Otherwise, a car would be a nuisance as you can't drive to these places any faster, and then you will probably have to find and pay for parking.

For visiting all of these places, go to the Stuttgart tourist information office at the airport which is between the baggage claims or the one in central Stuttgart opposite the train station on Koenigstrasse. They have all kinds of free information on Stuttgart and its surroundings. You should be able to find free publications on all of these places that have maps of the towns, so get them if only to use the maps (in that case the language doesn't matter if you can't find English ones, although I believe all should be in English). The "Stuttgart Shopping Guide" is good for Stuttgart for its maps including one of central Stuttgart and the entire public transportation system for the U-bahns and S-bahns, shopping with different countries' sizes compared, sights, and good restaurants.

Most hotels in Stuttgart, among other ways, can be booked through the tourist office ( www.stuttgart-tourist.de ). For a truely different hotel experience, but expensive, stay in the themed rooms at Der Zauberlehrling (also excellent restaurant, but again expensive) in Stuttgart's oldest quater the Bohnenviertel. This is a 5-10 minute walk to the Christmas Market. I always recommend the City Hotel on Uhlandstrasse which also gets very good reviews on TripAdvisor which isn't what you were looking for, but what you are looking for is probably hard to come by. Nearby is also Hotel am Wirt. Both are again a 5-10 minute walk to the absolute center of Stuttgart (Schlossplatz) and/or the Christmas Market. For a family room you might look into Alex 30 Hostel, a similar distance to the Christmas Market. For these last three places you can more quickly access the Christmas Market, the center of Stuttgart, or anywhere by the four U-bahn lines a block away. The same is true of the Zauberlehrling, but for there it would be quicker to just walk to the Christmas Market as it is slightly closer.

You might also be interested in attending the World Christmas Circus ( www.weltweihnachtscircus.com however, only in German, which should be no real problem). Wilhelma ( www.wilhelma.de ) is Europe's largest combination zoo-botanical gardens set amidst the nice Moorish architecture of this former palace (a pleasure to visit any time of year in any weather). The Mercedes Benz Museum is loved by all visitors irregardless of age or gender, and the new Porsche Museum is scheduled to open sometime in December.