Saturday 9th December
Back again on the Gatwick to Basel flight we took on our weekend trip to Kandersteg in Switzerland. But this time, we’re going to Germany and France. Germany to experience a German Christmas market in Freiburg, and France to experience the beauty of Colmar.
This could very well be our favourite airport since it’s a gateway to 3 countries and so many incredible cities nearby. Zurich, Bern, Lucerne, Freiburg, Colmar all within less than 2-hour drive. Stuttgart, Geneva, Nancy and the country of Lichtenstein within 3-hours drive. That’s a pretty good airport in our books! Plus, the EasyJet flight times is quite convenient for a weekend trip as it goes to Basel before 9am Saturday and back in Gatwick by 10pm Sunday. Given the flight doesn’t get delayed, which it has both times we have flown there!
Accommodation
We decided that we will do Freiburg on Saturday and Colmar on Sunday as its closer to come back to the airport from Colmar than Freiburg. After a bit of research, we found a gem of a place called Gastehaus Obsthof. Very conveniently located in Gottenheim with easy access to Colmar and Freiburg. But it wasn’t until we got there that we were really blown away!
We requested a double bedroom and got there to find that we were given a duplex type room with a double bed downstairs and 3 extra single beds in the attic like room upstairs. But the thing we loved the most is the huge balcony in the room with panoramic views over Gottenheim. The breakfast was superb as well as they had a variety of items to choose from plus eggs to order. Not only that, the owners were very helpful, friendly and accommodating to us, which made it even better!
Transport
For convenience and flexibility, we opted to hire a car for this trip, which we got through EasyJet when we bought the flight tickets. We requested a small car but arrived to find that there was only a 7-seater left (there seems to be a theme here!). A bit daunting as I didn’t want to wreck a rental trying to drive on the ‘wrong’ side of the road in a big car I’m not used to driving. Luckily nothing happened!
Freiburg
Once we put our stuff in the B&B, we headed to the train station (less than a 10 min walk) to get to Freiburg. Freiburg is only a 15-min train journey from Gottenheim. We didn’t have to buy tickets for the train and any public transport in Freiburg because it came included with our B&B. Score!
First thing we wanted to do in Freiburg was to get to Schlossberg Tower to get the panoramic views over Black Forest and Freiburg. We took the Funicular from Schlossbergbahn, which cost around €6 each (from what we remember) and took about 5 mins to get up to the restaurant there. From there it was another small 20-minute hike to the tower and then another 4 or 5 storey high tower to climb. The views were definitely worth the little hike though.
After the hike, we headed to find a place to eat and then over to the German markets. We had not realised that we had to book most of the better rated restaurants in Freiburg. So we ended up eating only at the Christmas markets. At the markets, we had a type of potato waffle with garlic sauce and a potato and an egg dish. Afterwards we shared a Kinder Bueno crepe and a traditional spätzle with cheese dish. We ate A LOT. And the food was cheap and SO GOOD! This is definitely cheaper than eating at a restaurant.
Sunday 10th December
We slept so well that night. The bed was extra comfy! Woke up around half 9 and hurried down to get the free breakfast which was till 10 only. Was in a hurry as we wanted to get to Freiburg to check out the Munsterplatz/Freiburg Church and to have some Black Forest cake before going to Colmar.
Colmar
We arrived in Colmar around 3pm and had just enough time to explore the beautiful city. We basically spent the whole time just walking around the pretty roads in Colmar and going from one stall to the next at the Christmas markets. Again, we ended up eating a lot! We found the markets in Freigburg to be cheaper than Colmar. We will let the photos speak for themselves instead of writing too much.
Lastly, before going on this trip we thought we would try and make a travel video. We have been discussing this for a while and thought this is the best opportunity to do it. As this is our first travel video of a whole trip, we would love it if you guys gave us some constructive feedback. Tell us what you liked and what you didn’t like. What else would you have liked to see in the video? Hope you enjoy it and let us know what you think!
Happy Travels!
Amana & Bobbé