Strawberry festival is along with Medieval & Christmas market the most romantic event in Esslingen…read more Once a year in June from the early morning hundreds of meters of tables on Küferstraße are set up with strawberry and strawberry cake. I strongly recommend not to miss official cutting of huge heart-shaped strawberry cake at 10 o'clock (Ottilienplatz). After that you can buy a piece of cake for you and your sweetheart ;)))

Heidelberg Xmas Market is just the best. Spanning multiple locations down the busy Hauptstrasse,…read moreyou have to visit all to avoid missing out on the unique offerings. There is an ice rink right below the castle location. The church location offers the Heidelberger Fass experience, where you can chill in giant barrels. The university location has my favorite tea shop, carousel, champignon booth, and the best "steak" sandwich. Next to Cafe Extrablatt, you can get your photos taken with a fake Santa. Last but not least, you haven't lived if you haven't tried the Flammlachs (flaming lox) at the Bismarkplatz location. Maybe I'm biased because I grew up here, but in my book, this is the best Christmas market experience in Germany--period.

It was the highlight of our recent 3-day weihnachtsmarkt trip to West Germany and Luxembourg, and…read moreit was one of the best ones among seven cities (and I'm counting altogether five markets we visited in Heidelberg as one) we visited in total. We parked and started our route at Karlsplatz just under the Heidelberg Castle (photo). Fortunately, the entrance line was not too long since we arrived sort of early in the evening before the crowd. Heidelberg Christmas Markets are the only one that mandated 2G+ COVID Requirement during our trip. That meant you had to have a negative PCR test results as well as vaccination certificate. Due to that requirement the entry point was a little congested and slow for checking everyone with proper paperwork, but once you got cleared to enter, you were given a wrist band that would allow you go to enter any other markets in town. That saved us a ton of time later. There were some PCR Testing sites near some markets, but since we have gotten it done earlier, we didn't have to bother with that, either. As the evening progressed, there were long lines at both testing sites and entrances. Now, weihnachtsmarkts were wonderful. There were some very nice vendor huts and food choices. I enjoyed some potato pancakes, Glühwein and Nürnberger lebkuchen. I believe ice skate rink was very popular. All five markets were nicely placed within about three city blocks along the main street (Hauptstraße) from Karlsplatz to Marketplatz. It was very enjoyable.

Onion festival is wonderful annual event which takes place in August in Esslingen am Neckar…read more Every year on marketplace of the city there is a huge variety of delicacies from kitchen and wine-cellar from Swabian specialities, onion dishes to fresh German beer and good wine from Esslingen vineyards.

If you are ever near Darmstadt Germany which is approx. 15 min south of Frankfurt on the first…read moreweekend in July I definitely suggest you visit the Heinerfest. It is a fun local fest that spans thru the entire inner City in Darmstadt. It starts on a Thursday late afternoon and ends on Monday night with a huge firework. There are plenty of rides for the young at heart available and also for the smaller children. Plenty of food booth with a very wide variety of food. Ample amount of Beer tents that also have food. A few arts and crafts booths and a variety of food stands with everything your tummy desires. Pizza, Brats, Garlic Mushrooms, Crepes, Fish in Buns you think of it they probably have it. Sundays is usually very crowded. If you can somehow manage to visit on a Thursday night or Friday that would probably be your best bet. The fireworks on Monday night also was very impressive.