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Hamburg in December
Mixed month: December is outside the recommended season (May – September). Against it: Christmas: Shops and Sights Close 24-26 December. Christmas markets across Germany can fall this month.
The season opens in May, 5 months away.
2 days in Hamburg in December · from ₹40,529 for two
Stay, food & local travel; getting there extra
Before you book December
Closures, crowds and rules at Hamburg this month.
Heads up
Christmas: Shops and Sights Close 24-26 December
Christmas Eve afternoon, Christmas Day and 26 December are Germany's quietest days: shops, most museums and many restaurants close, the Christmas markets end on or before the 24th, and trains run a holiday timetable. Plan arrivals and sightseeing around them. Shops are closed every Sunday too.
What’s on in December
Timing a trip around these changes what you pay and what you can book.
Christmas markets across Germany
From late November to about 23 December almost every town holds a Christmas market: Rothenburg's Reiterlesmarkt in its medieval square, Berlin's many markets (Gendarmenmarkt, Charlottenburg Palace), Lübeck's and Hamburg's by their town halls, Stuttgart's large market by the old castle. Opening days vary by town and most close on or before Christmas Eve: check before you plan a December trip around one.
What it costs
For two sharing a room; 2 days on the ground, getting there not included.
Budget
₹40,529 for two
- Room a night₹10,120
- Food a day, each₹4,160
- Main sight entry, each₹2,660
Mid-range
₹74,128 for two
- Room a night₹17,570
- Food a day, each₹9,600
- Main sight entry, each₹2,660
Luxury
₹1,59,696 for two
- Room a night₹42,600
- Food a day, each₹22,400
- Main sight entry, each₹2,660
Totals cover the room (taxes included), food, local transport, entry and a 10% buffer: the figures the planner opens on. These are typical rates; Tourisma has no month-by-month rates for Germany yet, so they don't move with the month.
Getting there
Fly into Berlin (BER), 255 km away
Then: Train · 2h 6m (ICE high-speed train)
Flights from India: from 6 cities, one way from ₹23,000
Fly into Frankfurt (FRA), 393 km away
Then: Train · 4h (ICE high-speed train)
Flights from India: from 8 cities, one way from ₹21,000
Routes compared
Entry rules
Visa needed before you fly for up to 90 days, about ₹12,100
- Apply for a Schengen short-stay (type C) visa at any VFS Global Germany centre in India (New Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Chennai, Kolkata and others), 4-8 weeks before you fly and about 8 weeks ahead for May to September, when appointments are scarce (no earlier than 6 months). Apply to Germany if it is your only or longest stay in Schengen. The fee is €90 (charged in rupees at the mission's rate, about ₹10,100; €45 for children 6-11) plus the VFS service charge of about ₹2,000, and none of it is refunded if the visa is refused.
- At the appointment give your fingerprints and photo (skipped if you gave them for a Schengen visa in the last 59 months). Processing takes up to 15 working days after the day you submit, and longer in summer and over Christmas.
- If you have lawfully used two Schengen visas in the last three years, ask for a multiple-entry visa: under the EU's 2024 cascade rules for Indians you can be given a two-year visa, then a five-year one.
- On your first arrival in the Schengen Area your fingerprints and face are scanned at passport control (the EU Entry/Exit System, in full use since April 2026) instead of a stamp. Allow extra time at Frankfurt and Munich.
Carry: Passport issued within the last 10 years, valid at least 3 months after you leave the Schengen Area, with two blank pages; Completed visa application form (VIDEX) and two recent biometric photos (35 x 45 mm); Travel insurance with at least €30,000 medical cover, valid in every Schengen country for the whole trip; Return flight booking and a day-by-day itinerary; Hotel bookings for every night, or an invitation from your host (a formal letter of obligation if they are paying); Bank statements for the last 3-6 months, income-tax returns, and a leave letter from your employer (or business or college papers).
One Schengen visa covers Germany and every other Schengen country (France, Switzerland, Italy, Austria, the Netherlands and more) for up to 90 days in any 180. ETIAS is only for visa-free travellers, so it does not affect you. Sources disagree on which German mission decides applications from your state, but VFS takes them at any of its Germany centres: check visa.vfsglobal.com for appointments and the current charges before you book flights.
Checked 2026-10; confirm with the embassy before you fly.
Elsewhere in Germany in December
Instead in season this month.
- Bamberg · good month
- Berlin · good month
- Cologne · good month
- Dresden · good month
- Frankfurt · good month
- Freiburg · good month
- Garmisch-Partenkirchen & the Zugspitze · good month
- Heidelberg · good month
Nearby in Hamburg & the North:
Want this as a real plan?
Hamburg in December, day by day, priced for your group.