Germany
Mainz, Gutenberg's home, hosts a romantic Christmas market around its 1,000-year-old cathedral and the Gutenberg Museum.
Famous for
Gutenberg's city — and a romantic market around a 1,000-year-old Romanesque cathedral.
Mainz is where Johannes Gutenberg invented the printing press — and its Christmas market, set around the 1,000-year-old Romanesque cathedral (the Dom), is one of the Rhine's most romantic. The Gutenberg Museum holds two of the 48 surviving Gutenberg Bibles. The local cheese snack, Handkäse mit Musik ('hand cheese with music' — the music being the garlic-onion marinade), is an acquired taste worth trying with a glass of Rheinhessen Riesling. Mainz sits where the Main meets the Rhine, so it's a common turn-around or stop on Rhine and Rhine-Main-Danube sailings.
Dates: Late Nov – Dec 23
Vibe: Romantic and literary — Gutenberg's printing-press city at Christmas.
Local tip
Visit the Gutenberg Museum to see a working replica of the original press — demonstrations are daily.
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