Christmas in Brixen

The money

What it costs, for 6

LineStatusUSD
Getting there, all 6, 1st class$1,214
Hotel Elephant, 3 nights, €2,724.40 at the hotelBooked$3,188
Going home, all 6$912
Food, no wine, €1,073Estimate$1,255
Private guide, 1h30, €150To book$168
Hot chocolates and Runkelstein CastleEstimate$112
Travel insurance, £25.29$34
Total, about $1,147 each$6,883
Monday 21 December

Arrive

  1. 2 taxis to Innsbruck station

    10 minutes

    Estimateabout €30 for both
  2. Taxi James to the hotel, 5 minutes

    €24 for 6

    To bookconfirm on WhatsApp+39 329 323 0211info@taxi-james.it
  3. Late lunch at the Christmas market stalls

    8 min walk; Tirtlan, cheese dumplings, strudel, hot drinks; about €90 for 6

    Estimate
  4. Private guide in Italian, 1h30Mum, Dad

    The old town, the arcades, the cathedral and cloister, the Bishop's Palace courtyard and the Herrengarten as the lights come on; meet at the tourist office, Regensburger Allee 9; €150 for 6, cash

    To bookrequested 5 Nov, Karin Thaler is finding a guide+39 0472 275252free cancellation to 14 Decback-up: the tourist office's Italian walk, 16:00-17:30, from €5 each
  5. Hot chocolate at the hotel barMum

    The bar serves 10:00 to 23:00

  6. Dinner at Restaurant Elephant, in the hotel

    Kept light after the travel day: a first course and a pudding each, €273 for 6, no wine

    To book+39 0472 832750ask for the truffle as printedthe Traubenwirt table at 19:30 stays booked until you say cancel
Tuesday 22 December

Meran

  1. Pull-ups, Franco ParkYou

    17 min walk

  2. Train to Meran

    About 1h20, free with the BrixenCard

  3. Meran old town

    The Lauben arcades, the Kurhaus and the Passer promenade along the river

  4. Meran's rationalist pair, 30 minutesYou

    The Rathaus on Laubengasse 192 (Ettore Sottsass senior, 1929-32), clock tower and a Mussolini-era plaque in the archway; then the former Casa del Fascio at Via Roma 1-3 (1931), an open tower with grey breccia and red-brick bands, now a parish hall, outside only; about 1 km between them

  5. Lunch at the Christmas market food huts

    Kurpromenade, standing at the huts, 10:00-21:00; cheese dumplings, Strauben, Glühwein; about €90 for 6

    Estimatethe Kallmünz booking for 6 at 12:30 stays until you say cancel+39 0473 212917
  6. Cake and coffee at Konditorei Pöhl

    Freiheitsstraße 142, at the back on the Mühlgraben; Tue-Sat 08:30-18:00; about €50 for 6

    Estimate+39 0473 234804
  7. Train back to Brixen
  8. The special night: fink

    Vaults from 1450, Kleine Lauben 4, 5 min walk; three courses each from your order, €360 for 6, no wine

    To book+39 0472 834883the Kutscherhof table stays booked until you say cancel
Wednesday 23 December

Bozen and the Renon

  1. Pull-ups, Franco ParkYou
  2. Train to Bozen

    30 min, free with the BrixenCard

  3. Bozen station on arrivalYou

    Angiolo Mazzoni's 1928 station building, the first rationalist thing you see; 2 minutes on the forecourt

  4. Renon cable car and the Christmas market train

    Up to Oberbozen, one ride on the narrow-gauge train through the snow, down again by 11:15

The culture half
  1. The rationalist new town, 2 hours on foot

    Over the Talfer to the Victory Monument (Piacentini, 1928) and the free BZ '18-'45 exhibition underneath; Piazza IV Novembre and the twin-towered Alti Comandi; Corso Libertà's arcades to Piazza Tribunale, the must-see: the courthouse facing the Casa Littoria and Piffrader's 36 m travertine relief; about 2.5 km

    exhibition Tue-Sun 10:00-18:00, free, closed 24 Decconfirm 23 Dec on +39 0471 095474
  2. Lunch from Pur Südtirol, Mustergasse 3a

    Filled rolls, focaccia and salads to take away; about €60 for 6

    Estimate+39 0471 09565123 Dec hours to confirm
  3. Runkelstein Castle

    14th-century frescoes, the biggest secular cycle to survive anywhere; 2 km north, bus or taxi; last entry 16:30; €10

    Estimate
  4. Ponte Druso and the Lido, if there's light

    The Drusus bridge, the Casa GIL (now Eurac, 1934-36) and the 1931 Lido from the street; sunset about 16:25

Everyone else
  1. The arcades and the market

    Bozen's shopping street under 800-year-old arches, the Franziskaner Bäckerei for Zelten and Christmas biscuits, the Waltherplatz market

  2. Lunch from Pur Südtirol, Mustergasse 3a

    Together with the others, then the old town again

    Estimate
  3. The hotel, or the market again

    Train back whenever you've had enough; feet up before supper

  1. Train back to Brixen
  2. Ice skating at the EishalleThe women

    The indoor rink on Fischzuchtweg, free with the guest pass during public skating; Christmas hours not out yet

    To bookring in early December+39 0472 837697
  3. Marende supper in the suite

    The South Tyrol cold board bought on the way back from the station at Pur Südtirol on Kreuzgasse (to 18:30) or the Siebenförcher butcher: speck and Kaminwurzen for you, mountain cheeses, Schüttelbrot, rye bread, apples, a strudel; about €70 for 6; eaten in the sitting area, then the film

    Estimatethe Decantei table at 19:45 stays booked until you say cancel+39 0472 674270alternative: supper from the Brixen stalls, about €90
  4. Film night at the hotel

    A Norman Wisdom film or a Christmas classic, blankets and hot chocolate; download it before the trip and bring a laptop

Thursday 24 December

Christmas Eve, home

  1. Pull-ups, Franco ParkYou
  2. Long breakfast

    Check-out by 11:00; the hotel shuts at 12:00

  3. The pool

    Open until 11:00 today, so out by 10:30 to change; the sauna and steam room are shut on the 24th

  4. River walk

    Meet at the Adlerbrücke, through the Rappanlagen gardens to where the Rienz meets the Eisack, back along the Eisack; flat, about 45 min; on the way back, Forum Brixen at Via Roma 11, the 1936 Casa del Balilla by Mansutti and Miozzo, Brixen's one rationalist building

  5. Buy the train picnic at Pur Südtirol, Kreuzgasse 11bMum

    Rye rolls, cheeses, a little speck, apples, a strudel, biscuits, water; about €80 for 6

    Estimate+39 0472 055530Christmas Eve hours and ready-made rolls to confirmback-up: Profanter rolls (Altenmarktgasse, from 08:00) and Siebenförcher speck and cheese
  6. A last go at the Christmas market

    Domplatz, open until 16:00 on Christmas Eve

  7. Collect the suitcases

    Radical Storage by the station

  8. Picnic in the compartment

    The valley going by

  9. Taxi to Verona airport

    15 minutes; a 6-seat monovolume with card payment, or 2 cabs from the rank; at the airport by about 17:25

    Estimateabout €25-29 a cabWhatsApp Radio Taxi Verona from the platform at 16:58+39 045 532666