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, €1,123Estimate$1,314
Private guide, 1h30, €150To book$168
Hot chocolates and Runkelstein CastleEstimate$112
Travel insurance, £25.29$34
Total, about $1,157 each$6,942
The weather

Cold, dry, sunny by noon

BrixenDay 2 to 5°CNight -5°CSun 07:55 to 16:28
MeranDay 5 to 8°CNight -2°CSun 07:57 to 16:30
BozenDay 4 to 7°CNight -3°CSun 07:56 to 16:30
Monday 21 December

Arrive

  1. 2 taxis to Innsbruck stationEstimate €30
  2. Taxi James to the hotelTo book

    €24 for 6, confirm on WhatsApp with +39 329 323 0211

  3. Late lunch at the Christmas market stallsEstimate €90

    Tirtlan, cheese dumplings, strudel, hot drinks

  4. Private guide in ItalianTo book €150

    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; cash; Karin Thaler is finding a guide, +39 0472 275252

  5. Hot chocolate at the hotel bar

    The bar serves 10:00 to 23:00

  6. Dinner at Restaurant Elephant, in the hotelTo book €273

    Kept light after the travel day: a first course and a pudding each, no wine; +39 0472 832750

Tuesday 22 December

Meran

  1. Pull-ups, Franco Park
  2. Train to Meran

    Free with the BrixenCard

  3. Meran old town and its rationalist pair
    • The Lauben arcades, the Kurhaus and the Passer promenade
    • The Rathaus on Laubengasse 192 (Ettore Sottsass senior): clock tower and a Mussolini-era plaque in the archway
    • The former Casa del Fascio at Via Roma 1-3: an open tower with grey breccia and red-brick bands, now a parish hall, outside only
  4. Lunch at the Christmas market food hutsEstimate €100

    Kurpromenade, standing at the huts, 10:00-21:00; cheese dumplings, Strauben, Glühwein

  5. Cake and coffee at Konditorei PöhlEstimate €50

    Freiheitsstraße 142, at the back on the Mühlgraben; Tue-Sat 08:30-18:00; +39 0473 234804

  6. Train back to Brixen
  7. The special night: finkTo book €360

    Vaults from 1450, Kleine Lauben 4; three courses each from your order, no wine; +39 0472 834883

Wednesday 23 December

Bozen and the Renon

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

    Free with the BrixenCard

  3. Bozen station on arrival

    Angiolo Mazzoni's 1928 station building, the first rationalist thing you see

  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
    • Over the Talfer to the Victory Monument (Piacentini, 1928) and the free BZ '18-'45 exhibition underneath, open Tue-Sun 10:00-18:00, +39 0471 095474
    • 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
    • Back over the Drusus bridge past the Casa GIL (now Eurac) and the 1931 Lido
  2. Lunch from Pur SüdtirolEstimate €60

    Mustergasse 3a; filled rolls, focaccia and salads to take away; +39 0471 095651

  3. Runkelstein CastleEstimate €10 each

    14th-century frescoes, the biggest secular cycle to survive anywhere; 2.5 km up the Talfer promenade, about 35 min on foot, or bus 12 to Castel Roncolo; 10:00-17:00

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 SüdtirolEstimate

    Together with the others, then the old town again

  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 EishalleTo book

    The indoor rink on Fischzuchtweg, free with the guest pass during public skating; Christmas hours not out yet; ring in early December on +39 0472 837697

  3. Marende supper in the suiteEstimate €70
    • 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
    • Eaten in the sitting area, then the film
  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 Park
  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; 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. Train picnic from Pur SüdtirolEstimate €80

    Kreuzgasse 11b; rye rolls, cheeses, a little speck, apples, a strudel, biscuits, water; +39 0472 055530; back-up: Profanter rolls and Siebenförcher

  6. Pastry at Konditorei PuppEstimate €40

    Altenmarktgasse 37, Brixen's old pastry house: Krapfen, Apfelstrudel, Zelten and cakes and strudel for the train; Tue-Sat 07:00-19:00, Christmas Eve hours to confirm; +39 0472 834736

  7. A last go at the Christmas market

    Domplatz, open until 16:00 on Christmas Eve

  8. Collect the suitcases

    Radical Storage by the station

  9. Picnic in the compartment

    The valley going by

  10. Taxi to Verona airportEstimate €55

    A 6-seat monovolume with card payment, or 2 cabs from the rank; WhatsApp Radio Taxi Verona on +39 045 532666 from the platform