Christmas markets are a big deal in Germany; there are hundreds of them, but not all are created equal.

The German tourism folks have pulled together examples of some of the more unusual offerings.

The Ravenna Gorge Christmas Market (tinyurl.com/hu3adnr) in the Black Forest about an hour from the university town of Freiburg is surrounded by steep cliffs and tucked under a 130-foot-high railway viaduct. An underground Christmas market (tinyurl.com/znghy4c) near the Mosel River in the town of Traben-Trarbach takes place in a former wine cellar. Visitors can buy regional handicrafts and sample wine. There's also a Christmas market on a Bavarian island in the lake known as Chiemsee (tinyurl.com/hf3tbe2). More than 90 stalls sell Bavarian souvenirs and handicrafts from the island's abbey. In Bochum (tinyurl.com/jpf8tqy) there's a traditional market along with a medieval market featuring craftsmen dressed in period costumes, traders and minstrels. The special attraction is the high-wire show of Falko Traber, who flies twice a day — disguised as Santa Claus — in his sled.