Christmas Markets River Cruise for 2018

Hi all,

I want to do a Christmas Markets river cruise next year. Have only started researching. I'm probably traveling by myself, so there would have to be no single supplement (or a low one). I'm not sure what are the must visit Christmas markets in Europe are. I was thinking of only sticking to Germany but again, am open to suggestions. I want to get to as many as possible. I've only had a look at Tauck so far, but am open to others. Good and Bad? Basically I don't want to pay a fortune.

Thanks in advance to anyone that replies!

We are going with Emerald this year. Nuremberg to Amsterdam via Bamberg, Wurzberg, Miltenberg, Rudesheim, Koblenz and Cologne. The smaller towns appeal to me. They have single cabins. Not much info on the US website so visit their Australia or British sites. Emeraldwaterways.au orEmeraldwaterways.uk

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We sailed with Viking last year from Frankfurt to Nuremberg. It was a nice mix of small and large towns. Nuremberg had by far the best Christmas market of the trip. We had a wonderful time and will be doing another Christmas market cruise in 2018.

We have done three Christmas market tours with Uniworld and some other markets just traveling in Germany. One of my favorite stops is Rothenberg. We have been there twice for the markets. The first time we stayed two nights prior to a cruise. This year we are seeing Berlin and Dresden markets, no cruise!

Second seating

I would suggest deciding on an itinerary and then pick a cruise line that does that itinerary based on price for a single traveler (keeping in mind any airfare promotions offered, whether gratuities are included, etc.). IMHO any of the main river cruise lines offer excellent experiences. The differences between them are far less than their similarities. Avalon frequently waives their single supplement, I had a Viking email this morning that mentioned special rates for single travelers. Emerald has single cabins on at least some of their ships. Occasionally Uniworld waives the single supplement. AMA, Tauck and Scenic are likely going to have much higher price points but you might find their inclusions worth the price difference.

We found that we were off the ship all day, every day and many evenings as well on Christmas Market cruises because in addition to the regular touring in each city we spent a lot of time in the markets. So we spent a lot less time on the ship than we normally would have. All said to say find the itinerary you want and then know you probably can't make a bad decision with cruise line.

I agree with recs already posted and would add - start or end in a city where you might want to spend more time in the markets. We sailed Avalon Nuremberg to Basel in 2014 and spent 2 nights in NUE ahead of the cruise and one in Basel after the cruise (on our own - my in-laws did the 3 day Prague precruise through Avalon. Our time in Nuremberg on our own was the only night time truly lighted time we spent in the Christmas markets as our itinerary didn't have evenings in the markets. It was a very lovely itinerary, but NUE and BSL were probably our favorites.

You might want to check out Gate1 River Cruises. We did the Christmas Market cruise a number of years ago and really enjoyed it. It included a pre cruise stay in Prague and post cruise stay in Budapest, all for a very reasonable cost. The stops on the Danube had wonderful markets and the Vienna Christmas Market was beautiful at night. Hope you find one to your liking- it's a terrific experience!

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Thanks everyone for taking the time to reply! Am eager to start my research!

A few of the new Uniworld super ships have a solo cabin

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I have found over the years that Grand Circle has the best rates for singles. Their single supplement is very low and still cheaper than the other lines rates for single cabins. GCT has a variety of Christmas market cruises. Check out their website.

I agree with recs already posted and would add - start or end in a city where you might want to spend more time in the markets. We sailed Avalon Nuremberg to Basel in 2014 and spent 2 nights in NUE ahead of the cruise and one in Basel after the cruise (on our own - my in-laws did the 3 day Prague precruise through Avalon. Our time in Nuremberg on our own was the only night time truly lighted time we spent in the Christmas markets as our itinerary didn't have evenings in the markets. It was a very lovely itinerary, but NUE and BSL were probably our favorites.

We had a significant amount of evening time in the Markets on our GCT Rhine Christmas Markets cruise given late departures or overnights in Strasbourg, Speyer, Mainz, Koblenz and Koln. The short days also helped. Strasbourg, Mainz, and Koln were winners, each having several markets in addition to the "big one."

A close look at the itinerary might help get sense of whether you will have time in town after dinner.

Yes, the only times we stayed late were in ports we could not walk into town. The overall itinerary and length of our trip was more important than the specifics of staying late at markets for our river cruise. The downside of evenings at markets is they're far more crowded, so I think the prs & cons even out:*

True. Our cruise didn't fit with a work week - travel day, 10 days on the river, and travel day. But it was worth the crowds for some of the evening activities, particularly the concert by the Boy's Choir in the Speyer Dom.

I like the itinerary that nancyevans is going on. Almost all of it is in Germany and if you fly into Munich you can see the Christmas markets there pre-cruise. Viking has a new itinerary this year that stops in Cologne. I quite like that, from there you could go to Brussels by train post-cruise as that market is great. Viking only has it up on the website for 2017, you could have a look at it, just ignore the 2-for-1 ad: https://www.vikingrivercruises.com/cruise-destinations/europe/christmas-germany/2017-nuremberg-cologne/index.html

Basel to Amsterdam is nice also, but Nuremberg has a longer tradition.

People have said before that they really enjoyed Budapest, Vienna in December was very nice, too.

Just remember that markets open just before or after Sunday of the Dead (if before then they are closed on that day) and normally close on 23 December. Very few are open after Christmas.

notamermaid

I did Budapest to Passau with Uniworld in 2011 and loved it. We also visited Vienna and Bratislava. Sailing out of Budapest at night with all of the buildings illuminated was magical. As the year goes on there are bound to be "deals" where the single supplement might be waived (if you can be flexible in your schedule). Agree with CPT trips that it is worth checking out Grand Circle. Didn't do a Christmas Markets cruise with them but did the Dalmatian coast in June of 2013 and had a marvelous time.

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The first time we stayed two nights prior to a cruise. This year we are seeing Berlin and Dresden markets, no cruise!

 

We love Berlin and have visited the markets there several times (land trips). It is one of our favorite cities in Europe. Dresden was also lovely.

We have taken a half dozen Christmas market cruises over the past ten years. Our favorite is the Rhine as we enjoy the diversity of visiting multiple countries and the range of small towns and large cities. The Alsace is gorgeous at the holidays!

We also very much enjoy both Budapest and Prague during the holiday season and have spent time in both pre or post cruises. The Danube is also interesting but the Rhine has the edge for us.

Frankfurt to Nuremberg on the Main was our least favorite.

Talking of Alsace. In Sélestat in the library there they have the first ever record of a Christmas tree being mentioned in a document (1521!). Some nice pages on Christmkas traditions in the area: https://noel.tourisme-alsace.com/en

notamermaid

My better half has always wanted to do a Christmas Markets tour and we've finally booked a Viking Alta cruise, Budapest to Nuremberg departing 25th November.

If looking make sure you're within the "markets" active period, not exactly sure when they start in earnest but thing we have it covered with a 25th departure.

Will try to squeee in a short Med. cruise before heading north to the cooler weather and the markets.

Travelling to Frankfurt post cruise before flying home, I'm sure their market is also worthy of a visit.

Happy planning/researchig, hope you make it,

Cheers Tom & Maureen

Shiraz 49, if you see something you like in Budapest be sure to buy it. They have things there that the other markets don't have. You will see many items at the other markets that are the same and have similar prices.

You will see many items at the other markets that are the same and have similar prices.

But sometimes you won't. So it's always good advice to buy something you REALLY want when you see it, as you might not have another chance (due to selection, timing, whatever)....

But sometimes you won't. So it's always good advice to buy something you REALLY want when you see it, as you might not have another chance (due to selection, timing, whatever)....

So very true. Buy it when you see it :D.

Budapest was at the end of our cruise and by then my suitcase was full and I saw several things there that I had not seen at the other markets. I did purchase 1kg of loose Hungarian candy at the market and had fun giving some to family and friends for Christmas.

So very true. Buy it when you see it :D.

Budapest was at the end of our cruise and by then my suitcase was full and I saw several things there that I had not seen at the other markets.

Thanks fir that piece of info ..... can /buy/spend there on unique items and always post home to save luggage weight issues.

In regard to original post by B'Elana in Aust. ..... check out Viking cruises, we managed a A$500 return airfare deal into/out of any European location, allows for flexible pre/post cruise options. I know some offer 'fly free' but usually with restrictions and the overall Viking deal looked OK

I booked a Uniworld Xmas cruise for 22 Dec this year. At the time of booking all bar one company had single supplement waived on a lot of departures. I booked in April this year.

Timing of Christmas markets: They are actually Advent markets and most are open only in the four weeks BEFORE Dec 23/24.

We went with Uniworld last year from Vienna to Nuremberg, but we spent a few days on the front end in Budapest beforehand and loved the Christmas markets there. In fact, we enjoyed the entire trip so much that we've booked another Uniworld Christmas markets cruise for 2018, from Budapest to Passau. We also enjoyed the markets in Vienna, Salzburg, Regensburg, Nuremberg, and the small market in Berchtesgaden that we visited after the cruise. Come to think of it, I guess there really weren't any that we didn't enjoy. :')

We live in a warm climate so we found that visiting Europe in the colder weather really got us in the Christmas spirit. :cool: (Plus, we finally have the appropriate clothing, so we figured we might as well put it to use!) Our plan this time around is to spend more time in Budapest since we really enjoyed it last year but felt it deserved more time.