LzzyCrzr

This thread is fabulous and exactly what I was looking for!!!

 

Questions ~ those of you who have taken a Christmas Market cruise:

*do you also have time to see others sites in the area?

*do the ships still have their regular excursions?

*how cold is it really? (I know this can vary from year to year but your experience)

*how did you find room to bring home gifts?? I can hardly manage it without packing sweaters, etc for cold weather!!!

 

Thanks Much!

The great thing about the christmas markets are that they are usually surrounding the major sites of a city. And with the river cruises the excursions are often a walking tour of the city where you can see all the sites. I haven't found the need to spend my whole day at the Christmas markets so its easy to get everything in in the allotted time you have. I think of them as an enhancement to the trip an additional site to see. A lot of the fun is seeing how the towns decorate for the holidays including those major attractions.

It can get cold but we have usually gone the first week of December and its in the 30s most of the time - we did have one 18F day on each trip. The worst issue we ran into was you can sometimes run into ice as you are getting off the ship - but never saw anyone land on their tush. Both times I did bring a pair of good tread shoes and had no problems. We had 2 carry on bags we folded into our luggage - with so many ornaments I did not want to pack any into my luggage - everything got home in one piece and there were a significant amount of glass and old world ornaments. Also many shops will ship it home - which makes it easier if its a little bigger.

I honestly didn't bring any sweaters - I had long sleeve shirts with my heavy coat and scarf. I needed the heavy coat outside and I cant think of a time my long sleeve shirt wasn't enough inside. On the way over I packed my carry on with the big coat and boots and then wore them home - I agree not the most comfortable but worth it to save my ornaments.

While I agree that the stalls themselves at the main market in Vienna (in front of the town hall) are not the most authentic, the atmosphere in Vienna just screams holidays. It is by far my favorite city when visiting during the holidays. Their chandelier night time decorations are amazing and you can't miss the Schonnbrun Palace is a must see. I would recommend taking a look at some of the smaller Christmas markets in Vienna as they are much more artisan.

I haven't been to Strasburg or Cologne at Christmas time but I imagine, based on my experiences with them in the spring time, that they would be amazing and I am currently planning a Rhine Christmas Markets cruise in hopes of getting to experience their markets as well.