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Cruises specifically for Christmas markets

MalibooNewYork

By MalibooNewYork,
in River Cruising

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Poconolady

Poconolady

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All the lines I've researched (marketed at Americans) offer Christmas Market cruises. Searching this board will find many reviews of various lines AND itineraries.

 

 

Check out the Roll Call board, then All Christmas Market Cruises thread for discussions of people going this year here on Cruise Critic.

Most, if not all of the major river cruise lines offer market cruises. Probably the most popular are those on the Danube and Rhine, there are also some in France. Most start running during the last week of Nov and continue on until end of Dec. Almost all offer optional pre and post cruise extensions in such places as Prague, Budapest, Lucerne, Amsterdam and Paris, depending on itinerary of course.

We have done two market cruises and will do,another this Nov. it's a wonderful way to sightsee and shop the markets in a variety of different towns with the ease of cruising.

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Bailey Swedishfish

Bailey Swedishfish

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Hi,

 

We've done two Christmas Market Cruises with Viking (and a third--a repeat--this holiday season). We've done the Danube Waltz from Budapest to Passau and Heart of Germany.

 

I found the Heart of Germany markets to be a lot more commercial and touristy than those on the Danube. Rothenburg is a lovely charming adorable town loaded with Christmas charm but also overrun with tourists (not just cruisers but Japanese and other Europeans.) We spent 4 days in Cologne and hit up most of those markets and they were PACKED. We met people from all over the world who came to Cologne. It was a once in a lifetime trip--I prefer not to hang with that many people in such tight quarters. There's a small market on the lot outside of the Chocolate Museum that's fun--not as crowded with some kids activities. We also liked the Green Market and Christmas market in Bamburg.

 

We loved the Budapest markets. They are really much more local-friendly and have a lot of charm. The Andrassy market and St. Stephan's markets are a lot of fun and the food is fantastic. I loved the market in Bratislava--definitely not touristy--there was a big skating rink with kids ice skating, lots of local food, live music, fun crafts and stuff to buy and right in the heart of the renovated old square. There's a fabulous curated market in Vienna at Schonbrunn Palace were I cleaned up. Handrafted woolens, glass, wood working, booze in tiny bottles...it was a lot of fun and very nice locally made items. The market in Linz is small but lively. Passau was also more food and less items but very fun.

We are going to do this trip again and have an added 3-4 days in Prague so I'm excited to see that.

 

I would like to do the Rhine for the Christmas markets as there are some nice old cities with markets there too.

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Bailey Swedishfish

Bailey Swedishfish

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Bailey- Have you been able to visit the markets at night, or just during the daytime?

Thanks

 

Both! They get a lot busier at night. Most are open til 11 or so...not all night. They are usually open by lunch. There is more entertainment at night. They are more sparkly and pretty at night. 😃

 

If you river cruise, many don't leave their docks til later evening and are docked near the markets. Easy hop on and off after dinner. Or skip dinner and graze your way through the markets.

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Thyme2cruise

Thyme2cruise

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Hi Bailey Swordfish,

We are doing a similar cruise with Vantage in Dec. 2015 from Budapest to Prague. I was interested in hearing your comments about the various Christmas Markets and what you purchased there. We did Holiday Markets on the Main in 2012 and I found that the German Christmas Markets were quite commercial and with the time limitations for our "free time" it was hard trying to find the hand-crafted items in such short time. I was interested in the things you said you found at the curated market in Vienna where you "cleaned up" :-) I don't want to sound like a dummy but what does it mean curated market? We can't wait to visit these markets..Hopefully the unrest in Budapest will have calmed down and the river levels will be back to normal.

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Rosethorn40

Rosethorn40

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We did the Romantic Danube (Viking) last December. The Itinerary was Budapest to Nuremberg. We arrived in Budapest on a Saturday afternoon, and went to the market that was within easy walking distance that evening. It was lovely, but very crowded. In Vienna, we stumbled across several small & lovely markets, but the main market that they offered shuttles back & forth to, was, IMO, disappointing (too many mass produced items).

 

Passau had a nice market in the middle of town, that was in easy walking distance of the boat (Try the steak sandwich-Yummy!). Regensburg had a nice market in town (Excellent strudel), but my favorite was the one on the grounds of the Thurn & Taxis palace. There is a fee to enter, but worth it as that's where I loaded up on my handcrafted Christmas goodies (Favorite is my wooden nutcracker riding a rocking horse!).

 

Our last Christmas Market was in Nuremburg, and it is large, festive, and a nice mix of mass produced and handcrafted items. Also, there were a number of retail shops & plenty of ATM's.

 

I would love to do that cruise again, that's how much I loved it.

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Bailey Swedishfish

Bailey Swedishfish

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Hi Bailey Swordfish,

We are doing a similar cruise with Vantage in Dec. 2015 from Budapest to Prague. I was interested in hearing your comments about the various Christmas Markets and what you purchased there. We did Holiday Markets on the Main in 2012 and I found that the German Christmas Markets were quite commercial and with the time limitations for our "free time" it was hard trying to find the hand-crafted items in such short time. I was interested in the things you said you found at the curated market in Vienna where you "cleaned up" :-) I don't want to sound like a dummy but what does it mean curated market? We can't wait to visit these markets..Hopefully the unrest in Budapest will have calmed down and the river levels will be back to normal.

 

Hi Thyme,

 

The Schonbrunn market was more handcrafted-art fair kind of products. Curated in that I think the vendors needed to meet certain criteria to participate--couldn't be mass produced, and if I remember correctly, it was juried--like an art fair. I bought two lovely hand made ornaments from an artisan who spun wool, one was a hand-dyed angel and one was a little wooly lamb with angel wings and a halo (for a friend who has a farm.) Another booth featured really pretty delicate hand painted cookie ornaments (there are a lot of these in all the markets--but these were very delicate and more artwork than edible) and some really pretty pottery ornaments. There were also wine vendors, honey, jams, pickled items, and small crafted schnapps in really slender bottles with hinged stoppers. We bought SEVERAL of those! MMMMM

 

Budapest market is similar in that they have a lot of hand crafted leather goods, pottery, artwork, wood worked items and salt glazed glass and pottery.

 

The Heart of Germany trip was on the Main as well and I enjoyed Rothenburg and Kathe Wolfhart--that store is insane!! (Ironically, the only Kathe Wolfhart store in the US is about an hour from us in Stillwater MN)

 

Here's the Trip Advisor link to the Schonbrunn market:

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g190454-d192277-Reviews-Schoenbrunn_Palace_Christmas_Market-Vienna.html

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Hoyaheel

Hoyaheel

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On our itinerary (NUE-BSL on Avalon) we didn't spend any time at night in ports where there were Markets we could access. (I only remember a late sailing one night, actually, and can't remember where that is right now - but I know it wasn't one of the walk off & be right in the heart of town ports - I can check my notes if I can dig them out). We were glad we arrived in NUE a couple days early so we could enjoy the markets there in the evening, and we had one night on our own in Basel before we headed home as well.

 

There were actually a couple of ports where the Markets weren't open - we were in Bamberg on Sunday and the market opened at 11 (officially) and we were to depart at 11 - I was able to make a quick run through at 10:45 and find a vendor open to try my wurst there, and get a gluhbier. The other port I'll look up in a minute, but it was only open Fri, Sat, Sun & we visited on an earlier weekday (that's ok - we went to a brewery/pub there after our walking tour, so we were ok ;-)

 

So - check the itineraries carefully, and even then - sometimes things (like ports) change, so be flexible & optimistic:D

Edited by Hoyaheel
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