From German markets full of trinkets, the glorious smell of roasted chestnuts, to enormous Christmas trees and traditional churches, Scenic Luxury Cruises & Tours’ Christmas itineraries show off the very best of European Christmas markets and festivities.
Scenic offers over 6 Christmas sailings during November and December along the Danube and Rhine river, allowing guests to enjoy German gingerbread making classes, festive delights in Strausburg’s old town, and the chance to experience the ancient origins of Europe’s first ‘Krippenmarkt’ in Vienna.
Other cruise highlights include an enchanting private classical evening concert featuring the timeless music of Strauss and Mozart in Vienna’s Palais Liechtenstein, winter hikes on Buda Hill, and the opportunity to sample local German flavours with a Schnapps producer.
All river cruises are taken on Scenic’s luxury Scenic Space-Ships. Guests can enjoy up to five dining venues on board which offer everything from casual to fine dining. Served by a personal butler available to all cabins, a collection of premium wines has been specially selected by Scenic’s sommelier.
Highlights of the Christmas market cruises for 2024 include:
11 day Danube Christmas Markets with Prague
This eleven-day journey begins amongst the striking architecture of Prague, before embarking on to the Danube from Bavarian city of Nuremberg. Here, guests will get into the Christmas spirit with a gingerbread baking class. In the medieval Czech city of Cesky Krumlov the World Heritage-listed Old Town awaits, or guests may choose to travel to the world-famous Christmas markets in Salzburg. As the cruise reaches Vienna, guests will learn how the city became a Christmas market trailblazer, when in 1298 Albrecht I granted Vienna’s citizens the privilege of holding a December Market or ‘Krippenmarkt’. The cruise concludes in one of Europe’s oldest and prettiest cities, Budapest, where a hike to Buda Gill as well as city tours and piano concerns await.
15 day Christmas & New Year
After tempting guests with delicious Dutch delicacies, the cruise leaves Amsterdam’s canals system for the Cologne. A myriad of Christmas market stalls and hot mulled wine await in the German city, as does the largest Christmas tree in the Rhineland. Guests can continue their boutique Christmas shopping at the hundreds of charming wooden huts bursting with trinkets and treasures in Koblenz and then in Rüdesheim, where guests can also attend a traditional Christmas Mass. Guests will attend an exclusive production of the Sound of Music in the rolling hills of Salzburg, Austria. After ringing in the new year in Vienna, the trip will end in Budapest where there’ll be plenty of time to relax in the famous Thermal Baths and Spa before returning home refreshed for the new year ahead. The cruise calls at Amsterdam, Cologne, Koblenz, Rhine George, Rüdesheim, Würzburg, Bamberg, Nuremberg, Regensburg, Salzburg, Melk, Dürnstein, Vienna and Budapest. Prices start at £5,535 per person based on an 19th December departure date.
