In November and December, the air in Europe becomes scented with gingerbread as the continent’s famous Christmas markets set up shop. Expect scenes brimming with colorful lights, local choir groups performing, and sweets and handmade crafts and ornaments being sold from spruce huts. Often this seasonal show is in the heart of the city or in a popular town square, and sometimes the events are massive. The famous market in Nuremberg, Germany, for instance, has more than 200 stalls. You can do your holiday shopping while taking in the celebratory city sights.
One of the best ways to visit these festive fairs is on a river cruise. River cruise lines will conveniently deliver you directly to them with their Christmas market itineraries that dock alongside the city centers. Popular holiday sailings along the Danube and the Rhine, Germany’s main river, and France’s Seine and Rhone Rivers include visits to the merry markets, among other excursions. While there may still be some availability on 2024 holiday sailings, your best bet is to get a jump start on planning for 2025 as these cruises tend to book well in advance.
Brussels to Amsterdam with Tauck
- Best for a glimpse into Dutch and Belgian holiday traditions
- Book now: From $3,990 per person for this seven-night cruise from Brussels to Amsterdam
Venture beyond the dazzling displays of Christmas market cruises in Germany and Austria to experience the festive delights found in Belgium and the Netherlands. Tour operator Tauck’s Yuletide Spirit journey between Brussels and Amsterdam showcases how the holidays unfold along the banks of Dutch and Belgian waterways. Stops include Gouda, famous for its namesake cheese, and Brussels, the “Venice of the North,” so nicknamed for its endless canal system and winding footpaths. In Antwerp, many Christmas market stalls are spread out in different squares throughout the city. Indulge in sweet treats such as stroopwafel and chocolate lace while strolling through medieval streets and villages lined with carolers before heading back to the cozy confines of the upscale 130-passenger Tauck river cruise ship.
Adventures by Disney brings families to Vienna’s Schönbrunn Palace on its Christmas markets Danube River cruise.
Photo by Vitaliy Kyrchuk/Shutterstock
Budapest and Vienna along the Danube with Disney
- Best for families
- Book now: This family-friendly weeklong holiday cruise starts at $7,099 per person.
Adventures by Disney hosts a very merry Christmas celebration on the 156-passenger AmaLea, a vessel Disney’s touring arm charters from river cruise line AmaWaterways. The sailings are on the Danube between Budapest and Vilshofen, with several market experiences along the way. In Vienna, guests experience the impressive Schönbrunn Palace, where the outdoor Christmas market offers music, handicrafts, and children’s activities. Also in Vienna, guests can go ice-skating in the center of the city. The itinerary includes an excursion to Salzburg, Austria, showcasing sights from the iconic movie The Sound of Music, as well as the charming city’s own famed Christmas extravaganza.
Christmastime in Paris and Normandy with Viking
- Best for Francophiles
- Book now: This seven-night holiday sailing starts at $2,499 per person.
Experience the holiday season in Paris and Normandy with Viking on a spirited sailing traversing France’s Seine River. Included are medieval church visits in Vernon, Normandy, and walking tours through the historic cobblestoned streets of Rouen where ice rinks, street performers, and decorative displays greet visitors in the city’s main square. In Paris, you’ll enjoy a scenic sightseeing tour of the City of Light’s yuletide celebrations before setting off on foot to explore on your own in Place de la Concorde, the largest public square in Paris, where you can stroll through the famous Tuileries Garden Christmas Market. An optional excursion in Paris offers the chance to see the city illuminated by night on an open-air leisure cruise. Cruises take place on Viking’s Longships, river cruise vessels steeped in Scandinavian decor that can accommodate 168 passengers.
Uniworld goes all out to create a festive atmosphere on its Christmas market sailings.
Courtesy of Uniworld Boutique River Cruises
Classic Christmas markets from Budapest to Passau on the Danube with Uniworld
- Best for cultural immersion
- Book now: This weeklong holiday markets cruise starts at $4,499 per person.
On Uniworld Boutique River Cruises’ Danube holiday markets sailings, guests have the opportunity to learn new traditions both at the festive markets onshore and on shipboard. This itinerary includes a visit to Budapest where passengers will have a chance to roam the Christmas market on Vörösmarty Square, complete with fresh kürtőskalács, a spit cake baked on a rod and adorned with sugar or any number of toppings. A stop in Bratislava will offer a taste of Slovakian Christmas treats and traditions. The cruise continues on to Vienna, which goes all out for the holidays with several markets and festive decor, and ends in Passau, Germany, where there’s an optional winter walk excursion to the suburban town of Hals, complete with a Bavarian Christmas concert in a local farmhouse. As an added bonus, you’ll be sailing on Uniworld’s lavish 150-passenger SS Maria Theresa, a vessel inspired by the Habsburg ruler Maria Theresa, on which guests are sure to feel like royalty thanks to over-the-top flourishes—including ornate staterooms (complete with patterned wallpaper and bedding that tips its hat to the extravagancies of the Hapsburg dynasty), antique style furnishings, an indoor swimming pool, and an elegant lobby.
Danube and Rhine with Riverside
- Best for a luxury holiday experience
- Book now: A three-night Danube cruise starts at $1,096 per person.
Spend Christmastime with a side of champagne and caviar with Riverside Luxury Cruises. The ultra-luxe river cruise line’s bevy of Christmas market sailings span the Danube, Rhine, Main, and Moselle Rivers and feature flexible three- and four-night itineraries to more traditional seven-night journeys. On the Riverside Mozart’s Christmas Spirit on the Danube itinerary between Passau and Vienna, you’ll meander through the winter landscapes of the Wachau Valley, famous for its rolling hills of vineyards and baroque monasteries. Holiday market stops include Slovakia’s Bratislava and Austria’s Melk and Vienna, where you can indulge in warm mulled wine, roasted nuts, sizzling grilled sausages, and other delectable Christmas treats. And as if the festive spirit off the ship won’t be enough, you’ll be sailing on one of the most iconic and luxurious river cruise ships in Europe: the all-suite Riverside Mozart, with four restaurants that showcase fine dining.
Explore the lesser-known but equally charming Christmas market in Lyon, France, where dozens of wooden chalets sell festive food and crafts.
Pierre Jean Durieu/Shutterstock
France’s Provence region with AmaWaterways
- Best for the wellness-minded
- Book now: This seven-night south of France sailing starts at $3,104 per person.
What better way to celebrate the holidays than indulging in food, wine, art, and architecture in the south of France? Better yet, for those hoping to stay active during the holiday season, AmaWaterways has fitness instructors on its ships running a full roster of classes such as stretching, dance, and cardio training. If the weather allows, you can borrow bikes to explore the ports, too. The line’s holiday sailings on the Rhône and Saône rivers visit cities such as Arles in Provence, famous for its one-time resident, a very troubled and inspired Vincent Van Gogh, as well as Lyon and Avignon, where Christmas markets and decor will be on full display. These festive south of France sailings take place on the 152-passenger AmaKristina, a classy vessel with staterooms that feature a clever twin balcony concept—one step-out balcony adjacent to a French balcony to add indoor square footage with optimal river views. AmaWaterways is known for its food and beverage program, so passengers are sure to eat and drink well.
Germany’s Main River with Avalon Waterways
- Best for exploring historic traditions
- Book now: From $2,949 per person for a six-night sailing
Avalon Waterways offers several Germany-focused festive season itineraries on the Main River between Nuremberg and Frankfurt that visit Bavarian towns and villages decked out for the holidays. A shipboard lecturer discusses German holiday traditions along the way. Stops usually include historic Bamberg, where locals build nativity scenes throughout the town; Würzburg, the baroque university city home to a UNESCO World Heritage Site; and Miltenberg, famous for its historic old town and colorful rows of half-timbered homes. An optional excursion visits the town of Rothenburg and the Käthe Wohlfahrt German Christmas shop there, home to a massive collection of traditional German Christmas decorations. The ship is embellished with holiday-themed decor, and you can learn how to bake traditional cookies from the region. Book yourself into a Panorama Suite on the Avalon Tranquility II, with a bed that looks directly out at the passing scenery and a floor-to-ceiling, wall-to-wall sliding glass door that opens up the entire space.
New Year’s in the Netherlands with Viva
- Best for revelers
- Book now: Four nights on the Rhine from $950 person, and a seven-night New Year’s cruise in the Netherlands starting from $2,495 per person
Enjoy the best of both worlds over the holidays with river cruises that combine Christmas markets with New Year’s celebrations. With all-inclusive brand Viva Cruises (created by Swiss shipping company Scylla), shorter Christmas cruise itineraries from as few as four nights make it possible to combine them with slightly longer seven-night itineraries that focus on New Year’s celebrations. A four-night Rhine Time Out cruise will bring you to the Christmas markets of Germany in Frankfurt, Mannheim, and Weisbaden, along with a stop in Strasbourg to take in the sights of France’s Alsace region before returning to Frankfurt. Afterward, venture a short train ride away to Dusseldorf, where you could join Viva’s slightly longer seven-night cruise that sails on the Rhine to ring in the New Year in the Netherlands, making stops in Amsterdam, Utrecht, Antwerp, and Rotterdam. The New Year’s sailing takes place on the sustainably built and operated 176-passenger Viva One, complete with a jacuzzi, spa, sauna, and steam room—for some pre- or post-revelry relaxing.
Rhine River from Switzerland to Germany with Tauck
- Best for its itinerary and excursions
- Book now: Tauck’s 7-night Christmas Markets Along the Rhine sailing starts at $4,190 per person
Tour operator Tauck emphasizes beyond-the-norm excursions that are included in its cruise fare. A holiday sailing on the Rhine from Basel, Switzerland, to Cologne, Germany, includes a day trip into the Black Forest and to Baden-Baden, Germany, for the famous spa town’s Christmas market, held in the complex of the Belle Époque casino there. Witness local bands and choirs perform holiday music and real sheep appear in Baden-Baden’s “living nativity.” From Cologne, there’s a visit to the German town of Aachen, where you can try the special gingerbread that’s been made there for 600 years.
This story was originally published in October 2019 and was updated on November 4, 2024, to include current information.