Holiday Market Cruises

By David Barclay | December 13, 2023

With the holiday season almost upon us, I decided to devote this week’s Cruise News newsletter to a relatively unique and festive cruising option, the Holiday Market River Cruise. Holiday market cruises are special cruises offered by many of the river cruise lines, sailing from the end of November through Christmas. The cruise itineraries travel many of the rivers in Europe, visiting riverside towns that have set up spectacular holiday markets. For any traveler who likes to decorate their home in style for the holidays, likes to shop for holiday trinkets, and wants to add unique holiday decor to their decorating arsenal, a holiday river cruise is a great vacation option.

The cruises are typically 7-nights long, with a stop in a different town or city each day. While the holiday market cruises travel on the same rivers the cruise lines sail all year long, the port towns picked for the itineraries are those known to have the biggest and most festive holiday markets. In addition to visits to the holiday markets, guests can explore the history and sights of each port, including visiting ancient castles, seeing historic cathedral and other architectural wonders, visiting an opera house or attending a musical concert, and sampling local cuisine (hot-mulled wine, roasted chestnuts, sausages and sweet treats of every kind). Guests can also burn off the holiday calories on a festive bike ride along the river.

The holiday festivities aren’t exclusive to the towns visited along the way, the ships are also decorated for the season with trees, ornaments, lights, and other holiday decor. The onboard restaurants will offer several holiday themed dishes to bring the holiday spirit to guests. And it isn’t uncommon for a portion of the crew to serenade guests with holiday classics.

These cruises are very popular and given the limited portion of the year they are offered, they can fill up quickly. Many of the 2024 holiday cruises are already nearly sold out and 2025 cruises are booking fast.

Below I’ve provided a sample of the cruises available from some of my favorite river cruise lines.

---

AmaWaterways

Christmas Markets on the Danube
7-night Holiday Market Cruise

The Danube is one of the most popular rivers for holiday market cruises, not only because of the plethora of holiday markets in towns along the river, but also due to the history and architecture of these towns and cities. In addition to getting their fill of holiday markets and holiday shopping, guests can visit the Mozart House in Linz, the Benedictine Abbey of Melk, and the Opera House & former Imperial Palace in Vienna. I also like this itinerary as guests may have the opportunity to sail it on the AmaMagna, AmaWaterways’s unique double wide ship that offers guests larger staterooms and more common areas than typically found on a river cruise ship.

---

Uniworld

Rhine Holiday Markets
7-night Holiday Market Cruise

Another popular river for holiday cruises is the Rhine River. Depending on the cruise line, guests may sail from Basel to Cologne (as this example from Uniworld shows) or continue sailing all the way to Amsterdam. I like the Rhine River holiday cruises as they let guests visit holiday markets in Switzerland, Germany, and France to see how each country celebrates the season. Markets in each of these countries will offer unique holiday items tied to the holiday traditions of the locals, providing a plethora of options to bring home. Uniworld is the most all-inclusive and most luxurious of the river cruise lines, so guests will also be pampered as they travel from town to town.

---

Avalon Waterways

Germany is probably the most famous country for holiday markets, almost every town and city will have a Christkindlmarket. Several cruise lines offer holiday cruises on the Main River, allowing an in-depth exploration of the German holiday markets. While most river cruises are 7-night long, this one offered by Avalon Waterways is only 5-nights, offering a cruise option for guest who have a more limited travel window, wish to add additional pre or post cruise days in Germany, or can only shop for so many days before being overwhelmed by the holiday markets.

---

AmaWaterways

Gems of Southeast Europe (Christmas)
7-night Holiday Market Cruise

While the Danube between Passau and Budapest is probably the most popular itinerary for holiday market cruises, a few lines sail further down the Danube, allowing guests to visit holiday markets in Hungary, Serbia, Bulgaria, and Romania. This can be a great option for holiday market lovers who have already sailed on a Rhine or Western Danube holiday market cruise and are looking to explore more unique holiday themed markets.