By Paul Motter, iCruise Blogger | December 11, 2017 ( Comments)
A few years ago I had the opportunity to take a Christmas Markets cruise on the Danube River from Budapest to Passau, Germany. In German, these street festivals are called Christkindlmarkt. They are the best holiday tradition from Europe that America never adopted.
“Christmas Markets River Cruises” on the Danube take the same routes as the summer cruises, but they add tours and/or shuttles to the various Christmas Markets in the different cities along the way, but the winter weather and the markets make it a completely different experience.
The Christmas markets (what we would call “street fairs”) spring up in the city centers for only a few weeks just before Christmas. Most of them end in early December so it is too late to see them this year, but we thought this article would make a nice holiday “postcard.”
The local merchants mostly sell homemade crafts and foods. Shoppers can find the types of authentic gifts that we associate with old-fashioned Christmases; wool gloves, socks and hats, cakes and pies, local honey and beeswax candles.
The stalls also feature traditional foods from these countries cooked on the spot; plenty of sausage, goose, venison, breads and pastries. There are also various alcoholic drinks; cider, mulled wine and honey mead, an alcoholic form of liquid honey. It is very sweet and surprisingly strong in alcohol content, especially on the first taste although one adapts quickly; it’s a delicious way to warm up very quickly when the wind is chilling.
Christmas Markets Cruises: Budapest, HungaryI was on a Longship - beautiful new vessels from Viking River Line. Our first market was in Budapest, Hungary, where the boat stays overnight. After the morning tour we were free to enjoy our first of many Christmas market. These markets are held in all of the stops on the cruise, Hungary, Germany, Austria and Slovakia. All of them have a different atmosphere, from sophisticated to rural. The small rural ones are the most authentic, with school children in costumes and local artists selling wares or performing.
The Budapest Christmas market is more sophisticated and diverse in its offerings. It is a good combination of local foods and crafts, but a bit pricey compared to the next market, Bratislava, now the capital city of Slovakia. There the market had lovely homemade scarves, honeycombs, jams and bread. Night falls around 4:00 p.m. in this area - and so by the time we hit the market it was already after nightfall. The city came alive with specially placed Christmas lights throughout the market. The local school children, performing local dances in traditional dress, were delightful.
The fourth morning we docked in Vienna. The wind was blowing snow but I still went for a Sacher Torte and to see the Lipizzaner Stallions. The afternoon tour was the Schonbrunn Palace, known as the centerpiece of European culture in the days of Mozart, and the “City Hall Square” Christmas Market, said to be one of the best in the world.
It was sprawling and lively. The Viennese must have a very large sweet tooth. There were booths selling pastry twice the size of normal (picture a 10-inch glazed donut). There were also stands for sausages including original “Frankfurters” where they cut a hole in a long bread roll and stuff it with a sausage. One could also buy mulled honey, cider, beer, ham, weinerschnitzel and cotton candy.
That night I attended an optional tour to see a concert featuring the compositions of Strauss and Mozart. I expected something touristy, but I was wrong. The performers were very talented; singers, dancers and instrumentalists. This was Vienna after all.
Day five we visited the Abbey at Melk, a famous German monastery town. This World Heritage Foundation site is a stop on every Danube cruise. The library has books from the 9th century and the architecture is stunning. Melk had a small marketplace, but the best was yet to come.
The last Christkindlmarkt on this cruise was in Salzburg, birthplace of Mozart. This city is a joy any time of year, but in the winter it exudes the charm of a traditional European Christmas. There are horse drawn carriages and stall after stall of astoundingly huge Salzburger Schneeballs, one of the many pastries featured throughout these holiday markets. There are also candies, donuts and of course gluhwein, a hot red wine laden with raisins, almonds, cinnamon and cloves.
Christmas Markets Cruises: (L)Pony carriage Salzburg, Austria | (R)The Vienna Christkindlmarkt, Vienna, AustriaChristmas markets in Europe are one trip everyone should make if they can. I have hopes that the same tradition will make its way to the U.S. some day soon.
Here are some available Christmas Market cruises for 2018:
16 Night Grand Europe Christmas Markets Cruise from Budapest on Crystal Mahler
4 Night Danube Christmas Markets Cruise from Engelhartszell on A-Rosa Donna
7 Night Magical Christmas Markets Cruise from Vienna on AmaSerena
