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Christmas Markets Holidays

View All 221 Tours & River Cruises
Celebrate the festive season this year on one of 221 uniquely tailored tours & river cruises showcasing Europe's renowned Christmas Markets. Take a river cruise along the Danube and the Rhine to soak up the culture of Europe’s historic Christmas Markets in quaint town centres and palace squares, filled with modern and traditional stalls and the aroma of mulled wine and Christmas baking.

Popular Tours & River Cruises View all

Alpine Christmas Markets

9 Days Munich to Zurich

Operator: Insight Vacations

From 2,923pp
Save 634pp
Christmastime in Alsace & Germany (Southbound)

5 Days Frankfurt to Basel

Operator: Avalon River Cruises

From 2,338pp
Save 443pp
Christmastime on the Danube (Eastbound)

7 Days Nuremberg to Vienna

Operator: Avalon River Cruises

From 2,750pp
Save 832pp
Christmastime on the Danube (Westbound)

7 Days Vienna to Nuremberg

Operator: Avalon River Cruises

From 2,865pp
Save 832pp

Discover Must do highlights on a tour of Europe's Christmas Markets

Rothenburg and the Romantic Road
Rothenburg and the Romantic Road

Visit picturesque Rothenburg on the Romantic Road with cobblestoned streets, and alleyways filled with quaint Christmas Markets stalls. The Christmas Shop is famous for its stunning displays.

Christmas Market River Cruise
Christmas Market River Cruise

River cruise along Europe's mighty rivers, crossing up to five countries, stopping along the way to enjoy the colourful Christmas markets, from Budapest to Paris.

Vienna's Christmas Dream Market
Vienna's Christmas Dream Market

There are many Christmas markets in Vienna but the Vienna Christmas Dream Market, in front of the City Hall, offers an unforgettable winter festive scene.

Warm Christmas Treats
Warm Christmas Treats

Roasted chestnuts, mulled wine or steaming hot chocolate; decorative cookies and pastries, warm and fresh from the bakery. Sample each region's unique festive specialities as you explore the Christmas Markets for trinkets and trimmings for your tree.

Strasbourg, France
Strasbourg, France

Take a walking tour of the Christkindlmarkt, host to 300 wooden stalls that light up the heart of the World heritage-listed Grande Île. Fairly lights and Christmas cheer light up this ever popular French Christmas market.

Recent Reviews What our clients are saying about their European Christmas Market tours

Xmas cruise on the river Danube     , NSW, Australia, Dec 2024
I had a wonderful magical white Xmas sailing the river Danube on ship Amadeus Cara during December Xmas time. The ship was beautifully decorated for Xmas and thoroughly enjoyed the history and culture of each town we visited. I also wandered through the Xmas markets at each town we visited, the smells and atmosphere of Christmas was abundant. I sailed ...read more through Passau, Linz, Salzburg, durnstein, Vienna and Bratislava. The food and drinks onboard the ship was plentiful and beautifully presented with 3-4 course meals for each breakfast, lunch and dinner with themed cocktails for each country.

The tour guides were wonderful and the crew on board were excellent and all spoke fluent English. The 160 guests were wonderful and met English, Canadian, American, Australians on board. The shore excursions were excellent and a wealth of so much history and knowledge dating back to 1200 centuries. It was such a fantastic time. Thank you so much Georgie for booking this trip for me and going out of your way for making it a perfect Xmas holiday. I would definitely recommend the Xmas market cruise and I will definitely be booking future trips with Georgie again.
Advent cruise on Danube   , WA, Australia, Dec 2024
Fantastic cruise along Danube - we were a group of 10 and loved the modern ship- excellent food and service - could not fault this. Off shore excursions were planned we did some but enjoyed looking around on our own. Could not fault this - will definitely cruise with this company again.
Fantastic Uniworld river cruise through Belgium.   , QLD, Australia, Dec 2024
Our river cruise with Uniworld was a Christmas markets cruise through Belgium which which was very beautiful. Although we have been on river cruises before, Uniworld was the best by far. The SS Victoria was a new ship and was tastefully and elegantly designed and furnished. Our suite was spacious, with the most comfortable bed, walk in robe and a huge ...read more floor to ceiling french balcony window. We had in room drinks, sweets, fruit etc. So much is included, so we never had to pay for anything onboard. Meals were the best you would expect from the best fine dining anywhere. Drinks were also included and not just with meals. All staff were very friendly and knew our names from the second day. We were so well looked after throughout the whole trip. Excursions were included and they even took us to a private Christmas concert in a cathedral. The whole trip from start to finish was perfect and if anyone is considering a river cruise you couldnt go past Uniworld if you want the best of the best . We always book through Global Journeys with Georgie and our next trip will be booked with them again.
Average Experience Onboard Viking     , NSW, Australia, Nov 2024
Firstly, I would like to commend Hannah on her outstanding support before, during and after my booking. She was very responsive, very informative and addressed every question I had, even making suggestions for some of my queries. I would be looking for her to handle any of my future tours again.

Having sailed on an Avalon river cruise before, it ...read more was difficult not to compare that experience with this European Christmas markets river cruise with Viking. Overall, I would prefer Avalon over Viking with the caveat that I sailed Avalon just before Covid and I don't know what their standard is like today. I will know soon as I'm already booked for another Avalon river cruise next Aug.

We found the Viking crew not as proactive in engaging with passengers, especially when there is an expectation that we be well informed of pertinent details to do with docking and departure times for each day of sailing. While most of what we needed to know was available somewhere, it took effort on our part to hunt down information. A number of passengers also mentioned the same observation.

Our cabin was also smaller than the Avalon equivalent making movement quite restrictive. Certainly the in-room TV channels were inferior in terms of variety with mainly news channels dominating. As far as meals go, again they were lacking in standard and variety with very few standout dishes compared to what we remember getting from Avalon. Another area of disappointment for us was the absence of two-seater dining tables for occasions when we wanted a quiet dinner by ourselves, in contrast with what Avalon offered, though not sure if this ship's dining room was configured differently to other Viking ships.

When it came to shore excursions, the crew was mostly disorganised and caused confusion among the travellers as to which group or bus they should be on. This happened a lot during our journey. That aside, the holiday was great outside the ship and I managed to tick this cruise off my bucket list. If you've never experienced an European Christmas markets tour, this itinerary could be the one.

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Trip Lengths

3 Week 2 Week

Departure Months

November 2025 December 2025 November 2026 December 2026 November 2027 December 2027

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