Viking Christmas Market Cruise

When my parents called me last year and asked if we wanted to do a Viking Christmas market cruise I couldn’t say no. My mind instantly went to all the Christmas markets I’ve been lucky enough to visit. It got me so excited to think about all the stands with local gifts and treats to try. They’re always so festive and the perfect way to get into the Christmas spirit.

The Viking Christmas market cruise is a river cruise that travels down the Rhine River, stopping at a new town and Christmas market every day. One of the things I was looking forward to is being able to visit multiple Christmas markets in a short period of time without having to change hotels every night. The cruise made it incredibly low stress. The itinerary was also very relaxed meaning we didn’t have to stick to guided tours and could do our own thing if we wanted.

We had the absolute best time doing the Viking Christmas on the Rhine cruise, and I’m excited to share more details about our Viking Christmas market cruise. Keep reading for all you need to know!

Xx, Kelsey

Viking Christmas Market Cruise

WHEN WE WENT

Our Christmas market cruise was on the very early end of things, over Thanksgiving week. In fact, we were momentarily in jeopardy of not getting to see the markets because many opened just days before we arrived. If we were to book again, I’d book early to mid December when all the markets are sure to be open. If there’s one thing I’ve learned while living abroad, it’s that Europeans do things on their own schedule. So there’s no guarantee all the markets will open by late November. I think we got lucky!

WHERE WE WENT

We boarded the ship in Amsterdam, which was perfect for us, since we spent nearly five years living there. Jon and I arrived a few days early so we could spend time with our friends and visiting our favorite places. Once we boarded the ship in Amsterdam, we started our sail down the Rhine River to Basel, Switzerland. Along the way our stops were:

Kinderdijk, NL
Cologne, DE
Koblenz, DE
Rüdesheim, DE
Speyer, DE
Strasbourg, FR
Breisach, DE
Basel, CH

THE BEST CHRISTMAS MARKETS

It’s so hard to choose! The best thing about the Viking Christmas market cruise is that you get to visit so many different types of Christmas markets. Here are the ones I loved the most and why:

Cologne Christmas Market – This was our first Christmas market, and I have to say it was my favorite! There are multiple Christmas markets, but the Heinzels Wintermärchen was the best. The stands were so authentic and all the vendors were selling local treats and gifts. There were carolers dressed in Victorian garb, an ice rink with skating and curling, a merry-go-round and ferris wheel. Everything was very well done, there were a ton of vendors, and the food was incredible. I bought my favorite souvenir (a ceramic Christmas house) at this market.

Rüdesheim Christmas Market – This market wins for being the most quaint. The town of Rüdesheim isn’t very big, so the market takes over the whole town. We also visited this one at night, so it was really cool to see all the locals out drinking gluhwein together. The stalls at this market weren’t as good as Cologne or Strasbourg, but this market wins purely on Christmas vibes. I absolutely loved walking around, sipping gluhwein, and seeing all the pretty stalls lit up in Christmas lights

Strasbourg Christmas Markets – Strasbourg gets credit on here for multiple Christmas markets. I think I fell in love with Strasbourg because the whole town goes all in on Christmas. In fact, it’s known as the Capital of Christmas! There are markets around every corner in Strasbourg, and they’ve all got great vendors. Many of the vendors were focused on food, so I found fewer authentic souvenirs than I did in Cologne. One thing to note in Strasbourg is that the don’t do many Christmas mugs like the German markets. It’s been one of my favorite things to collect mugs from the markets, and Strasbourg was only giving out plastic cups. That being said, the setting for all these Christmas markets made it my favorite town we visited

WHAT ELSE WE DID

Saw the windmills in Kinderdijk – One of the things I loved about this cruise was that it mixed Christmas markets with some historic tours. Our first stop in the south of the Netherlands took us to the Unesco World Heritage site of the Kinderdijk windmills. We got to see the 19 working windmills and tour inside one. We also took some time for a lovely (although windy!) walk along the canals

Toured Marksburg Castle – During our stop in Koblenz, we opted to do an additional tour of Marksburg Castle. Germany is known for their castles, and you’ll see so many on the hillsides as you sail down the Rhine. It was cool to see all the rooms in a medieval castle and imagine what life back then was like

Hiked in the Black Forest – This was one of my favorite things we did besides the Christmas markets. As part of the included tour in Breisach, we did a hike in the Black Forest. The guide took us about 10 minutes in to the hike and then told us if we chose to continue on, we’d need to be back at the bus by a certain time. My family took off and hiked up to see a beautiful waterfall. It was rather icy and slippery, but so beautiful. It felt like we were in a Brothers Grimm fairytale

ON THE SHIP

One thing to keep in mind with Viking cruises is that they cater to an older clientele. Majority of the boat was retirees, and they don’t allow children on board. That said, there were a few families on the boat with grown children just like ours. Even though the clientele is older on the ship, we found the experience very pleasant at our age.

Since the ship is a river cruise ship, it’s very different from ocean cruise ships. Naturally it’s a lot smaller and has fewer common areas. Majority of the ship is staterooms, but there’s also a bar/lounge and large dining room. The roof deck also has a walking path, shuffleboard, a chess board, and lounge chairs. Of course, the weather in November/December isn’t ideal for spending time on the roof deck, but we did spend some time up there playing shuffleboard on slightly warmer nights.

I also have to talk about the food, since we ate most of our meals on the boat. My favorite was the breakfast which always included a big buffet and an omelet bar. Most of the time we ate lunch at the markets, but the lunches we had on the ship were really good. I got the veggie burger and sweet potato fries multiple times. Every night had a new dinner menu, often tailored to the location we had visited that day. Once or twice I ordered from the menu of always available items, and I have to say the fish was really bland. The dining staff is really great with allergies, since so much of the clientele is older and has a lot of restrictions. So that’s really helpful if you have an allergy or preference!

WOULD I RECOMMEND IT

Absolutely! The Viking Christmas market cruise is a once in a lifetime opportunity and totally worth it! If you’re hoping to see a bunch of Christmas markets without all the hassle of packing up your suitcase each night, the cruise is a great way to do it.