You certainly know it seems the Festive Season starts earlier every year, so I’m not trying to exaggerate the phenomena, but I will tell you that if you want to visit the Christmas Markets in Europe in 2023, you need to be looking at it now.
The Christmas Markets in Europe run from the last week in November through Christmas. There are a bunch of reasons you may want to consider a trip to Europe at this time of year, even if you’re not a hard core Christmas enthusiast.
First of all, there are far fewer tourists in Europe in the winter months than the summer. The Christmas Markets themselves attract lots of European and foreign visitors, but the museums and historical sites that are lined up with hundreds of people in the summer, are relatively quiet in the winter months.
There are no guarantees around weather, but normally in November and December it is quite moderate in continental Europe. It will still be winter weather – but it shouldn’t be drastically below freezing either.
Europe is a big place, and there are Christmas Markets in just about all countries, so where should you go?
There are lots of different opinions of where the best markets are, but I’ve yet to find a definite answer to which is best, and I suspect it’s largely a matter of personal choice. The one aspect that is generally agreed upon is that the Germans go ‘all out’ on Christmas Markets.
For this reason you may want to start your research on one of these itineraries:
- Rhine River – includes the Netherlands, France, Germany, and Switzerland
- Danube River – includes Germany, Austria, Slovakia, and Hungary
- Main/Moselle Rivers – Includes France and Germany
The added bonus of exploring the Christmas Markets on a River ship is that you don’t have to decide on ONE country’s markets to visit: you unpack once, and can experience the Christmas Markets in three or four countries.
One of our clients was having trouble convincing her husband he would enjoy the Christmas Markets in Europe. He really wasn’t interested in “walking around gazing at trinkets”. There is no doubt there are plenty of Christmas trinkets on offer at these markets, but there is much more going on as well.
There’s music and entertainment, mulled wine, food vendors, horse-drawn carriage rides, roasted chestnuts, and bonfires. Where the weather permits, you’ll find outdoor skating and curling rinks, and there are enormous Christmas Trees everywhere. The Europeans visit the Christmas Markets in their own backyards because it’s also a place of community, so you get a much better feel for the people and culture at a Christmas Market than you would standing in line with all the other foreigners at the museum in the summer months.
Oh yeah… and there’s lots of trinkets.
Today’s Travel Opportunities
Here’s some ideas if you want to travel during Festive in 2023:
Uniworld Christmas Market Cruises – All Uniworld cruises include transfers, on-board gratuities, open bar, a shore excursion (several choices) in each port of call, and wifi on the ship. Due to our exclusive arrangement with them, we can also get you additional on board credits not available on direct bookings. Here’s some options:
- Rhine Holiday Markets departing November 25 for 7-nights.
- Visit Basel, Strasbourg, Baden-Baden, Mainz, Rudesheim, Rhine Gorge, Koblenz, Cologne (overnight).
- Prices start at $3599 per person.
- German Christmas Markets departing December 15, 22 or 23 for 7-nights
- Visit Frankfurt (overnight), Wurzburg, Wertheim, Rothenburg, Bamburg, Nuremburg (Overnight)
- Prices start at $2599 per person.
AMA Christmas Market Cruises. AMA is offering free land extensions right now, so if you want to spend a bit longer in Europe this Christmas, here are some ideas:
- Provence French Christmas Markets departing November Nov 30, December 14 or 21
- Visit Lyon, Villefranche, Tournon, Vienne, Tarascon, Arles, Avignon.
- Prices start at $3499 for 7-nights on board, PLUS 2 free nights pre or post in Paris.
- Holland & Belgium departing December 25 or 26.
- Visit Amsterdam, Utrecht, Veere, Ghent, Brussels, Antwerp, Dordrecht, Kinderdijk.
- 7-nights departing Dec 25 or 26 with 2-nights free Amsterdam
- Prices start at $3499 per person for 7-nights on board PLUS a free 2-night pre or post in Amsterdam.
Warm Weather Christmas Vacations
If you’d rather visit a warm weather destination over the Festive Period, here are some ideas from Explora Journeys. This is a great opportunity to try this new product (with some fantastic pricing). Due to our exclusive relationship with Explora Journeys, we able to offer the following goodies for our NEXT 5 bookings only:
- 10% OFF the published pricing on any 2023 departure, AND
- $500 Journey Experience credit (onboard credit)
Caribbean – Explora Journeys departing December 6 for 8-days
- Bridgetown to Miami
- Visit St. Lucia, Saint Kitts, Antigua and Barbuda, and the Bahamas.
- Details here: https://www.virtuoso.com/advisor/bobbrad77410/travel/luxury-cruises/sailings/16312564/discovering-the-islands-of-the-caribbean-06dec2023-13dec2023
- Prices start at $3650 per person for a 375 square foot veranda suite. Includes all taxes, an open bar, on board gratuities, and wifi on the ship.
- These prices do not yet include the exclusive 10% discount and extra onboard credit mentioned above.
Caribbean –Explora Journeys departing December 13, for 10-days
- Miami round-trip
- Visit Turks & Caicos, Dominican Republic, British Virgin Islands, Guadeloupe, and the Bahamas.
- Details here: https://www.virtuoso.com/advisor/bobbrad77410/travel/luxury-cruises/sailings/16312563/diamond-beaches-and-sparkling-private-idylls-13dec2023-22dec2023
- Prices start at $4700 per person for a 375 square foot veranda suite. Includes all taxes, an open bar, on board gratuities, and wifi on the ship.
- These prices do not yet include the exclusive 10% discount and extra onboard credit mentioned above.
As a reminder, Bob and I are travelling with Explora Journeys in October (Canada/New England – Quebec City to New York for 10 nights, departing Oct. 3rd, 2023 ). Why not join us? We’ve got several clients signed up already. Book now and you’ll get a 10% discount and $500 Journey Experience credit. Details here: https://www.virtuoso.com/advisor/bobbrad77410/travel/luxury-cruises/sailings/16312588/quebecois-culture-canadian-fjords-and-new-amsterdam-03oct2023-13oct2023
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I look forward to hearing from you.
Sue Bradley
Sue Bradley
