Why a River Cruise is the BEST Way to See the Christmas Markets

Have you ever dreamed of visiting the German Christmas Markets for the holidays? How about sailing down the historic Main River on a luxury cruise? Well, we’ve got the perfect vacation for you! A Christmas Markets river cruise is the best way to experience this special time of year in Germany. The holiday season here is unlike anywhere else, when practically every town center is transformed with festive markets. Join us as we highlight our recent VIVA Cruise and share why it’s the perfect choice for your next winter adventure.

Why You’ll Love the Christmas Markets in Germany

If you’ve never been to Germany for Christmas, then let us explain a little more about what you’ve been missing. Each year at the end of November cities, towns, and even tiny villages start to prepare for the holiday season.

Small stands pop up selling everything from food to drinks, and local crafts. In massive cities like Frankfurt, Germany, there are multiple Christmas Markets, all with their own special themes. While in smaller villages, they might only have just one cute market with a dozen stands.

After seeing practically every size of Christmas Market this past winter, we have to say we enjoyed both! Each market is so unique, showcasing specialties from each region.

For this trip, we chose a mix of exploring large cities and small towns. Be sure to check out our city guides below for a closer look at each destination we visited.

• Frankfurt Christmas Market
• Hamburg Christmas Markets
• Nuremberg Christmas Market
• Cologne Christmas Market

The cities were certainly fun, yet the highlight was definitely the our VIVA river cruise! We’ll explain all about why it’s the best way to see the winter markets in this article.

Picking the Best Christmas Markets River Cruise

This was actually our second time sailing with VIVA Cruises! We took our first trip with them last summer along the stunning Moselle and Rhine Rivers.

The first thing we loved about this company is that it’s a German brand. The entire experience is super high-quality, the food is delicious, and it’s an all-inclusive in the price you pay up front. This includes everything from from gratuity to the premium cocktails on board.

When we planned to return to Germany to visit the Christmas Markets, we knew we wanted to sail with VIVA again. With that said, picking the right route is essential to having the best vacation.

Germany isn’t the only country that has holiday markets, but they’re known to have the very best in Europe. The winter is also popular time of year to do river cruises through France, Austria, Czech Republic, and Hungary. Head to VIVA’s official website here for more route information. 

Typically, we would recommend at least a week-long trip for a river cruise. However, if you only have 7 days for vacation (and traveling from the U.S.), a four night cruise is a great choice!

That way you could fly in the day before and explore a big city such as Frankfurt. From there, you can hop on a 4 night cruise, and even have time for one more city at the end.

We booked this four day trip that started and ended in Frankfurt. Know that when we picked our route in September, many of the popular routes were already sold out! 

If you’re interested in a certain route or ship, definitely try to book it well in advance. Below we’ve listed some of the best routes for the upcoming 2025 Christmas Market season with Viva Cruises.

• 4 Night Frankfurt Short Trip
• 6 Nights Festive Seine
• 7 Night Rhine Christmas Cruise
• 7 Night Prague Advent Magic
• 7 Night Christmas Cruise to Prague
• 7 Night Danube New Year Cruise

4 Reasons We Loved Our Christmas Market River Cruise

1. Small Daily Markets 

We want to reiterate that the large cities in Germany are so much fun! We loved every Christmas Market we visited this winter, but the cruise was truly the most memorable part.

Our Christmas Markets river cruise with VIVA took us to some incredible small towns that we wouldn’t have likely stopped in on our own. To be honest, there was a couple we hadn’t even heard of before this trip! 

One town only had a few stalls and the market was held under a majestic castle that overlooked the town. We stocked up on handmade gifts to send to our families and enjoyed the charming small-town atmosphere after so many bustling cities.

2. A Floating Luxury Hotel 

The other part of our Germany tour was spent traveling by train between the different cities. We will say that train system in Germany is extremely easy and efficient. Nevertheless, we still felt like we were constantly packing and unpacking after each hotel.

Every night, our Viva Tiara cruise ship would magically transport us to our next town while we were happily sleeping. This was so nice! Not only were we not traveling with our suitcases, but we also would wake up in a new place each day.

The Viva Tiara is 152 passenger cruise ship, complete with 76 cabins. This felt like the perfect size to us and not too swarmed with people. We had a room on the top floor with a french balcony and large sliding door.

We may have not opened up the door much during the winter, but it was still nice to simply lie in bed and watch the world pass us by. To compare boats, you can read our tour of the VIVA One cruise ship that we sailed on this summer.

3. Amazing Local Specialties 

The meals onboard are so delicious! We actually loved the menu so much that we wrote an entire post about the Viva Cruises food and what to expect. 

While the options weren’t exactly the same on our second ship, the food was just as mouthwatering. The cuisine was a mix of European fare and local German specialties that we just couldn’t get enough of.

Now we definitely had our share of snacks at the stands at each stop on our Germany Christmas river cruise. We were still careful not to eat too much though, as we knew we always had an epic meal waiting for us back on board.

The breakfast was buffet style with a mix of German cold cuts, herring, and other tasty treats. The lunch had a buffet section opened and also a menu, while the dinner was always a la carte style. 

4. Holiday Spirit Onboard 

We were feeling the holiday spirit from the moment we stepped on our Christmas river cruise! The VIVA Tiara ship was decked out with multiple Christmas trees, a massive gingerbread house display, and even an all day mulled wine station with cookies! 

Really, between the small towns and boat, there was never a time that we weren’t feeling the Christmas vibe. This makes for the ultimate holiday vacation if you love to get in the spirit like we do.

We should mention that it was a completely different experience than our summer trip. In the warmer months, we were obviously spending more time outside on the top deck taking in the views. 

Luckily, with how nice the ship is, the lobby area around the bar was an awesome place to hang out. We spent a ton of time off the boat on our short journey, but were still celebrating Christmas to the fullest on board!

Our Main River Cruise Itinerary

Let us explain a little more about the day to day of a trip like this. In this section, we’ll break down each day of our Christmas Markets river cruise so you know exactly what you’re in for.

This was a four day excursion which took off from Frankfurt in mid-December. This meant the Christmas Markets were in full swing all along the Main River!

All Aboard in Frankfurt Germany 

We decided to travel to Frankfurt the day before our ship set sail. This made getting on our Main River cruise super easy and gave us a chance to see the Frankfurt Christmas Market. 

It was interesting to find out that Frankfurt is actually to the oldest market in Germany. The main Christmas Market is located around the historic town square, with a massive carousel in the middle. 

The other holiday markets are spread throughout the city and have countless stands. Some of our favorite local specialties we tried were the hot apple wine, pretzels, the frankfurter, and wild boar bratwurst. 

It was great to wake up the next day in Frankfurt and have a full morning to walk around. We couldn’t board the ship until 2pm, so we had plenty of time to see more of the city.

One night is definitely enough time to see Frankfurt if you’re just visiting for the Christmas Markets. After boarding the VIVA Tiara, we settled into our cabin for a relaxing night onboard. We enjoyed hanging out in the lounge and of course trying the special holiday cocktail menu! 

Night 2 in Wertheim

We arrived the next day bright and early in the small village of Wertheim. This town was so beautiful and a nice switch up from all the cities we had been in.

Following a delicious breakfast, we immediately got off the boat and hiked up to the top of the castle. This 12th century fortress gave us glorious views overlooking the town and our boat below.

This would become a theme of our Christmas Markets river cruise, as each town had a historic castle to discover. The Wertheim Market was still opening up, so we headed back to the ship for lunch. 

Another advantage of our Main River cruise was that we were always just a short stroll from the markets and squares. In this case, we were docked just 5 minutes walking from the center of town. 

It was so nice to warm up onboard and eat something before heading back out. This was the smallest market we saw see on our Christmas river cruise, but oh was it cute! We had a glühwein, took in some live music, and headed back for an early night on the ship. 

Day 3 in Wurzburg Germany

Wurzburg would be the next magical stop on our Christmas Markets vacation. Compared to Wertheim it was much larger, and we were happy we arrived early to have an entire day here. 

Once again, the first thing we wanted to see was a view from above! We walked over the iconic 16th century bridge over the river to get to the Marienberg Fortress.

It’s adorned with incredible statues that tell the story of Wurzburg. From there, we made the 20 minute hike up to the fortress. While we didn’t tour the inside, it was so worth it for the views!

It was so tempting to dive right into the Christmas Market food, but we always made time to go back to the VIVA Tiara for lunch. Be sure to try the daily pasta station before getting into your main course!

Following another stellar lunch, we headed out to the main attraction. The Wurzburg Christmas Market amazed us as it seemed to stretch endlessly through the heart of the town center.

It’s surrounded by historic architecture and churches that will captivate you from your very first glance. We shared a bratwurst and cheesy käsespätzle, along with a hot glüewein.

This would be our favorite stop on the Christmas Markets river cruise and we can’t wait to return here again in the summer! We were glad we saved room for dinner since it was gala night.

This is a special night where everyone dresses up in their best outfits. It’s kicked off with a champagne toast in the lounge area before everyone heads down to the dining area for a 4 course meal. 

Final Stop in Miltenberg

At this point, we couldn’t believe we were already at our last stop of the trip. Time was really flying by and we were set to make the most our time in Miltenberg. 

This day was the furthest we were parked from the center of town. Nonetheless, it was a lovely stroll along the river from the boat. 

We followed the path one street back from the water, which eventually opened up into the town square. At first we thought it was pretty small, but we would find out that the Miltenberg market was so much bigger! 

After grabbing a coffee at the local bakery, we kept following the street into the heart of town. Here we saw more people, local stands, and all the storefronts filled with people. 

On our way back we realized we hadn’t been to the castle yet. So with that, we headed up the stairs above town for a better view. 

Believe it or not, there was another Christmas Market located right inside the Miltenberg Castle! Enjoying a gluhwein inside a 12th century fortress was an epic exclamation point to our Germany Christmas river cruise! 

Should You Take a Christmas Markets River Cruise?

Absolutely! If you couldn’t tell, this was such an amazing way to experience the Christmas Markets of Germany. 

Our second cruise with VIVA was unforgettable, and the journey through the charming small towns made it so special. If there’s anything we could change, it’s just that we wish it was longer! 

Have any questions about this article or want to share your favorite Christmas Markets river cruise in Germany? Leave us a comment below!

Safe Travels,
Brigitte & Jake

This trip was made possible in partnership with VIVA Cruises. As always, any opinions and recommendations remain our own.

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