Christmas Market 2019: Danube or Rhine ?

simpangratis

Hello, to those Tauckian whose been on one or both, please share your opinion which one you favor. We have been on Christmas market land tour (German/Austria/French) (not w Tauck) more than ten years ago, and interested to go again on the river cruise Winter 2019. Trying to decide which one to embark on,

Thank you!

BillClayton

Actually, we have been on both and are going on the Danube trip again in 2019. For the variety, I prefer the trip on the Danube. To start in Vienna with all its different Christmas markets and to end in Nürnberg, is just so special to me. Still, I don’t think you could go wrong with either choice! Good luck deciding. Best regards, Bill Clayton

AlanS

Maybe Bill can weigh in again. We are booked on the Rhine for 2020- a loooong way off- but while looking over the itinerary and having done the Blue Danube cruise, it appears, and I may be wrong, there may be a few more towns/markets right on the river on the Danube. With the exception of Koln and Rudesheim, it looks like you must ride a (shuttle?) bus from the river boat to the towns/XMAS Markets on the Rhine.

Travelcrazy

I did the Rhine in 2015 and loved it. I'm doing the Danube next month so I'll try to post a comparison after I get back.

Travelcrazy

AlanS wrote:

Maybe Bill can weigh in again. We are booked on the Rhine for 2020- a loooong way off- but while looking over the itinerary and having done the Blue Danube cruise, it appears, and I may be wrong, there may be a few more towns/markets right on the river on the Danube. With the exception of Koln and Rudesheim, it looks like you must ride a (shuttle?) bus from the river boat to the towns/XMAS Markets on the Rhine.

I did the Rhine in 2015 and the Danube this past year and there were exactly the same number of stops where you could walk from the boat on both. On the Rhine, we were able to walk to the night market in Speyer as well as in Rudesheim and Koln. We took buses to Colmar, Strasbourg, Baden Baden and Heidelberg.

On the Danube, we walked to Regensburg and Passau, and if you weren't too tired after the all-day trip to Salzburg, you could walk to Linz in the evening (or during the day if you skipped Salzburg). We had to take a bus to Nuremberg, Salzburg, Melk Abby and Vienna.

After doing both trips, I much preferred the Rhine. I appreciated the beautiful decorations on the shops and homes in the Alsace region of France, which was not the case in Germany or even Austria. After awhile, most of the markets on both trips were pretty similar.

AlanS

Travelcrazy wrote:

I did the Rhine in 2015 and the Danube this past year and there were exactly the same number of stops where you could walk from the boat on both. On the Rhine, we were able to walk to the night market in Speyer as well as in Rudesheim and Koln. We took buses to Colmar, Strasbourg, Baden Baden and Heidelberg.

On the Danube, we walked to Regensburg and Passau, and if you weren't too tired after the all-day trip to Salzburg, you could walk to Linz in the evening (or during the day if you skipped Salzburg). We had to take a bus to Nuremberg, Salzburg, Melk Abby and Vienna.

After doing both trips, I much preferred the Rhine. I appreciated the beautiful decorations on the shops and homes in the Alsace region of France, which was not the case in Germany or even Austria. After awhile, most of the markets on both trips were pretty similar.

Hey, thanks for the answer to this old question! We are booked for the Rhine in 2020.

tomh

Since I did the Rhine in Dec. 2018 and the Danube in Dec. 2017, I found that there were a few more interesting Christmas Market vendors on the Danube than on the Rhine trip this past year (I loved Rudesheim on the Rhine however). Just my personal opinion/experience. I see that for 2019, Tauck has dropped Colmar and another small Christmas Market nearby in favor of Lucerne.

Travelcrazy

I wonder if it depends on which trip you do first. Maybe because it was so unique and my first time experiencing the Christmas Markets that I liked the Rhine so much better than the Danube. Plus nothing compares to the lights in Strasburg at night. I loved Rudesheim as well and am looking forward to visiting again on the Amsterdam, Swiss Alps and Rhine trip I have scheduled this October.

I did like Vienne and loved the post-tour hotel. I wish I had stayed at least another day there.

Either way, we don't have anything like these markets in California and I'm glad I experienced both trips.

Claudia Sails

Travelcrazy wrote:

I wonder if it depends on which trip you do first. Maybe because it was so unique and my first time experiencing the Christmas Markets that I liked the Rhine so much better than the Danube. Plus nothing compares to the lights in Strasburg at night. I loved Rudesheim as well and am looking forward to visiting again on the Amsterdam, Swiss Alps and Rhine trip I have scheduled this October.

I did like Vienne and loved the post-tour hotel. I wish I had stayed at least another day there.

Either way, we don't have anything like these markets in California and I'm glad I experienced both trips.

I think your first river cruise tends to be your favorite. The Rhone is ours even though we've enjoyed the Rhine/Moselle and Seine cruises. The first time experiencing life on board and how much we enjoyed everything left us smiling all the time. Then you become an "old hand" and slightly blase about it all.

Dress warm for the Rhine in Oct or at least bring layers. We were cold for most of the cruise at that time of the year though the fall colors were wonderful.

Travelcrazy

Thanks. The Rhine Christmas Markets was actually my second river cruise...my first was the Taste of France on the Rhone in October 2014. I've done four total including both Christmas Markets and two on the Rhone (I also did French Escapade from Paris to Monte Carlo).

The Rhine Christmas Markets was my favorite of the Christmas Markets and one of my overall favorites so far. I guess I liked it better than the one on the Danube because it was my first Christmas Markets experience.

rosepetal

We were on the Danube Christmas Market cruise December 9, 2018 on the MS Savor and had a fabulous time. Fortunately we were able to cruise all the way from Nuremberg to Vienna as the water levels had risen. Salzburg was magical as it had snowed the night before but all the markets were fun. The CD and TDs and crew were wonderful. We have been on both the Rhine and Danube rivers on other tours with Tauck which were a great time. Either Christmas river cruises would be a wonderful experience.