Viking Amsterdam to Basal Christmas Markets

[chef1943]

Has anybody sailed on Vikings Amsterdam to Basal Cruise during the Christmas Market time? How many City Market did you visit and were they close to the Ship?

[swamp1sg]

We were on another cruise line at Christmas. The market is not near the town. Our guide took us into town on a tram and we had a tram pass to return when we wanted.

[id est]

Has anybody sailed on Vikings Amsterdam to Basal Cruise during the Christmas Market time?

We did it December 2011 from Basel to Amsterdam.

 

How many City Market did you visit and were they close to the Ship?

None, but it wasn't the main purpose of our cruise which was great by the way. Actually I am sorry we visited one market in Strasbourg.

[franski]

Has anybody sailed on Vikings Amsterdam to Basal Cruise during the Christmas Market time? How many City Market did you visit and were they close to the Ship?

 

We did Cologne to Basel for the Christmas markets on Uniworld... So can speak generally as many of the stops are the same. Markets are close in some cities, not in others.

 

Cologne - we were withing walking distance of 3 markets (there are 6 or 7 in Cologne...). There is usually a tram that does a circuit around the markets - so you can see all if you wish.

 

Koblenz - we were within walking distance, but we were there in the morning, and left just as the markets were opening.

 

Rudesheim - within walking distance. We docked in the afternoon - and stayed until the next morning, so did have time to do the markets.

 

Heidelberg - we were docked at Speyer. We chose not to do the trip to Heidelberg (it was Saturday, and we figured the markets would be very crowded..) - deciding to stay in Speyer and visit the Technology museum. We also wandered around Speyer - lovely little town.

 

Strasbourg - bus ride to the city centre. We loved Strasbourg. We walked around the market around the cathedral, as well as the old town area.

 

Basel - bus ride to the city centre.

 

Hope this helps.

 

Fran

[swamp1sg]

Agree with posters above, Strasbourg is lovely and was one of the stops we stayed all day. Our guide directed us to the market that the locals went to. It had great ornaments and terrific food.

[editor@cruisecritic]

Great info, thanks -- and I concur (we did markets cruise on Antoinette last year). It was an outstanding cruise and I never got tired of the markets. My favorite was the market in Strasbourg, just magnificent atmosphere but each one had something different.

 

In Cologne, don't miss the Lindt chocolate museum right near some market stalls, on the waterfront (its shop is fantastic, bought lots of Xmas gifts and stocking stuffers there). In Strasbourg there's an artist that makes exquisite trees out of, I think, copper and Swarovski crystals.

 

Rudesheim had a really nice international market (my Finnish husband loved the Finnish stall, stocked with local beers, foodstuffs and trinkets). Heidelberg had a great ice skating rink, was very vibrant and joyful.

 

Carolyn

 

We did Cologne to Basel for the Christmas markets on Uniworld... So can speak generally as many of the stops are the same. Markets are close in some cities, not in others.

 

Cologne - we were withing walking distance of 3 markets (there are 6 or 7 in Cologne...). There is usually a tram that does a circuit around the markets - so you can see all if you wish.

 

Koblenz - we were within walking distance, but we were there in the morning, and left just as the markets were opening.

 

Rudesheim - within walking distance. We docked in the afternoon - and stayed until the next morning, so did have time to do the markets.

 

Heidelberg - we were docked at Speyer. We chose not to do the trip to Heidelberg (it was Saturday, and we figured the markets would be very crowded..) - deciding to stay in Speyer and visit the Technology museum. We also wandered around Speyer - lovely little town.

 

Strasbourg - bus ride to the city centre. We loved Strasbourg. We walked around the market around the cathedral, as well as the old town area.

 

Basel - bus ride to the city centre.

 

Hope this helps.

 

Fran

[franski]

In Cologne, don't miss the Lindt chocolate museum right near some market stalls, on the waterfront (its shop is fantastic, bought lots of Xmas gifts and stocking stuffers there).

 

We didn't do a tour of the museum - but you can enter the shop without doing the museum tour. We did buy quite a number of things - but didn't get to enjoy them all, as our Granddog helped herself after we got home... Dogs + chocolate = sick mess....

 

In Strasbourg there's an artist that makes exquisite trees out of, I think, copper and Swarovski crystals.

 

In the old town in Strasbourg, there is a Christmas store. It is open all year. We found they had a great selection of straw ornaments there.

 

On our cruise, we had a woman that came in to discuss Christmas Traditions in Germany - and she had some garlands made of straw. She didn't know where we could get them, as hers were old family heirlooms.

 

Lots of straw stalls in the markets - none had garlands. But, the shop in Strasbourg had them...

 

Just be careful heading down the stairs if you go into the store - a bit of a curve at the bottom - steps a bit small.... My husband took a tumble.

 

Fran