Vienna or Cologne & Bamberg Christmas Markets

[hello]

Any ideas on which Christmas markets you prefer would be helpful -- Vienna or Cologne and Bamberg.

 

We definitely want to go to Munich and Nuremberg, but any input on everyone's favorite other markets would be great!!

 

Vienna is with GCT -- Cologne & Bamberg are with Vantage.

 

Thank you!

[pacmom]

Both GCT and Vantage are similar in that they only book US citizens. Uniworld is offering the Nurmberg-Cologne trip. Having been on both Uniworld and Vantage, I tend to like Uniworld better. Nuremberg is the oldest market, Bamberg is a lovely town. We went with Vantage, only complaint was only Americans, so just were not too gregarious. Look at the itineraries and then decide. If you are a wine drinker, Uniworld offers free wine with dinner. It is a wonderful trip. There is a thread further down about Christmas markets--all lines. One other thing to really check is bed configuration--many GCT have pull down beds. Our Vantage also had hotel style beds. Pat

[WonderMan3]

Cologne's Christmas markets were great. When I was there in 2005 they actually had 4 of them in different areas of the city. One was right next to the cathedral, another was maybe a 10 minute walk from there and had a whole ice-skating rink set-up, then there was another near the main shopping area of the city by the old city gate, and they even had one on a boat docked in the Rhine. Having the 4 spread through the city gave a great opportunity to tour around. Cologne has massive amounts of shopping beyond the Christmas Markets, so it's definitely a shoppers paradise at this port.

[AZPam]

Cologne's Christmas markets were great. When I was there in 2005 they actually had 4 of them in different areas of the city. One was right next to the cathedral, another was maybe a 10 minute walk from there and had a whole ice-skating rink set-up, then there was another near the main shopping area of the city by the old city gate, and they even had one on a boat docked in the Rhine. Having the 4 spread through the city gave a great opportunity to tour around. Cologne has massive amounts of shopping beyond the Christmas Markets, so it's definitely a shoppers paradise at this port.

 

Cologne had 6 different markets this past season, so it's even better! Plus the Cathedral is really amazing. If you do the Rhine, than Strausborg is another great stop for the markets. I haven't done any of the trips the OP asked about, but I would really like to visit Vienna, so that would be my own personal choice.

[Ship's Wake]

We found Vienna to be absolutely beautiful at Christmas. If you opt for the Vienna option, plan to spend at least one additional day (two would be better) there before or after your cruise, as there as many Christmas markets to see. The ones at the Schonbrunn Palace and at the Rathaus (city hall) were really special.

 

We spent one day there on the cruise and one day at the end of the cruise and still felt we needed another two days at least.

 

This link explains more about Christmas in Vienna.

http://www.burtwolf.com/pdf/viennaxmas.pdf

 

Joe

[WonderMan3]

Cologne had 6 different markets this past season, so it's even better! Plus the Cathedral is really amazing. If you do the Rhine, than Strausborg is another great stop for the markets. I haven't done any of the trips the OP asked about, but I would really like to visit Vienna, so that would be my own personal choice.

 

Yes, Strasbourg was one of my favorites. I also enjoyed Basel and Heidelberg markets. The Rhine cruise was wonderful.

 

I definitely want to do GCT's Christmas Markets On The Danube sometime in the next few years. I noticed they just opened their 2009 holiday cruises and are offering $100 per person early booking discount which is good since the trips are already pretty cheap.

[hello]

Thank you, everyone -- great comments! We did look at Uniworld, but they do not have the Munich extension on their Christmas cruises -- too bad.