A Danube Cruise at Christmas
Happy Holidays! Mr. TWS and I wish you all the best as you celebrate your holiday traditions and look forward to a brand new year. We have a tradition of kicking off the season with a trip to someplace wonderful and festive. This year, we cruised on the Danube River through Germany, Austria, and Hungary with Viking River Cruises on their “Romantic Danube” itinerary. There’s much more to share about the cruise and the places we visited, but let’s start with a selection of 10 of our Instagram highlights of the trip.
10 Holiday Photos on Instagram
I was really impressed with the quality of the ornaments at the Christmas Market in Nuremberg, Germany. It was a very pretty market and we were lucky that it started snowing while we were there — perfect for the Christmas spirit. 
I loved the views of Nuremberg taken from the Imperial Castle. This is one of my favorite photos from there. It’s a chilly, but beautiful scene!
There are just a few of the special varieties of traditional gingerbread cookies of Nuremberg, Germany. We saw lots of these tempting treats as we strolled around the Christmas Market. Of course, we sampled some, too.
And gingerbread isn’t the only tasty thing we found at the Christmas Markets. Can you believe these tools are made of chocolate? They’re delicious, too.
… “as the shoppers rush home with their treasures” — (from “Silver Bells”) Silver Bell decorations hang across a busy shopping street in romantic Vienna, Austria. I wonder what’s in those red shopping bags. Don’t you?
Vienna was decked out for the Christmas holidays with decorations and lights all over the city center. This giant red ball looks suspended in midair in front of one of Vienna’s many elegant buildings.
St. Stephen’s Cathedral is a dramatic background for the Christmas Market in Passau, Germany. I loved Passau — it’s history, architecture, picturesque location on the Danube, old world ambiance, and this wonderful market.
The amazing pipe organ of Passau
Imagine listening to the powerful tones of this organ during a Christmas service. When we visited St. Stephen’s Cathedral in Passau, we got to hear someone doing a tune-up on Europe’s largest pipe organ (and world’s largest cathedral organ) — quite impressive.
This was our third time in Budapest and second during the Christmas season. Vörösmarty Square’s Christmas Market was bustling with locals and tourists. I love this city any time of year.
Sparkling Christmas tree and other decorations light up this shopping street in Budapest. I love the glittering umbrella, gift box, and shopping bag illuminations suspended over the street.
Stay tuned for more about our time cruising the Danube on the Viking Gullveig and our daily shore excursions.
How magical! We took a Viking Cruise on the Danube just before the Christmas holidays. Your photos make me yearn to return during the holidays!
What a beautiful time of year to visit cities on the Danube. I think I would even suck it up and not whine about the cold. The snow just makes it more magical.
When I sailed the Danube in April it was cold enough to be Christmas. In fact, it snowed one day. Lovely river destinations.
I love seeing these photos. It brought back fond memories of my own Romantic Danube River Cruise on Ama Waterways during the Spring. Christmas time must be even more magical!
That all looks lovely. I was at the Christmas market in Nuremberg many years ago and I still remember the very special atmosphere (and the mulled wine!)
Cookies, sausage, warmed wine and those cinnamon chimney cakes in Budapest. So many tasty memories you brought back here. I love Europe the most at Christmas time. Fewer tourists and a genuinely local festive atmosphere that’s hard to duplicate anywhere else.
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