Hello travelers,

We have signed on to an Avalon Waterways "Christmastime from Budapest to Vienna" cruise for December 17 through December 22 of this year. We would appreciate any general tips/ideas/cautions that you can give, as well as specific highlights for the various stops in Budapest, Bratislava, Melk and Vienna along the Danube.

Our goal is to experience the Christmas markets as part of our holidays. I understand that this is a broad request, but we expect to have more questions to post as we learn more about this tour leading up to departure. Thank you for any help that you can offer.

Your tour company will update you with flyers and talks about the specifics of each stop. We did this trip in Fall 2023 along the Danube with another carrier. We sailed from Budapest up to Prague, stopping in Bratislava, Melk, Vienna amongst others. I would suggest Vienna bears research as to your interests as there is much to see in that City. You will no doubt be bussed to the 'middle of town' from the Danube and will have a tour guide from there. But again, there might be an option for a couple different walking tours. As to the weather, we were in Paris this past Christmas, so you should expect crowds, and dress warmly for temps that were 35-50 -- including waterproof warm boots. In winter weather, no one sees your clothing, and even on river cruises, no one dresses up much. Slacks and sweaters is the mode. We particularly enjoyed walking Bratislava and seeing Vienna (were there 40 yrs ago on Austrian ski trip), highlight of which was a ballet concert in a beautiful old concert hall, would recommend that highly. Another tour would be to Schonbrunn (which we toured in winter 40 years, very cold inside as well as out). The small towns can be toured on your own frankly, all the stops are completely safe on your own. As was case in Paris, the Christmas markets sell locally made goods (hooray) at reasonable prices. Goods made and shipped from other countries can usually be readily noticed and avoided (at least from my perspective). Enjoy!

you want warm clothes. Bratislava the port is right in the city centre

Will you be staying in Vienna for a few days after the conclusion of your cruise? If so, you might want to take a look at the music program at the Augustinerkirche. The Sunday we were there for the 11am Mass, we arrived more than 20 minutes early to discover a very crowded church with standing room only. No, we did not understand the spoken language; the music was universal. I imagine they will have excellent programming for Christmas.

No Christmas listing yet—

https://hochamt.augustiner.at/erlebe...usik-programm/

Having lived in Vienna for 7 years, I have lots of thoughts about Christmas Markets.

Even if you've never visited a European Christmas market, it pays to do your homework ahead of time, lest you be lulled into the monotony of the made-elsewhere trinkets and tchothkes of the marquee markets (Vienna's Christkindlemarkt comes to mind).

Every outdoor Christmas Market is more charming at night.

Finally, if you're all about the Christmas markets and less so on the major sights, this compact cruise/itinerary is ideal. The major sights in Budapest and Vienna can not be seen even without exhausting yourself in the time allowed, though, so you may want to consider adding a day before embarkation and a day after disembarkation to enjoy Budapest and Vienna outside of the Christmas markets.