Some river cruise lines have announced new Christmas market itineraries for next year and 2027, plus additional capacity due to high demand.
Avalon Waterways will add seven more Christmas market departures next year, a 15% capacity increase and the company's biggest-ever slate of festive sailings. Now, Avalon has some 40 departures for holiday cruises along the Danube, Rhine and Main, across 19 itineraries.
National Geographic-Lindblad Expeditions announced the addition of Christmas market cruises to its 2027 roster, onboard the Transcend Evolve. This move will effectively double the company's offerings in the region. It will operate two itineraries.
One will sail from Budapest to Vienna and include an after-hours tour of Melk Abbey and a private visit to Clam Castle in Austria. The other will sail between Budapest and Passau, Germany. Travelers will visit the Bratislava markets, enjoy a private chamber concert in either the Reduta Hall or the Golden Salon of Grassalkovich Palace and have the option to visit Cesky Krumlov in the Czech Republic.
Lindblad Expeditions CEO Natalya Leahy said the holiday voyages "bring together what people are seeking right now: connection, tradition and shared discovery with the people who matter most."
Trafalgar, which will embark on its inaugural river cruise season next year, will offer Christmas market cruises in 2026 and 2027.
A Rhine Christmas markets itinerary will sail between Basel, Switzerland, and Dusseldorf, Germany, with the option to extend the trip in Lucerne, Switzerland. The itinerary features the Strasbourg Christmas market in France, one of the oldest in Europe, and markets in Germany's Black Forest region.
Danube Christmas market sailings will cruise between Budapest and Passau, and can be extended with a land tour in Prague. Passengers can visit Salzburg to see the inspiration for "The Sound of Music" and will hear firsthand about the experience of living behind the Iron Curtain in Bratislava, as part of the operator's signature Make Travel Matter experience.