Christmas Markets

There are a lot of similarities among the various markets. For us it is better to pick a city/town that we want to visit and take the market as icing on the cake. Regensburg with its Thurn & Taxis Romantic Christmas Market was our favorite combination.

https://mcchelsea.smugmug.com/Advent-2010/Regensburg/

https://mcchelsea.smugmug.com/Advent-2010/Thurn-and-Taxis-Palace-Market/

I also try to pick towns that I enjoy as well as seeing the markets. Unless you just want to shop all the time for Christmas stuff and eat your way through, the town should be interesting. Some of my favorites in Germany were the Heidelberg market, Rothenburg (charming) and Dinkelsbuhl (very tiny & totally local) on the romantic road. If you get a chance a trip on to Salzburg would be worth it. That is one of my favorite markets.

My husband and I visited Nuremberg, Munich, and Salzburg last year in early December and loved our time. We flew into Munich and trained to Nuremberg ( 1 Hour). We spent three nights there before training back to Munich for four nights. While in Munich, we trained over to Salzburg for a day and trained back to Munich after dinner. All on our own! Easy to navigate. Plenty of sights to see in addition to plenty of time in the Christmas markets. We met friends from our church in Nurmberg who joined a river cruise there after a couple of days. They later told us they enjoyed the time in town at least as much as the time on the boat. We encountered lots of groups from cruise s who were in groups in Nuremberg. It was very easy to get around independently and allowed us to see sights in addition to the markets. Hotel Drei Raben in Nuremberg and Hotel am Viktualenmarkt in Munich. Both close to main squares where the markets are held. Loved our experience so much that we are headed to Alsace region of France for Christmas Markets this year!

I probably visited close to 20 markets in the years I lived in Germany, and the only two that really stood out in terms of the merchandise and food were the markets in Lindau and Oberstdorf. Most of the wares at your typical Christmas market are completely interchangeable, but these two had quite a few artisanal crafts. Unique regional food as well.

I agree with the others, though. Visit towns and cities that otherwise interest you, and take the market, if present, as an added bonus. The only one I did not particularly like was Nürnberg. Kind of like there's harvest festivals everywhere in Germany but Oktoberfest is the most famous, I found Nürnberg's market no different from that of any large city except for hordes of guided tours that jammed the not-particularly-large Markt square. My dog usually loved the markets, because she learned very quickly how to beg for a Bratwurst, but even she was overwhelmed by the massive crush of people at Nürnberg.

I posted this a while back . . .
We LOVE Tauck. Viking is the biggest & most advertised - and you are on a RiverCruise in Europe, so you really can't go wrong. Do your research & know the differences, but go with what works for your budget & schedule. Just be sure you are comparing apples to apples when you start knowing what is and isn't included.
Tauck is a family run company here in the USA who have been doing tours since the 1920s . We have been on many of their USA tours & they are truly wonderful. When we began researching RiverCruises in 2013, Tauck was definitely high on our list, but we still wanted to explore ALL the options. We went to AAA & they recommended Tauck, Avalon, or Uniworld to us. Because of our past experience with them, we chose Tauck. They've won the BEST RIVER CRUISE LINE from TRAVEL & LEISURE for several years now.
Tauck is also TOTALLY ALL INCLUSIVE. No extra expenses or hidden fees - all tips, port fees, taxes, excursions, food (regional), wine(regional), is included in the price. There are extra excursions/fees/etc that are available on some of the other river cruise lines, so just be sure you know that. Know what is & is not included in the price. They are not cheap, but SO worth it & we spoke with others who were doing 'back to back' river cruises using multiple cruise lines & they said by the time you added in the extras (excursions, tips, etc, that TAUCK was no more expensive). We chose a CHRISTMAS MARKET RIVER CRUISE on the Danube because the prices are SO much better in December & how can you go wrong seeing the Markets!!??
The whole experience was top notch & we are saving to do the Christmas Market Rhine Cruise for Dec2016. The ship was beautiful, the staff went above & beyond. We chose the cheapest room category (we wanted to spend money on other things & the room isn't that important to us), but it was VERY nice w/a great bed (amazing linens) & bathroom w/large shower (tile & granite). The food was fantastic. Breakfasts were both buffet & 'cook' stations w/every imaginable food, plus all the regional specialties & great coffees. You could go back to the boat for lunch, but we chose to eat in the towns. Dinners were 5course, order from a menu with 3-5 selections for each course - always the region favorites, but you could aways get steak, chicken, salads, etc - & unlimited red & white wines from the area we visited that day. The time spent in the ports was done very well. Along w/the Tauck staff - they hired "local guides" to guide us, show us the highlights, teach us the history, take us into the churches, abbeys, etc. We spent the mornings with the guides & then at lunch, the guided tour was over & we had time on our own to explore the town, Christmas Markets, etc. Shuttles were provided every 30min back to the boat for those who wanted to return to the boat.
We were given 'surprises' everyday either in transport to the city, or left on our bed during dinner/bed turndown . . . Gingerbread from Nurmburg, Salt from Salzburg, Chocolate Apricots from Melk, etc - & a wonderful book about the European Christmas Markets. We can't speak highly enough about our experience with Tauck. The Tauck staff, local guides, boat staff were all amazing & took great care of us.
http://www.tauck.com/river-cruises.aspx

I agree with the above . . . Regensburg with its Thurn & Taxis Romantic Christmas Market was our favorite - but we enjoyed them all.

My favorite market is in Stuttgart, followed by Esslingen. They are close to each other so easy to get to. Esslingen is a medieval market and quite unique.

Then, in no particular order is Idstein, Büdingen, Gelnhausen, Marburg, Limburg, Seligenstadt, Frankfurt, Mainz, Bad Homburg, Colmar, Strasbourg. I haven't gone to Berlin, Cologne, Dusseldorf, Seiffen, or Erfurt, but they are on my priority list.

I searched for Weihnachtmarkt Donaukreuzfahrt - Christmas Markets Danube Cruse. Sorry I'm no expert and have never been on one and yes they look to be almost completely booked according to the website I checked. These look to be three to four night cruses. This one is from Passau. DE to Vienna, AT and Linz, AT to Engelhartszell (Passau), DE.
https://www.a-rosa.de/en/river-cruises/danube/rivercruises/danube-christmas-markets-select-premium-20162016.html

I searched Weihnachtsmarkt Rhein Kreuzfahrt - Christmas Markets Rhine Cruse too. I could not find an English page in my quick search, but if you call I am sure someone speaks English (UK, US and non German speaking folks tourists etc):
Köln, Bonn, Rüdesheim, Koblenz, Köln
https://www.dreamlines.de/kreuzfahrt/weihnachtsmarkte-am-rhein-51133
Köln, Koblenz, Mainz, Köln
https://www.rewe-reisen.de/urlaub/MS+Elegant+Lady+-+Weihnachtsm%C3%A4rkte+entlang+des+Rhein-DMJ671D.html

Just plug in the river name when searching, Weihnachtsmarkt rivername Kreuzfahrt and don't forget the 6 hour difference when calling between the East coast and Germany

I am no train expert either, but train travel to cities with Weihnachtmarkt you wan to visit and hotels you want to stay in could be fun too (Nürnberg, Regensburg, Landshut?). I would expect that there are itineraries, trip reports and recommendations buried in the Rick Steves Forums.

You might want to check out the brand-new Rick Steve's tour to Munich, Salzburg and Vienna. There are four weeks that happen during Christmas market time- and they all have space available. Great itinerary to see German and Austrian markets, as well as many other interesting sites. You would have plenty of free time to make short day trips to specific cities not included. One downside to river cruises during busy times is how crowded the piers become. We have often seen those "water parking lots" where one boat's balconies are only feet away from those of the ship parked right next to them. Some unlucky boats are wedged in on both sides. Most of all, I wouldn't want to miss the magic of walking around the cities at night to experience the lights, decorations, food and drink being offered in the market atmosphere. You can't do that on a cruise.

We toured Germany, Austria and France last December and had a great time. I concur with Tom's comments that most Christmas markets are similar and you should first chose which cities, towns or areas you want to visit and then enjoy the Christmas markets at those places, particularly in the evening when most tourist sites are closed and the Xmas markets are at their prettiest. I also recommend that you include if possible one French city or town near Germany, such as Strasbourg, Colmar or Riquwhir which are lovely to visit with their Xmas markets. We also really enjoyed Salzburg where we spent Christmas. Personally, I don't like to use European river cruises to tour Europe since their schedules are often fixed and most of your meals are on board, rather than eating a local restaurants with their local cuisine. River cruises are also more expensive than self tours. But a lot of people like rive tours since they pre-plan everything for you, making it easy for you, but remember at a cost and with a lack of flexibility. Have a great time.

Most of the wares at your typical Christmas market are completely
interchangeable

Only if you visit culturally similar regions. Most American tourists visit just the Catholic south of Germany and neighboring (Catholic) Austria. Of course it all feels pretty similar.
You can't find a Silesian Christmas market or a miner's parade in Bavaria.