Christmas Markets Along the Danube (2012)

Depart the U.S. today on your flight to Nuremberg, Germany.

Arrive in Nuremberg this morning, where a Grand Circle representative meets you at the airport and helps you transfer to the pier to embark your waiting river ship. Upon arrival, enjoy some free time to relax and familiarize yourself with your ship. A light lunch will be served onboard.

Gather this evening for a ship briefing, and meet your Program Director and fellow travelers over a Welcome Drink.

After enjoying our Captain’s Welcome Dinner, settle in for your first night onboard.

After breakfast, disembark for a tour of Nuremberg, one of the most important cities of the Franconia region.

This medieval city surrounded by 13th-century walls is the second-largest city in Bavaria. Today the city’s name evokes the notorious post-World War II war trials. But throughout its history, Nuremberg has been known for its wonderful creativity and handcrafts—its toys and fancy metalwork are particularly famous.

Return to the ship for lunch. We then take you into town for a delightful visit to Nuremberg’s famous Christkindlmarkt (Christmas Market), where you have free time to browse on your own. This is Germany’s most famous traditional Christmas market, and it is open throughout the holiday season. Here a myriad of colorful stalls offers handmade Christmas decorations, toys, ceramics, glasswork, and candles. Food stalls tempt you with Bratwurst, mulled wines, sweets, and pastries—including the famous Nuremberg gingerbread. Various programs regale visitors with chorale offerings, concerts, and a live Nativity scene.

Later, join an optional excursion to the Documentation Center on the former Nazi Party Rally Grounds in Nuremberg. In 1998, the city of Nuremberg held an architectural competition for the center's design for which designers had to fit the proposed center in the Congress Hall, and deal with the site's intimidating architecture and ominous premise. Today's optional tour features the center built from the winning design and the surrounding grounds.

Before dinnertime, the ship quietly slips anchor and heads out on the Main-Danube canal. We cruise overnight on our way to our next port-of-call.

This morning, cruise the Main-Danube Canal, Europe’s highest canal. We start the day with our crossing of the European watershed (at 1,332 feet, the highest point of the canal). This ridge of higher land divides the areas drained by the two different rivers, the Main and Danube. Here, rain north of the watershed flows to the North Sea, and rain to the south flows to the Black Sea.

You will learn more when you join us for an onboard discussion outlining the amazing history of the great Main-Danube Canal. The technological workings of this canal are an engineering marvel. You are also invited to an exclusive Discovery Series lesson in the German language, where you can learn some German phrases commonly used during the Christmas season.

You have lunch onboard just as we’re arriving in Regensburg, a hidden treasure with elements dating back to medieval times. After your meal, go ashore for a walking tour. Since the city suffered no damage during World War II, it remains beautifully preserved.

Your tour features the Old Town Hall and the famous Stone Bridge, Germany's oldest, which was constructed during the twelfth century. You also visit the Regensberg Christkindlmarkt (Christmas Market) in Neupfarrplatz, which lights up in December with seasonal cheer. You have time here to explore on your own, strolling among the stalls and shopping for unique handmade Christmas gifts.

After dinner on the ship, join us as we walk to a local church to hear a choral concert featuring festive holiday music.

You return to the ship, which remains docked in Regensburg overnight, later in the evening.

This morning, learn the intricacies of glassblowing, as a local artisan demonstrates this traditional craft.

Later, we’ll convene for an exclusive Discovery Series discussion on Europeans Today. You’ll also enjoy an exclusive Discovery Series cooking demonstration where you’ll learn how to make Stollen, a traditional German bread made with fruit and nuts and topped with powdered sugar.You spend the afternoon and early evening cruising. If the weather obliges, you might go on deck and take in the scenes of life along the banks of this noble river, or spend some time with fellow travelers over coffee or cards.

In late evening we arrive in Passau, where we dock overnight.

This morning, learn about local holiday lore during an exclusive Discovery Series discussion about German Christmas Traditions. Learn about the origins of the Tannenbaum (Christmas Tree), the Advent calendar, and more. Then disembark for a tour of the lovely medieval town of Passau.

Situated at the confluence of the Danube, the Ilz, and the Inn rivers, Passau has been called the Dreiflussestadt (City on Three Rivers) because of its location. The city was significantly developed by the prince bishops of Passau, who made it their royal residence and capital of the largest Danube diocese.

You’ll enjoy a short walking tour of this elegant town that has served as a German cultural and intellectual hub for centuries. See the impressive Bishop’s Residenz, the 13th-century Town Hall, and the town’s magnificent 17th-century St. Stephen’s Cathedral, which boasts the world’s largest church organ, with 17,774 pipes and 231 resounding stops. The Cathedral’s original Gothic plan is still evident through the 17th-century reconstruction it received in the grand Baroque style. One of its most striking features is the gorgeous octagonal dome that hovers over the intersection of the nave, where the congregation sits, and the transept, which runs perpendicular to it.

The colorful Christmas Market is located in front of the Cathedral. You have some free time to do some shopping or just browse the wide assortment of handcrafts and Christmas creations.

Have lunch aboard ship, and then enjoy free time to discover more of the town on your own. Stop in at the ship’s bar during the afternoon and enjoy some gingerbread accompanied by special Gluehwein—a traditional hot and spicy wine. The ship sails again in late afternoon.

Relax over dinner as we cruise the river. In late evening, we reach our next port of Aschach, where we remain overnight.

If you are joining our optional tour of Salzburg this morning, you will disembark in Aschach. Otherwise, remain onboard as we set sail for Linz, arriving in thelate morning. Enjoy lunch on the ship, then take the afternoon to explore on your own.

Linz, one of the largest ports on the Danube and the second-most populous city in Austria, was first settled by Romans in the first century AD. It is now one of the cultural centers of Austria. You might want to walk the city’s Hauptplatz, one of the loveliest squares in Europe, lined with Rococo and Baroque architecture. Or you could choose to visit the 17th-century Abbey of St. Florian, where Linz’s native son, Anton Bruckner, was the organist and composed many of his famed masterpieces of church music. His burial site is at the abbey.

You could consider a visit to Linz’s historic Landhaus, a complex of structures currently used as government headquarters. These buildings served as the city’s university in the 17th century, and it was here that the well-known mathematician and astronomer Johann Kepler formulated his theory of planetary motion. A short walk takes you to the Linzer Schloss (Linz Castle), where you can browse its Provincial Museum of Upper Austria, containing artwork from medieval to modern times. Linz is also a center for trade in antiques, so you might wish to stop in at a few of its shops to see what treasures you can find.

Or,after breakfast, set off on an optional full-day excursion to Salzburg. This beautiful city—birthplace of Mozart—will seem familiar to most of us who are forever enchanted by The Sound of Music, and you'll visit the grounds where much of the film was shot.

Your tour includes a visit to the Getreidegasse, the renowned center for Austrian shopping. Note the intricate architectural details of this lane of shops and galleries, nestled under their skillfully crafted wrought-iron signs and offering jewelry, antiques, leather goods, and regional foods.The vaulted passageways offer delightful pathways to artisans' workshops and arcaded courtyards.

You'll get another taste of Alpine Christmas traditions as you visit the fabulous Salzburg Christmas Market. Handmade seasonal crafts of all sorts are available, and the aromas of traditional holiday foods add magic to the colorful setting.

Have lunch in this beautiful city and free time to explore on your own before boarding your ship again in the late afternoon in Linz.

This evening, as we cruise the river again, celebrate your discoveries and new Christmas memories at the Captain’s Farewell Dinner onboard. We arrive in Melk near midnight.

After breakfast, disembark in Melk for a tour of the historic town and enjoy an excursion to the dramatic 900-year-old Baroque Melk Abbey. This magnificently ornate structure has a long and storied history. Strategically situated on a steep, cliffside perch, Melk Abbey's earliest incarnation was as a Roman border post. Later, it served as a tenth-century Babenberg fortress. It became a Benedictine monastery in 1089 and earned a distinguished reputation for medieval scholarship. Its library includes more than 70,000 books and 2,000 manuscripts, chiefly from the ninth through the 15th centuries.

Umberto Eco, author of the well-known book The Name of the Rose, a murder mystery of monastic intrigue, was inspired by the grandeur of Melk Abbey: Eco uses Heinrich von Melk, a Benedictine brother from Melk Abbey who wrote the ironic poem “About Priestly Life,” as one of the novel’s main characters. The novel contains a great deal of scholarly information about the Middle Ages (Eco is known primarily as a scholar) and the compelling politics of medieval religion. The book’s setting is fictional, but the story climaxes with a devastating fire that mirrors the real history of Melk Abbey, which was ravaged by fires in 1297 and 1683. The stately Baroque edifice that stands today, with its twin towers and 208-foot-high dome, dates from its reconstruction in 1736.

The Abbey houses a remarkable cherub-filled library of thousands of books and manuscripts, and 365 windows—one for every day of the year. The interior of the Abbey’s church is a kaleidoscope of red, orange, and gold—with a magnificent carved pulpit and shimmering ceiling frescoes.

After your tour, you’ll take in an Exclusive Discovery Series organ concert in the Abbey.

After setting sail again near lunchtime, relax onboard and enjoy the stunning scenery moving past your eyes while cruising along one of the most beautiful parts of the Danube—the Wachau Valley. This UNESCO World Heritage Site consists of a landscape of sculpted hills and medieval towns built along the river.

You arrive in Vienna before dinnertime. You can accompany your Program Director for a casual excursion into this elegant city.

Vienna without music wouldn’t be Vienna. So, subject to availability of tickets, you may want to join us this evening on an optional Musical Vienna outing for a performance in one of Vienna’s famed concert halls. This optional excursion is an excellent opportunity to hear classical Viennese music in a setting where Johann Strauss himself performed.

After breakfast, disembark and transfer to the airport for your flight home.