DESTINATIONS CHRISTMAS MARKETS CRUISE
SAMPLE PRODUCT
Uniworld is
offering savings of up to £800 per couple on Christmas markets sailings this year if booked by June 30. The line has four
festive cruises along the Rhine,
Danube and Main. To get guests
feeling even more festive, there’s a range of Taste of Christmas tours, which include tasting
festive treats on the charming streets of
Koblenz, pretzel- making classes in Wertheim and mulled wine tasting in Durnstein. Among this
year’s four cruises is a European
Holiday Markets cruise on Maria Theresa from Nuremberg to Vienna, and a Rhine Holiday
Markets sailing on Antoinette. Prices for an eight-day
sailing start from £1,979, or £1,579 including an early-booking discount.
uniworld.com 52
travelweekly.co.uk 9 June 2016
Trianon tends to be busier during the day as its panoramic windows make it the perfect place to sit and watch the world go by. On my Rhine cruise, it was where guests sat and listened as a guide highlighted countless German castles, landmarks and vineyards, while we travelled upstream from Cologne to Strasbourg. The giant mulled wine dispenser became a popular attraction in the Salon, particularly when cold guests returned to the ship from sightseeing or Christmas market shopping. There’s no better way of warming up than with a gluhwein and a gingerbread biscuit – bliss. After dinner, guests keen to relax
would return here, but for those looking for something a little livelier, the Leopard Bar was the place. Located at the back of the ship and decorated with animal print throughout, this trendy bar wouldn’t look out of place in a London club. It was in the Leopard Bar that I had the
The giant mulled wine dispenser became a popular attraction in the Salon when guests returned to the ship
most fun – singing and dancing to the band and laughing for hours with other guests.
w SHOPPING SPREE After spending our first night docked in Cologne, we ventured into the city on a guided tour, ending, of course, in one of Cologne’s many Christmas markets. These tend to run from the end of November until a day or two before Christmas. It’s hard not to be caught up in the
ABOVE: Christmas
decorations on Antoinette BELOW LEFT: Cologne
Cathedral’s Christmas market
joy of Christmas when aromas of hot chestnuts, freshly baked treats and mulled wine are all around. The centrepiece of the main Cathedral market is a 25-metre Christmas tree, lit up by 50,000 LED lights – it was here I began my countdown to Christmas. Next on the list of destinations was Rüdesheim – probably my favourite port of call of the sailing. Its cobbled streets are filled with beaming, twinkling lights and there’s no part of town not overtaken by the sprawling 124-stall market. It is also said to have the largest depiction of the nativity scene in Europe, our guide tells us, with life-sized figures of Jesus, Mary and Joseph. All German towns and cities seem to do Christmas well, but this pretty fairytale-like town is up there with the best of them. Koblenz, on the other hand, didn’t
have anywhere near as big an array of stalls (probably a good thing, as I’d already spent way too much on decorations by this point), but the city’s historic buildings and interesting past more than made up for it. Leaving Antoinette full of festive cheer and spirit certainly set me up for a magical Christmas, and my Christmas tree ended up looking more glorious than ever before.
PICTURES: UNIWORLD
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