Viking Cruises

Call us on 138 747 (AU), 0800 447 913 (NZ), contact your local Viking travel advisor or visit viking.com | 25 of three interlinked markets, there are 50 or more Christmas trees, each with differently themed ornaments handmade by artists and crafters of all ages; in another, a near-life-size nativity. The Passau market – my favourite, mostly because the food is so delicious – is smallish and features neat rows of quaint wooden stalls reminiscent of gingerbread houses, with glorious St Stephen's Cathedral as the backdrop. In Vienna, where around 15 markets of all sizes are dotted around the city, I visit the biggest one in front of Rathaus City Hall. It's a twinkling fun fair with a 28m spruce Christmas tree surrounded by nativity scenes, ice-skating, merry-go-rounds, and a giant maple covered in huge glowing red hearts. If you're looking to experience those very festive words – jolly and merry – every market delivers, but it's the German and Austrian ones that offer the full Christmas package. TOUR NOTES: My first fairy-light encounter is on Kadlin, the Viking river ship festooned from bow to aft for the festive season, and it remains a lodestar at every stop along the way. Aside from at Vienna and Passau, Kadlin docks in the centre of town, a gentle stroll to the main action. Each day includes a free tour, usually in the morning, mostly on foot, sometimes including a coach ride in the larger cities, plus optional excursions, at an extra cost, later in the day. BONUS TIP: The music and biographies of the extraordinary Austrian composers Mozart, Haydn, Schubert, Bruchner, multiple Strausses, and honorary Austrian Beethoven, who was born in Germany but lived in Vienna more than half his life, are woven throughout the tour. Some of my fellow passengers make the music real at an evening concert, an optional addition to the tour. WHEN DO CHRISTMAS MARKETS START IN EUROPE? Christmas markets tend to start in mid- November, and some continue all the way into the first week of January. BEST FOODS TO EAT AT EUROPE'S CHRISTMAS MARKETS The temperatures during my trip range from zero with a dusting of snow to seven degrees, and sunset is around 4pm, and the best way to stay warm is to try the local fare. In Budapest, this means hearty beef goulash, creamy chicken paprikash and lokša, a thin, crisp potato pancake. If you're still hungry in Hungary, there's pork knuckle, ribs and stuffed cabbage leaves. In one of the prettiest towns of the trip, Linz, I'm mesmerised by a woman making raclette, heating and scraping the molten cheese onto a chewy slice of rye, and delighted by the smell and sight of chestnuts roasting, not quite on an open fire, but close enough. NUREMBERG, GERMANY

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