Danube Christmas Markets — Amadeus Queen

Six nights on the Danube, from the most famous Christmas market in Germany to the most elegant one in Europe. It starts in Nuremberg, among the red-and-white stalls of the Christkindlesmarkt, gingerbread and mulled wine, then follows the river through medieval Regensburg and Passau, the city of three rivers.

Into Austria, the golden baroque of Melk Abbey rises above the water, the Wachau valley slips by, and the journey ends in Vienna, where the Christmas lights on the Graben and the market in front of City Hall turn the whole city into a winter postcard.