Join Our State as we shop the fairy-tale settings of Europe’s Christmas Markets. Each market is unique and reflects local traditions in food, drink, specialty crafts, holiday decorations, sights, and sensations. Enjoy this magical time of year as Europe’s countries hold steadfastly onto Old World holiday tradition and transform into fairy-tale Christmas settings. The sights and sensations of the holiday season are everywhere with the tastes of chocolate-covered Lebkuchen (gingerbread), sizzling grilled sausages, and spiced hot “Gluehwein” (mulled wine). Shop for ornaments, crafts, candles, nutcrackers, winter hats, roasted nuts, and other traditional items.
December 10-18, 2025
Package Includes:
Round-trip airfare from Raleigh-Durham International Airport or Charlotte Douglas International Airport- One night in a hotel in Frankfurt
- Six-night cruise in an outside cabin
- 18 meals: seven breakfasts, five lunches, and six dinners
- Premier World Discovery tour director
- Our State host
- Hand-selected wines and beers with dinners
- Welcome and farewell dinners
- Our State beer and wine reception
- Ship staff
- Wi-Fi onboard
- Baggage handling at hotel and ship
- International air taxes/fuel/port charges
- Hotel and ship transfers
Round-trip airfare from Raleigh-Durham International Airport or Charlotte Douglas International AirportGratuities not included.
Itinerary Highlights:
- Vienna city tour
- Nuremberg city tour and Christmas market
- Frankfurt Christmas market
- Salzburg tour and Christmas market
- Rothenburg walking tour and Christmas market
- Regensburg walking tour and Christmas market
- Melk Abbey and Gluehwein tasting
- Extended Vienna port
Detailed Itinerary:
Day 1: Depart from the U.S.
Wednesday, December 10, 2025
Board your overnight flight to Frankfurt.
Day 2: Frankfurt
Thursday, December 11, 2025
Meet your Premier World Discovery tour director. Transfer to your hotel for check-in and enjoy a Frankfurt Christmas Market Experience. Located on the River Main, Frankfurt is the transportation center of Germany and home of the European Central Bank and the German Stock Exchange. Every year, the scent of roasted chestnuts, mulled wine, and grilled sausages fill the air above the Römerberg during the holiday season. Frankfurt’s Christmas market is famous for several traditional Christmas delicacies.
Overnight: Frankfurt
Day 3: Rothenburg • Nuremberg
Friday, December 12, 2025
Travel via motor coach to Rothenburg for a walking tour and Christmas market experience. To the west of the Franconian countryside is the medieval city of Rothenburg, Germany’s best-preserved medieval town. As you stroll the cobblestone streets, you are spellbound by the city’s 700-year-old charm. The quaint buildings with the original half-timbered walls and the town hall square are lined with festively decorated booths.
Travel to Nuremberg and board the MS Amadeus Nova for a six-night cruise with a welcome dinner onboard. The ship will be docked overnight in Nuremberg.
Meals: Breakfast, Dinner
Overnight: Amadeus Nova
Day 4: Nuremberg
Saturday, December 13, 2025
This morning, enjoy a Nuremberg city tour. After your Nuremberg city tour, experience the world’s best-known Christmas market, visited by more than two million people every year. Located inside this medieval city’s walls on the Market Square around the St. Lorenz Church, the Christmas market is filled with specialty stalls and booths. Nuremberg’s lamp posts are decorated with Christmas symbols, garlands of natural fir, and colored lights. Try the famous Nuremberger Lebkuchen (gingerbread) and the original Nuremberger Wuerstle (small grilled pork sausages). On the ship this afternoon, we pass the Continental Divide. Enjoy an evening wine and beer reception with fellow Our State travelers.
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Overnight: Amadeus Nova
Day 5: Regensburg
Sunday, December 14, 2025
Situated in Eastern Bavaria, Regensburg is one of Germany’s oldest towns, founded by the Romans in 179 A.D. Today it is a prosperous city with three universities and many landmarks dated to the Middle Ages. Enjoy a Regensburg walking tour through one of the most visited cities in Germany and its medieval Old Town, a UNESCO World Heritage site, and spend time at the colorful Christmas market. The ship will be docked in the evening in Regensburg.
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Overnight: Amadeus Nova
Day 6: Passau • Salzburg
Monday, December 15, 2025
Passau is one of Germany’s oldest cities, situated at the confluence of the Inn, Ilz, and Danube rivers. Passau is a beautiful and fascinating fairy-tale town with cobblestone streets and the famous Baroque Cathedral of St. Stephen. Travel to Salzburg for a walking tour of the famous Old Town, Mirabel Gardens, Mozart Square, the Dom Cathedral, and historic center made famous by the “Sound of Music.” See Mozart’s birthplace, located at No. 9 Getreidegasse, the home where the Mozart family lived from 1747 to 1773. Enjoy time at leisure to shop, visit a café, stroll the wonderful Getreidegasse, and experience the famous Christmas markets throughout this walkable city.
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Overnight: Amadeus Nova
Day 7: Melk • Vienna
Tuesday, December 16, 2025
Visit and tour the Melk Abbey, an Austrian Benedictine abbey and one of the world’s most famous monastic sites. The impressive Baroque abbey was built between 1702 and 1736. Later, enjoy a mug of hot mulled wine before boarding your ship. Cruise to Vienna in the afternoon and enjoy an optional “Sound of Vienna” concert.
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Overnight: Amadeus Nova
Day 8: Vienna
Wednesday, December 17, 2025
Enjoy a Vienna city tour. For more than 600 years, the magnificent Baroque capital city of Vienna was the seat of the mighty Hapsburg emperors, a heritage that has bestowed it with many dazzling palaces and monuments, including the lavish Hofburg Palace, the impressive Vienna Opera House, and the majestic Ringstrasse. The capital is also known as the “City of Music” for having once been the home of composers Beethoven, Schubert, Mozart, and Johann Strauss. Maybe visit the Schoenbrunn Palace dressed for the season. Enjoy a gala farewell dinner onboard.
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Overnight: Amadeus Nova
Day 9: Departure
Transfer to the Vienna airport for your flight home.
The Ship: MS Amadeus Nova
The innovative and custom-designed 158-passenger Amadeus Nova, launched in 2024, offers all the amenities of a floating five-star hotel. This premium cruise ship features modern furnishings that blend masterfully with the architecture of the ship and a luxurious design that is the hallmark of the Amadeus fleet. The extensive restaurant and the Panorama Bar offer divine views of the passing riverscapes. The attentive, English-speaking onboard service staff will see to your comfort with typical European hospitality. The cabin design plans are forward-thinking, bright, and modern, all part of a premium focus, with 67 large staterooms and 12 suites. The beauty of river cruising is that the most interesting destinations come to you. This Nova charter features English-only onboard commentary with inclusive shore excursions, balanced with the choice to simply relax onboard, get a spa treatment, or sightseeing with optional excursions.
All meals included onboard
Three meals daily are served graciously in the exquisite restaurant and feature local and international specialties. All dinners are four courses and are served with included hand-selected wines, beers, and soft drinks. While dining, you have splendid views of the passing scenic landscapes through the large picture windows. Enjoy afternoon and/or late-evening snacks in the lounge, based on the daily schedule.
Comfortable and innovative staterooms
After boarding, unpack once. All staterooms are larger than traditional river cruise cabins and offer excellent river views. The Mozart Deck features 12 suites with walk-out balconies. The other 16 staterooms on the Mozart Deck and 35 staterooms on the Strauss Deck feature innovative panoramic drop-down windows. The 16 staterooms on the Haydn Deck have a fixed window. All staterooms are fully equipped with comfortable and modern furnishings, including flat-screen TVs and large private bathrooms with shower.
Tour Rates:
Regular rate: Tour rates start at $4,645 per person (based on double occupancy), but the actual cost is based on stateroom selections. Please click here for a detailed look at what’s available, as well as single rates.
For Reservations & More Information:
Premier World Discovery
Melissa Grant
(877) 953-8687, ext. 238 (Pacific Time)
mgrant@premierworlddiscovery.com
For more information on physical requirements and what to expect on an Our State trip, click here.
