The Christmas Markets of Europe with Jen Coffey

Few cities make a first impression quite like Budapest. Straddling the Danube with a skyline full of domes, spires, and floodlit bridges, the Hungarian capital earns its reputation as one of Europe’s most beautiful cities the moment you arrive. Check in to your hotel, take a breath, and let the excitement of the journey ahead settle in.

This evening, you’ll meet your tour leader and fellow travellers at a welcome meeting before heading out to toast the start of the trip over a welcome dinner. Grand boulevards, the glimmer of the river at night, good food, and great company: this is Budapest doing what it does best.

🏨 Accommodation

• Mövenpick Hotel Budapest Centre (Standard Room) or Similar, Budapest

🍽️ Included Meals

• Dinner

✅ Activities

• Welcome Meeting, Budapest
• Welcome Dinner, Budapest

💸 Local City/Tourist Taxes

• Some destinations charge a local city or tourist tax or entry fee that is not included in your trip payment. Whether this applies, how it’s collected, and the amount can vary by destination and is subject to change. Please check the destination guide(s) linked in the Important Notes section to confirm whether this applies to your trip and how to prepare for it.

Budapest in December is something else entirely. The city pulls on its winter coat and transforms into a scene straight from a snow globe, with Christmas markets filling the squares with the scent of mulled wine, roasted chestnuts, and spiced everything. After breakfast, you’ll head out to explore one of the city’s beloved festive markets, warming your hands around an included drink as you browse the stalls.

The rest of the day is yours to fill however the city moves you. Wander the Danube promenade and drink in the views of Buda Castle and the Parliament building doing their best impression of a postcard. Duck into one of Budapest’s grand old coffeehouses for a slice of cake and a slow afternoon to watch the world go by. However you spend it, the city rewards the curious.

🏨 Accommodation

• Mövenpick Hotel Budapest Centre (Standard Room) or Similar, Budapest

🍽️ Included Meals

• Breakfast

✅ Activities

• Budapest Christmas Market Visit with Included Drink
• Suggestion: Stroll Along the Danube Promenade
• Suggestion: Visit to a Traditional Budapest Coffeehouse

This morning, after breakfast, you’ll board your private transport and leave Budapest behind, trading one grand European capital for another. The journey to Vienna takes around three and a half hours, and with the Austrian countryside rolling past the window, it passes quickly. By the time you arrive and settle in, the city is already calling.

Vienna at Christmas is hard to beat. Once you’ve dropped your bags, step out into the city’s beautifully preserved streets and find your way to one of its famous Christmas markets, an included glass of mulled wine in hand. Twinkling lights, craft stalls, the smell of something warm and spiced in the air: the Austrian capital does festive with real conviction. The evening is yours to explore further, so take your time and let the city reveal itself at its own pace.

🏨 Accommodation

• Leonardo Hotel Vienna Westbahnhof (Standard Room) or Similar, Vienna

🍽️ Included Meals

• Breakfast

✅ Activities

• Private Transport from Budapest to Vienna
• Vienna Christmas Market Visit with Included Drink

Vienna is a city that rewards time, and today you have plenty of it. With a 24-hour public transport pass in hand, the whole city is yours to navigate at your own pace. Trace the sweep of the grand Ringstrasse, linger in one of the world-class museums lining its edges, or do as the Viennese do and settle into a traditional coffeehouse for a slice of torte and a properly made coffee. There is no wrong way to spend a free day here.

As the afternoon softens into evening, the city shifts into something even more atmospheric. The squares fill with warm light, the market stalls do their best trade of the day, and the air smells of cinnamon and pine. It is a fine night for another wander through the Christmas markets, a spot of holiday shopping, and perhaps one more mulled wine for good measure.

🏨 Accommodation

• Leonardo Hotel Vienna Westbahnhof (Standard Room) or Similar, Vienna

🍽️ Included Meals

• Breakfast

✅ Activities

• 24 Hour Public Transport Pass, Vienna
• Suggestion: Walk Along the Ringstrasse
• Suggestion: Visit to a Vienna Museum
• Suggestion: Coffeehouse Stop for Cake and Coffee
• Suggestion: Evening Wander Through Vienna’s Christmas Markets

After breakfast, you’ll load up and leave Vienna behind, bound for one of Europe’s most visually arresting cities. The journey to Prague takes around five hours by private transport, and it is time well spent in anticipation. Czechia’s capital has a way of stopping people in their tracks, and by the time the skyline comes into view, you’ll understand exactly why.

Once you’ve checked in and settled, a guided walking tour sets you loose among Prague’s extraordinary streets. Gothic spires, Baroque facades, and cobbled squares that seem lifted straight from the pages of a storybook: your guide will bring it all to life with context and colour. The evening is yours after that, whether that means lingering in the Old Town, finding a cosy local restaurant, or simply sitting somewhere with a good view and taking it all in.

🏨 Accommodation

• Jalta Boutique Hotel 5* (Superior Room), Feature Stay, Prague

🍽️ Included Meals

• Breakfast

✅ Activities

• Private Transport from Vienna to Prague
• Guided Walking Tour of Prague’s Old Town

Prague has a rare quality: it is just as rewarding with a plan as without one. After breakfast, the day is entirely yours, and with a 24-hour public transport pass to get you around, the whole city is within easy reach. Head up to Prague Castle for views across the rooftops and the Vltava winding below, cross the Charles Bridge at whatever pace suits you, or simply follow a cobbled lane until something catches your eye. Galleries, pubs, cafés and curiosities are never far away.

This is a city that rewards the unhurried. Take the long way around, order something you can’t pronounce, and let Prague’s famous charm do its work. Few places in Europe wear their history quite so lightly, and a free day here rarely feels wasted.

🏨 Accommodation

• Jalta Boutique Hotel 5* (Superior Room), Feature Stay, Prague

🍽️ Included Meals

• Breakfast

✅ Activities

• 24 Hour Public Transport Pass, Prague
• Suggestion: Visit to Prague Castle
• Suggestion: Walk Across the Charles Bridge

It’s an early start and a long road today, but the destination is well worth it. After breakfast, your group boards the private transport and heads west, leaving Czechia behind as Germany comes into view. The journey to Heidelberg takes around six and a half hours, and by the time you arrive, the Neckar River is catching the last of the afternoon light and the Old Town is already putting on a show.

Heidelberg has been charming visitors for centuries, and it takes very little time to see why. Once you’ve checked in, your tour leader will take you out for a first wander through the Old Town’s pastel-fronted streets, lively squares, and river views. It is a gentle, orienting introduction to a place that manages to feel both grand and immediately liveable. A fine reward for a day on the road.

🏨 Accommodation

• PLAZA Premium Heidelberg (Standard Room) or Similar, Heidelberg

🍽️ Included Meals

• Breakfast

✅ Activities

• Private Transport from Prague to Heidelberg
• Guided Orientation Walk Through Heidelberg’s Old Town

Breakfast done, today takes you across the border into France for one of the trip’s standout days. Strasbourg sits just two hours from Heidelberg by private transport, and the journey is a gentle warm up for a city that has plenty to offer. Straddling the Franco-German cultural divide with considerable style, Strasbourg is a place of timber framed houses, glassy canals, and a cathedral that has been pulling jaws earthward for the better part of a millennium.

A guided city tour leads you through the historic heart of it all, covering the famous cathedral, the picture perfect Petite France quarter, and the scenic waterways that give the city its distinctive character. After the tour, there is time to explore at your own pace before the group heads back to Heidelberg in the afternoon. Two hours in the car, one very memorable city: a fair trade by any measure.

🏨 Accommodation

• PLAZA Premium Heidelberg (Standard Room) or Similar, Heidelberg

🍽️ Included Meals

• Breakfast

✅ Activities

• Day Trip to Strasbourg, France
• Guided City Tour of Strasbourg, Including the Cathedral and Petite France Quarter

All good trips find their end, and this one closes in a city that knows how to make a lasting impression. After breakfast, the morning is yours before the group goes its separate ways. Heidelberg’s Old Town is as inviting at the end of the journey as it was at the beginning, so if time allows, a final stroll through those pastel streets or a last coffee in a riverside café is a perfectly fitting send off.

Safe travels onward, and until the next adventure.

🍽️ Included Meals

• Breakfast

🛫 Departure Notes

• Note that Heidelberg is not served by its own airport. The two closest options are Frankfurt Airport (FRA) – approximately 1 hour by train or bus; and Stuttgart Airport (STR) – approximately 1.5 to 2 hours by train. If you’re flying out on the final day, book an afternoon or evening flight to allow enough time for the journey from Heidelberg.