Photo tour from Christmas Markets Basel to Cologne
Learn more about Germany’s Christmas markets, known in German as Weihnachtsmärkte
Father Winter visit the Rhine
Fresh snow in Cologne, Germany set the stage for a winter wonderland.
The four weeks before Christmas mark a festive time of year along the Rhine river. The towns we visited via Uniwolrd Cruises SS Antoinette looked beautiful with a fresh blanket of snow. On the day we visited Cologne, Germany there was a buzz in the air. In the afternoon the buzz would morph into a jolly good time as people arrived from all over the region to take part in the Christmas markets.
Shop-til-you-drop
The Christmas markets offer a variety of things for sale. Ornaments, nutcrackers, music boxes, smoking men, candle arches, music, advent calendars, gingerbread cookies, miniature figures, wood carvings, soaps, candles, food and wine are available for purchase in all the markets.
Typical Christmas Market Scenes
Eating my way through the Christmas Markets
If I was not drinking the warmed-spiced wine, I was busy eating the brats. The smells coming off the open-air grills would lure me every time. In the photo below, I am sampling a brat from the market in Speyer.
Christmas cookies
One of the German Christmas traditions I learned about were Christmas cookies. Our ship, SS Antoinette did not have any shortage of cookies. In fact, the pastry chef made sure we had access to some of the best cookies on the Rhine while cruising on Uniworld for the week.
