Eastern Europe in winter is a mood. Just as a gray fog tightens its grasp on the Carpathian Mountains from November through early January, towns across the region start to glow with string lights and Christmas trees. In the Balkans, the Lower Danube River—which can be traced through Romania to Bulgaria, through Serbia, into Croatia, and onward to Hungary—is lined by cliffs, castle fortresses, and holiday markets offering wood-carved ornaments, sausage rolls, and steaming cups of mulled rakia (fruit brandy). And I watched it all go by from an excellent vantage point: a steaming hot tub on the roof of a ship sailing down the water.
Holiday market river cruises are popular across the continent, but this past November AmaWaterways’ ”Gems of Southeast Europe” itinerary took me to festive bazaars less trodden. Aside from the merriment in major cities like Romania’s Bucharest, Serbia’s Belgrade, and Hungary’s Budapest, the 136-passenger AmaBella ship also docks near smaller markets in the town squares of Novi Sad, Serbia, and Pécs, Hungary. But in contrast to the touristy events you’ll find in popular winter destinations like Prague or Munich, your visit to a Christmas market here will seem like partaking in a local holiday party.
Beyond the seasonal celebrations, the landscapes of southeast Europe are unlike the rest of the Danube, with forested mountains rising on either side of the water, and the Decebalus sculpture, a towering face carved into a cliffside rock pillar in Romania, overlooking all those who pass on the river. Taking a river cruise in this corner of Europe transports travelers to a region where timeworn buildings and traditions have persisted through decades of tragedy and triumph.
One of the largest holiday markets along this stretch of the Danube is in Budapest.
Courtesy of AmaWaterways
Bustling cities and charming small towns—cruising Eastern Europe
On its way to the Black Sea, the Danube River flows past ancient Roman ruins, curved medieval Ottoman roofs, baroque classical buildings, and Soviet Brutalist architecture. Some of the oldest settlements in Europe are here in the Balkan region. During the cruise, passengers learn about Neolithic towns like Plovdiv in Bulgaria; visit Croatia’s Vučedol archaeological site, dating back to 3,000 B.C.; and retrace 15th-century battles at the medieval Golubac Fortress in Serbia, which looks like a castle from a storybook drawing, crowning stone cliffs that rise from the water.
The river winds between time and between regions. “It’s not Western Europe, but it is not completely Eastern—it’s a mixture,” says Nikola Grujin, an AmaWaterways cruise manager. The Balkan area has seen its share of wars over the millennium, all the way through the late 20th century, and has started to see larger increases in tourism only in the past two decades.
“This was a part of the world that was enclosed because of political reasons, but there are such nice people living here,” says Grujin. “And traveling [lets you see] that we have much more in common than we are different.”
The seven-day journey starts or ends in Bucharest, and you can choose to extend your time before or after the cruise in this city that used to be called “Little Paris” because of its abundant 19th-century French architecture. Though the weather can be cooler this time of year, the mist is certainly conducive to Romania’s vampire, or strigoi, lore. Many people on the cruise extend their time in Bucharest to take a day trip to Bran Castle, made famous by Bram Stoker’s Dracula, but it’s the drive through the mountainous countryside—past Peles castle and hulking mansions—that steals the show.
The other end of the cruise is Budapest, famous for its thermal baths, wide boulevards lined by grand architecture, and one of the best holiday markets on the continent. AmaWaterways offers cruisers the option to purchase additional nights at this terminus, so they have time to tour churches, Buda Castle overlooking the city, and the domed and steepled parliament building. (There’s also an option to add ground transportation to Vienna, for its popular Christmas market.)
Warm up during a winter Danube sailing in the Széchenyi Thermal Baths in Budapest.
Photo by Jacob Fryer/Unsplash
The third major city on the itinerary is Belgrade in Serbia, which has an edgy coolness to it. Along with exploring a historical fortress, churches, pedestrian avenues, and a park designed like Versailles, visitors will find a good amount of street art and spray-painted murals, dozens of bookstores, thrift shops, restaurants reinterpreting traditional cuisine, and neon-lit bars.
There are also numerous hidden-gem small towns along the way. In Hungary, guests can go ashore to Pécs, where the main plaza and crooked side streets are lined with ornamented, pastel-colored buildings, making it look like a town of decorated gingerbread houses. And in Veliko Tarnovo—a town in Bulgaria spread across three hills divided by a river valley—craft shops line cobblestoned streets that wind through terra-cotta–roofed homes climbing up the slopes. One of the hills is topped with a fortress whose insides are painted with modernist Soviet-style frescoes.
The main highlight that defines this part of the Danube is the Iron Gate, where the Carpathian Mountains on the Romanian side of the river meet the Balkan Mountains on the opposite Serbian shore, forming a series of narrow gorges between the cliffs that the ship sails through for the majority of a day. And at the end of one gorge sits the 131-foot-tall rock sculpture of Decebalus, the face of a first-century king from the region carved into the cliff at the turn of the 21st century.
“I have sailed on so many different rivers around Europe, and I’m proud to say that in Serbia and Romania, this is one of the wonders of nature. I’ve never seen a river that goes through such a gorge like we have seen today,” Grujin says. Aim to spend as much time as possible on the top deck of the ship during these hours; better yet, watch the bluffs go by while lounging in the hot tub on the roof of the ship. “The other parts of the river and the Danube itself are nice, but this is very different, and this is why it is so appealing.”
AmaWaterways’ “Gems of Southeast Europe” sailing either starts or ends in Bucharest, from which passengers can explore other Romanian towns like Brasov.
Courtesy of AmaWaterways
Eastern Europe’s Christmas markets
Going to Christmas markets in Eastern Europe is a good way to extend your holiday celebrations. While the stalls in Western Europe shut down around December 24, the predominantly Orthodox Christian areas in Eastern Europe keep theirs open through January 6, since some Orthodox communities celebrate Christmas on January 7, according to the Julian (rather than Gregorian) calendar. You’ll therefore find later holiday markets throughout Romania, Serbia, and Croatia, though keep in mind this also means their markets start later, usually toward the end of November.
Budapest has the earliest open market on the cruise’s itinerary, beginning around mid-November. This is also the largest and most attended holiday market on the itinerary (outside of Vienna, which guests can choose to add as an excursion to the end or beginning of the cruise, depending on which direction they sail). “Budapest is one of my favorite ones,” says Grujin. “The stalls are beautifully decorated. The smell while you are going around is amazing—smells of cinnamon, of different things that are cooking on the street, the salty, savory things, the different drinks that are served.”
Mulled wine is a popular drink in the holiday markets all across Europe, including in Eastern Europe, and Grujin says locals in this region often try to collect the small mugs in which the beverage is served from different cities. But the drink that stands out in Eastern European holiday markets is rakia, a type of brandy made from plums, apricots, apples, or whatever fruit is available in the region.
“It’s very typical of the Balkans,” says local Croatian tour guide Marta Maria Mekovec de Carvalho Pokupic. “You have rakia in Romania, you have it in Serbia, you have it in Bosnia. And everyone has their own distillery process for it. What sort of fruit are you going to use? Are you going to make it out of honey, are you going to make it out of nuts?”
In Serbia, you’ll find mulled rakia, made from plums, caramelized sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and anise, all heated together in a mug. “The Balkans have a lot of similar things,” says Nemanja Nikolic, a local guide in Belgrade. You’ll therefore also find many stalls selling sausages, smoked pork, jams, and local cakes.
One specialty item worth looking for in the holiday markets in Croatia is a licitar heart ornament. “The licitar heart used to be a gingerbread-type of cookie,” says Pokupic, though made from honey dough rather than ginger, shaped into a heart and decorated with piped frosting. “We still do make them, but they’ve become more of a souvenir type of item, where [now] we just make them out of resin. But we still use them—as we used to in history—as Christmas decorations.”
You can buy traditional ornaments at the Eastern European Christmas markets.
Photo by Elkhophoto/Shutterstock (L); courtesy of AmaWaterways (R)
The cruise docks in Vukovar, Croatia, and though there’s no official Christmas market there, Ama arranges a small group of stalls from local merchants specially for cruise guests, and there you may be able to find the hearts. “The piping [pattern] depends on whether you’re in Zagreb or in Velika,” Pokupic says, describing the frosting design on the heart. “So you can recognize by the piping which region it’s actually from,” Pokupic continues, explaining that many people try to collect the different ones.
In Bucharest, the holiday markets also have ice skating, a Ferris wheel, and musical performances, in addition to Romanian foods like stuffed cabbage rolls, bean soup, swirled chocolate cozonac cake, and homemade cornulete cu gem cookies with spiral dough stuffed with Turkish delight. Try to catch one of three Christmas markets in the city, either in Constitution Square in front of the parliament palace near Old Town, the indoor Laminor Christmas market, or the West Side Christmas market in Moghioros Park.
Belgrade’s market has only a few stalls, though Knez Mihailova street in the central area has many Christmas lights, decorations, and shops, making the entire pedestrian avenue seem like its own holiday market. And the smaller markets in towns like Novi Sad, Serbia, and Pecs, Hungary, have postcard scenery, lit up with overhead twinkle lights and projections on surrounding municipal buildings in the central square.
Life on board
On board the 136-passenger AmaBella ship, the staff do an admirable job of decorating public spaces with holiday wreaths, fir trees, lights, baubles, Santa figurines, and more during the holiday season. The ship has one lounge with numerous couches, a bar, and a piano that’s professionally played most evenings. Some nights, the lounge also hosts performances by cultural dancers from the region, as well as tree decorating, dancing, or holiday sing-alongs. Up the stairs outside is a top deck with a walking track, oversize chess pieces, lounge chairs and tables, and a hot tub with two large sections. There’s also a small gym and a spa room where guests can pay for massages or haircuts.
The majority of staterooms and suites on the AmaBella feature the line’s signature twin balcony concept with one indoor seating area and one outdoor area.
Courtesy of AmaWaterways
There are two restaurants, a larger one on the lowest deck where most meals are served, and a smaller room with floor-to-ceiling windows at the back of the ship for chef tasting experiences. The food served on board is mostly French and American. A few dishes from the Balkan region are sprinkled in mostly as appetizers (and there’s a superb Hungarian goulash for the dinner entree one night), but if you really want to get a taste of each country you visit, aim to get snacks or meals while roaming through different towns and cities during the excursions. Included for each guest is one night at the chef’s tasting experience, which is an expanded version of the nightly dinner menu, with additional dishes like caviar, coconut lemongrass soup, and homemade gnocchi with walnuts.
Probably the best part of a river cruise in Eastern Europe is the excursions and access to knowledgeable local guides. Getting to visit multiple countries from the ease of your floating hotel that docks near the center of town is really what the experience is all about. “Here, it is emphasized that you can go—and you’re encouraged to go—every day as much as possible to discover local culture and speak with the locals,” says Grujin.
There’s an option to venture on at least one excursion every day, on bike or walking tours to different castles, museums, and wine tastings, all of which are guided but fairly laid-back and flexible. Guests are perfectly welcome to break off from the group and explore on their own, as long as everyone is back on board the ship by the disembarkation time printed on the itinerary. Though the weather can be chilly and cloudy, sometimes with rain and potentially some snow, this time of year offers a truly unique opportunity to see and experience different local holiday festivities throughout this culturally rich region.
“If you are lucky,” Grujin says, “that you are somewhere in the Christmas market and it’s dark, and then it starts snowing, that’s magical.”
