Viking River Offers 2-for-1 Pricing on Christmas Cruises

Viking River Cruises has added three new holiday season cruises to its 2009 European offerings to meet the anticipated seasonal demand.

The new “Christmas on the Rhine” begins and ends in Cologne, Germany, taking guests on six guided tours with Christmas markets in Cologne, Strasbourg, Baden-Baden and Mainz.

Guided tours of Cologne, Rüdesheim, Strasbourg, Baden-Baden, Mainz and the Alsatian Wine Country round out the eight-day journey on Viking Helvetia in late November or December.

The new “Danube & Prague Discovery” begins in Nuremberg and features both a four-night cruise on Viking Sky through Germany’s Bavarian region and a three-night stay in Prague, capital of the Czech Republic. Guests visit three German Christmas markets and have the opportunity to also visit Prague’s Christmas markets.

Also included are guided tours of Nuremberg, Regensburg, Passau and Prague and the services of a program director to help plan time in Prague. All departures are in December.

The nine-day “Holiday in the Rhineland” sails from Amsterdam to Cologne, departing on Nov. 22. The Viking Helvetia heads to Mannheim for a visit to Heidelberg’s castle and Christmas market, and visits five Christmas markets along the way in Cologne, Rüdesheim, Heidelberg, Mainz and Koblenz.

These cruises join Viking’s two other holiday season offerings along the Danube. The “Danube Explorer” on Viking Pride sails through the Wachau Valley and the Bavarian countryside, including visits to Vienna, the baroque abbey at Melk, Linz, Passau, Regensburg and Nuremberg, stopping at a minimum of four Christmas markets (if timed to occur in late November or December).

The “Danube Holiday Delight” takes guests on Viking Pride or Viking Europe through four central European countries –Germany, Austria (including a full day in Salzburg), Slovakia and Hungary- with an optional day trip to Cesky Krumlov in the Czech Republic. Viking is offering 2-for-1 pricing on all five holiday season itineraries, per Offer 61, which is detailed on Viking’s website.