St. Stephen’s Cathedral
This Saturday is International Chocolate Day (Sep 13), and I can’t help but think back to my chocolatey Christmas cruise down the Blue Danube with Viking River Cruises. Our first magical stop: Passau, Germany.
See the other stops from the cruise here:
The air smelled like cinnamon, smoke—and chocolate. Mountains of it. Germany produces 169 million chocolate Santas each holiday season. Luckily, chocolate makes for the sweetest kind of souvenir. With only a day to explore our first stop in Passau, I set out to chase the most magical moments:
- Cozying up with steaming glühwein at Passau’s market
- Discovering the spot where the Danube, Ilz, and Inn rivers meet
- Taking a sunny walk along the river promenade around the Altstadt
- Hanging silver baubles on a Christmas tree
- Passau’s Christmas Market—known as the Christkindlmarkt—first flickered to life on December 1, 1924
Passau’s Christmas Market is smaller than Germany’s major city markets, with around 70 stalls set in front of St. Stephen’s Cathedral
At some German markets, glühwein prices have jumped nearly 50%, now closer to $5 per mug
Strolling the sunlit promenade that wraps around Passau’s Altstadt
