TUI launches new sailings on the Danube for winter 2025

From November next year, it will be possible to sail down the Danube on TUI Maya with four- and five-night itineraries available over the Christmas and New Year. 

The itineraries include ‘Yuletide Delights’, a five-night sailing visiting Vienna, Budapest and Bratislava; ‘Festive Danube Delights,’ a five-night sailing in Austria and Slovakia; and ‘Austrian Christmas Flavours’ – a four-night sailing in Vienna, Dürnstein, Melk and Linz. 

The winter itineraries launch today, offering 15 sailings across the entire fleet.

Longer Danube voyages

Seven-night sailings will also be available over the festive period, for instance, TUI Maya’s ‘Danube Christmas Treasures’ where Christmas Day is celebrated onboard the ship, which will sail to Germany, Austria, Hungary and Slovakia. 

Passengers can see in the New Year’s with ‘A Danube New Year’ sailing, which includes calls in Vienna, Budapest, Esztergom (Hungary), Bratislava and Dürnstein. 

Rhine River 

Four-night sailings will also be available on TUI Isla and TUI Skyla on the Rhine so passengers can experience Christmas markets across a range of European cities. These include TUI Isla's ‘Christmas Carols & Castles’ cruise, featuring Düsseldorf, Cologne, Rüdesheim and Koblenz, and TUI Skyla's ‘Glühwein on the Rhine’ calling at Cologne, Düsseldorf and Koblenz. 

Longer Rhine sailings 

In addition, there will be two seven-night festive sailings on the Rhine onboard TUI Isla with the ‘North Rhine Noël’ itinerary calling at festive European market cities across the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany. And TUI Skyla will offer a seven-night ‘Festive Fairy Tale’ cruise in the German market cities of Cologne, Rüdesheim, Speyer, Kehl (for Strasbourg), Mainz and Koblenz.

Passengers can enter 2026 watching fireworks over the Rhine in Koblenz during TUI Isla’s seven-night ‘A New Year Sail Away’ voyage, sailing through Germany and the Netherlands. 

TUI Skyla’s seven-night ‘A New Year on the Rhine’ itinerary starts the New Year in Cologne, sailing through some cultural favourites in the Netherlands and Germany.

Attracting new customers 

‘We’re excited to be launching new winter sailings down the Danube for our winter 2025 programme,’ said Katy Berzins, head of river cruises, TUI River Cruises. ‘We’re giving customers the chance to explore even more cities during the festive period for the very first time. 

‘By introducing the new four-night sailings down the Danube and Rhine, it will offer a chance for new to cruise customers to experience our fleet for the first time for a shorter duration.’ 

North Africa

The newest ship in the fleet, TUI Al Horeya, will return for winter sailings available from November 2025, with exclusive flights from London Gatwick and Manchester Airport to Luxor in Egypt where the voyages will start and end. 

As part of the seven-night ‘Legends of the Nile’ cruise, for example, passengers will visit Edfu, Kom Ombo and Aswan.