Every November and December, said Christmas markets turn up all over Europe. But some of the greatest, most festive, and charming ones stand supreme in German-speaking cities and towns, where the markets themselves were invented, alongside Christmas trees and snow globes.

I learned this after a remarkable eight-day, eight-city, four-country group tour with the experts at Trafalgar.com. To ensure the smoothest vacation, our seasoned guide Michael emailed to offer tips and ask if we had any questions. That type of professional and prompt service continued throughout our journey, even after boarding our return flight home.

Although traveling Europe is known for its ease, stability, and open borders, Trafalgar makes it even more comfortable. As a “mostly inclusive” experience, our trip gave us seven nights at four-star equivalent hotels, a modern and immaculate coach bus with massive waist-to-ceiling window views, daily breakfast, four dinners, and plenty of snacks in between. This worked well since sampling and enjoying the homemade food and drink at the Christmas markets is a big part of the draw.

Each day, there were also several hours of free time, this after at least one included daily tour of a city’s most iconic sights and markets. This made for the ideal mix of fast-paced sightseeing and structure with “at your own pace” flexibility. My daughter and I loved this daily rhythm and left with a multi-city “taste” of Christmas in Old-World Europe.

Along the way, we enjoyed local delicacies, festive treats, historic city centers, twinkling lights, and more merrymaking than I’ve ever seen in otherwise stoic Europe. Standout stops included Switzerland’s medieval masterpiece of Lucerne (one of Europe’s most beautiful cities), Austria’s imperial and fanciful Vienna (plus awe-inspiring Innsbruck), and Germany’s Bavarian capital of Munich. In between, we lost count of how many Christmas markets we frequented. They never failed to get us in the Christmas spirit.

But it wasn’t just markets and sightseeing we enjoyed. We saw one of the greatest concert performances of my life on an optional evening in Vienna, the birthplace of classical music. We gawked at snowy German villages, Austrian countrysides, and Swiss summits with sweeping views of the Alps. We tickled ourselves traveling through three countries in as many hours.

And we ate more European comfort food than our stomachs and waistlines could handle: mulled cider, lebkuchen (soft but chewy gingerbread cookies), chimney cakes (Google it!), spaetzle (cheesy egg noodles), bratwurst, raclette, fondue, apricot chocolate cake, cheese pie, roasted chestnuts, fruit bread, and lots of silky smooth Swiss chocolate.

We always stayed on schedule and — unlike some others — our confident and self-aware guide never talked too much. He even taught us “Try and Make the Swiss Smile” as we enthusiastically grinned and waved to locals, while Peter, our esteemed driver, navigated winding mountain roads that mere mortals would have difficulty doing in a Mini.

On our final night, my daughter and I watched a golden sunset over Lake Lucerne and Mount Pilatus, as we shared a three-course meal with newfound friends at a local farm. It was a fitting finish to a majestic Christmas experience I will never forget — sights, sounds, and smells very much included.

Blake Snow contributes to fancy publications and Fortune 500 companies as a bodacious writer-for-hire and seasoned travel journalist to all seven continents. He lives in Provo, Utah with his wife, five children, and one ferocious chihuahua.