Beautiful Blue Danube

Itinerary: Munich to Passau

Day 1 Depart Canada. Board your overnight flight to Munich, Germany

Day 2 After arrival, transfer to Passau to embark the vessel. The ship leaves port in the afternoon and takes you through a lovely stretch of the Danube known as the Schloegener Schlinge. After these first scenic impressions of the Danube, our courier on board will welcome you with a cocktail.

Day 3 At forenoon the vessel arrives in Vienna, the Austrian capital. The city of music and joie de vivre where Sachertorte and Heuriger are just as famous as St. Stephen's Cathedral and the Imperial Palace. See all the important sights on our Vienna inclusive sightseeing tour or explore this city full of tradition on your own.The vessel leaves Vienna in the evening and spends the night cruising east towards Hungary. After these first scenic impressions of the Danube, our Tour Manager on board the official welcome dinner will be taken in the evening.

Day 4 The vessel arrives in Budapest, capital of Hungary, in the morning. Budapest is a city made up of two parts: Buda and Pest, built on opposite banks of the Danube. Buda is the older and more graceful part, with its cobbled streets and medieval architecture, while Pest is the administrative and commercial centre, with wide avenues and impressive 19th-century public buildings. East meets West in this fascinating city, and this can be seen in the variety of shops and restaurants. This forenoon there is an included a city tour or you may look around Budapest independently. In the evening there is an included cruise, passing floodlit buildings on both sides of the river and going under the illuminated Chain Bridge. A gypsy band will be playing, and there will also be a performance on board by a Hungarian folklore group, before the vessel leaves Budapest in the evening and sails downstream overnight through Hungary.

Day 5 We reach Kalocsa this morning. This small town of about 15,000 inhabitants is about 130 kilometres south of Budapest. A tour of Kalocsa (€ 38) is available, which includes admission to a display of Hungarian horsemanship and a visit to the Paprika Museum. Kalocsa is a centre for popular handicrafts, tablecloths, napkins, and items of pottery. The vessel ship sails from Kalocsa at midday and continues east.

Day 6 We reach Belgrade, capital of Serbia and Montenegro, in the morning. This city is built at the junction of the rivers Danube and Save, and has been destroyed and rebuilt many times during its 2,000-year history. An included half-day city tour of Belgrade is available this morning, including a visit to the Kalemegdan fortress. This evening you can join an evening excursion (€ 36), visiting the well-known artists’ district of Skadarlija. You sail from Belgrade before midnight.

Day 7 This morning we cruise along a particularly scenic stretch of the river, as the Danube passes through the Carpathians and the foothills of the Balkans to the “Iron Gates”. In ancient times the Iron Gates were a hazardous part of the journey along the Danube, as ships had to steer carefully through a narrow gorge with high cliffs on either side. Today, the water level has been raised and the shipping hazards removed, but the journey is still of interest, and you will be able to watch the manoeuvres as the ship passes through two locks by the Djerdap power stations. A little further on, the ship enters the narrow Kazan Gorge. A tablet with a Latin inscription commemorating the Roman Emperor Trajan can still be seen etched into the rock at this point. The vessel continues cruising overnight towards Bulgaria and Romania.

Day 8 Early this morning the ship crosses the Wallachian Plain, reaching the small Bulgarian port of Svistov in the morning. It stops here simply to allow participants to join an excursion to Veliko Tarnovo (€ 44), the former capital of Bulgaria. The vessel then continues from Svistov to the colourful Bulgarian city of Rousse, docking before lunch below the impressive Rousse Hotel. Rousse has many shops, and you may go ashore here for a glimpse of typical Bulgarian life. Those who have taken the excursion to Veliko Tarnovo rejoin the ship in Rousse. We sail from Rousse in the afternoon, and continue downstream towards the Danube Delta.

Day 9 Today the vessel reaches the Danube Delta, which covers an area of about 4,340 square kilometres. It is famous for the diversity of its wildlife, which includes 20 pairs of white-tailed eagles and 3,000 meadow vipers. In total, there are 5,140 species of flora and fauna residing in the delta, including 300 species of birds and 30 of fish. We continue along St George’s Channel to the very first kilometre of the Danube, almost to the point where it meets the Black Sea. You will have some time to enjoy a walk in St. Gheorge.

Day 10 We dock in Chiciu in the morning. In the morning our included city sightseeing tour to the Romanian capital of Bucharest, starts. This shows you the main city centre sights, including the parliament and the Memorial to Freedom. A stop will be made during the course of the tour for an included lunch. The highlight of the tour is a visit to the open-air Village and Folk Art Museum in Herastrau Park, on the outskirts of Bucharest. Here you can see reconstructions of old farm houses from all over the country, complete with their furniture and fittings, and other buildings such as barns, granaries and windmills. After a typical Romanian lunch the participants will return to the vessel in Chiciu.

Day 11 Today you have the opportunity to join the excursion Constanta and Black Sea Coast (€ 22). Depart from the pier directly to one of the oldest cities in Europe, Constanta. On the way to the Archeological Museum, the bus will pass by some of the most important buildings in town. Once arriving in front of the Archeological museum one will notice the statue of Ovidius Puplius Nasos, the exiled Roman poet, the singer of tender love. He was the one who described for the first time the places and the population of this region. Afterwards the bus will take our passengers through the centre of the city to the resort of Mamaia. Allow passengers free time for shopping / walking. Afterward we will return to the vessel where the cruise goes on in the afternoon.

Day 12 In the early morning the vessels stops in Rousse. This morning an optional city tour Rousse (€ 22) is available. This city tour takes you all round Bulgaria’s biggest port, including an opportunity to get a wonderful view of it all from a vantage point. The tour will include sights such as the Pantheon, the old city centre with the summer residence of the Batenberg family, the first secondary school to be founded in Bulgaria, the house of Elias Kaneti (the famous writer, who was born in Rousse), the Neo-classical theatre, and the freedom monument. At lunch time the participants are rejoining the vessel in Nikopol. In the afternoon another excursion is on the schedule – the city tour Pleven (€ 34). Through the ancient Nikopolis ad Istrum the town brings us back to the ancient Roman times when it was known as the town of Victory. We drive through the picturesque Danube plain and reach the town Pleven, which is one of the biggest and important City of North Bulgaria. The city consists of famous museums. A walk in the centre of the town will make you feel the atmosphere of the town and you will have the possibility to buy some souvenirs. Besides you will invite for a glass of Bulgarian wine in the Balkan Hotel. We leave Nikopol in the evening.

Day 13 We spend the day at leisure, cruising through Romania and into the waters of Serbia and Montenegro. Some 450 miles from Rousse our ship reaches the narrow Kazan Gorge, where a tablet with a Latin inscription commemorating the emperor Trajan can still be seen etched in the rock. A little further on, we reach the “Iron Gates”, which for centuries constituted a hazardous stretch of the Danube, as ships had to steer carefully through a narrow gorge with high cliffs on either side. Today, the water level has been raised and the hazards removed but the journey is still of interest, and you can observe the various manoeuvres as the ship passes through the two locks by the Djerdap power stations. In the afternoon we ply a particularly scenic stretch as the Danube passes through the Carpathians and the foothills of the Balkans.

Day 14 We reach Belgrade, capital of Serbia and Montenegro in the morning for a short stop before we straight go on to Novi Sad. The vessel arrives there after lunch. After lunch you have the possibility to join the city tour Novi Sad (€ 19). You walk around the old quarter and go by coach up to the Peterwardein fortress, one of the largest defensive fortifications, which were the masterpiece of Vauban, the 18th century French Architect. In the late evening the cruise goes on. In the late evening the vessel leaves Novi Sad in direction to Croatia.

Day 15 The vessel docks at Vukovar in Croatia in the early morning from where the excursion to Osijek and the Croatian Danube Basin (€ 25) is available. Osijek is the administrative and economic centre of Eastern Croatia. It is the country’s 4th biggest city, and is situated on the Drava River. This tour includes the church of the Raising of the Holy Cross and the Tvrda that was built from 1712 – 1722 as a military fortress. Lunch is taken on board as we leave at midday to cruise upstream to the Hungarian border, heading overnight for Budapest.

Day 16 We dock in Budapest, capital of Hungary, at noon. Budapest is a city made up of two parts: Buda and Pest, built on opposite banks of the Danube. Buda is the older and more graceful part, with its cobbled streets and medieval architecture, while Pest is the administrative and commercial centre, with wide avenues and impressive 19th-century public buildings. East meets West in this fascinating city, and this can be seen in the variety of shops and restaurants. This afternoon there is an included city sightseeing tour, or you may look around Budapest independently. In the evening the vessel heads for Bratislava while we enjoy the Captain’s Gala Dinner and a show by the crew.

Day 17 After lunch we reach Bratislava, which is the capital of the Republic of Slovakia and which celebrated its 2000th anniversary in 1991. We will pass underneath the colossal new ‘SNP’ suspension bridge across the Danube. Our included tour of Bratislava gives you an opportunity to appreciate this small, but charming capital city. During the dinner the cruise go further in direction to Austria.

Day 18 In the morning your vessel docks again in Vienna, where you will have the possibility to enjoy a Wachau excursion (€ 39). From Vienna comfortable buses drive on through the picturesque landscape of this district to the 900-year old Benedictine abbey of Melk. There we have a guided tour, which will include an organ recital (providing an organist is available). Before you return on the vessel in Tulln, you drive to Duernstein, which must be the best-known wine village in the Wachau. During a city walk you will discover this typical town of the Wachau, where tradition and beauty meet in a special kind of way. The landscape is formed from natural beauties as the terraces of the old vineyards, a optimal climate and many cultural monuments which invite to stay. During lunch the vessel leaves the port of Tulln and you can use the whole afternoon on the sun deck – just reading a book, relax and enjoy the beautiful crossing scenery.

Day 19 Arriving in Passau in the morning – the city where the rivers meet. Disembarkation after breakfast. Transfer to the Munich airport for your flight home.

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