Pearls of the Danube

Itinerary: Budapest to Nuremberg

Day 1 Depart Canada. Board your overnight flight to Bucharest, Romania.

Day 2 On arrival at Bucharest, an airport transfer will take you to a 4/5* hotel for the night where your tour guide is already waiting for you. Our welcome dinner will be also in the hotel.

Day 3 Our included tour of Bucharest this morning shows you the main city centre sights, including the parliament and the Memorial to Freedom, followed by a highlight visit to the open-air village and folk art displays 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 an included lunch at a local restaurant the coach continues to Hirsova on the Danube, where you embark on the vessel in the late afternoon. There is then a welcome reception before our first dinner on board.

Day 4 After arriving in Constanta at midday we depart from the pier straight on a excursion (€ 22) into one of Europe’s oldest cities, passing some of its most important buildings, and stopping at the statue of Ovid (Ovidius Puplius Nasos), the exiled Roman poet and singer of tender love, who first described the places and people of this region. We then visit the Archaeological Museum, which displays representative exhibits from all over Dobrogea, the population of which has always been industrious. The museum includes a 4th century AD Roman edifice with mosaics - the largest of this kind in South-eastern Europe. The coach then takes us through the centre of Constanta and on to the resort of Mamaia, where there will be time to shop and stroll about before we return to the vessel, which at noon sets off upstream towards Rousse.

Day 5 Enjoy the day on the sundeck of the vessel - chatting, reading, snoozing or just admiring the lovely scenery. We arrive at Rousse in the afternoon, where you have the option of a sightseeing tour (€ 22). Formerly the base of the Roman Empire’s Danube fleet, this colourful city is today Bulgaria’s biggest inland port and has a wide range of shops. There will be a traditional Bulgarian evening on board.

Day 6 The ship will leave Rousse in the very early morning and in the early afternoon reaches the Bulgarian port of Nikopol, where we start today’s excursion (€ 34). This takes us back to ancient Roman times, when it was called Nikopolis ad Istrum and was known as the town of Victory. We then drive across the picturesque Danube plain to Pleven, which is one of the biggest and most important cities in Northern Bulgaria and has famous museums. There will be time to stroll through the city centre, absorb its atmosphere, buy souvenirs if you wish, and end up at the Balkan Hotel for a glass of Bulgarian wine. Our vessel leaves Nikopol in the evening, and sails upstream overnight.

Day 7 We spend the day at leisure, cruising through Romania and into the waters of Serbia and Montenegro. Some 450 kilometres 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 8 We reach Belgrade, capital of Serbia and Montenegro, in the morning. This city was built at the junction of the rivers Danube and Save, and has been destroyed and rebuilt many times during its 2,000-year history. Our included half-day morning tour Belgrade has a visit to the Kalemegdan fortress, and brings you to the port of Novi Sad, where our vessel will be waiting in the early afternoon. After lunch there is an optional sightseeing tour (€ 19) of Novi Sad, including a stroll through the old quarter and a trip by coach up to the Peterwardein fortress, a massive defensive fortification that was the masterpiece of Vauban, an 18th century French architect. The evening includes a typical Serbian folklore show on board.

Day 9 Today the vessel reaches the small battlefield town of Mohacs after lunch, from which there is an optional excursion to Pecs (€ 27). Stroll around here and admire the most important buildings, including the Basilica, and listen to a short concert (except if it is a Sunday). A coach then takes you to Kalocsa, where you will rejoin the ship, which will have sailed from Mohacs in the early afternoon and arrived in Kalocsa in the evening. Kalocsa is a small city of about 15,000 inhabitants, located 130 kilometres downstream from Budapest. It is a centre for popular handicrafts, tablecloths, napkins, pottery and high-quality red peppers and paprika. We leave Kalocsa after dinner.

Day 10 Your cruise vessel docks in Budapest, capital of Hungary, in the morning. In the morning there is an optional excursion to the 18th century Castle Gödöllö (€ 24), which is about 30 km from Budapest. During the imperial monarchy it became closely associated with Empress Elisabeth, who was nick-named ‘Sissi’ and much loved by the Hungarians. Nestling in an enormous park this is the largest complex of Baroque buildings in Hungary and a most attractive place to visit. You can see rooms that have been carefully restored in recent years, and also the former stables. There will be time for some welcome refreshment before driving back to the ship. The afternoon is at leisure so you can, if you wish, disembark and explore the city independently.

Day 11 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 morning we offer an included tour of the city, while in the afternoon there is an optional drive from Budapest, along the banks of the Danube, to the charming artists’ village of Szentendre (€ 22). The ship leaves in the evening, and a typical gypsy folklore group will entertain us as we say goodbye to Budapest’s impressive illuminations.

Day 12 This afternoon we arrive at the city of Bratislava, capital of the Republic of Slovakia, which celebrated its 2000th anniversary in 1991. We will pass below the colossal new ‘SNP’ suspension bridge across the Danube, and then have an included sightseeing tour- after which we head upstream towards Vienna in the later evening.

Day 13 The vessel arrives in Vienna, Austria’s capital and artistic centre, in the early morning. After breakfast we offer an included tour of this wonderful city - home to the waltz, coffee houses, the Prater park and one of the world's finest opera houses. This is where Marie-Antoinette grew up and where Mozart died, and for 600 years it was the hub of the vast Hapsburg Empire. There is an optional excursion to the magnificent Schoenbrunn Palace (€ 32) in the afternoon. After dinner possibility to participate in the optional excursion “Sound of Vienna” (€ 40) to listen to the world famous music of Mozart and Strauss in one of the famous Viennese palais. Or you decide to enjoy “Vienna at night” (€ 40). Coaches take you to the Prater and a typical 'Heurigen' wine tavern, where you can enjoy a glass of wine. Before midnight you leave Vienna and continue upstream overnight into the Wachau region of Austria.

Day 14 In the morning we reach Melk/Emmersdorf. From here the excursion Beauties of the Wachau (€ 39) starts. In comfortable buses you will be taken through the picturesque landscape of the Wachau to the 900-year old Baroque Benedictine abbey of Melk, where you will go on a guided tour. Depending on the time of day, there may be an opportunity to hear a short organ recital in the abbey church. Following we take you to Duernstein, idyllically situated and probably the most famous wine-growing town of the entire Wachau region, for a stroll through the town. To end a splendid day, you will be invited to sample a fine selection of local wines in Emmersdorf, before you go aboard again. We leave Melk/Emmersdorf in the later evening.

Day 15 The vessel ties up in the large riverside city of Linz in the morning. This is an interesting city, though visited by comparatively few river cruise ships, from which we offer an optional excursion to Mozart’s city, Salzburg (€ 60) during which our ship will continue upstream after breakfast, and cross the border into Germany. In the evening the vessels reaches Passau, Bavaria’s most easterly city, where the excursion participants rejoin it. This city’s impressive Baroque cathedral houses the largest church organ in the world (with 17,388 pipes and 231 registers), and most of main sights are very close to the Danube. You can explore on your own, or join an included walking tour of the highlights with a local guide. The vessel will leave Passau in the evening and spend the night cruising through Bavaria towards Regensburg. On the second-last evening of your Danube cruise, the captain will be delighted to welcome you to the Captain’s Gala Dinner.

Day 16 We arrive in Regensburg in the morning, where there is an included walking tour. Regensburg is one of the best –preserved medieval cities in Germany and its many historic buildings are most impressive. After lunch the vessel sails on to Nuremberg.

Day 17 In the morning the vessel moors in Nuremberg. Disembarkation after breakfast. For guests who didn’t book the post-program to Prague, an airport transfer is available to transfer to airport for flight home.

Post-Program Nuremberg–Prague

Day 17 After breakfast you will say good-bye to the ship’s crew and board comfortable buses to Prague, the “Golden City”. Dinner will be at your centrally located hotel.

Day 18 There is an included comprehensive sightseeing tour in the morning, visiting the magnificent castle area with St. Vitus cathedral and the Golden Lane on foot before going on a panoramic tour of the city that Goethe called 'the jewel in the world's crown'. Spend the afternoon at leisure, perhaps visiting the fascinating Jewish quarter or browsing through some of Prague’s many excellent shops. In the evening, your tour manager will organise a visit either the 'Laterna Magica' or 'La Fantastica' - Prague’s world-famous multi-media shows. Farewell dinner at the hotel.

Day 19 The cruise and tour end as you checked-out from the hotel and transfer to airport for your flight home.

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