City of lights vs. Danube Waltz

Looking at the itinerary seems like a lot of bussing on the City of Lights. If someone had done both would like your opinion

I've done both, and I really love the Moselle, so I'd go with the City of Lights. Viking used to offer this as a cruise only option that was called something like Vineyards and Vistas. It now appears that you have to do Paris and Prague to get the itinerary.

Avalon offers a similar itinerary, and they will let you do the cruise-only portion--Remich to Nuremberg. So if you want to avoid the bus rides, you could look at Avalon. There are some differences in the Avalon and Viking itineraries.

FuelScience

http://www.avalonwaterways.com/river-cruise/central-european-experience-cruise-only-westbound/wnr0/

Hello jeanine,

I hope you do not mind me adding a couple of points to FuelScience's answers although I have been on neither cruise. I know the Rhine and Moselle stretch of the City of Lights itinerary quite well and have done a similar itinerary to the Danube Waltz. There is indeed a lot of bussing on the Cities of Lights. Paris and Prague are great ends and starts for this tour but Paris is far away from the Moselle and there is no navigable river that can get you close to Prague from the Danube. Both cities are a delight, of course but then so are the towns on the Danube. For me the scenery on the Cities of Light is superior to the scenery on the Danube Waltz.

For the Cities of Light, as FuelScience has mentioned, you could go on a different cruise and skip the end towns. For DIY flights you can choose Luxembourg (international but not direct to USA, I believe) and Munich, which is closer to Nuremberg than Prague. The coaches used on these connecting sections on the itinerary are very modern by the way, comfortable and stops have to be made, by law. Luxembourg on this itinerary is a very interesting city.

I have seen that Emerald has a similar itinerary: https://www.emeraldwaterways.com/river-cruises/river-cruises-europe/ewnt/4076-legends-of-the-moselle-rhine-and-main

If you are happy with the coach part do go on such an itinerary (comparing ports and optionals of several companies might be good). If you are not keen on this try DIY on such an itinerary. If you are not comfortable with that choose the Danube Waltz.

notamermaid

My mother and I did City of Light last year. We are going on the Danube Waltz this December. We have also been on the Rhine Getaway in 2015. I obviously can't compare the two, not having been on the Waltz yet but I enjoyed City of Lights because you get a little bit of time in both Paris and Prague. The downsides I found to this cruise was there is a lot of time on the bus. A LOT. Neither Paris, not Prague is part of the boat cruise so you have to travel by bus. Understandable, put still a lot of bus time. I would also say the the hotels they picked in both Prague and Paris are not in the most desirable of locations, especially Prague. We knew this going in but got a price we couldn't turn down.