Danube River Cruise Questions

We are starting to research our next river boat cruise on the Danube. We are not sure which cities it should include. Do we want to go from Prague to Budapest or Budapest to Bucharest or Vienna to Bucharest. We would love to hear your opinions, particularly if you have sailed the Danube. Our last river cruise was on the Rhine from Amsterdam to Basel and we enjoyed that.

Thanks for your help.

Jane

We are starting to research our next river boat cruise on the Danube. We are not sure which cities it should include. Do we want to go from Prague to Budapest or Budapest to Bucharest or Vienna to Bucharest. We would love to hear your opinions, particularly if you have sailed the Danube. Our last river cruise was on the Rhine from Amsterdam to Basel and we enjoyed that.

 

Thanks for your help.

 

Jane

Hi Jane,

I Went from Vienna all the way to Bucharest! It was a lovely experience and the country side we got to see was fantastic! We made stops at Bratislava, Budapest, Belgrad, Vidin and Bucharest! All very lovely cities. I personally loved Budapest and would recommend to stay an extra night there to take in the sites! There are more stops you can make but we didn't have the time!

Lovely Countries and lovely people! I'm sure you are going to have a fun time!

Best, John

Thanks John for your recommendation.

Jane

We are starting to research our next river boat cruise on the Danube. We are not sure which cities it should include. Do we want to go from Prague to Budapest or Budapest to Bucharest or Vienna to Bucharest. We would love to hear your opinions, particularly if you have sailed the Danube. Our last river cruise was on the Rhine from Amsterdam to Basel and we enjoyed that.

 

Thanks for your help.

 

Jane

Any of your choices would be great, but I consider Prague to be an absolute "must see" in Europe.

We cruised with Avalon in Nov. 2011, the Blue Danube Discovery from Budapest to Prague and so far it was our best!! Wonderful ports, esp. Budapest and Prague. If you are able, I highly recommend several days pre and post cruise in both Budapest and Prague as they are both very beautiful cities with much to see and do and easy to do independently. We opted for the Budapest to Prague direction and were very happy. I have read previous posts on these boards that if you encounter bad weather/rain going from west to east direction on the river, the weather follows you so we opted the east to west direction of Budapest to Prague.

I am no meteorologist for sure but we were happy with our choice. Most importantly, try the Danube if you can and you will not be disappointed. Scenery along the river is not as pretty as was the Rhine river but the port stops were just awesome!! We hope to one day go back to both Prague and Budapest. We are getting ready to depart on our 3rd river cruise with Avalon in less then 2 weeks, this time we will go from Zurich to Vienna :)

We cruised with Avalon in Nov. 2011, the Blue Danube Discovery from Budapest to Prague and so far it was our best!! Wonderful ports, esp. Budapest and Prague. If you are able, I highly recommend several days pre and post cruise in both Budapest and Prague as they are both very beautiful cities with much to see and do and easy to do independently. We opted for the Budapest to Prague direction and were very happy. I have read previous posts on these boards that if you encounter bad weather/rain going from west to east direction on the river, the weather follows you so we opted the east to west direction of Budapest to Prague.

 

We have done one river cruise, the Rhine with Avalon, and really enjoyed that. Glad to hear that they are just as good on the Danube as well. Your idea about traveling east to west makes good sense and one that I had not thought of. I'll have to tuck that suggestion away for future use.

Any port we go out of or return to we ALWAYS spend extra time there - it just makes sense if you have the time.

Thanks for your suggestions.

Jane

Is there much to see and do in Basel?

should we stay a day and incur hotel costs or fly out disembarkation day?

thks Frank

We did not stay in Basel and no one on our cruise stayed their either. Several people went into Zurich, Lucerne or one couple rented a car and drove through France and into Paris.

We loved Basel. We went to Basel two days early and relaxed before our Rhine/Moselle river boat trip. Lots of art museums there and a besutiful town. We had previosly been to Zurich and Lucerne. If you are ending in Basel and have already been to Zurich and Lucerne, you might enjoy Basel also.

Sheila

Is there much to see and do in Basel?

should we stay a day and incur hotel costs or fly out disembarkation day?

thks Frank

When we did our first river cruise - all those years ago:p we started off in Basel and went down the Rhine to Amsterdam. We stayed overnight in Basel and went to "three countries corner" (I think that is what it is called. )where you can stand on the border of Switzerland, France & Germany.

I can remember we bought something to eat and sat on the banks of the River watching our boat arriving

We stayed in Basel for two nights before a cruise. We enjoyed wandering the old medieval city and the river area. The Spalen Gate (Spalentor) near the university, and near the end of the medieval sector, is beautiful. We liked the food at Restaurant Schnabel. Loved their "wrong snails" - pieces of beef filet in an herb butter sauce.

We are currently cruising with Avalon from Basel to Vienna. We did 2 pre nights in Zurich and took the train from Zurich to Lucerne for a day trip which was just beautiful!! If we had to do it over again, we would probably skip staying overnight in Zurich for 2 days and opt to take the train from Zurich airport to Lucerne and stay pre cruise there or in Basel. Zurich is just ok IMO where as Lucerne there is so much more to see and do.

However I will say that the water is quite high on the Rhine at present so we we not able to embark in Basel as planned and instead were transported to Braesich for embarkation. We were already in Zurich which was the pre cruise gathering point at the Movenpick but there are others on our cruise who chose to do their pre cruise nights in Basel and then Avalon had to make arrangements to pick up those in Basel who were not aware that the Affinity would not be able to embark in Basel as was scheduled. From those who were in Basel pre cruise, they thought it was beautiful and quaint. It has been a delightful cruise thus far and we are able to stay on the boat to cruise, no bussing needed at present.:)

How large a town is Lucerne?

Can you walk it or is it larger?

thanks frank

How large a town is Lucerne?

 

Can you walk it or is it larger?

 

thanks frank

We thought Lucerne was very walkable as long as you have no mobility issues. It was lovely!

Frank,

We stayed in Basel the night before our cruise. We had lived in Zurich at one time, and so we knew a little about the Switzerland before. It is easy to get to Basel from the Zurich airport as there is a train station on the lower level of the airport. I really love Basel. We stayed near the train station. Public transport is free if you are staying the night in a hotel- even your trip on the way to the hotel. The old town is just beautiful, and the cathedral on the Rhine is one of my favorites. The art museum in Basel is one of the best in Switzerland, especially if you like impressionist painters.

From the Zurich airport, Lucern is also a short train ride. It is very walkable, and like the rest of Switzerland, you can get anywhere by public transport. I think it is one of the most beautiful cities in the world.You have a gorgeous lake and fabulous mountain views. It has a wonderful old town with a gorgeous covered pedestrian bridge. There are many cafes where you can enjoy a meal or drinks looking at the wonderful town. If you have enough time, I highly recommend taking a steamship to Mt Pilatus and then taking the cog railroad to the top of the mountain. From there you can take a cable car back to the city.

Jane,

I have cruised both the Rhine and Danube and loved both cruises. I don't think it matters which way you go, but I wanted to see Bratislava, so we went the direction that included that. I would avoid Budapest to Bucharest because others had said that you have to be bussed to towns once you are past Budapest.

People ask me whether I preferred the Rhine or Danube, but they were both so wonderful that I couldn't pick my favorite. I loved Budapest. The Waccha Valley is breathtakingly gorgeous.

Thank you for your suggestion about avoiding Bucharest. My thought of going there is that it would be going toward the Black Sea. We will definitely go on the Danube Cruise but as I mentioned, are unsure of where to begin. I'm not sure I want to go to Prague and then be bussed to the River. I can always do Prague on our own before or after.

I went to a travel seminar this past weekend and was told that I should consider east to west as the eastern part is more poverty ridden and that you do not want to end your trip there. Any thoughts?

Thank you for your suggestion about avoiding Bucharest. My thought of going there is that it would be going toward the Black Sea. We will definitely go on the Danube Cruise but as I mentioned, are unsure of where to begin. I'm not sure I want to go to Prague and then be bussed to the River. I can always do Prague on our own before or after.

 

I went to a travel seminar this past weekend and was told that I should consider east to west as the eastern part is more poverty ridden and that you do not want to end your trip there. Any thoughts?

The Black Sea is amazing! We haven't done a river cruise yet, but last September we took a Black Sea cruise on Pacific Princess and thoroughly enjoyed it. Romania, however, was our least favorite port. It was clearly not finding a way out of the darkness of Communist rule. Ukraine, on the other hand was lively, fun and uplifting in comparison. If you take in Bucharest, start there so you will progress "to the light". :)

Jane

You are exactly who I need advice from as you are very familiar with the area!

We are flying into Zur early on a Thursday morning and have to be back there Sundau am to fly to AMS to board a River cruise----

I have thought about 2 train trips--Zur to Zermatt and overnight--

Fri--Glacier express (which we have done in the winter) and overnight in St Moritz---

Sat--back to Zur--

The one that I am leaning more to is

Zur to St Moritz and down to Tirano znd overnight there or bus to Lugano--

Fri--- Train to Lucerne ans overnight

sat --late afternoon to Zur

your opinion and THANKS

FRANK

We are just back from a Viking Danube cruise. As for your cities and direction, it depends what you want. If you have an interest in WWII and/or the Holocaust , it may be best to start in Nuremberg and head south to put more history in perspective.

Budapest is great and our group is equally divided whether we prefer it over Prague. Going south, Budapest is by far the best city and you see more of the Iron Curtain 's influence. South is also less expensive for independent touring, dining, etc.

Thanks for your perspective. Glad you had a good time.

We did the Danube cruise from Budapest to Nuremberg, then on to Prague by bus. I loved Budapest and Bratislava and Durnstein in particular. Budapest has so many fascinating places to see, and shopping there at the Vaci Utci and Central Market was fun.

I had been thinking about a river cruise in France, but comments about the Rhine cruise make that one sound tempting...

We are just back from the Danube, Budapest to Nuremberg. Least favorite ports for us were Durnstein (too touristy) and Bratislava. Most enjoyed Regensburg and Nuremberg this trip. Vienna has never been a favorite city but we had fun this trip.

This was our 4th trip on the Danube but first to Budapest, which we enjoyed. We booked DIY for three nights there and really enjoyed the Christmas Markets in particular.

Prague remains a favorite destination, though I can only imagine the crowds in high season. I would never visit there then.

The boat was fabulous, the AmaCerto, and our best river experience so far.

We are starting to research our next river boat cruise on the Danube. We are not sure which cities it should include. Do we want to go from Prague to Budapest or Budapest to Bucharest or Vienna to Bucharest. We would love to hear your opinions, particularly if you have sailed the Danube. Our last river cruise was on the Rhine from Amsterdam to Basel and we enjoyed that.

 

Thanks for your help.

 

Jane

Not trying to be picky but technically Prague is not on the Danube. It is quite possible to go to Prague and on to some other city by plane. For instance you could fly to Prague and then to Budapest to start your river cruise quite easily. Prague is included in many river cruise itenararies but you have to get there by bus and it is usually the first or last city on the trip. It also usually means you visit Passau or some other German port city on tne Danube. If you want to start your trip in, say, Vienna, then you could easily fly there from Prague and sail to Bucharest.

We enjoyed Durnstein very much and strolled it after dark when the streets were empty. So everyone has their own experiences and likes.

Obviously I do know that Prague is not on the Danube but since it is a point that many of the river companies use as an embarkation or disembarkation point, I listed it as they do. There is transportation between Prague and the actual river port. I'm sorry, I should have been more specific for you but it seemed that others who have been on this river and experienced Prague knew what I was saying.

I haven't done a river cruise yet, but we were in Romania last year and it's very depressed. If you go to Bucharest, you might be better starting there rather than ending there. You would progress into a more prosperous world.

We're at the other end of VA now, but used to live in a small town called Lincoln, near Purcellville. Are you in that area?