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Avalon additional tours


Sylve1

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Hi,

This is my first post but I have reading and picking up great tips and information for months. Thank you to you all.

We will be on the Avalon tranquility from 9th September to 16th starting in Nuremburg and finishing in Budapest. We are going Prague for 4 nights on our own and a 3 extra nights in Budapest.

We have never been to Europe and will also be visiting Stuttgart ( so we can do Porsche factory tour), Berlin, amsterdam and Dubai on our way back to Australia.

I have been looking at the additional tours. I have read every comment about whether to do the Salzburg trip. Still don't know so will see how tired we are feeling around that time . I don't think hubby will be too impressed by lots of Sound of Music singing. Me neither! I would like to see the scenery though, the town of Salzburg and the palace.

My main question is about the excursion to Weltenburg Abbey and the Danube Gorge. I have read a little but not much but do you miss out on seeing Resenberg and the included tour. Is Resenberg enough to keep you occupied for the day? It sounds lovely. How long is the gorge tour.

One last question- how soon after boarding do you have make decisions on the additional tours?

:o

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I'll be interested in replies about how soon you have to book onboard excurcions, w3e are booked on Avalon Budapest to Amsterdam in August. I have read feedback about the Salzburg tours, we still havent decided if we'll be doing it either, neither of us have been to any of the stops, so we are both quite happy to walk the streets and then sit and have coffee and 'people watch'..be interested to hear about the trips and if they are worthwhile :)

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'One last question- how soon after boarding do you have make decisions on the additional tours?'

 

In some cases it may be the day of the excursion. It depends on which excursion. Remember these are smaller sized ships with 135 - 150 passengers at most. Not all go on the optional tours and usually they have 2 busses or more.

 

I love Salzburg and would go if I were you. It's a beautiful city although it can be quite crammed with tourists in Summer. Not sure about Sept. though.

 

Regensberg is also a not to miss city. The Dom is ancient and well worth a visit as is the customary sausage Restaurant by the stone bridge. It's a quaint town with lots of charm.

 

Sounds like you have a great trip planned. Enjoy! BTW - you will love Avalon.

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I agree that Salzburg is beautiful. We do this trip on our own rather than with the ship but we know the city well and also are very comfortable using public transport to get there and back. We prefer to enjoy the parts of the city we like most, rather than be on a structured tour so independently works best for us.

 

Another consideration is that if you do not go, much of the day is spent on the river. For us, that is something we avoid whenever possible while others enjoy the quiet time.

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:rolleyes:I think you should do the optional tour to Salzburg. We have just done a river cruise on Avalon Panorama and we did this option. The scenery on the way to Sulzburg is absolutely spectacular. As far as your husband not wanting to listen to sound of music songs the only time we listened to them was on our way back to the boat and it made for quite a bit of merriment with all the fellow passengers. Avalon is a great cruise line, I am sure you will have a fabulous time.

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We just did this cruise in early May. We didn't book any optional tours until we were on the ship.

 

Regensburg was one of our favorite stops. Charming place and so nice to be able to walk into town in a few minutes.

 

We didn't do the Salzburg tour as we didn't want to spend 5 hours on the bus and it turned out to be a good decision at that time as it rained almost the entire day. I hope we will get another chance to do Salzburg on a future trip. Those that did go liked it despite the rain. Another option offered that day was to Cesky Krumlov which is a UNESCO world heritage site with an outstanding castle and beautiful town but there weren't enough people signed up to make the trip.

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We did not do either the gorge or Salzburg and have no regrets. Regensburg was one of our favorite stops and the river cruising scenery was exceptional and provided a nice break from the bus tours.

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So would you have enough time to go to the gorge and see the town of Resenburg?

Thanks

 

Yes. On our cuise the gorge/abbey excursion was in the morning starting at 8:30am and returned by lunch. The included Regensburg tour started at 2pm and we had free time in town afterwards.

 

My mom went to the gorge/abbey excursion and enjoyed it. I was a bit under the weather so opted for a relaxing day of only afternoon activities.

 

I do highly recommed the Salzburg excursion. It's a very scenic area and a lovely town.

 

It you're on the fence about any of these, I don't see any problems with waiting until you're onboard. Your cruise director will provide more information and the likelihood of any excursions selling out before you board is extremely slim.

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So would you have enough time to go to the gorge and see the town of Resenburg?

Thanks

 

Yes, there was an included tour in the morning of Regensburg and one again in the afternoon around 2pm. The gorge and abbey tour was in the morning around 9:30 for a half day.

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Oh good so we wouldn't miss Resenberg if we went to the gorge. Good to know. I guess it is not so much that we don't want to go to Salzburg, but more that passau and the scenic cruising on that part of the river that also appeals. Salzburg also appeals as we would see more of inland Austria.

 

On the Salzburg trip did you go to palace and get free time in the town? Was lunch included or is it best to go off yourself?

 

Thanks for all your comments. :)

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