Viking Danube Waltz Optional tour question about Vienna

[MalibooNewYork]

My friend and I have signed up for the Viking Danube Waltz tour for next October.

I am trying to get through the dreary winter by dreaming of our trip. My question is: there is an optional tour of the Schonbrunn Palace, if I've read the lit correctly. Some reviews like the tour, others not so much. I have toured palaces and am leaning towards wandering around Vienna on my own. I know this is s highly subjective opinion but will appreciate your insights.

Factoring into the question is another question--does the ship dock in such a place where it is easy to walk to sites and/or city transportation?

We will sign up for the concert at the Palace.

Thank you.

[aquilegia]

The ship will dock within about 10 minutes walk of a Metro station. We went on the included bus and walking tour in the morning, which ended right in the city centre. If you didn't want to return on the bus after the free time, you could make your own way back. We stayed for another hour or so, had coffee and sachertorte in one of the old Viennese coffee houses, then made our way back on the train. It was very easy to do.

 

We didn't do any of the optional excursions in Vienna, so can't help you with Schonbrunn.

[sammiedawg]

Yes, there was an afternoon optional tour to the Palace. We did not take it, Instead we did the evening Vienna music concert at a palace which was fabulous. It is the same concert shown every Christmas on Eurovision TV.

There were people who did the palace on their own, I don't have the logistics of it. There is an onboard concierge that can help you. River boats dock away from the central city but if you wanted to stay in town longer they had subway directions on how to do it, I don't remember if there were later shuttle buses running. The palace is away from the downtown area.

[sammiedawg]

I found my paperwork, the afternoon optional tour to the Palace was 49 euros.

[remydiva]

Yes, there was an afternoon optional tour to the Palace. We did not take it, Instead we did the evening Vienna music concert at a palace which was fabulous. It is the same concert shown every Christmas on Eurovision TV.

There were people who did the palace on their own, I don't have the logistics of it. There is an onboard concierge that can help you. River boats dock away from the central city but if you wanted to stay in town longer they had subway directions on how to do it, I don't remember if there were later shuttle buses running. The palace is away from the downtown area.

 

We did both the palace in the afternoon and the concert at nite thru viking and loved both.

[Rosethorn40]

Didn't go on the palace tour, but spoke to those that did and they liked it. The only drawback was the gardens were not in bloom (We were there in December). Loved the concert. Even my husband, who is not a big fan of classical music enjoyed it. The price was 63 euro pp. We didn't take the subway, which was within walking distance, but we were told it was only 3 stops to the city center, and the subway itself was easy to navigate.

 

If you decide to do both, keep in mind that the palace tour left right after lunch, dinner was served at 6 for those going to the concert and we left at 7:30 for the concert. You may not have as much free time as you anticipate to do independent sightseeing, especially if you do the included bus tour of the Ringstrauss and the walking tour.

[MalibooNewYork]

This will probably be the only time I am in Vienna and I am trying to decide between seeing the Palace and wandering around the city. When we took the Bordeaux cruise we had a whole day in the city and that is the day I remember with the most fondness.

Thanks all. Maybe I'll get more responses that will tip the scale.

[deec]

Plenty to do in the city if you stay in town. A great place to wander, sit and watch. It was in Vienna that the ship's chef took a group to the local market to buy cheese for our dinner and loads of other market finds. Our friends who did this loved the opportunity. I think the cost was 5-6E....they took the sub way.

 

We had already purchased the palace tour so went on that. It was very nice and our guide was great! The palace was much the same as any but the history of a specific palace is always interesting!

 

I probably would not do the evening concert again...our seats were so far back in the room that we could not really appreciate the dancing and facial expressions of the musicians. Maybe Viking needs to try to get there earlier so better seats are available. The venue was quite pretty.

[rickandpat]

Did that itinerary in May, and our day in Vienna just happened to be the rainy/windy/cold day. We knew we didn't want to go back in the city and wander as we'd planned for the afternoon, so when we got back for lunch we asked the concierge if we could join the palace tour last minute. Within the hour we were on our way, and we lucked out with an excellent guide. We were glad we did it.

[orchestrapal]

This will probably be the only time I am in Vienna and I am trying to decide between seeing the Palace and wandering around the city. When we took the Bordeaux cruise we had a whole day in the city and that is the day I remember with the most fondness.

Thanks all. Maybe I'll get more responses that will tip the scale.

 

Forget the tours. Vienna is a fantastic wondering city. Do some map homework,

set out to walk. The palaces are wonderful but if you have been to others skip them and the TOURIST concert and walk and dring coffee at any cafe!