Grand European Tour Daily Schedules

[suzyluvs2cruise]

We arrive in Budapest on Aug 11th and overnight on the Agar before sailing on the 12th. Which optional tours did you do and what did you think of those? what was your overall impression of the cruise. I did the Danube Christmas Market cruise a few years ago in record snow fall and am looking forward to seeing the sights without all of the snow.

 

The optional tours we did were Schonbrunn Palace and Rothenburg au Taber. We enjoyed both but wished there was more tme at Schonbrunn Palace. The tour was from 2-5:30 and that included transportation time. The gardens at the palace are beautiful. Just wish we'd had time to walk through them.

 

An optional tour in Cologne was the Beer/dinner tour. Several went and said they enjoyed it. This was the same night "A Taste of Germany" dinner was offered on board. We enjoyed German food and Kolsh beer, a decorated dining room, entertainment, and a tour of the galley where you picked up your entrees. A festive, fun night and, to me, it's a shame that it wasn't on a night when all were onboard.

 

This was our 1st river cruise and we enjoyed it. Budapest is an amazing city. If you can walk the Danube Promenade and see it lit up at night. We did and were glad we did as our ship sailed at 6pm so no night time sailaway.

 

I knew about rafting but was surprised how many times we were next to another ship in port. Time of year? or increasing # of ships on the river? Not sure of the reason but that and having the Sun Deck closed for 7 days wasn't something we'd anticipated.

 

Sailing down the Rhine is amazing. Be sure to be up on the Sun Deck. It was a bit chilly but Viking provides nice blankets you can use.

 

Enjoy! :)

 

 

 

 

 

Edited August 2, 2016 by suzyluvs2cruise

[bassfisherman]

Thanks for the information and pictures. We did our previous river cruises in the late fall and only rafted once in Cologne. Was the sun deck closed because of the water levels and getting under the bridges?

[suzyluvs2cruise]

Thanks for the information and pictures. We did our previous river cruises in the late fall and only rafted once in Cologne. Was the sun deck closed because of the water levels and getting under the bridges?

 

We were told it was because of low bridges. Water levels looked average. On another thread someone posted that this is usual for Danube/Main/Rhine cruises.

[TravelerThom]

...Does you know where the ship docks in Nuremberg?

Unless I missed it, this has not been answered.

There is no dock anywhere near downtown (or near the Documentation Center, or the Courthouse, or the Parade Field). You will have to bus (maybe 15 minutes) to get anywhere.

 

Thom

[Gravity Railroad]

In a prior post I mentioned that we were dropped off in Roth for the Nuremberg visit.

 

If you go to 49.238338° 11.147178° in Google Earth, you can see a Viking Ship parked on the canal in Roth. While it slipped my mind, my wife says we were brought back to this same location in Roth to pick up the ship after our excursions. I don’t know if we were the exception or if this is the usual procedure for Nuremberg.

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Our sun deck was closed for 5 days, the entire time we were on the Main-Danube Canal.

[Marlster]

I'm also curious if, in talking with others onboard, you heard if they were happy with the "included" tours or felt they missed something by not booking the "optional" tours. Adding up the cost for the optional tours you did would be a little over $1000 for both of us.

 

As a first timer to Viking it was hard to find info on what the "included" excursions were or to know the daily schedules. Thank you so much for providing such great information. :)

 

Just a question. Are the excursions with Viking not FREE?

Marlster

[suzyluvs2cruise]

Just a question. Are the excursions with Viking not FREE?

Marlster

 

Viking offers an "included" tour in each port. Many of these are walking tours. They also offer "optional" tours" in each city. Some cities it's 1 optional tour and others can offer up to 4 optional tour. Pricing ranged from $49 - $199 per person for the "optional" tours.

[teachberry]

We loved the concert; however, the concert hall was very warm! If you go, bring something, or buy the program, to fan yourself with! The program is a variety of music...orchestra, dancers, singers.