The Travel Plan

Fly to Budapest and board the Viking Tir longship for a 15-day Grand European River Cruise to Amsterdam.

Itinerary At a Glance – June / July 2023

DAY 0	Fly from Durango, Colorado to Budapest, Hungary (overnight)
DAY 1	Board the Viking Tir
DAY 2	Explore Budapest on the included Castle Hill City Hike excursion
DAY 3	Cruise to Vienna, Austria with an evening stroll at port
DAY 4	Join the included excursion “Vienna’s Sights Panoramic” and visit Schönbrunn Palace
DAY 5	Sail through the Wachau Valley before arriving at Melk for a tour of the Abbey
DAY 6	Tour the beautiful town of Passau, Germany
DAY 7	Explore the untouched medieval city of Regensburg
DAY 8	Experience the historical significance of Nuremberg, Germany
DAY 9	Visit the old-world Franconian city of Bamberg, Germany
DAY 10	From Wurzberg, travel to Rothenburg, one of the last walled medieval towns in Bavaria
DAY 11	At Wertheim, tour two historic estates owned by modern aristocracy
DAY 12	In Braubach, visit Marksburg Castle, the only castle in the Rhine Valley to have never been destroyed
DAY 13	Take a walking tour of Cologne, Germany and visit the largest cathedral in North Europe
DAY 14	Explore historic windmills and learn about Dutch cheese making in Kinderdijk, The Netherlands
DAY 15	Fly from Amsterdam back to Colorado

Day 0 – Fly from Durango, Colorado to Budapest, Hungary

Last-minute hiccup: Our flight to Budapest, arranged through Viking as part of the package, left from Denver. I had booked an early morning flight from Durango to Denver that would allow for plenty of time to fly to Denver.

To our surprise, our Durango flight was cancelled in the wee hours. Turns out we were caught up in the United snafu that snowballed from bad weather conditions in New Jersey the day before.

Fortunately, we had originally considered driving to Denver, so we pivoted to Plan B and hit the road by 4:15a to make the 6 1/2 hour drive to Denver International. Good times.

Our Lufthansa flight to Budapest with a connection in Munich left at 5:35p. From there everything went smoothly.

Day 1 – Board the Viking Tir

Our bags were checked through to Budapest so the only stop in Munich was Passport Control. It was an efficient, smooth process.

After an hour and a half flight to Budapest, we picked up our luggage from Baggage Claim (it came off promptly!), then easily found the Viking team with their signs and red polo shirts. They directed us to a Viking bus and we were off, arriving at the Viking Tir around 3:00p. Phew!

The Viking Tir: The ship was beautiful and our Veranda Suite room exceeded our expectations. We had time to unpack and make it to a Budapest Welcome Walk for a quick tour near the city port and into the famous Grand Market Hall. It’s the place to pick up a souvenir like Hungarian Paprika.

Day 2 – Explore Budapest on the Castle Hill City Hike excursion

The European vacation truly begins! We woke up at 7pm and looked out to see the Buda side of Budapest from our veranda. The Danube divides the hilly side, Buda, from the flat side, Pest (pronounced Pesht). What a lovely view to enjoy with a cup of coffee that my hubby grabbed at the coffee station just up the hall.

Our walking excursion didn’t start until 9:15a which gave us time to have breakfast and play with our Vox listening devices that we would use on every excursion. Each room has a little charging station with a Vox device for each person and sealed packages that contain single earbud attachments. When you join an excursion you’re told the channel that your guide is using so you can clearly hear everything. They worked like a charm.

Walking tour of Buda: The 3-hour excursion covered a lot! Our guide led us across the Liberty Bridge to Buda, taking us to see Budapest’s largest thermal bath, Széchenyi Bath. I didn’t know that Budapest is known for its natural hot springs.

Then we took a tram ride up to Matthias Church where we caught the end of a Military Mass. And finally, we travelled under the Danube via the Metro. There were beautiful buildings and sites along the way. One of our favorite parts was learning about what life is like in Budapest from our young guide.

Day 3 – Cruise to Vienna with an evening stroll at port

An idyllic day cruising along the Danube: We disembarked Budapest at 5:45p the day before to make the journey to Vienna. I slept in until 8:00a while Dave got up early to see the boat go through the first lock. If you miss the first lock like I did, don’t fret, there are over 60 more locks on this river cruise.

At 10:30a we had the required muster drill. One of the upsides of a river ship is that it’s much smaller than an ocean liner so the stations are up on the sundeck. It only took us 5 minutes to get from our room to our designated spot.

The rest of the day was mostly spent up on the Sun Deck enjoying the peacefulness of the Danube. We had a couple of interludes with the Captain’s Wheelhouse tour and the Executive Chef’s demonstration on how to make Apple Strudel.

At dinner I was wished a Happy Birthday by the crew, complete with a song and special dessert served to the entire table. Later, when we returned to our room, I found a lovely card, bottle of Champagne and box of Lindt chocolates. Viking knows how to make your special moments special!

Evening stroll in Vienna: We arrived in Vienna around 7p and with it still being daylight decided to walk to the Prater Amusement Park. It’s an old-fashioned family park with rides galore. Think Disneyland, Six Flags and Universal Studios all rolled up into one.

Our walk there and back only took about 30 minutes each way. We felt entirely safe, and in fact, felt comfortable wherever we walked throughout our entire vacation. We always found everyone to be kind and helpful.

Day 4 – Panorama of Vienna and Schönbrunn Palace

Shore Excursion “Vienna’s Sights Panoramic”: We joined a group of around 30 on a 3 1/2 hour walk to see a variety of sights. Our guide took us on the U Bahn to the inner city where we walked to museums, the Jewish Quarter and St. Stephen’s Cathedral.

The architecture in Vienna is dazzling. Baroque, neo-Renaissance and Gothic-Renaissance have all influenced the building facades. Each structure looks like something out of a fairy tale.

Our tour ended at 12:30p in Stephansplatz, the geographical center of Vienna where St. Stephen’s Cathedral is located. It hadn’t been a difficult walk, but we were ready to sit down at a cafe in the plaza and people-watch with wiener schnitzel and a German beer.

The Austrian Versailles: On a whim, we decided to brave the U Bahn on our own and go to Schönbrunn Palace, the summer residence of Vienna’s Habsburg rulers. It’s a stunning palace with 1,441 rooms and grounds that boast an Orangery, numerous greenhouses and the Vienna Imperial Carriage Museum.

We hadn’t pre-purchased tickets but there wasn’t much of a line to get them. The only catch was the tour start time. We had a wait of over an hour before we could enter the palace for a self-guided audio tour with our Classic Pass. That gave us time to explore the grounds and visit the bathroom.

We finished our tour around 5p and headed back on the U Bahn. It was definitely rush hour. The train was packed to the point that I didn’t think anyone else could squeeze on, but somehow there was always just enough space for one more.

We were glad to get back to the ship to shower and enjoy a refreshing cosmopolitan martini in the Lounge.

That evening the Tir sailed quietly on to Melk, Vienna while we slept.

Day 5 – Wachau Valley and Melk Abbey

Scenic sail through Wachau Valley: For most of the morning, everyone was up on the Sun Deck watching the spectacular sights along the Wachau Valley, a UNESCO stretch of the Danube between Melk and Krems, Austria. Our Program Director led a commentary on the numerous castles, monasteries, ruins and agricultural points of interest.

Viking scheduled lunch a bit earlier from the normal 12:30p to 11:15a to give everyone time before the 12:30p shore excursion to Melk Abbey.

Touring medieval Melk Abbey: The Abbey excursion was the only one offered for this stop, which meant just about everyone was going. This entailed 5 groups spread across two staggered start times with several buses handling the short drive from the dock up to the Abbey.

Viking does this sort of thing very well, but I confess it was one of my least favorite parts of the cruise. The buses were always air-conditioned with comfortable seats, but being “bussed” adds to the herding experience that is unavoidable on excursions where there are multiple groups being assembled.

Back to the Abbey…considered to be the most famous abbey in Austria, Melk Abbey is majestic with cobblestone streets, frescos, marble sculptures and a medieval library. Even though the monastery is more than 900 years old it’s still an active, vibrant facility with over 700 students attending its school and a small cadre of black-robed Benedictine monks.

Day 6 – Passau, Germany

Walking tour of Passau: Having sailed overnight from Melk, we arrived in Passau around 8:00a. Passau is one of Bavaria’s oldest cities, known for resting at the confluence of the Inn, Ilz and Danube Rivers. It also lies on the German-Austrian border.

Our short excursion began at 9:30a. Over a brief hour and a half walk, we trekked through narrow, cobblestoned streets viewing beautiful pastel facades, the artists alley, open squares and finally St. Stephen’s Cathedral with its pipe organ, the largest in the world.

Hike up to the fortress: After the tour, we ventured out on our own taking the short, but uphill hike to the Veste Oberhaus fortress. We wanted to stretch our legs and view the river confluence.

The ship was conveniently docked for an easy on and off, so we popped back to the Tir in time for lunch, followed by some much needed R & R for the rest of the afternoon.

Day 7 – The medieval city of Regensburg

Schedule change due to low water levels: Every day at 6:40p we have the “Port Talk” where our Program Director recaps the day and shares information about the following day. The day before we were told that due to low water we wouldn’t be able to sail to the Regensburg port. Instead, we would stay in Passau and take buses to our excursions. The more difficult news was that we would be transferring to another ship the next day.

Walking tour of Regensburg: The schedule change meant we were up a little earlier to be ready to hop on a bus for our walking tour of Regensburg. After a 90 minute drive with a quick comfort stop, we all assembled into our groups for our tours. We had opted for the included walking tour which was only an hour and a half.

After that all 187 passengers met at a local restaurant where we were served salad, chicken, rice, strudel and our choice of beer, wine or other beverage. Normally, we would have gone back to the ship for lunch but because we couldn’t do that Viking arranged for us to have lunch en masse in Regensburg. It wasn’t ideal, but the meal was hearty and the restaurant did a great job stepping up to serve us with such little notice.

We had a bit of free time before meeting the bus at 2p to return to the ship.

Pack up! Our evening followed our now regular schedule of shower, head to the Lounge for a drink, snack and piano music before dinner usually at 7p. The Lounge was quiet with many of the passengers in their rooms starting to pack up for the next day’s transfer, but because we had packed light, we decided to put it off until after dinner.

Recap of Week One

• This was our first Viking cruise and it lived up to our expectations. The ship was beautiful, the service topnotch, and the itinerary was full. We saw a lot and did a lot.
• The weather started out very pleasant, but began to turn hot (close to 100° F) by the end of the first week. Viking kept us stocked with waters for every excursion and the buses were air-conditioned, but in the summer you may find yourself seeking shade which is difficult on walking tours because you’re on the move.
• Excursion guides are locals who are contracted through Viking. They were all exceptional. Their unique personalities and passion about the subject matter definitely contributed to a richer experience.
• We splurged on the Silver Spirits Package. We weren’t sure it would be worth it, but decided to try it as a learning experiment. Turns out it was worth it! We’re not big drinkers, but we enjoyed trying different cocktails in the Lounge and premium wines during dinner.
• We purposely packed light because the Veranda Suite includes complimentary laundry services. We utilized that perk every couple of days. Other passengers reported having no problem in doing hand laundry in their rooms. There’s a retractable cord in the shower.
• Our Veranda Suite was one of the best stays I’ve ever experienced, but those rooms are only available on the Deck 3, the top deck. Because it’s right under the Sun Deck, you can expect to hear crew activities such as taking down the Sun Deck during low-bridge sections of the river, heavy walkers and early morning joggers. I called Reception on one particular morning when we were awakened by a jogger before 6:00a. Since I prioritize quiet over room type, next time I will book a room on Deck 2. Fellow passengers said they found those rooms very quiet.