I must confess that I don't like cruises very much. At least those family cruises where there are either very young children or very old people. My thing is still adventure and not so much comfort. But I would be very wrong if I thought that all cruises are like this. I would be missing the opportunity to enjoy a cruise on the Danube.
The Danube river is a very long river so these cruises touch various cities in various countries and they offer a handful of sightseeing tours that unite nature, fun, history and culture. After all, today the Danube crosses ten countries, including Austria, Croatia, Bulgaria, Moldova, Slovenia, Ukraine, Serbia, Hungary and Germany, among others. Let's see then what we need to know to take a cruise on the Danube.
The Danube River
The Danube River is almost three thousand kilometers long, runs from west to east, and rises in the Bavarian region of Germany to empty into the Black Sea, on the Romanian coast, in a swampy delta. Behind the Volga is the second longest river on the continent and it is an international river. As I said above born in Germany, in the area of the Black Forest, converging with other multiple rivers that provide their waters and allow you to travel kilometers and kilometers touching several of the most beautiful cities in Europe.
In Austria it passes through Linz, Vienna, Krems and Tull. It continues to Bratislava, one of the three Slovak cities it touches on its long journey. In Hungary there are many more and only two cities in Croatia. Serbia and Bulgaria go head-to-head with almost ten cities blessed by the Danube and Romania has a few more. It is a river that has 22 islands And it is easily divided into three sections: a high, a medium and a low.
The Danube is a very navigable river, even by sea ships. It has a huge hydroelectric dam, between Serbia and Romania, and multiple artificial and natural canals. Today 87% of the river can be navigated so ships can go from the North Sea to the Black Sea. Construction of the Main Canal of the Danube which began in the 2002th century was completed in XNUMX increasing the commercial and cultural importance of the river.
Can you drink the water from the Danube? Yes, the Danube is a source of drinking water for millions of people in Germany, although not so much in other countries where it passes. There is a lot of pollution and in general it is not possible to speak of a 100% healthy channel but only in parts.
Danube cruises
There are many possible itineraries and they all depend on what your port of departure is. Most cruises start or end in Budapest but the route may vary And that always depends on the duration of the trip. Shorter cruises tend to move through Germany and Austria and longer ones include Amsterdam and Eastern Europe.
There are cruises that last a week and another fifteen days touching cities like Passau, Budapest, Vienna, Vilkovo, Amsterdam, Cologne or Bratislava. Cruises also stop in small coastal towns or villages or less touristy, medieval and charming towns. This is the case of Bamberg, Nuremberg, Regensburg, the oldest city on the Danube, Miltenberg, Würzburg, the Ukrainian version of Venice, Vylkove, the Bulgarian ports of Oriachovo and Somovit, the Iron Gates dam, Dürnstein, Belgrade, Kalocsa or Budapest. , for example.
As you can see, there are countless cities, you just have to choose your cruise well. Generally speaking, a seven-day cruise can depart from the Austrian-German border, Passau, touch Linz, Dürnstein, Tulln and reach Vienna. After visiting the city, the trip continues to Budapest, Bratislava, Melk and Passau back. A longer trip means many more cities and countries. The cruises in general are concentrated in the first two sections of the river but one can travel to the Eastern countries, the lower section, and visit Serbia, Croatia, Bulgaria and Romania.
You don't have time to get lost on board a boat but you don't want to stop strolling along the river? Then, Another option is take very short cruises, of days or hours. You can take a three-day cruise from Budapest to Vienna or directly visit Bratislava from Austria in one day. In this case, the company is Twin City Liner and it connects both cities in a pleasant 75-minute walk. You travel by catamaran, ideal for a lower level of the river, and you start from Schwedenplatz, in the historical case of Vienna, just opposite. The catamarans do the tour five times a day.
Danube cruise companies
There are many cruise operators: Vikign River Cruises, AMA Waterways, Avalon Waterways, Scenic Tours, Titan Travel, APT, A-Rosa, CriosiEurope, Emerald Waterways, Tauck, Grand Circle, Uniworld, Vantage and Saga Cruises, for example. The best opinions of experts and users are taken by the AmaCello ships of AMA Waterways, with 75 cabins and floor-to-ceiling windows and doors, River Cloud II, operated by Sea Cloud, a sailboat with Art-Deco interiors and 44 cabins, beautiful , and TUI Queen, a bit big for some locks but with a spa included.
When you choose a cruise, also think about the season of the year. If you go with a lot of sun and the temperatures are pleasant, you will like a boat with wide decks and sun loungers, for example. Even in some cruises you can even take a bike or there are cruises that offer them to walk around the places where they moor.
Recommendations
You are walking along a living river so you have to take into account some questions. First, the tide rises and falls and that sometimes affects navigation. You can't go under a bridge, there's trouble getting through some gates and that sort of thing. One season when the level of the Danube can be low is summer, when it is hot and it does not rain much. That is why it is convenient to ask at the agency. Also in summer there are usually flies, so maybe you paid for a room with a balcony and you should always keep it closed (the flies are usually in the locks that the cruise goes through, especially). If instead you choose to travel in spring or autumn, I recommend you bring something warm nights can be cool on the river.
You can actually cruise the Danube all year round, but May to September is the top season. June, July and August is too hot. It's cold in winter, of course, but it's worth getting on a boat if that boat is decorated with Christmas motifs and is a floating Christmas market. That's right, this kind of christmas cruises They exist, they only work between November and December and the places fly.
Finally: carry binoculars, to appreciate the landscapes, take comfortable shoes because in each city you touch you will have to go down and tour, remember that the ship moves and reconsider the issue of balcony cabins for the issue of bugs. A floor-to-ceiling window is better.