The Danube's Eastern Capitals to its Delta

We arrive in Vienna around lunchtime, where there will be the opportunity to join our optional Vienna city tour. Our guided tour takes in the many highlights of Austria’s beautiful capital, including an abundance of grand palaces, baroque castles, magnificent squares and striking monuments. Later this evening, we set sail for the charming town of Kalocsa in Hungary. 

We arrive in Kalocsa in the early afternoon where you will have free time to explore. Set on the bank of the Danube, Kalocsa is one of Hungary’s oldest towns and dates back to the early 11th century. As the town evolved it became known for paprika production and intricate handcrafted embroidery. This evening we enjoy dinner onboard before sailing to Mohacs and then onward to Belgrade.

We arrive in the Serbian capital of Belgrade around lunchtime. The city of Belgrade lies at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers. There is plenty of time to see the highlights of this fascinating city on our optional tour, which is a great way to see the main sights; including the huge Belgrade Fortress and St Sava Church, one of the biggest churches in the world. We enjoy dinner onboard this evening and sail overnight towards the Iron Gate. 

This morning we arrive in Ruse, which is the fifth largest city in Bulgaria, where there’s some free time to explore. Ruse is one of Bulgaria's most elegant cities full of belle époque architecture, leafy squares, an abundance of museums plus its ruined Roman fortress, standing guard high over the Danube. Lunch is served on board the ship before we set sail towards the Romanian city of Tulcea. 

We arrive into the picturesque city of Oltenita this morning. Here you can join our optional excursion which takes you to the Romanian capital of Bucharest, where there’s plenty of time to explore the wide tree-lined boulevards and admire the many landmarks including Parliament Palace – one of the largest buildings in the world. We rejoin our cruise in Giurgiu and set sail for the Iron Gate.  

This afternoon, there’s the opportunity to join our optional city tour of Pécs, which is one of the most interesting cities in Hungary. Lying equidistant from the Danube to the east and the Dráva to the south on a plain sheltered from the northern winds by the hills, Pécs has a microclimate that lengthens the summer and is ideal for fruit production. It has an illustrious past and a number of excellent museums, monuments and a handful of universities. Enjoy a relaxed evening onboard as we cruise to the Hungarian capital of Budapest. 

We arrive into Bratislava in the afternoon where you can join our optional excursion taking in this historic capital city, which is dominated by its castle and unique suspension bridge. We’ll enjoy a walking tour with a local guide and sample ‘Makovka’ which is a sweet white chocolate with poppy seed filling, before enjoying a relaxing dinner onboard our ship. This evening we continue cruising along the Danube towards Melk.

We arrive in the Austrian town of Melk this morning, which is filled with quaint cobbled streets and striking buildings. It is also overlooked by one of the most splendid monastic houses in Austria – the Benedictine Abbey, which you can visit on our optional excursion this morning. Relax and enjoy your last night on board the ship this evening, as we cruise back towards Passau.

After breakfast we continue our return journey home to the UK.