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The Map

The Map

The Trip

Budapest, Hungary Nov 5, 2022  

Welcome to Budapest, capital of Hungary. Transfer to your ship from the airport. After boarding, the afternoon is yours to relax or do a bit of exploring. Tonight, return to your ship for a traditional Hungarian dinner. (Dinner). 

Budapest, Hungary Nov 6, 2022

Today we visit highlights of the hilly Buda and cosmopolitan Pest sides of the city, starting with Pest’s National Opera House and historic Heroes’ Square. In Buda, walk along Castle Hill to Fisherman’s Bastion and Matthias Church. Enjoy lunch on board your ship; the rest of the day is yours to explore the city. You may choose to join us on an optional excursion to experience the thermal springs, restorative natural spas whose waters locals have bathed in for centuries. Or, perhaps select another of our optional excursions designed to allow you to delve deeper into the history, culture and cuisine of this fascinating city. Return to your ship for dinner and evening departure. (Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner) 

Sunday, November 6 @ 8:45 AM for 4 Hours
 
Take in one of Europe’s great cultural capitals. Over the last few decades, Budapest has reemerged as one of the continent’s iconic cities, divided by the lilting Danube and connected by the graceful Chain Bridge. Meet your guide for a panoramic tour, beginning in modern Pest. Along the elegant Andrássy Avenue, the Champs-Élysées of Budapest, admire the Hungarian State Opera House. Drive through Heroes’ Square, a wide-open plaza of monuments and statues commemorating the Magyar state. Across the river, explore the more traditional Buda side of the city. Here you will visit the Castle District with its massive hilltop castle complex, the turreted Fisherman’s Bastion and Matthias Church, named for the country’s most popular medieval king. From the heights of Buda Hill, enjoy fantastic views of the famous Chain Bridge, the first span to ever connect the two halves of the city when it opened in 1849.

Vienna, Austria Nov 7, 2022

Enjoy a day of scenic cruising along the beautiful Danube toward Vienna. As we sail, perhaps join this morning’s German language lesson to learn a few key words and phrases. You may also choose to attend an afternoon presentation on Viennese coffee houses. We arrive early this evening. After dinner, relax or enjoy an optional classical concert. (Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner) 

Vienna, Austria Nov 8, 2022

Today we tour the Austrian capital of Vienna. Ride along the Ringstrasse, which replaced the city walls in the mid-19th century. See some of the city’s baroque architecture, including the world-famous Opera House, St. Stephen’s Cathedral and Hofburg Palace. Return to your ship for lunch. The rest of the day is yours to further explore. As always, your Program Director can help you plan your free time. Alternately, you may wish to join us on one of the day’s optional excursions, perhaps touring Schönbrunn Palace, the “Versailles of Vienna,” visiting the Spanish Riding School’s famed Lipizzaner stallions, or celebrating a local tradition this evening at a high-spirited Heurigen dinner. (Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner) 

Tuesday, November 8 @ 9:00 AM for 3.5 Hours
 
See the magnificent architectural highlights of one of Europe’s most elegant and romantic cultural capitals. The center of arts and intellect during the reign of the Hapsburgs and beyond, Vienna dances to a tempo all its own. Meet your guide and drive into the city for a half-day motor coach and walking tour, focusing on the splendid buildings on the remarkable Ringstrasse, the gracious boulevard laid out on the site of the old city walls in the mid-19th century. Imposing palaces, elegant public buildings and grand residences line this world-famous avenue. You will see the magnificent Hofburg Palace, winter residence of the Hapsburgs and home of the Spanish Riding School with its Lipizzaner horses. Admire the great, Gothic St. Stephen’s Cathedral, crowned with a gleaming spire and colorful roof tiles. And view the beautiful Vienna State Opera concert hall, its facade adorned with elaborate frescoes depicting Mozart’s opera The Magic Flute.
 
Tuesday, November 8 @ 2:00 PM for 3.5 Hours
 
Tour the magnificent home of the Hapsburg Dynasty, built to rival the sprawling Château de Versailles. With your guide, drive just outside the city center to the monarchy’s fabulous summer residence. In 1569, Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian II erected the original hunting lodge here and called it Schönbrunn, meaning “beautiful spring.” In 1775, Empress Maria Theresa, the only female ruler of the Hapsburgs, added the grand neoclassical Gloriette colonnade so she could have sweeping city views. Enjoy a guided tour of the imperial apartments and grandly furnished rooms where Maria Theresa resided. Learn about her extraordinary reign, which featured many military campaigns and domestic reforms in medicine, education and civil rights. There will be free time to explore the formal gardens.

Melk, Austria Nov 9, 2002 

Today, visit the abbey at Melk, a 900-year-old Benedictine monastery featuring Austria’s finest Italian baroque architecture. See its wonderful frescoes and admire the comprehensive collection of medieval manuscripts in its library. Rejoin your ship and cruise through dinner. (Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner) 

Wednesday, November 9 at 12:45 PM for 3 Hours

Tour the renowned Melk Abbey, a masterwork of baroque brilliance. Perched on dramatic cliffs high above the Danube, this ochre-colored confection is perhaps the most graceful landmark of the Wachau Valley. At the abbey’s entrance, you will meet your guide. Rebuilt during the 18th century after the original 12th-century building was destroyed by fire, its library is now home to a wide range of medieval manuscripts. The interior of the abbey’s church is a kaleidoscope of red, orange and gold, with a magnificent carved pulpit and colorful ceiling frescoes. You will also see the imperial rooms, which are now home to a museum chronicling the abbey’s history from its inception to modern times. Be sure to step onto its gracious terrace for breathtaking views of the Danube, the city and the expanding valley.

Passau, Germany Nov 10, 2022

Arrive this morning in Passau, at the confluence of the Inn, Ilz and Danube Rivers. Your guided walk along the town’s narrow streets takes you through Old Town and past traditional patrician houses. Admire the New Bishop’s Residence and see the impressive baroque St. Stephen’s Cathedral; its ornate interior is home to one of Europe’s largest church organs. Enjoy lunch on board your ship, and return to the city for further exploration on your own. Alternately, set out this morning with your guide to enjoy a full-day optional tour of picturesque Salzburg, the birthplace of Mozart and setting of The Sound of Music. We depart just before dinner and cruise through the night. (Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner) 

Thursday, November 10 @ 9:00 AM for 1.5 Hours

Explore the Italianate-style streets of Passau, where three European rivers have converged to shape a distinctive city. Meet your local guide and begin your walking tour through delightful old-world streets, taking in a pastel rainbow of building facades as you stroll. You will see the impressive Bishops’ Residenz from which powerful prince-bishops ruled secular and religious life for hundreds of years. Continue past the 14th-century Rathaus, or Town Hall, built on the site of a former fish market on the Danube. Conclude your walk at the magnificent 17th-century St. Stephen’s Cathedral. This baroque wonder houses Europe’s largest pipe organ, with more than 17,000 pipes, and inspired Franz Liszt to write his Hungarian Coronation Mass. Enjoy free time to explore more of the city on your own before returning to your awaiting ship.

 
Thursday, November 10 @ 2:00 PM for 4 Hours
 
Board a smaller boat to explore the waters of the Inn River as the rolling hills of Upper Austria and Lower Bavaria unfold around you. Meet your guide for a drive upriver through the Bavarian countryside. Soon, you will arrive at the quaint little Austrian town of Schärding on the Inn River, just a short distance from Passau. Take a walking tour with a local guide, admiring the gracefully curved gabled roofs of multihued pastel houses facing the picturesque baroque central square. Then embark a small boat to cruise the famous emerald-green waters of the Inn River. As you get underway, you will see the onion-domed tower of St. George’s Church peering over the town. Enjoy beer and a pretzel as you take in views of the passing countryside, with German Bavaria on one side and Upper Austria on the other.

Regensburg, Germany Nov 11, 2022

Arrive in Regensburg after breakfast and tour this wonderfully preserved medieval city, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, including structures dating back to Roman times. Discover many 13th- and 14th-century patrician houses and see the splendid St. Peter’s Cathedral. During free time, visit the Alte Würstküche (Old Sausage Kitchen), Germany’s oldest restaurant. Alternately, you may choose to disembark this morning and drive with your guide to Munich for an optional full-day tour of this cultural and historic city, rejoining your ship before our evening departure. Cruise through dinner. (Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner) 

Nuremberg, Germany Nov 12, 2002

Cruise the Main–Danube Canal this morning. Or, instead, disembark for a short drive to the center of Nuremberg and use your free time to explore until lunchtime. After lunch, venture out on a tour of the city. Visit the ruins of Zeppelin Field, the Nazi parade grounds of the 1930s, and see the Palace of Justice, site of the infamous Nuremberg Trials. See the Old Town area as you walk past the Albrecht Dürer House and Main Market Square. Alternately, you may choose to join an optional afternoon World War II tour including the illuminating Documentation Center. Dinner is served on board your ship before we depart late this evening. (Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner) 

Saturday, November 12 @ 1:15 PM for 4 Hours 

Tour one of Germany’s most renowned and intriguing cities on this included excursion. Tour one of Germany’s most renowned and intriguing cities on this included excursion. Meet your guide at your ship, then drive to the Old Town, where you can delve into Nuremberg’s complex past. This medieval city is still surrounded by 14th-century walls, with many gates and watchtowers fully intact. It grew into a toy-making capital of Europe, where craftsmen also shaped metal into inspiring sculpture and carved wood and other materials into decorative crafts. After you see the grounds on which Nazi rallies were staged and pass the Palace of Justice, admire the Imperial Palace, one of Europe’s most formidable fortresses. Then, stroll down the castle hill past half-timbered houses and browse the stalls at the Market Square. One of Europe’s most celebrated, it is famous for its gingerbread and its Gothic Schöner Brunnen, or Beautiful Fountain. Cap your tour with time at your leisure to explore on your own.

Bamberg, Germany Nov 13, 2022

Continue along the Main–Danube Canal this morning, arriving in Bamberg in early afternoon. Enjoy a tour of Bamberg, with its medieval city center, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Your walking tour includes a visit to the magnificent 11th-century cathedral, reworked in late Romanesque style in the 13th century, and the picturesque city hall built on a tiny island in the middle of a river. Take some free time to enjoy Bamberg and sample some of the town’s distinctive smoke-flavored beer before returning on board. (Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner) 

Sunday, November 13 @ 9:15 AM for 4.5 Hours
 
See the burial place of emperors and the home of smoked beer on this included excursion. Join your local guide and head to the medieval city center, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Visit the magnificent 11th-century cathedral with its four imposing towers. The church was rebuilt in late Romanesque and early Gothic style in the 13th century; this is where both Emperor Henry II and Pope Clement II are buried. You can pause to admire the detailed statue of the Bamberger Reiter, or Bamberg Horseman, here. You will also see the picturesque Rathaus, or Town Hall, built in the middle of a double-arched bridge over the Regnitz River. From here, you can see fishermen’s cottages on the nearby riverbanks. You will have time to follow your own whims in Bamberg, perhaps sampling some of the town’s distinctive rauchbier, or smoke-flavored beer, before rejoining your ship.

 Würzburg, Germany Nov 14, 2022

Today, tour Würzburg’s Bishops’ Residenz, one of Germany’s largest and most ornate baroque palaces and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Or, you may choose to disembark this morning to experience an optional full-day journey along Germany’s picturesque “Romantic Road” to Rothenburg, with its turreted city wall and impressive Gothic and baroque architecture. Rejoin your ship for dinner and an evening glassblowing demonstration. (Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner) 

Monday, November 14 @ 10:00 AM for 8.5 Hours
Follow the “Romantic Road” to one of Germany’s last remaining walled medieval towns, lovingly preserved. You will drive along one of Bavaria’s prettiest roads to Rothenburg ob der Tauber, the “Red Fortress above the Tauber.” Centuries ago, Rothenburg was ruled by the Holy Roman Empire. It was a busy merchant city until the Thirty Years’ War and the plague threw it into poverty. This 17th-century stagnation froze Rothenburg in time, to be rediscovered by German Romantics in 1802. You will see the picturesque Plönlein square and the Kriminalmuseum. Stroll the castle garden and observe its system of weirs across the river. Walk along the Herrengasse, an inviting lane of old patrician houses. And see the 1466 High Altar of St. Jakob’s Church and the Gothic–Renaissance Town Hall. Upon return to Würzburg, visit the Bishops’ Residenz, one of Germany’s largest and most ornate palaces and a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

 Wertheim, Germany Nov 15, 2022

Wertheim is located at the confluence of the Main and Tauber Rivers. During your morning walking tour, experience life in a typical small German town. Stop in a bakery and a butcher shop, and learn about Wertheim’s glassblowing tradition. Enjoy free time to explore before returning to your ship for lunch. Alternately, depart this morning on an all-day optional excursion that offers a rare glimpse into noble life, enjoying Privileged Access visits to two very different castles: Schloss Mespelbrunn and Schloss Löwenstein. (Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner)  

Tuesday, November 15 @ 9:15 AM for 1 Hour
 
Explore Wertheim, a tiny town that has played a strategic role at the confluence of the Main and Tauber Rivers. You will join your guide to experience this quaint village, squeezed into a narrow triangle in the shadow of Wertheim Castle. As you stroll, its red sandstone towers and fortifications mark your progress from their perch, striking a dramatic pose against the lush hillside forest. You will walk past the Pointed Tower, round at the bottom and octagonal at the top. Over its 800 years, it has tilted to one side. Amble among beautifully restored half-timbered houses built in Franconian style. At the historic marketplace, you will pass a bakery and butcher shop, where you may stop after your tour to learn more about how these important professions help uphold German traditions. You can also stop by a glassblowing shop to admire the intricate works.

Koblenz, Germany Nov 16, 2022

Today, we cruise past hilltop castles along the Rhine; this stunning stretch of the river is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Be sure to keep an eye out for the Lorelei Rock, which marks the river’s narrowest point; the rock is named after a legendary Rhine Maiden who lured sailors to their demise. This afternoon, we’ll stop to visit Marksburg Castle, the only Rhine fortress never destroyed. Rejoin your ship in Koblenz and dine on board. (Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner)  

Wednesday, November 16 @ 3:45 PM for 3 Hours
 
Ascend to the mighty fortress of Ehrenbreitstein, set high on a hill with magnificent views of Koblenz, the confluence of the Rhine and Moselle Rivers and the Eifel Hills. Ehrenbreitstein Fortress has long enjoyed a strategic locale, built on the site of a previous fortress whose history stretched back to 1100. The citadel you see today was constructed in the early 19th century to protect against the French. You will ride a gondola to the hilltop, then enjoy a fun and informative tour with our costumed and colorful actor/guide who takes on the persona of John Humfrey, a lieutenant colonel in the British Corps of Royal Engineers. Accompany him as he guides you through this excellent example of Prussian military fortifications. After, you will have some free time to take in the fantastic views and explore on your own, perhaps lingering at a small café before returning to your ship.

Cologne, Germany Nov 17, 2022 

Begin your day with a morning tour of Cologne, Germany’s fourth-largest city. Stroll through Old Town past St. Martin’s Church and see the Dom, Germany’s largest cathedral and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Spend your free time enjoying Cologne’s atmospheric waterfront, or perhaps join an optional excursion on which you ascend to the Dom’s roof for up-close views of the cathedral’s architecture and bird’s-eye vistas of Cologne. Afterward, return on board for dinner. Alternately, you may set off on an optional excursion to explore Cologne’s spirited beer culture, sampling Kölsch, a light, crisp beer brewed only in Cologne, and enjoying a brauhaus dinner. After, return to your ship for a late-evening departure. (Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner)  

Thursday, November 17 @ 9:15 AM for 2 Hours
 
Learn about Cologne’s heritage and view its iconic cathedral, towering over the city in all its Gothic splendor. Step into a rich past, following some of the city’s preserved historic street patterns and hearing about its Roman and medieval history along the way. As you stroll, your guide will regale you with tales of local folklore figures, Tünnes and Schääl, and the city’s flourishing Jewish community. In Old Cologne, pass the elegant silhouette of St. Martin’s church and stop to view Cologne’s magnificent Gothic cathedral, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Construction of this towering structure began in 1248 and continued in several stages over the next seven centuries. The largest Gothic cathedral in Northern Europe, this magnificent church boasts two soaring spires and beautiful stained glass windows, and largely escaped the damage that ravaged the city and the rest of Germany during World War II.
 
Thursday, November 17 @ 3:00 PM for 2 Hours (Susan)
 
On this backstage tour of a lifetime, head up to the roof of Cologne’s astonishing cathedral with a local guide who is also part of the Dom’s excavation and restoration crew. Start by ascending the outside wall on the same lift used by the restoration crew. Entering the very ceiling of the cathedral through a rooftop door, you will see the vast tower spaces and massive iron structures holding up the roof, and visit the restoration workshops. Then venture onto the roof itself for incredible, up-close views of the cathedral’s Gothic architecture. Beyond, gaze out over the old-world rooftops and waters of the Rhine far beneath. Note that you must be in good physical condition and not afraid of heights; you will pass through some tight spaces and negotiate steps downstairs. Guests can choose to climb a 104-step spiral staircase.
 
Kinderdijk, The Netherlands Nov 18, 2022

We sail along the Rhine during the morning hours. Admire scenic views and enjoy a morning of enjoyable Dutch diversions: sample Dutch cheeses and jenever, a distilled juniper liquor, and take in a culturally enriching presentation on the Dutch Golden Age. This afternoon, your ship arrives in Kinderdijk, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Disembark for an afternoon tour of this ingenious network of windmills and other flood management devices. You learn why the windmills were built and see how they work, plus you enter a working windmill for a tour of its mechanisms and living quarters. Board your ship for departure and dinner. Arrive in Amsterdam around midnight. (Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner)

Friday, November 18 @ 4:30 PM for 2 Hours 
 
Go beyond the usual visitor experience on a Viking exclusive boat tour and visit the oldest Kinderdijk windmill. Board the Jantina, a 125-year-old restored cargo vessel, adapted to carry passengers to the Blokker Windmill, which dates back to 1630. Meet the miller and his family and tour the windmill. Take a peek at the vegetable garden and see the traditional outbuildings, such as the cooking shed and the outhouse. Learn everything there is to know about the life of a miller’s family in days gone by and also what it takes today to preserve these mighty machines. On your way through the canal and back, your expert guide will explain the history of water management in the region and the vital role of the magnificent mills in this endeavor. Return to the visitor center for more information or a memento of your visit.

Amsterdam, The Netherlands Nov 19, 2022 

After breakfast, disembark and proceed to the airport for your return flight.* Or, extend your journey with 2 additional nights in Amsterdam; take time to explore the city’s neighborhoods, museums and exciting nightlife. (Breakfast)