River cruising in central Europe

I just returned from an amazing river cruise in central Europe and it was unbelievable! We started off in Prague, Czech Republic, but only stayed one night and didn't see everything we wanted to. Prague is a great city and we wish we had stayed longer.


The second day we took a bus to Nuremberg, Germany to get on the MS AmaLegro for a 7-night cruise on the Danube River. The bus ride was about 3 and a half hours and went through beautiful European countryside. I loved seeing all of the rolling hills and towns. The architecture in Europe is so different that here in the U.S.


We arrived at the bus station in Nuremberg and easily found a taxi to take us to the boat. The next day we went on a tour through Nuremberg and to Kaiserburg castle. After the tour we had some free time so we walked around and found a great cafe to warm up with some coffee. It was cold out! On the way to the cafe, there was a great farmers market. It was really neat to see all of the produce and flowers for sale to the locals.


We started our cruise down the Danube and headed to Regensburg, Germany. We had to navigate through several locks. At first they lifted the boat up, but then we crossed the Continental Divide and the locks lowered the boat after that. Regensburg was one of my favorite towns. The tour was great and full of interesting facts. We had free time to walk around the town and enjoy the views from the clock tower. The Glockenspiel is a clock that has been running for 500 years and every day at noon the figures move.


The river between Regensburg and Passau was gorgeous - mountains, hills, meadows, and villages. We were able to sit in the lounge and have a great view while staying warm.



Passau's St Stephens Cathedral boasts the largest pipe organ in Europe (2nd largest in the world). It, and everything else in the Cathedral, was amazing. I'm really glad we went in there.


Our next stop was Melk, Austria and a tour to the Melk Abbey. Inside was a museum and our tour guide was able to tell us a lot about the history of the area and of the Abbey. It was fascinating. The rooms in the Abbey and it's beautiful church were incredibly ornate. I loved it!


Most of the cruise passengers got on a bus in Melk and headed on an optional tour to Salzburg. I opted to stay on the cruise and watch the landscape and vineyards of the Wachau Valley pass by. I'm glad I did, though I heard the Salzburg trip was amazing, too. It was really foggy out, lending itself to a much needed afternoon nap.


Next, we visited Vienna, Austria. We arrived the evening we left Melk and met up with the passengers who went to Salzburg. We took a bus (provided by the cruise company) into the city to visit the Christmas market at night. This was one of two cities that had the markets set up during our trip. The rest were being set up a week or so later.


The next day we toured Vienna in the morning and took an optional tour to Shoenbrunn Palace in the afternoon. I'm so glad we did that. The Palace was incredible and we really loved hearing about the history of the Habsburg Empire.

Our final stop on the cruise was Budapest. Because the Danube was really low, we weren't actually able to dock there. We couldn't even get close. We had to dock an hour and a half away and get bussed into the city. It's too bad because we would have been docked right in the middle of the city, but it all worked out just fine.


Budapest was my favorite city of all. It also helped that we had two extra nights there after the cruise. We stayed at the Hilton Budapest Castle District which was on top of a hill in the Fisherman's Bastion which looked like a castle.


It was great that we got the tour on the last day of the cruise so we got a good feel of the city and knew where we wanted to go during our short stay there. We had a day and a half on our own to do whatever we wanted. We walked a lot and saw so much. I really want to go back someday.

My next blog will cover the cruise itself - the boat, the crew, the included tours, etc. If you're interested in a river cruise, a guided vacation, or a self-drive vacation, please contact us or visit www.dragonflytrips.com