We are taking the Viking Danube Waltz cruise next August - Budapest to Passau. Two couples, late 50s, fairly active (one of the 4 ran a 1/2 marathon this year, hubby and I just returned from Canadian Rockies - did e-bike tour and hiked 10+ miles one day.) We like food/wine/spirits, arts, theatre, history, sports - pretty much everything. First river cruise (or any cruise) for our friends. We cruised the Nile in 2019 and have cruised Alaska and twice in the Caribbean.
I'm a big planner, so I want to have a handle on what excursions and activities we hope to do, including sitting in cafes on the square and soaking up the ambience.
My question is where should we be content with (or skip!) the "free ABC" cruise line tour and then explore on our own? Where are the cruise line optional tours worthwhile? And where does it make sense to get our own private tour? I'd like to avoid the "big bus" scenario where possible, unless it really doesn't matter. Smaller mini-bus size-tours are more appealing - if we aren't just on our own. (e.g., Big bus to Iceland's Blue Lagoon was fine - since it was really just transportation; but I would have much preferred a smaller / private tour for the Golden Circle. We had mini-buses when we were on our Egypt cruise for a group of 16 - that was perfect.)
Our ports are:
- Budapest (with extension - so several days)
- Bratislava
- Vienna (probably want to do something special with music)
- Krems (option for Gottweig Abbey)
- Linz (option for Cesky Krumlov)
- Passau
I am considering is trying to find a private tour for Cesky Krumlov that includes the Baroque Theatre. I think our travel companions might really enjoy that (if we can find one).
Also - not sure how quickly the excursions through Viking book up (included and non-included). Does anyone have experience with that for this type of cruise?
Thanks!
