Should we do a post cruise extension?

My wife and I will are excited about a Viking Danube River Cruise from Nuremberg to Budapest in May that we have booked. We have never taken a river cruise before or visited Central Europe. We intend to do a three day pre-cruise extension in Prague. Should we also do a two day post cruise extension in Budapest? The cruise will spend one day in Budapest. The current cost for the post cruise extension is $399 pp.

Thank you.

The price for two nights post cruise in Budapest is decent, (vs. looking into doing it on your own).

Budapest is worth spending at least two extra days in,whether with your group or individual.

The first cruise day tour will likely just drive you around, give over-view, which is fine, but you need more time exploring.

We added on time on our at the end of a river cruise that terminated in Budapest, and loved it, e.g., we visited inside the “Hospital in the Rock” museum on castle hill, fascinating.

We would have liked more time to also walk the streets.

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I would definitely spend some time in Budapest, but you can do it on your own much more economically, Budapest is a beautiful city. If you do decide to stay a few days, be sure and get tickets to tour the parliament building before you go. It will not disappoint.

I am staying a. Extra three nights at an aparthotel, for approx 150. They won’t have all of the amenities but some are 4 • properties.

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Do stay a few extra days in Budapest... so much to see and do. However, there are lots of hotel options - and I do believe you can find a very good hotel for less than the cost of the extension that is offered through Viking.

I think it is worth the money to do Prague with Viking - as they will take you to the boat in Nuremberg (not a particularly easy thing to arrange on your own....). But Budapest is so easy to get around - and it is easy (and not particularly expensive) to get to the airport on your own after your stay.

We have extended a couple of times in Budapest - it is one of our favourite cities in Europe.

Fran

Budapest is a great place to spend a few days and I agree with the others, you should definitely spend time there post-cruise.

It is relatively inexpensive and for the price that you quoted above you could probably get a room at the Four Seasons on your own. The Four Seasons (and a few other hotels) are very well located at the foot of the Chain Bridge on the Pest side. I saw Viking ships docked right there, so I would imagine that you could walk from the boat to the Four Seasons on disembarkation day.

We spend 2-1/2 days in Budapest on our own before embarking on Uniworld, and then spent another day while on the ship before sailing. There are still things on our list that we haven't done, so we will return when we have the chance. I blogged about our time there; link is in my signature if you want to see an example of what you can do there in a few days.

We're figuring that the airfare is paid for regardless of how long we stay in Europe, so why not take advantage of being there? We are extending in Switzerland for 2-3 nights after a Rhine cruise, DIY. Beats paying for airfare again to visit Switzerland on another vacation.

Yes do....Glad you are doing Prague first, you will love it...We did Prague and Munich pre and extra days in Budapest.

Thanks so much for everybody's input.

My wife and I will are excited about a Viking Danube River Cruise from Nuremberg to Budapest in May that we have booked. We have never taken a river cruise before or visited Central Europe. We intend to do a three day pre-cruise extension in Prague. Should we also do a two day post cruise extension in Budapest? The cruise will spend one day in Budapest. The current cost for the post cruise extension is $399 pp.

 

Thank you.

Hi, we just returned the end of August from a Uniworld Danube cruise from Bucharest to Budapest (we got through despite low water levels), and we did our thing in Budapest. It is a beautiful city and very easy to get around!!!!! We stayed at a hotel near the Opera House/St. Stephen's Basilica area--great area, very central, lots of hotels and restaurants, and we were in a lovely hotel one block away from the Basilica. We booked a 72 hour Hop on Hop off bus, so we could get around the city (very reasonable), and we did use taxis once--no problem. Do spend at least 3 more days in Budapest--there is so much to see and do and it is very oriented to tourists. You will love it!!!!!!!!!!:)

What hotel did you stay in?

I am doing air through Viking. Their own two day extension is sold out. If I do an extension on my own there inna $100 per person air deviation fee and we loose our transfers.

Has anyone stayed at the Hilton by the castle or the Marriott?

What hotel did you stay in?

I am doing air through Viking. Their own two day extension is sold out. If I do an extension on my own there inna $100 per person air deviation fee and we loose our transfers.

Has anyone stayed at the Hilton by the castle or the Marriott?

The Hilton is on the Buda side and the Marriott is on the Pest side. We stayed at Hotel Moments, a block from St Stephen's. Boutique hotel, very clean, great service, and very central. The Marriott is closer to the river, the Hilton will have great river views but is not as close to the center, I think. You have many choices in the city! You can easily do Budapest on your own, between hop on/off tours, walking the city (gorgeous sites), taxis if needed, etc. Hope this helps!

I personally find the Viking River extensions insanely costly. But I am comfortable in foreign places, enjoy doing research and honestly find 5 star accommodations over-the-top exorbitant. I also theorize that after weeks on a structured river cruise, getting out on one's own would be a relief for many.

We are spending one full day in Budapest, then six of us are taking a tour van (mydaytrip.com) to Prague after Budapest. It offers you-pick-em stops along the way. We'll spend four nights in Prague. This is probably unfair to Budapest.

What hotel did you stay in?

I am doing air through Viking. Their own two day extension is sold out. If I do an extension on my own there inna $100 per person air deviation fee and we loose our transfers.

Has anyone stayed at the Hilton by the castle or the Marriott?

I also stayed at the Budapest Marriott on my own. Beautiful views of the river and close to everything. Our cruise ended in Vienna from where we took the train to Budapest. Communication in English not an issue but a guide adds so much more! We did hire a private guide for 2 days that we found on TripAdvisor. https://budapestactivetours.com/ .

Once again thank you everyone for your input. It is much appreciated

There are many boutique hotels in the city center which will be steps from Vaci Street (long pedestrian street) or the river. And the cost will be much less than a tour will offer. A ride to the airport runs about $35 U. S.

Do a little research on trip advisor and its member board. Maps of the city neighborhoods will help as well as the hotel recommendations. We were just there a couple weeks ago for four nights. My niece lives there and made sure we saw things often missed by visitors like the ruin bar area and one of the baths. It's a very walkable city if you stay in the city center. Too, everything is VERY VERY reasonably priced.

We stayed for 2 nights in Budapest before our cruise that started in Vienna. We took the Railjet to Vienna the night before our cruise. We enjoyed Budapest so much last time that we're spending another 3 nights there prior to our upcoming cruise (this time originating in Budapest).

When one of our cruises ended in Nuremberg we chose to rent a car there and spend a few days in Berchtesgaden and Salzburg. This time, we'll end in Passau and we have a private driver taking us to Cesky Krumlov and then on to Prague for our last 4 nights.

As someone said, the airfare is already paid for and you're already in Europe, so why not take advantage of it? We never book through the cruise line since we're more comfortable choosing our our hotels and making our own plans (and it's less costly overall).

We're figuring that the airfare is paid for regardless of how long we stay in Europe, so why not take advantage of being there? We are extending in Switzerland for 2-3 nights after a Rhine cruise, DIY. Beats paying for airfare again to visit Switzerland on another vacation.

Agreed! When we did Amsterdam to Basel, we spent time in Amsterdam on the front end and then took the train to Lucerne at the end of the trip (and then back to Zurich for our flight home.)

Agree with the others, Budapest is worth time and easy to do on your own. We spent 5 nights last trip, bought public transport tickets which enabled lots of exploring as well as walking on our own.

The yellow tram is especially useful and follows a scenic route along the river front and pass the beautiful parliament buildings. Having time to wander was lovely especially around the Fisherman Bastion area.

After we boarded the ship we did the cruise ship tours but time does not allow to see/experience @ your own pace.