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Danube Viking- does the boat dock in the towns?


Jacqueline
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A friend and I had different experiences on two different Viking Cruises recently.

It seems that on her itinerary, docking was far from the points of interest, while on my Rhine cruise we were able to do much more independent exploration as the boat was in the little towns more often than not,

Can anyone fill me in on what the situation is in the Danube Itinerary?

Thanks!

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We cruised on the Danube with Viking the end of August to first week in September. I had visions of being able to get off the boat when it docked and wander through historic and lovely (maybe even quaint) towns at the river's edge. However, we had to switch boats mid cruise because the river was too high (or the bridges too low) in one spot. This may have caused the boat to not be able to dock in towns at their usual spots. We had a half hour bus ride from the boat to get to Regensburg and an hour plus bus ride back to where they had moved the boat. The next day we had an hour and a half bus ride from the boat to Passau. I think they moved the boat again but I can't remember how long it took us to return to it. I just know it was not near any town. The next day if you chose, you could go on a tour to Salzberg ( five hours total on the bus going and coming) and be returned to the second boat. I opted to bus to the second boat which was at Linz (a three hour bus ride). Altogether too much busing for me.

 

I think that the boat switch doesn't happen often, but it would be worth your while to research it. Pick a good time of year (I thought we had, but at the beginning of the cruise we were told we would probably have to switch boats because the Danube was too low, only to have to switch because it rained and became too high). Because of the switch and busing, Viking comped the passengers with some nice in-town lunches, an organ concert, the tour to Salzberg and a night time river cruise at Budapest.

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We did the Danube in Sept - Budapest/Brataslavia we were in the heart of town. Melk/Durnestein a short walk, Vienna was a dedicated pier area with about 8 different cruise lines all moored together (about 15 - 20 min cab ride to ringstrasse). Same thing with Linz. In Passau, there were doing some bridge repairs, so some Viking ships ( luck of the draw) were docked right in town, unfortunately we, along w a another Viking ship were docked about 10 minutes south ( Viking ran shuttles every half hour)

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I believe this answer can change from trip to trip, as docking spaces depend on how many ships are in a town at one time, and which one arrives at which time, along with water level issues. I recall that in Passau, one Viking ship was docked right in the heart of the town, while our Viking ship was a bus ride away. Sometimes it is just the luck of the draw! (Passau was still one of our favorite stops, with plenty of time to explore and have lunch on our own. Found a great little place run by a guy involved with the local baseball team!)

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We cruised Budapest to Nuremberg in April 2017 with Viking.

 

Budapest: Centrally located dock within walking distance of Chain Bridge and Central Markets.

Vienna: Docked at a dedicated cruise port. You could walk to a rail station and get into the city from there. Not much to do in the immediate vicinity.

Krems: Centrally located dock handy to Old Town.

Passau: Centrally located dock handy to Old Town.

Regensburg: Centrally located dock handy to Old Town.

Nuremberg: Some kms out of interesting area.

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