Viking Bucharest to Budapest

[TW6cruiser]

We got back last week from the Viking River Cruise , Bucharest to Budapest. We did a few day add on at the end on our own in Prague. If anyone has any questions I'd be glad to try to answer.

 

 

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[MSTraveler360]

How did you enjoy this stretch? Did you go on any special tours in Bucharest?

 

 

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[caradara]

We're going next spring so any advice is appreciated.

[TW6cruiser]

Yes we enjoyed this portion of the Danube. The scenery was quite beautiful from the ship. We especially enjoyed the sailing through the Iron Gate.

 

As for Bucharest, we arrived around mid-day. We walked in the Old Town area on our own and had dinner. The next morning when the Viking tour actually started, we picked the option of the Tour of the Parliament building. We had not realized this until we checked in, but Viking gives you two choices on the day in Bucharest. You can do the Parliament tour or an old town walking tour. Then both groups also go to an outdoor Village Museum and a group lunch, before boarding the ship. I think it would have been better if Viking actually told you this ahead of time, so you would know, but for some reason they don't. Maybe they don't offer both choices for every group. For us it worked out fine, as we got to see the old town on our own. We walked through many of the smaller churches which were quite lovely.

 

As for the second poster's question, "advice" is pretty wide open. If you have any specific questions I'd be glad to answer.

[WisRiver]

TW6:

 

We start a Viking River cruise from Bucharest to Budapest on May 3 on the Aegir continuing on to Amsterdam on the Baldur. We will arrive late in the evening on May 2 which will give us an extra day in Bucharest. We will stay at the same hotel (Sheraton) where we will start the tour. On May 4 we will have the Viking tours of Budapest before getting on the boat.

 

Thank you for helping to fill in the day for the Viking tours of Bucharest. As you went upstream were there any tours that you could have skipped? Our schedule says we will stop at following ports;

 

Russe, Bulgaria

Vidin, Bulgaria

Scenic Cruising: The Iron Gate

Belgrade, Serbia

Osijek, Croatia

Kalocsa, Hungary

Thank you for your help.

[TW6cruiser]

We did not skip any of the included tours. We enjoyed all of those stops. In Russe, we liked the Veliko Tarnovon and Arbanasi tours. In Vidin, we were really amazed by the Belogradchik Rock formation. In Belgrade, we had been thinking of doing the optional tour to the serbian opera but did not. We ended up staying on the boat that afternoon but other folks who went on that one did like it. in Osijek, the tour is more educational. The tour of the town itself is not much but then you have a home tour and learn about the Serbian/Croatian war. I'll admit I thought that the Kalosca excursion to the horse farm was not going to be impressive but we really enjoyed that. The Budapest included tour was great on the way to the hotel as it gave a good overview of the city, and we did not have to go back up to the Fishermen's Bastion area as we saw a lot that first day.

[dogsarepeopletoo]

This is the cruise that interests me, with additional time in Bucharest and the surrounding area.

 

Did you find the time you roamed around on your own enough time? Or were you itching to spend more time in old town?

[TW6cruiser]

We thought we had enough time to walk around and have a leisurely dinner. Of course our hotel was very close to the old town so that made it easy.

 

 

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