Uniworld Bucharest to Vienna?

[travel girl 747]

Anyone done this. What to expect? Any suggestions on what we should do?

[Bobblsc]

Your signature suggests that you are, or were, a flight attendant.

 

We traveled on Uniworld in 2005, but only from Bucharest to Budapest. However, we have been to Vienna several times. That was our third river cruise.

 

Both your cities are great to visit. I am retired, so it is easy for us to add our own extra time to river trips, or to ocean cruises for that matter. If you are able to do so, try to add times to both these beautiful cities. We had four nights in Bucharest, two on our own and two as part of the cruise. Our first hotel was the Intercontinental in the city center. I believe this is the tallest building in the city. Our room was on an upper floor, perhaps about 20 or 21. The view of the city from a small balcony was magnificent. We also found the room and service to be excellent. The major museums, etc. are walkable. ATM's are close-by.

 

Uniworld later placed us in the Marriott for two nights. This is removed from the city center, but is also a nice hotel. We had two Uniworld tours during our stay there. Our tour guide was a well educated young lady who appreciated my humor. We were taken by bus to Constanta the last morning. We had a tour of that city before we boarded the river ship to go up the Danube.

 

If you stay in the Marriott, there are two small groceries across the street where you can purchase beer and wine.

 

The lower part of the Danube is not very picturesque, except for the "Iron Gates" which are awesome.

 

Especially if you have never been there, stay in Vienna for as long as you can after the cruise. We have stayed twice at the Perchey, a small hotel, guest house, a few yards from a walking street leading to the cathedral.

 

One of the very great features of Vienna is the State Opera House. The building is beautiful and the productions outstanding. If you like great music try to go. It is expensive but worth it. Book on line as early as possible.

 

If you overnight in Budapest, the State Opera there is also good. Since the tickets are so reasonable, you must book early on the web to be able to attend. However, if you need a taxi in Budapest, be careful. Many will try to cheat you.

 

I have written much. Your trip should be very good. Please post again after you read this. It can be very frustrating to wait for a response which sometimes never comes. I may try to post photos of interest if you respond.

 

Bob :cool:

[sarmeier]

We are signed up for the Apr 21 cruise. Interested in comments from folks who have done this cruise. Also any forecast on the river level and weather at that time.

[wcc19]

We did this cruise with Uniworld last year and it was easily the most fascinating cruise we have ever done. We chose it because it is unusual, very few people cruise east of Budapest and so in several places we were the only tourists there. We were hoping to get a glimpse of life and history in this interesting area, and it did not disappoint.

The lower part of the Danube has very little settlement along its banks so it is very peaceful - you can hear the birds singing as you cruise along. In this section, you generally take coaches on your excursions. They are guided by very knowledgable locals who give you insight into local life.

Highlights in eastern Europe:

- Caucescu's Romanian legacy, his amazing palace in Bucharest

- Tito's museum and the story of his rule in the former Yugoslavia

- Each country's struggle to join the EU, some more successful than others (it is not easy to get into the EU)

- Each country's struggle to convert from the communist system to a free market economy, some more successful than others.

- Their centuries-old history of war and bloodshed, as recently as 1995 in the Balkan War. You can see the bullet-riddled, bombed out, burned out buildings still standing. It was interesting to hear about this war from the Croatian side and then cross over to Serbia and hear it again from a different perspective. This experience gave us a new appreciation of the peaceful life we live in Canada.

- The home-hosted lunch. The village we went to in Croatia had been completely destroyed in the Balkan War and the villagers returned and rebuilt it, a wonderful story of the resilience of the human spirit.

 

The highlights and stories are far too numerous to list here. For sure we did enough of the regular tourist thing between Budapest and Vienna, but suffice to say if you are looking for something that is mostly off the beaten tourist track, something that will broaden your horizons, this is it.

[travel girl 747]

Thank you for your information. No I'm not a flight attendent I just love to travel and I enjoy doing it with my mom as her husband can't travel so we go together.

[travel girl 747]

Thats funny, We are going on the 21st as well! lol

[HDS]

We enjoyed very much this trip in reverse on Uniworld's River Countess, as the second leg of our Amsterdam-Bucharest cruise September 2008. My post, "Amsterdam to Bucharest with Uniworld was excellent" is on page 3 of this forum. We haven't travelled with Avalon so can't compare.