Magnificent Rivers of Europe Cruise

Day 1 - Budapest

Arrive: Wed 17 July 2024

Budapest, Hungary’s capital, is bisected by the River Danube. Its 19th-century Chain Bridge connects the hilly Buda district with flat Pest. A funicular runs up Castle Hill to Buda’s Old Town, where the Budapest History Museum traces city life from Roman times onward.

Day 2 - Budapest

Depart: Thu 18 July 2024

Budapest, Hungary’s capital, is bisected by the River Danube. Its 19th-century Chain Bridge connects the hilly Buda district with flat Pest. A funicular runs up Castle Hill to Buda’s Old Town, where the Budapest History Museum traces city life from Roman times onward.

Day 3 - Bratislava

Arrive: Fri 19 July 2024 / Depart: Fri 19 July 2024

Bratislava, the capital of Slovakia, is set along the Danube River by the border with Austria and Hungary. It’s surrounded by vineyards and the Little Carpathian mountains, crisscrossed with forested hiking and cycling trails. The pedestrian-only, 18th-century old town is known for its lively bars and cafes. Perched atop a hill, the reconstructed Bratislava Castle overlooks old town and the Danube.

Day 4 - Vienna, Austria

Arrive: Sat 20 July 2024 / Depart: Sat 20 July 2024

Day 5 - Durnstein

Arrive: Sun 21 July 2024 / Depart: Sun 21 July 2024

Dürnstein is a small town on the Danube river in the Krems-Land district, in the Austrian state of Lower Austria. It is one of the most-visited tourist destinations in the Wachau region and also a well-known wine growing area.

Day 5 - Wachau Valley

Arrive: Sun 21 July 2024 / Depart: Sun 21 July 2024

The Wachau Valley is an Austrian region near the Danube River, west of Vienna. It’s known for its rolling hills, vineyards and fortresses. Richard the Lionheart was imprisoned in the castle above the town of Dürnstein. Highlights of nearby Gottweig Abbey include its lavish baroque church and views across the valley. Melk Abbey is a vast monastery also with an opulent baroque church.

Day 5 - Melk

Arrive: Sun 21 July 2024 / Depart: Sun 21 July 2024

Melk is an Austrian town on the River Danube, west of Vienna. It’s known for the 11th-century Melk Abbey, a vast monastery built high above the town. Gold statuary adorns its domed Abbey Church, and the huge library houses medieval manuscripts. The Marmorsaal is a baroque hall with a ceiling fresco and red marble walls. South of Melk, gardens surround Renaissance Schallaburg Castle, which hosts cultural exhibitions.

Day 6 - Passau (Munich)

Arrive: Mon 22 July 2024 / Depart: Mon 22 July 2024

Passau, a German city on the Austrian border, lies at the confluence of the Danube, Inn and Ilz rivers. Known as the Three Rivers City, it's overlooked by the Veste Oberhaus, a 13th-century hilltop fortress housing a city museum and observation tower. The old town below is known for its baroque architecture, including St. Stephen's Cathedral, featuring distinctive onion-domed towers and an organ with 17,974 pipes.

Day 7 - Regensburg

Arrive: Tue 23 July 2024 / Depart: Tue 23 July 2024

Regensburg, a Bavarian city on the Danube River in southeast Germany, is known for its well-preserved medieval core. The 12th-century Stone Bridge, a 310m-long icon with 16 arches, crosses the river to the old town. The 13th-century Regensburg Cathedral, a twin-spired Gothic landmark, is home to the Regensburger Domspatzen choir. Walhalla, a Parthenon replica just east of the city, honors illustrious Germans.

Day 8 - Roth

Day 9 - Bamberg

Arrive: Thu 25 July 2024 / Depart: Thu 25 July 2024

Bamberg is a town in northern Bavaria, Germany, laid out over 7 hills where the Regnitz and Main rivers meet. Its old town preserves structures from the 11th to 19th centuries including the muraled Altes Rathaus (town hall), which occupies an island in the Regnitz reached by arched bridges. The Romanesque Bamberg Cathedral, begun in the 11th century, features 4 towers and numerous stone carvings.

Day 10 - Volkach

Day 11 - Wurzburg

Arrive: Sat 27 July 2024 / Depart: Sat 27 July 2024

Würzburg is a city in Germany's Bavaria region. It's known for lavish baroque and rococo architecture, particularly the 18th-century Residenz palace, with ornate rooms, a huge fresco by Venetian artist Tiepolo and an elaborate staircase. Home to numerous wine bars, cellars and wineries, Würzburg is the center of the Franconian wine country, with its distinctive bocksbeutel (bottles with flattened round shapes).

Day 12 - Miltenberg

Arrive: Sun 28 July 2024 / Depart: Sun 28 July 2024

Miltenberg is a town in the Regierungsbezirk of Lower Franconia in Bavaria, Germany. It is the seat of the like-named district and has a population of over 9,000.

Day 13 - Rudesheim

Arrive: Mon 29 July 2024 / Depart: Mon 29 July 2024

Rüdesheim am Rhein is a town in the Rhine Valley, Germany. It’s known for winemaking, especially of Riesling wines. In the center, Drosselgasse is a lane lined with shops, taverns and restaurants. Nearby, Siegfried’s Mechanical Music Cabinet is a museum of automated musical instruments. Medieval Brömserburg Castle is home to the Rheingau Wine Museum, exhibiting wine paraphernalia from ancient times to the present.

Day 13 - Rhine Gorge

Day 14 - Cologne

Arrive: Tue 30 July 2024 / Depart: Tue 30 July 2024

Cologne, a 2,000-year-old city spanning the Rhine River in western Germany, is the region’s cultural hub. A landmark of High Gothic architecture set amid reconstructed old town, the twin-spired Cologne Cathedral is also known for its gilded medieval reliquary and sweeping river views. The adjacent Museum Ludwig showcases 20th-century art, including many masterpieces by Picasso, and the Romano-Germanic Museum houses Roman antiquities.

Day 15 - Amsterdam

Arrive: Wed 31 July 2024

Amsterdam is the Netherlands’ capital, known for its artistic heritage, elaborate canal system and narrow houses with gabled facades, legacies of the city’s 17th-century Golden Age. Its Museum District houses the Van Gogh Museum, works by Rembrandt and Vermeer at the Rijksmuseum, and modern art at the Stedelijk.

Day 16 - Amsterdam

Depart: Thu 01 August 2024

Amsterdam is the Netherlands’ capital, known for its artistic heritage, elaborate canal system and narrow houses with gabled facades, legacies of the city’s 17th-century Golden Age. Its Museum District houses the Van Gogh Museum, works by Rembrandt and Vermeer at the Rijksmuseum, and modern art at the Stedelijk.