Where to go when - Summer
21/05/2020 · By Sukie Chapman
Plan your summer getaway with Great Rail Journeys. Explore picturesque destinations and create unforgettable memories with like-minded travellers.
Read moreSave £200pp on River Cruise 2024 holidays, when you book by 27th August 2024.
2024 Tour code: DLR24
About the tour
Experience the magic of the Danube as we cruise comfortably to Imperial Vienna and Budapest. Step back in time to explore the Ottoman and Habsburg empires. Walk among eclectic architecture in Budapest, enjoy a private music recital in Vienna and ignite the senses with plenty of local flavour.
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You might also like our similar tour The
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What’s included
Itinerary
Our holiday begins as we meet at London St Pancras to begin our journey. We ride the Eurostar to Brussels, then continue by rail to Frankfurt, the financial capital of Germany, where we spend our first night. This lively city is renowned for its attractive Romerplatz, an old trading square where merchants used to sell their goods and where you can find the historic Rathaus building.
For departures 17/06/2024 and 23/06/2024 we will overnight at the Mercure Koblenz hotel in Koblenz.
*If you would like to travel by air, view our Fly & Cruise option here.
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Reviews
4.2 / 5 · 81 reviews
Patricia
Submitted 25/Jul
From the moment we left St Pancras on our great adventure we were as cossetted as young children in a sweetie shop. Nothing was too difficult for our needs as we settled down in our first class seats on Eurostar and waited till Brussels arrived where we changed trains for Frankfurt. We then spent 3 days of rail travel and excellent hotels before arriving in Budapest where we boarded the SS Amedeus on the Danube. It was in impeccable condition and the Danube steared her with ease. The restaurant was a sight to behold and we were served by a bright team of waiters and waitresses who held a good raport in English with our table (6 of us) .The crew welcomed us most warmly and were determined to make us as comfortable as possible . Our cabin/room was in superb condition and we had plenty of storage space for our clothes. The staff were extremely helpful and very keen to pamper us. And what about the Danube? There was an atmosphere of passing history everytime we ducked under a bridge or steared around the many bends in the river. And although there were many onion spired churches on both banks, the most spectacular were in Budapest, Bratislava and Vienna, where we also had excellent and informative walking tours . All the guides poured out their historic knowledge. On disembarkation we were taken on towards Cologne by trains and eventually arrived at our superb Marriott hotel at 10pm after many problems with the train. Next morning the walking tour of Cologne was dominated by the majesty of the twin towers of the magnificant cathedral. It simply took our breath away. Throughout our holiday we were very impressed with Steve on the railway side and Edward on the cruise. Our sincere thanks go to them. Many thanks for what was a superb holiday and a great way to make further friendships. Jack and Pat Guthrie PS Our reference to 'problems with the train' refers to a railway incident when our Cologne train was held up for 2 hours+.
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Malc from Leics
Submitted 24/Jul
Excellent cruise, spoilt partially by nightmare train delays/disruptions around it.
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wingso lai
Submitted 24/Jul
We love the Danube River Cruise , but not the train journey , total we wasted two days in the journey !
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Alan
Submitted 24/Jul
Escorted too and from the River Cruise by an ineffective guide who failled to deliver the services they should of made for stressful journeys. Poor planning in respect of journeys by bacl.offive meant lack of booked seats and failure to deliver the frew afternoon pumbliheij in Cologne. Actual river cruise delivered by Amedaus Nd local tour guides was very good, shame GRJ elements not upto same standatd.
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Terry
Submitted 24/Jul
Overall the holiday was very good, the excursions we went on were also very good although they were a bit tough at times especially with the weather being so hot. If you go on these touring holidays you need to expect that. Generally the food was good although they seemed to put cheese on things even if you didn't want it, for example scrambled egg cheese in it, ham and tomato omelette cheese on it and finally your roll with dinner cheesey butter most nights, my wife doesn't like cheese. There were some issues with the trains not all were on time we are used to that, we were going from Passau to Cologne to stay overnight before leaving the next day on our journey home unfortunately there was a incident on the track going to Cologne, we stopped at Bonn station where people weren't sure on what was happening was we staying on the train or not our tour guide was doing is best to find out what was happening. The next thing we got of the train and they were trying to get us a coach to no avail, then we were going to get a tram also to no avail. Everyone landed up getting a taxi where people shared to half the cost. I must say I got in touch with Great rail journeys and had my money back within 24 hours. Besides all that generally it was a very good holiday. Thank you.
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A York
Submitted 15/Jul
Brilliant from start to finish. The only problem was cancelled trains but this was German Railways fault and our tour leader got us back on track!! Beautiful boat, amazing food and great city tours. Helped that our group really gelled and were great fun.
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River Cruise Holidays 2025
Experience the magic of cruising along some of Europe’s most picturesque waterways. Glide serenely along the romantic Rhine, explore the blue Danube or meander through the enchanting Douro Valley. With our river cruises, you’ll drift through beautiful landscapes and historic towns.