European river cruise advice?

[Mr._Graybeard]

The cruises on the Main do seem to have some bus travel involved, in part because the Main is a working river and is often flanked by the industrial parts of the cities you pass through. Still, on the Uniworld Main tour DW and I took a few years ago, the longest stretch of bus travel was from Prague to Nuremberg. Otherwise is was mostly intracity transit.

Quite a few years ago we cruised the Rhone River in France, and I would gladly do that trip again. Tack on a few extra days in Lyon (known as the gustatory capital of France) and a few more at the other end of the trip, at Arles, Marseilles and particularly in the Camargue. The boat docked in the heart of all but a couple of the cities it visited; we also enjoyed visiting the home of one of the guides in a medieval village on the river.

A neighbor whose wife is a travel agent recently took a Rhone cruise and also enjoyed it a great deal.

 

[Souschef]

A neighbor whose wife is a travel agent recently took a Rhone cruise recently and also enjoyed it a great deal.

I second that. The Rhone cruise we took was very enjoyable. Our tours through the markets in Nice and the "Les Halles" in Lyon were fantastic. Outside Arles, we went to a sound and light show in an old quarry that presented the works of Van Gogh and Gauguin on 20 foot high walls with accompanying music.

 

[audreyh1]

Good news! We'll be traveling Lyon, Provence and the Riviera in a couple of months. But not by boat.

 

[Mr._Graybeard]

May I suggest a side trip to Aigues-Mortes? It's a well-preserved walled city in the Camargue. Louis IX launched the Seventh and Eighth Crusades from the city in the late 13th century. We stayed overnight there in a little pension and just loved it.

Nearby, Stes. Maries de la Mer is the gypsy capital of France.

 

[Chuckanut]

I have looked at a number of cruises and have yet to find one that seems to be worthwhile. I am especially suspicious of river cruises whose advertisements show spectacular views taken from aircraft. Why not show the view from the boat?

 

[Souschef]

I have looked at a number of cruises and have yet to find one that seems to be worthwhile. I am especially suspicious of river cruises whose advertisements show spectacular views taken from aircraft. Why not show the view from the boat?

Those are Viking river cruise commercials showing the Parliament building in Budapest. The real facts are the rivers are crowded with their ships, and you may end up "rafted" with 2 or more ships.
The problem is you pay for a balcony, and all you can see is the balcony of the ship you are rafted with!

 

[RobbieB]

Thanks for the info!

I was seriously considering doing this first class, but if I'm lashed to another boat and my view is that boat...

Not going. Pass. Done.

 

[Meadbh]

Thanks for the info!

I was seriously considering doing this first class, but if I'm lashed to another boat and my view is that boat...

Not going. Pass. Done.

If you want to see Budapest, you need a few days. The commonly seen views of the parliament building (in Pest) are often taken From the Fisherman's Bastion, high on Buda, which is very hilly.

Two years ago I did a Danube cruise that started with two days at the Hotel Intercontinental in Budapest. This hotel is right on the river, a couple of blocks from the Parliament building, and is an excellent location for exploring the city.

PS. I absolutely loved Budapest!

 

[BigBob]

If you want to see Budapest, you need a few days. ...
PS. I absolutely loved Budapest!

I agree. We cruised in at about 10:30 pm and the lights in the city were just beautiful. Camera can not do this justice.

In reflection, I think if I did it again that I would do some of the larger cities (Budapest, Vienna, Munich) on those on-and-off double decker buses. We have had very good luck with them in Athens and in Barcelona - you learn the city better, listen to the guide while you rest on the bus, then get off where you want and stay as long as you want.

Smaller towns like Linz and Melk, just a walk off the boat and do our own thing, or a guided tour (if we can put up with it).

 

[audreyh1]

May I suggest a side trip to Aigues-Mortes? It's a well-preserved walled city in the Camargue. Louis IX launched the Seventh and Eighth Crusades from the city in the late 13th century. We stayed overnight there in a little pension and just loved it.

Nearby, Stes. Maries de la Mer is the gypsy capital of France.

That does look fascinating! And I had actually read about Louis IX's life.

Unfortunately, we are so absolutely swamped the Camargue dropped off our list. We are traveling without car, so not quite so flexible.

 

[kcowan]

OP here again with the update.

Just got home from the "Cities of Light: Paris to Prague" cruise with Viking.

This was our first river cruise so we weren't sure what to expect. I would rate it "Met expectations -- barely" and even though it was enjoyable, I don't think we'll do another.

Due to high water, we didn't get on the Moselle at all, only the Rhine and Main rivers. I calculated that we spent over 24 hours on buses during the week of cruising, which was a real pain...

Just today we completed our 8 day bike/barge cruise down the Moselle. Fabulous! Weather was cool but never rained while on the bikes. About 40 km a day. By VBT. We did notice the Viking piers were all empty. Now in Koblenz getting a couple of days on land before heading for Paris. 18 bikers including 6 Canucks. A guy and his son from AL had their own bikes. They averaged twice as much biking as the average. Oldest biker was 78. Water level 12 feet above normal.

 

[braumeister]

OK, I have to eat a little crow today.
I had grumbled here recently about our first European river cruise. Due to high water on the Moselle, Viking had to alter our itinerary substantially and it led to an enormous amount of bus travel. I said I was "one and done" with river cruises.

Today I got an email from Viking and they not only apologized for the problem, but gave me a voucher worth 20% of the cost of our trip, good on any future cruise.

Looked at the schedule and called them up.
The agent not only handled the voucher, but offered a bunch of other discounts.

I signed up for the 8 day Rhine Getaway cruise (Amsterdam to Basel) in 2017 with a 2 day extension to Lucerne that will cost about half of this year's 14 day cruise.

Since we definitely liked the ship and pretty much everything except the significant bus time and reduced free time on this year's cruise, we're pretty stoked about doing this next year.

After finishing with Viking in Lucerne, we'll head to Zurich for a couple of days, then Munich for a bit, then home. Since we already have a Galapagos trip booked for May, I'm seriously looking forward to next year's travel schedule.