Tauck World DiscoveryDiscover Our JourneysWhy Travel With TauckPlanning Your Trip Ask and Share
Journey Finder

Search by Destination:

 
Search by Travel Type:
Budapest to the Black Sea
2008 Itinerary featuring 12 days from $3,990       River Cruising  Two Week  
Ask & Share


Request a Brochure - Join our mailing list to receive our free full-color brochures by mail.

E-Newsletter - Register for our e-newsletter and get the latest news and offers from Tauck delivered by e-mail.


Share your favorite travel photos taken while traveling on a Tauck vacation, and enter them in our photo contest for a chance to win travel vouchers for Tauck World Discovery.

Chart a leisurely course along the romantic Danube River aboard Tauck's luxury riverboats Swiss Sapphire or Swiss Emerald, exploring rich cultural legacies. Cruise by medieval monasteries, citadels, and villages, and through the Iron Gate. Enjoy a horse-drawn carriage ride, and see performances of folkloric dancing and horsemanship skills. Examine fascinating museums of fine art, traditional homesteads, folk art, and paprika. Visit the island where the original Dracula is said to be entombed, and put your feet in the Black Sea. This lower Danube cruise travels through Romania, Bulgaria, Serbia, Croatia, and Hungary, with two nights on land in Bucharest and Budapest.
Need To KnowSimilar Journeys
Print friendly versionPrinter Icon

2008 Itinerary


Westbound

Click here for Eastbound, starting in Budapest.

• Indicates day of cruising

Day 1: Begin your Danube cruise in Bucharest
Tour starts at 6:00 p.m. at the Athénée Palace Hilton Bucharest. A transfer is included from Bucharest Airport to the Athénée Palace Hilton Bucharest in the heart of the city. Meet your fellow travelers and Tauck Directors at tonight's welcome reception and dinner.
Meals: Dinner
Lodging: Athénée Palace Hilton Bucharest, Romania

Day 2: Dracula’s Romania
Your have a choice of sightseeing in Romania today. Opt for a full day's excursion to tour Peles Castle in Sinaia, built for Romania's royal family in the 1880s. Or visit isolated Snagov Monastery – said to be the final resting place of Vlad Tepes, the historical Dracula – and tour Bucharest's gargantuan Parliamentary Palace, the world's second-largest building after the Pentagon. Have dinner at your landmark hotel tonight.
Meals: Breakfast, lunch, dinner
Lodging: Athénée Palace Hilton Bucharest, Romania

Day 3: Bucharest & the Black Sea
A Bucharest sightseeing tour today includes the Triumphal Arch, Revolution Square, and 17th-century Patriarchal Cathedral, centerpiece of the Romanian Orthodox faith. Stop in Constanta and visit the resort town of Mamaia, set at the edge of the Black Sea, and walk along the beach. Travel to Cernavoda and board MS Swiss Emerald or MS Swiss Sapphire to launch your lower Danube cruise.
Meals: Breakfast, lunch, dinner
Lodging: Cruising aboard the Riverboat

Day 4: Big day in Bulgaria
Arrive in Ruse, Bulgaria, for excursions to nearby towns. Admire amazing frescoes at the 16th-century Church of the Nativity in Arbanassi. Then head to Bulgaria's medieval capital of Veliko Turnovo, whose ancient walled fortress and castle are set atop three hills, and view artisans at work in local shops. Rejoin the riverboat in Svishtov, and enjoy a Bulgarian cultural performance aboard ship this evening.
Meals: Breakfast, lunch, dinner
Lodging: Cruising aboard the Riverboat

Day 5: Danube cruising and Iconography Demonstration
Enjoy the views of fields and vineyards studded with medieval towns as the riverboat cruises the Danube today; attend an on-board lecture and demonstration on Iconography.
Meals: Breakfast, lunch, dinner
Lodging: Cruising aboard the Riverboat

Day 6: The Danube’s Iron Gate of Romania
Spend a relaxing day cruising along the Bulgarian / Romanian border, enjoying great views of the Transylvanian Alps. Glide through Romania’s Kazan Narrows and the Iron Gate, a two-mile-long series of gorges between the Carpathian and Balkan Mountains. Look for the stone pillars remaining from Roman Emperor Trajan’s Bridge, the first built across the Danube, dating back to AD 105.
Meals: Breakfast, lunch, dinner
Lodging: Cruising aboard the Riverboat

Day 7: Serbia's cosmopolitan capital, Belgrade
Dock in Belgrade, Serbia's modern capital at the juncture of the Danube and Sava rivers. Sightseeing includes visits to Tito's Memorial, St. Sava Church, and Kalemegdan Fortress. Also view busy Slavija Square (once a large pool where residents hunted wild ducks!), Parliament, Republic Square, the National Museum of Serbia, the National Theatre, and City Hall.
Meals: Breakfast, lunch, dinner
Lodging: Cruising aboard the Riverboat

Day 8: Discover Croatia's historic cities
Your Danube cruise arrives this morning in Vukovar, Croatia. Travel overland to the fortified city of Osijek, which still has its Viennese-style mansions. Visit the ancient Tvrda Citadel, standing guard over the city, and the medieval Church of the Holy Cross. This afternoon, explore the Baroque city of Vukovar, once showcasing 18th-century mansions, but now symbolizing the effects of the Serbian war of the 1990s. Your riverboat continues on to Hungary tonight.
Meals: Breakfast, lunch, dinner
Lodging: Cruising aboard the Riverboat

Day 9: Folk dancing and folkways in Hungary
Cruise to Kalocsa, Hungary, to visit the Paprika House and the Bishop’s Palace Library, housing one of the finest early collections in Europe. Visit the Equestrian Center to see Puszta horsemen, folkloric dancers, and Hungarian craftsmen all demonstrating traditional skills. Ride a horse-drawn carriage back to the riverboat, and enjoy cocktails and dinner aboard ship tonight.
Meals: Breakfast, lunch, dinner
Lodging: Cruising aboard the Riverboat

Day 10: Disembark the Riverboat and explore Budapest
Disembark the riverboat in Budapest. Your exploration of the Hungarian capital begins with a special visit to the opulent State Opera House in Pest, opened in 1884. Later, view the Parliament building, a Neo-Gothic masterpiece; Heroes’ Square, bounded by some of the finest architectural works in Hungary; the Castle of Vajdahunyad; and Andrassy Avenue. Please join us for a farewell dinner tonight.
Meals: Breakfast, dinner
Lodging: Le Méridien Budapest, Hungary

Day 11: Discover more landmarks of Budapest
After a morning at leisure, explore Buda's Castle Hill, a UNESCO World Heritage Site; see architectural landmarks such as Fishermen's Bastion and 700-year-old Matthias Church on a guided walking tour. Spend the remainder of the day exploring this fascinating city as you please. Note: Matthias Church may be closed on some departures due to services.
Meals: Breakfast, dinner
Lodging: Le Méridien Budapest, Hungary

Day 12: Homeward bound
Tour ends in Budapest, Hungary. A transfer is included from Le Méridien Budapest to Budapest's Ferihegy Airport. Allow 2 1⁄2 hours for departure flight check-in.
Meals: Breakfast

Experience the romance of the "River of Kings"

on this 12-day lower Danube cruise – book today!



Click here to  chat online with a member of  our Reservations Staff

Check Available Dates
2007 Prices
Book This Journey
View full size map
View Itinerary Map

Overnight Accommodations
Image gallery
Discuss This Journey
Email A Friend
Print Version
View Deck Plan
Tour Options
Extend This Journey
TauckAir
View Reading List
Tauck Travel Protection

Request A BrochureContact Us