BLUE DANUBE Lipizzaners?

I've read the old threads, but would like input from more recent travelers- Claudia, wildcat03?

The Blue Danube itinerary does not include a visit to the Spanish Riding School in Vienna. We have booked a tour of the School for the free afternoon on Day 7, but would like to see the Lipizzaner's Morning Exercise which is held weekdays from 1000-1200 (it is not free but paying visitors can drop in any time during the exercise period). I understand at one time Tauck provided tickets. From my research and discussions with a TD, etc. it seems Tauck no longer provides tickets and also there may not be enough time after either of the optional morning tours to see the Lipizzaner Morning Exercise.

Can someone who has taken this cruise recently, comment on whether there might be enough time after one of the optional morning tours (Day 7: (a) morning walking tour focusing on medieval Vienna or (b) morning walking tour focusing on the Jewish district of old Vienna and Day 8: (a) a tour of the Habsburgs’ Schönbrunn Palace or (b) tour of the amazing Imperial Apartments at the Hofburg) or tell me if any of the tours passes close enough to the School so we could easily bail out at 11:00 to watch the stallions for at least an hour? According to the map it looks like this may be possible for all but the tour of the Schönbrunn Palace on Day 8. The ship departs in the early afternoon (time??) of Day 8- "Then, shuttles are at the ready to bring you back to the riverboat before our afternoon cruise to neighboring Slovakia."

Comments

  • If my memory is correct[it hasn't been lately] the last bus back to the boat on day 7 is after 3:00. May afford you enough time to see the horses in the afternoon.
  • AlanS. Here is what we did in June 2016. Day 7: 9 AM departure from the ship. At 11:45 the tours were finished and we could return to the ship for lunch or stay in Vienna with the last shuttle back departing at 4 PM. Day 8: Depart ship at 9 AM and tours were completed at noon. Option to return for lunch or stay in Vienna. The last shuttle this day was at 3 PM. Hope that this helps you.
  • AshvEd wrote:
    AlanS. Here is what we did in June 2016. Day 7: 9 AM departure from the ship. At 11:45 the tours were finished and we could return to the ship for lunch or stay in Vienna with the last shuttle back departing at 4 PM. Day 8: Depart ship at 9 AM and tours were completed at noon. Option to return for lunch or stay in Vienna. The last shuttle this day was at 3 PM. Hope that this helps you.

    Ed, Thanks!!! Just the kind of info I was looking for! I almost missed your post. The amount of forum activity this past week kicked my thread off the Active Discussions page so I didn't see your post! I'm glad I went to the specific forum!

    Our tour of the Spanish Riding School is scheduled for 2:00 PM on Day 7, so it looks like there won't be a problem making that if we eat lunch in town. Maybe grab a quick burger (or kangaroo or croc steak- really!) at Crossfield's Australian Pub a few blocks away : ) Where did the shuttle back to the ship leave from? The School tour ends at 3:00 so hopefully there won't be any problem making the last one.

    Back to Tauck's tours- were you offered the same ones we are on Day 7- medieval Vienna or Jewish district of old Vienna, and if so which one did you take? Do you think there will be any problem leaving the group, 30 min. or, so early? I'm still trying to see if we can squeeze in a brief visit to the Lipizzaner Morning Exercise.
  • AlanS--The same two tours were offered and we did the Imperial City Walk. It would be easy to bail out before it finishes. In fact several did so on our walk because it was an unusually hot day in Vienna. The shuttle back to the ship departed from Albertina Square, which was adjacent to the Opera House. Get yourself a street hotdog filled with cheese if you want something quick.
  • AshvEd wrote:
    AlanS--The same two tours were offered and we did the Imperial City Walk. It would be easy to bail out before it finishes. In fact several did so on our walk because it was an unusually hot day in Vienna. The shuttle back to the ship departed from Albertina Square, which was adjacent to the Opera House. Get yourself a street hotdog filled with cheese if you want something quick.

    Super! It looks like we can fit some of the Morning Exercise too. Thanks so much.
  • AlanS—-You are cleared to go!
  • We did the Blue Danube tour in May 2015. Once Tauck sets you free in the city center, everything is very walkable, including getting to the shuttle stop. You walk right past the Spanish riding School of Vienna on one of Tauck's walking tours, and while we did not see a horse show (lucky you!) we were able to get some great photographs. One suggestion for you - take time to do a truly Viennese thing - buy a pastry in a cafe. And there is one AMAZING cafe called Cafe Central. It is also an easy walk. It is extremely popular and absolutely gorgeous and the pastries are to die for. My husband loved the apple streudel with cream. Take the time. Have a coffee and order a pastry. Allow at least an hour. Lines to get in can get long and service is slow. But this is so Viennese! Enjoy your trip. I hope you have wonderful weather. We had overcast skies and/or rain our entire trip.
  • The Sacher Torte is so Viennese too. You can definitely eat your way around Vienna.
  • edited January 2018
    CatLover8 wrote:
    We did the Blue Danube tour in May 2015. Once Tauck sets you free in the city center, everything is very walkable, including getting to the shuttle stop. You walk right past the Spanish riding School of Vienna on one of Tauck's walking tours, and while we did not see a horse show (lucky you!) we were able to get some great photographs. One suggestion for you - take time to do a truly Viennese thing - buy a pastry in a cafe. And there is one AMAZING cafe called Cafe Central. It is also an easy walk. It is extremely popular and absolutely gorgeous and the pastries are to die for. My husband loved the apple streudel with cream. Take the time. Have a coffee and order a pastry. Allow at least an hour. Lines to get in can get long and service is slow. But this is so Viennese! Enjoy your trip. I hope you have wonderful weather. We had overcast skies and/or rain our entire trip.

    Thanks! Quite a few notables and notorious people were regulars there- Hitler, Trotsky, Stalin, Sigmund Freud. It looks like the Palmenhaus Cafe/Brasserie located in that general area (adjacent to the palace) in one of the most prominent of the four royal greenhouses in Schönbrunn Palace Park is an interesting place to eat as well. I'll likely be the only male in our little group, so I can guess where they will want to eat : )

    To confuse things more . . . I decided to research this one more time- a Google search led me to this (2017?) promo on the Tauck website "Tauck Offers Shore Excursion Choice with New Options for Active Travelers on 2018 River Cruises". I knew that after reading the online itinerary, which lists the choices, however, . . . . the second paragraph under Danube caught my eye:

    "The 12-day Blue Danube itinerary begins with a Tauck-exclusive royal welcome reception, tour and dinner at the 16th-century Lobkowicz Palace at Prague Castle. In Linz guests can choose to tour the city on their own, explore Mozart's Salzburg or tour medieval Cesky Krumlov, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, in the Czech Republic. A wine tasting in Dürnstein, a performance of the famed Lipizzaner horses in Vienna, and two nights each in Budapest and Prague are just some highlights. Prices for the April 5 departure start at $5,840 per person, plus airfare." Note, regular performances are only on the weekends- we are in Vienna on a Wednesday and Thursday so, if anything, we would likely only see the Lipizzaner Morning Exercise.

    It should be interesting to see what the green book says or what Tauck says when they call next month for our choice of excursions.

    Update: I decided to call and talked with a Tauck agent who is researching an answer. I have no problem waiting since we don't need reservations and pay at the door for the Morning Exercise. The afternoon tour of the Spanish Riding School requires reservations, but we don't have to pay in advance for that either.
  • We did option a on both days 7 and 8. My recall is you can EASILY do the horses on Day 7 as your walking tour is quite close to the riding school. Schonbrunn is a bus ride away and I don't think you get back by 11 a.m. Lots of time for cafes and wandering around the pedestrian city center afterwards.

    So glad they are offering more excursion options. Too much slow walking when we went. In Duirnstein they gave us the option to do a bike ride along the Blue Danube. If they give you this choice, DO IT. Flat, easy riding, with just a few little hills going into the quaint town area. It was our favorite thing. They even bicycled us through the cute little town and we stopped at a winery for fresh rolls and a glass of wine and then continued biking. Fabulous! They carried several (30?) bikes on the boat, but about 50 people signed up. Tauck handled it in their usual Tauck way. They called ahead and rented more bikes from a local establishment so everyone who wanted to do it could do it.
  • edited January 2018
    CatLover8 wrote:
    We did option a on both days 7 and 8. My recall is you can EASILY do the horses on Day 7 as your walking tour is quite close to the riding school. Schonbrunn is a bus ride away and I don't think you get back by 11 a.m. Lots of time for cafes and wandering around the pedestrian city center afterwards.

    So glad they are offering more excursion options. Too much slow walking when we went. In Duirnstein they gave us the option to do a bike ride along the Blue Danube. If they give you this choice, DO IT. Flat, easy riding, with just a few little hills going into the quaint town area. It was our favorite thing. They even bicycled us through the cute little town and we stopped at a winery for fresh rolls and a glass of wine and then continued biking. Fabulous! They carried several (30?) bikes on the boat, but about 50 people signed up. Tauck handled it in their usual Tauck way. They called ahead and rented more bikes from a local establishment so everyone who wanted to do it could do it.

    Thanks. I'm a bit concerned about the weather for biking- we are on the 12 April Eastbound and temps are forecast to be between 45° - 55°.

    I had already suspected it would be tough to do anything extra on Day 8 if we went to Schonbrunn, due to its location, and with the boat leaving in early afternoon, however, this morning I got a call back from Tauck, but am sworn to secrecy, wink, wink! : )

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