Romantic Danube -
Taste of Christmas

Cesky Krumlov is a UNESCO World Heritage town in the South Bohemian region of the Czech Republic, around 20 kilometres from the Austrian border. Its proximity to the Danube corridor makes it a practical full-day excursion from Linz, and it’s one of the most completely preserved medieval towns in central Europe. Note that the Cesky Krumlov excursion is a full-day option and can’t be combined with the Salzburg excursion on the same day.

Between 1563 and 1830, Bratislava served as the coronation city for the kings of Hungary, after Ottoman forces occupied the previous coronation site at Szekesfehervar. Eleven Hungarian monarchs were crowned at St Martin’s Cathedral during this period, including Maria Theresa in 1741. The coronation route through the old town is still marked by brass crowns embedded in the pavement.

The Wachau Valley is a 36-kilometre stretch of the Danube between Melk and Krems in Lower Austria, designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2000 for its combination of natural landscape, vineyards and historic villages. The morning of day four is spent cruising through it, with the ship arriving in Weissenkirchen afterwards for the afternoon excursions. So the scenic cruising is the morning portion of the day, not the whole day, with Durnstein, Melk Abbey, a vineyard hike, a bike tour and the apricot and wine tasting all available in the afternoon.

The itinerary covers Germany, Austria, Slovakia and Hungary, all of which are Schengen Area members, plus the Czech Republic on the optional day-three excursion, which is also Schengen. UK citizens don’t need a visa for any of them for stays under 90 days in any 180-day period. From 2025, UK travellers need to register with ETIAS before entering Schengen countries. It’s a quick online process, not a visa application, and a single ETIAS registration covers all Schengen countries.

The Shoes on the Danube Bank is a memorial on the Pest bank of the Danube in Budapest, consisting of 60 pairs of period iron shoes fixed to the edge of the riverbank. It commemorates the Jews who were ordered to remove their shoes by Arrow Cross militiamen during the winter of 1944 to 1945 and were shot into the river. Created by sculptor Can Togay and film director Janos Gyurkovics, it was inaugurated in 2005.