Passau to Budapest vs Budapest to Passau

We are getting close to settling on a Tauck Danube cruise that goes one of two directions. Can anyone recommend one over the other? Any tips on strategies for flights from Boston/east coast.

Thanks!

We are doing Passau to Budapest on Viking. I chose that direction to have the longer ride from the airport to the ship at the beginning of the trip.

Thanks for sharing. I think we will spend at least one day pre-cruise in whichever location in case that affects anyone's advice!

We did Budapest to Passau on Uniworld and were very happy with our choice. We did 3 days in Budapest pre cruise on our own and hired a private guide. Private guides there are not really expensive. It is a wonderful city and I would highly recommend spending more than one day there! I could go back again and see things I just did not have time to do!

And we hired a private driver to take us from Passau to Prague. The price was so reasonable! It is only a 3 hour trip and Prague is amazing! Spent 4 days there. The architecture is amazing. We again used a private guide for one day and then went back to the places we wanted to visit in more depth later.

If you are going to this area, I would highly recommend seeing these 2 cities in depth. I loved our cruise, but these 2 cities really may have been more memorable than the ports on the river cruise.

If you change your mind, I can give you info on guides, etc.

You will have a great cruise regardless of your choice

Oh I forgot, we flew direct to London on AA from RDU and then to Budapest on BA and return Prague to London on BA and direct to RDU on AA.

Thank you for your thoughtful reply. My husband and I have visited Prague and Budapest before, although I'm sure that we would benefit from more time in both. His parents have been to neither. However, I am quite sure that they will only want to add hotel stays on one side or the other - not both. So, we'll have to choose, and will want the hotel stay to be pre-cruise to give us a safety net for any arrival delays.

I think a main concern I have is minimizing travel fatigue. The Passau to Munich travel time is a bummer to add on top of flight travel, and I'm not sure how to minimize that. It will be rough on my husband's parents.

If we were to choose some other city for a couple days visit and then depart from Passau for the cruise, what are the good options? Anything other than Prague or Cesky Krumlov bc we've already visited both of those? Maybe Prague is the best option since we could fly into that airport and stay right there without adding travel time on arrival day.

Tauck has airport transfers included, but I'm not sure of the details.

I wonder which plan will make the overall travel day better?

Oh I forgot, we flew direct to London on AA from RDU and then to Budapest on BA and return Prague to London on BA and direct to RDU on AA.

That's an awesome itinerary!

You probably need to check what Tauck is offering for included transfers. I think I remember Uniworld only offering transfers back to Munich, not Prague.

Yes, I'd imagine the included transfer is only to Munich. Not sure if a stay of an extra day or more in Munich would be exciting, so I'm going to look into that. I also need to see if there are nonstop flights from Boston to Munich or Prague so that I can take that into consideration.

Hi we recently did Budapest to Passau. Then we did post extension in Munich.

One thing to think about is the flights. There are no nonstop flights to Budapest at all. Not even from JFK or EWR. There are nonstop flights to/from MUN but you'd have to confirm about Boston Some connecting airports are easier than others. I checked here on CC and used Vienna to connect to BUD as a connection it was simple.

Also the transfer to Munich takes less time than to Prague from Passau.

Thank you for the info! Do you think Munich was pleasant for spending extra time? I do see that there is a nonstop flight Boston to Munich on Lufthansa. For the return from Budapest there are options of Munich or Frankfurt for layovers. I learned in the past that Frankfurt was awful. Not sure about Munich.

Munich is a great city and a convenient airport from Passau. Note that the airport is in the North of Munich near Freising. You do not need to go through Munich itself to reach the airport from Passau. It is a fairly easy run on motorways, by car around two hours. There is a public transport option from Passau. Frankfurt is a huge airport, could be awkward, but I am not familiar with leaving from Frankfurt.

I see no point to go to Prague just for flying from there, I would only do it with an overnight stay or even two days to see a little of the city. Prague pre-cruise and then to Passau is hard, a longish distance by car. There is only a very long, uncomfortable, public transport option according to google maps.

Budapest is, of course, a wonderful city to stay in pre-cruise.

I would play it through, with all the suitable airlines, lay-over times and both directions on a sheet to be able to compare your options.

Have a look a jpalbny's travels on the Danube last year. They posted some great photos from their post-cruise in Munich.

Have fun planning.

notamermaid

Thank you so much for these helpful thoughts! Yes, if we used the Prague airport we would stay a couple days. Leaning toward Munich to keep it simple!

Munich is an excellent choice to spend a few days pre- or post-cruise. There are also a ton of day trips that can be arranged from there. We've spent a total of 7 days in Munich, spread over 3 trips. We would go back any time.

Two of the trip logs are not on this site, but the third was after our Budapest to Passau trip earlier this year. That link is in my signature below. One of our Munich visits was during our 2013 canceled river cruise, and there is a link to that trip log as well.

Munich is also an easy airport to fly out. The S-Bahn takes you right there from Downtown Munich, and we found it smaller and easier to navigate than Frankfurt. Though we don't hesitate to fly out of Frankfurt either, when necessary; we just did that earlier this year and it was pretty straightforward.

Thanks for the feedback, and I look forward to checking out your link!!

It turns out that on our sailing the departure would be from Regensburg instead of Passau. Can anyone help think through whether that is a plus??

The other direction beginning in Budapest would miss Regensburg and end in Passau.

Thanks!

Thanks for the feedback, and I look forward to checking out your link!!

 

It turns out that on our sailing the departure would be from Regensburg instead of Passau. Can anyone help think through whether that is a plus??

 

The other direction beginning in Budapest would miss Regensburg and end in Passau.

 

Thanks!

If you are thinking of the "Blue Danube" cruise, both eastbound and westbound itineraries stop in Regensburg (en route to or from Prague by land). You embark or disembark at Vilshofen. Passau is not on the itinerary. The "Musical Magic Along the Blue Danube" cruise from Budapest to Prague does stop in Passau and you disembark in Vilshofen before proceeding to Prague with no stop in Regensburg. There does not appear to be an eastbound itinerary for this cruise.

The two cruises are similar, but there are differences which you might want to consider in detail before booking. For example, the former includes a choice of Salzburg or Czesky Krumlov while the latter only has Salzburg. I notice that Musical Magic is somewhat more expensive.

For what it's worth, I think that Regensburg is well worth seeing, but this appears to be at the expense of more time in Prague.

If you are thinking of the "Blue Danube" cruise, both eastbound and westbound itineraries stop in Regensburg (en route to or from Prague by land). You embark or disembark at Vilshofen. Passau is not on the itinerary. The "Musical Magic Along the Blue Danube" cruise from Budapest to Prague does stop in Passau and you disembark in Vilshofen before proceeding to Prague with no stop in Regensburg. There does not appear to be an eastbound itinerary for this cruise.

 

The two cruises are similar, but there are differences which you might want to consider in detail before booking. For example, the former includes a choice of Salzburg or Czesky Krumlov while the latter only has Salzburg. I notice that Musical Magic is somewhat more expensive.

 

For what it's worth, I think that Regensburg is well worth seeing, but this appears to be at the expense of more time in Prague.

Thank you for the time to give such a thoughtful reply! We're actually considering the blue danube family riverboat adventure, which has a slightly different itinerary than their non-family oriented ones. I wonder if your expert eye will notice anything about those itineraries. The only thing to note is that on our departure date it would be from Regensburg not Vilhofen even though that information is not posted on the web site.

Regensburg is great too. We visited a few years back as a day trip, also during the time of our canceled 2013 cruise. If you can add it to your itinerary, it's well worth it. But a caveat - almost every town in this area is worth a visit.

We made a big list of choices for what to do during the two week canceled cruise. We've now spent 5 weeks in this area, trying to see everything on our list, and we're not even remotely finished. So with a week-long cruise, plus a few days on one end, of necessity, some places won't make the cut. There is too much to see here. :)

Thank you for the info! Do you think Munich was pleasant for spending extra time? I do see that there is a nonstop flight Boston to Munich on Lufthansa. For the return from Budapest there are options of Munich or Frankfurt for layovers. I learned in the past that Frankfurt was awful. Not sure about Munich.

I've haven't changed planes in Frankfurt since 1994 so I can't comment on that option but I did change planes in Munich last summer when we flew from Paris to Budapest. Be ready for a hike.

We arrived in Munich and the plane was parked about half a mile from the terminal. We were bused to the terminal and entered the concourse at one end. Our departure gate was all the way at the other end of the concourse. The walk felt like a half mile but was probably more like a quarter to a third of a mile.

When we were called to board the flight we were put on buses and driven out to the plane next to the one we arrived in.

The process was smooth enough but involved a very long walk.

Thank you for the time to give such a thoughtful reply! We're actually considering the blue danube family riverboat adventure, which has a slightly different itinerary than their non-family oriented ones. I wonder if your expert eye will notice anything about those itineraries. The only thing to note is that on our departure date it would be from Regensburg not Vilhofen even though that information is not posted on the web site.

I can only comment on the itineraries shown on the website, and those for the Blue Danube Family River Adventure show the embarkation and disembarkation port as Vilshofen for the Eastbound and Westbound cruises, with a stop in Passau and none in Regensburg. So if you have other information from Tauck you will have to go by that.

The itineraries provide very little time in Budapest (day of arrival or departure only) and none in Munich. Do you plan to use Tauck to arrange pre or post trip extensions, or will you do it on your own?

Regarding your post on the Uniworld Budapest to Passau cruise, we would appreciate information on your guides in both cities and private transport. We are taking the same cruise next summer and are planning private pre and post cruise extensions. Considering either Regensburg/Nuremberg or Cesky Krumlov on the post cruise extension to Prague. Any input is welcome.

Regensburg is great too. We visited a few years back as a day trip, also during the time of our canceled 2013 cruise. If you can add it to your itinerary, it's well worth it. But a caveat - almost every town in this area is worth a visit.

 

We made a big list of choices for what to do during the two week canceled cruise. We've now spent 5 weeks in this area, trying to see everything on our list, and we're not even remotely finished. So with a week-long cruise, plus a few days on one end, of necessity, some places won't make the cut. There is too much to see here. :)

We want to spend some time on our stop in Passau instead of going to Salzburg or Cezny Krumlov which we have already seen. What do you suggest we do? We then plan to catch a train to Linz to catch up with our Scenic cruise in September this year which we were advised is not that far away by train. Ang suggestions? Thanks.

Just my thoughts...

DH and I have been to Budapest 3 times - and would love to go back. We were in Munich this past fall for the 1st time. It was nice - but we prefer Budapest. If you are looking for a day or two in a hotel to acclimate, then I would think Budapest might be a slightly better bet. There are lots of hotels close to the river - easy to walk to. Budapest is a very walkable city. You could do some sightseeing while the elders rest up a bit.

That being said, there is no way to get a direct flight to Budapest. So, I guess you need to decide if you want your direct flight on the way there or on the way home.

Regensburg is a wonderful city. There is lots to see there. IMHO, there is more to see than in Passau. If you don't get to Regensburg starting in Budapest, it might be worth ending in Budapest.

As far as airports are concerned. Frankfurt can be (and often is) a nightmare. HUGE expansive areas to walk. We do our best to avoid if possible... and if we can't make sure we have lots of time to make our connections. We found Munich much better.

Fran

We want to spend some time on our stop in Passau instead of going to Salzburg or Cezny Krumlov which we have already seen. What do you suggest we do? We then plan to catch a train to Linz to catch up with our Scenic cruise in September this year which we were advised is not that far away by train. Ang suggestions? Thanks.

Hi montelco. Sorry for taking so long to answer.

Let me make sure I understand your question. You're on Scenic, and your boat only makes a short stop in Passau to let people off who want to visit Salzburg or Cesky Krumlov, then the boat continues on to Linz?

And, you're asking if it's worth your while to stay in Passau to explore, then catch a train to Linz to meet back up with your boat?

If that's the case, Passau is a nice place to spend some time, and this approach might work for you. There are a few caveats that you'd need to keep in mind. But before I go into lots of detail, I wanted to be sure that I knew what you were asking.

Regensburg is great too. We visited a few years back as a day trip, also during the time of our canceled 2013 cruise. If you can add it to your itinerary, it's well worth it. But a caveat - almost every town in this area is worth a visit.

 

We made a big list of choices for what to do during the two week canceled cruise. We've now spent 5 weeks in this area, trying to see everything on our list, and we're not even remotely finished. So with a week-long cruise, plus a few days on one end, of necessity, some places won't make the cut. There is too much to see here. :)

I have investigated catching the train from Passau to Linz. Unfortunately, it involves going to Koblenz first and then Linz so if you caught the 13:30 train from Passau, you would get into Linz at 20:30 which makes for a very long day not to mention that the cost was about $100(AUD) per person. Can anyone tell me if they got some free time in Salzburg? My husband enjoys the markets not necessarily the music. Thanks.