Budapest to Bucharest 2017

We are booked on this river cruise next year and would love to hear from anyone who did this itinerary in 2016. We will be with Avalon. Looking forward to seeing this part of Europe.

Cole

I'm booked on Uniworld next year for the opposite - Bucharest to Budapest. I'll be interested in seeing the replies.

Roz

I'm booked on Uniworld next year for the opposite - Bucharest to Budapest. I'll be interested in seeing the replies.

 

Roz

Fingers crossed that someone will provide information. :)

Cole

Fingers crossed that someone will provide information. :)

Cole

Did this trip with Vantage in 2014. You asked for info from people who did it in 2016. If I can help left me know.

Did this trip with Vantage in 2014. You asked for info from people who did it in 2016. If I can help left me know.

Just interested in the ports that you did, what you liked (enjoyed), etc. Just anything that you could share would be of interest. We looked at Vantage and they seem to have a little different itinerary, but went with Avalon because of their suite cabins.

Cole

Just interested in the ports that you did, what you liked (enjoyed), etc. Just anything that you could share would be of interest. We looked at Vantage and they seem to have a little different itinerary, but went with Avalon because of their suite cabins.

Cole

Suite cabins are always a plus!!! :D Here's a brief rundown:

We started with the pre-trip to Prague and Bratislava which was well worth it if you have the time. We bused from Prague to Bratislava with stops in Brno; lunch and a private vineyard...I would say total bus time was about 4 hours, but it was broken up so nicely that we really enjoyed it...and after the wine tasting we were all pretty trashed anyway!!

Boarded in Budapest. We had been there before so we went to the Fisherman's Bastion and toured Parliament on our own. Vantage repositions after dinner and I think most of the other cruises do as well. Anyway, after dinner, make sure you are up top with your camera because when Budapest is lit up for the night it takes your breath away.

Kalocsa: In the morning was a walking tour and visit to a craft fair and after lunch was an optional tour to see the Puszta horse demonstration. IMHO it wasn't anything I had already seen in circuses....but if you've never seen it, it's worth while. If you go, this is a good place to buy paprika.

Pecs: The tour of the Early Christian Necropolis is fantastic and it ended in the main town square, which was lovely. Leaving Mohacs we had the dreaded passport "face check"...we were lucky it was during lunch and everyone had to report with their passport to have them hand checked by border police, who have no sense of humor and apparently have gotten people out of bed in the middle of the night to do this in pajamas!!

Osijek and Vukovar: primarily walking tours of the Citadel, which still has bullet holes in the walls of the buildings and a tremendous amount of war damage.

Belgrade: Mostly a driving tour of the city and a stop at the main Square, which is huge, traffic free and primarily filled with shops. In the afternoon we toured (walking) Kalemegdon Fortress, which is where the 3 rivers converge. You can do the full walking tour or just sit and enjoy the peace and serenity....it's a very interesting place.

Gates of the Danube: is done on the boat...it's a beautiful sight sailing between Romania on one side and Serbia on the other. You'll want to have your camera on top deck again for the Mraconia Monastery and right around the bend the face of Decabulus the last king of Dacia, carved into the rock.. very impressive.

Ruse: We went to Veliko Turnovo and it is magnificent. Don't miss it. After that we went to Arbanassi to the Church of the Nativity, which has magnificent frescoes and a short Gregorian chant concert.

Constanta: the transit through the Danube Canal is scenic...and boring...we docked in an industrial shipyard and bused into Constanta. Vantage dropped Constanta from their itinerary the next year.....nuff said.

Bucharest: Again primarily a bus tour with a tour of the People's Palace, which, once you get past reign of Tito, is amazing. It's so big it can be seen from space!!!

Keep in mind that this will not be like other European river cruises in that you'll be visiting emerging countries that are still economically challenged and nursing wounds from a catastrophic war, as well as escaping Soviet domination. The people are wonderful but there is a lot of sadness. Hope this helps.

Thank you for your detailed description of the trip. As I said in my original post, I think Vantage has a few different ports, but basically the same. I do understand the difference in that part of Europe, but I have never found that to be something that isn't worthwhile to experience. I appreciate your suggestions also about when to be on top for photos!

Cole

 

I do understand the difference in that part of Europe, but I have never found that to be something that isn't worthwhile to experience. I appreciate your suggestions also about when to be on top for photos!

Cole

Didn't mean to sound like a "snob" but there were people on our trip who were more than a little upset at the lack of shopping, tourist sites and restaurants, not to mention all the bombed out buildings. It's definitely a worthwhile experience and gives a whole new meaning to the devastation these government squabbles can cause. :)

"All the bombed out buildings"? The only ones i saw were in Vukovar, which was heavily damaged by Serb shelling during the Croatian Independence War in 1991, and the former Yugoslav Ministry of Defence in Belgrade which was bombed by NATO forces during the Kosovo war in 1999, and which is apparently being kept as a monument by the Serbian government. I was also shown the site of the former Chinese Embassy in Belgrade which was destroyed by a cruise missile (the CIA later claimed its maps were out of date). But nothing remains of it. Otherwise I found the cities and towns and the countryside along the way quite attractive. Perhaps I missed something on my cruise between Bucharest and Vienna.

.....there were people on our trip who were more than a little upset at the lack of shopping, tourist sites and restaurants, not to mention all the bombed out buildings.

"All the bombed out buildings"? The only ones i saw were in Vukovar, which was heavily damaged by Serb shelling during the Croatian Independence War in 1991, and the former Yugoslav Ministry of Defence in Belgrade which was bombed by NATO forces during the Kosovo war in 1999, and which is apparently being kept as a monument by the Serbian government. I was also shown the site of the former Chinese Embassy in Belgrade which was destroyed by a cruise missile (the CIA later claimed its maps were out of date). But nothing remains of it. Otherwise I found the cities and towns and the countryside along the way quite attractive. Perhaps I missed something on my cruise between Bucharest and Vienna.

I think you misunderstood my post...those were not my thoughts but the remarks of others on my cruise who were disappointed with the "lack of shopping, tourist sites, restaurants and all the bombed out buildings"....I probably should have used quotes in my post. However, we did see many bombed out buildings as we drove through the countryside...many of them homes and apartment buildings in Vukovar and Osijek and in Belgrade by the NATO bombing. We had a home hosted lunch with a couple where the husband was Serbian and the wife Croatian.... their family is still divided because of the conflict. It was interesting to learn from them that a referendum was upcoming to decide whether or not the schools should be desegregated since at that time Croatian and Serbian children attended the same schools but were taught in separate classrooms each in their own language. It was also disconcerting to see signs on the roadway warning of buried land mines. You are correct that there are also many beautiful towns and scenery along the way but this segment of the Danube is very different from Budapest heading north.

We did the Avalon Luminary in October 2014 from Bucharest to Budapest. We did a few days pre-cruise in Bucharest and visited the old town and the Parliament building which was Ceausescu future palace, not Tito (Tito was the ruler of Yugoslavia). It is a very cool building. We did all of the pre-cruise and post cruise stuff on our own. We stayed at the Hilton in Bucharest at $109 per night including breakfast (this is the same hotel that Avalon used). It was very good. There was very high end shopping right next door to the hotel. The river other than the Iron Gates is not all that scenic, it is mostly thru farmland and small towns. That said it was very nice. There were quite a few mosquitos when outside in the evenings.

My guess is that your cruise will visit similar sights that we did and while there was nothing that was unforgettable, we very much enjoyed our daily trips to Bulgaria, Serbia, and Hungary. The only town that we did much shopping in was Belgrade (former capital of Yugoslavia), and it was the only town with bombed out buildings I remember, and the only building like that was the former Secret Intelligence building which was bombed by the people after the fall of the Tito Regime, and I think it has not been rebuilt for that purpose. We did go by a gigantic factory in Bulgaria that became obsolete the moment communism failed as they made rotary dial telephones. :eek:

Post cruise we stayed in the Marriott on the Pest side of the Danube. Lovely hotel on the inside another communist expression of concrete on the outside. Budapest is lovely and we enjoyed 4 nights there, and still didn't see everything. Hope to go back there someday. After that we took the train to Vienna and spent another 4 nights there. Truly lovely city, but expensive.

If you have questions feel free. My email is in my signature.

JC

We did the Avalon Luminary in October 2014 from Bucharest to Budapest. We did a few days pre-cruise in Bucharest and visited the old town and the Parliament building which was Ceausescu future palace, not Tito (Tito was the ruler of Yugoslavia).

 

Oops....wrong dictactor! Thanks for correcting me.

 

Oops....wrong dictactor! Thanks for correcting me.

All good. Communist dictators were more alike than different. Although, Tito was probably the best of a horrible lot as he was a pretty shrewd (albeit bad) politician, and not just a thug. The Serbs I spoke to remember him with pride, can't say that about Ceausescu. The remarkable thing to me about the Parliament building in Bucharest was all of the deified art work depicting Ceausescu and his wife as something close to gods.

JC

For better or worse, Tito was the only ruler who was ever able to hold that whole Balkans mess together.

Roz

All good. Communist dictators were more alike than different. Although, Tito was probably the best of a horrible lot as he was a pretty shrewd (albeit bad) politician, and not just a thug. The Serbs I spoke to remember him with pride, can't say that about Ceausescu. The remarkable thing to me about the Parliament building in Bucharest was all of the deified art work depicting Ceausescu and his wife as something close to gods.

 

JC

For better or worse, Tito was the only ruler who was ever able to hold that whole Balkans mess together.

 

Roz

True....but like all dictators he lived off the sweat and misery of the people. We visited his "palace" while in Belgrade and the opulence and splendor would blow your mind!

True....but like all dictators he lived off the sweat and misery of the people. We visited his "palace" while in Belgrade and the opulence and splendor would blow your mind!

Obviously, I agree. While Tito was able to hold the country together with guns and force, he did nothing to build an actual nation. The unexplored disaster of the 20th century was the lives lost under the boot of communist dictators.

JC

Obviously, I agree. While Tito was able to hold the country together with guns and force, he did nothing to build an actual nation. The unexplored disaster of the 20th century was the lives lost under the boot of communist dictators.

 

JC

what the world REALLY needs is people like US to run things. :D

what the world REALLY needs is people like US to run things. :D

No thanks. I watched the video and read the story of what happened to Ceausescu, and it would be my luck my people wouldn't appreciate all I was doing for them.:D:eek:

JC