Experiences Budapest to Bucharest?

[eaglewatchers]

We are considering Viking Passage to Eastern Europe in Oct 2017 and have questions. We like Viking, so suggestions of other lines probably will fall on deaf ears. We are interested to know:

 

1. Is this itinerary one that is risky for water levels in early Oct?

2. Anyone take this Viking itinerary and have comments about it?

3. Any comments on these ports (we'll also check the Ports thread):

 

Budapest -- hotel stay included (We're already sold on this city, but if you have more to add...)

 

Kalocsa (yes, I'll buy paprika!)

 

Osijek

 

Belgrade

 

Iron Gate (not a port per se, but looks amazing in photos...)

 

Vidin

 

Veliko Tarnovo

 

Bucharest- hotel stay included

 

 

Thank you!!

[Floridiana]

1. Should not be a problem, this is already far down the Danube.

3. My neighbors said - and they have done ALL river cruises - that it was more rural than the river landscape further north.

[Hydrokitty]

We are considering Viking Passage to Eastern Europe in Oct 2017 and have questions. We like Viking, so suggestions of other lines probably will fall on deaf ears. We are interested to know:

 

1. Is this itinerary one that is risky for water levels in early Oct?

2. Anyone take this Viking itinerary and have comments about it?

3. Any comments on these ports (we'll also check the Ports thread):

 

Budapest -- hotel stay included (We're already sold on this city, but if you have more to add...)

 

Kalocsa (yes, I'll buy paprika!)

 

Osijek

 

Belgrade

 

Iron Gate (not a port per se, but looks amazing in photos...)

 

Vidin

 

Veliko Tarnovo

 

Bucharest- hotel stay

 

 

Thank you!!

 

Went to most of these ports with Vantage. Veliko Turnovo is not to be missed!

 

If you're a photographer, make sure you're on top deck going through Iron Gate....2 amazing scenes: the monastery and then around the bend the face of (sorry having a brain freeze) carved into side of the mountain...both amazingly beautiful photo ops.

[BarbRN]

Looking at Viking in Sept. too. I'm watching this thread. Thanks

[TravelerThom]

Went to most of these ports with Vantage. Veliko Turnovo is not to be missed!

 

If you're a photographer, make sure you're on top deck going through Iron Gate....2 amazing scenes: the monastery and then around the bend the face of (sorry having a brain freeze) carved into side of the mountain...both amazingly beautiful photo ops.

The face is of Decebalus, the last king of Dacia. I spent an additional week on a private tour in Romania (mostly Transylvania) at the end of my cruise and was happy that I did.

[Hydrokitty]

The face is of Decebalus, the last king of Dacia. I spent an additional week on a private tour in Romania (mostly Transylvania) at the end of my cruise and was happy that I did.

 

Thanks Thom.....I hate when I have a brain freeze but what can you do. :D

[HDS]

In 2008 we cruised with Uniworld. After a hot summer the Danube was low enough to cause the crew some concern but we sailed through. We were moored within walking distance of the centre of Belgrade. The other ports were towns or villages with the opportunity to stroll early morning and evening. The excursions involved bus trips but the traffic was light. We enjoyed the rural countryside and some passengers enjoyed a snooze. Our trip to Arbanassi / Veliko Tarnovo was heavy on long coffee breaks, lunch and tourist shopping but the trip to Constansa and the Black Sea coast was great.

I second Traveller Thom's enthusiasm for rural Transylvania. Our private trip there was one of the best travel experiences in seven continents.

Trip advisor may have some useful information about the places on the Viking excursions.

[franski]

We did this cruise with Viking a few years ago... We started in Bucharest, and ended in Budapest. We added an extra couple of nights at the end...

 

We enjoyed this direction. We felt we started more in the "have not" areas of the countryside and cruised towards the "have" spots. You could really see how the areas recovered as you cruised towards Budapest.

 

We found there was more time spent on the buses, but did enjoy the cruise.

[ural guy]

Hello- We did this cruise w/ Vantage last year, BUD-BUC. Great trip. River traffic drops way off once you are past Budapaest.

 

1. Is this itinerary one that is risky for water levels in early Oct?

Typically you are OK. We were supposed to end the cruise in Ruse Bulgaria, but low water has us disembarking in Nickerpol , about 100 km's short. This added some distance to our tour of Veilko Turnovo, and transfer to Bucharest. Not terrible, as we got to see a bit more of the countryside, and how many of the small towns are deserted except pensioners.

 

Not sure if Viking includes Arbansi with Veilko. We had a tour of an old Orthodox Church which was beautiful. The faux monks signing put it over the top.

 

Belgrade is crowded, and has tons of graphiti. We had the afternoon to ourselves and basically had a walking picnic through the pedestrian zone, up to Saint Sava Church. If you have a chance, check out the church, even though not finished it is impressive.

 

Osijek- On the Viking site, it looks like Vukovar is also a stop. This was the more interesting part of the day. If you can, walk up to where the old water tower is. You pass by some of the building damaged during the war. The water tower has severe damage, amazing it still stands. Nearby is a restored church; outside are pictures of how it looked just 20+ years back, with it's roof blown off. Also a very interesting museum there, which is pictured on Viking's site (with no name, nor can I remember it).

 

Osijek itself maybe very interesting, I can't say. We basically stood in the town square for 40 minutes while our guide pointed out the buildings, then back on the bus for our home-hosted family visit. This was very informative, the folks we ate with were driven out of their house for 7 years during the war. Their uncles house was left with hidden explosives rigged to the door, one person was killed.

 

All in all, a great trip. Not the pretty castles of the Rhine, but if you're interested in Cold War history, very enjoyable.

 

We ended the trip with 4 days in Brasov on our own. Much cheaper than cruise extension. Train was easy to figure out. Brasov was an eye-opener, much nicer than what we expected. A great base to explore Transylvania.

[TravelerThom]

Osijek is 25 km up the Drava River from the Danube. Viking says "Wake up in Vukovar and have breakfast before your excursion to the Croatian city of Osijek." The port is Vukovar (along with Dubrovnik the most damaged Croatian cities in the "late unpleasantness"). It has been 10 years since I have been in Vukovar, but at that time maybe half the buildings were still abandoned due to artillery damage. I have been in areas of western Croatia where I encountered burnt out houses (presumably Serb owned) spray painted with "Remember Vukovar". Couple that with the three giant crosses on what was the Croatian artillery site that leveled much of Mostar (Bosnia) and unfortunately I'm not confident that the "unpleasantness" will not occur again. Ignoring the war damage and savagery, it is a beautiful area; go while you can.

[Bailey Swedishfish]

We did this trip in the spring and really enjoyed it. It as dreary in Belgrade which fit the mood of the city. It was chilling to walk through Vukovar and, on a side trip, passed fields with landmine signs still posted. The war isn't that far distance and the people and area are still recovering. (And from the fall of communism.) Bucharest was really pretty and is definitely going to be a stunner when it's fully revitalized. We did not visit the big parliament building--it held no interest for me given the anguish and pain the Romanians endured under that regime.

 

The Iron Gate is amazing and many stretches of the river seem virtually empty. It's VERY dark out at night!

[Bailey Swedishfish]

Osijek is 25 km up the Drava River from the Danube. Viking says "Wake up in Vukovar and have breakfast before your excursion to the Croatian city of Osijek." The port is Vukovar (along with Dubrovnik the most damaged Croatian cities in the "late unpleasantness"). It has been 10 years since I have been in Vukovar, but at that time maybe half the buildings were still abandoned due to artillery damage. I have been in areas of western Croatia where I encountered burnt out houses (presumably Serb owned) spray painted with "Remember Vukovar". Couple that with the three giant crosses on what was the Croatian artillery site that leveled much of Mostar (Bosnia) and unfortunately I'm not confident that the "unpleasantness" will not occur again. Ignoring the war damage and savagery, it is a beautiful area; go while you can.

 

Agreed. I don't doubt there will be trouble again. I think the younger people are trying to move on and forge new lives but the pain and hurt and resentments aren't far under the surface. Most of our guides were eager to discuss how much they suffered and lost during the war. Everyone was incredibly nice and open to outsiders and eager to spread their story, but without fail, most spoke of how there wasn't ever any attempt at reunification or formal forgiveness.

[Hydrokitty]

Osijek is 25 km up the Drava River from the Danube. Viking says "Wake up in Vukovar and have breakfast before your excursion to the Croatian city of Osijek." The port is Vukovar (along with Dubrovnik the most damaged Croatian cities in the "late unpleasantness"). It has been 10 years since I have been in Vukovar, but at that time maybe half the buildings were still abandoned due to artillery damage. I have been in areas of western Croatia where I encountered burnt out houses (presumably Serb owned) spray painted with "Remember Vukovar". Couple that with the three giant crosses on what was the Croatian artillery site that leveled much of Mostar (Bosnia) and unfortunately I'm not confident that the "unpleasantness" will not occur again. Ignoring the war damage and savagery, it is a beautiful area; go while you can.

 

We were there in 2014 and it was still the way you described. One of the most chilling things I heard was our home host telling us that the children are still taught in separate classrooms depending on their ethnic origin....I agree I think there may be trouble there again. It's so sad. We also experienced the forests and fields with the signs warning of live land mines. But the people were friendly and hopeful.

[BabySis]

We will be on AMA Certo in October and have a few extra days in Bucharest... do you mind sharing your private Transylvania vendor info?? dinahsue at dinahfuller dot com

[BabySis]

In 2008 we cruised with Uniworld. After a hot summer the Danube was low enough to cause the crew some concern but we sailed through. We were moored within walking distance of the centre of Belgrade. The other ports were towns or villages with the opportunity to stroll early morning and evening. The excursions involved bus trips but the traffic was light. We enjoyed the rural countryside and some passengers enjoyed a snooze. Our trip to Arbanassi / Veliko Tarnovo was heavy on long coffee breaks, lunch and tourist shopping but the trip to Constansa and the Black Sea coast was great.

I second Traveller Thom's enthusiasm for rural Transylvania. Our private trip there was one of the best travel experiences in seven continents.

Trip advisor may have some useful information about the places on the Viking excursions.

 

We will be on AMA Certo in October and have a few extra days in Bucharest... do you mind sharing your private Transylvania vendor info?? dinahsue at dinahfuller dot com

[Riksu4452]

Looking at Viking in Sept. too. I'm watching this thread. Thanks

We are doing this cruise in June 2018

[HokiePoq]

We will be on AMA Certo in October and have a few extra days in Bucharest... do you mind sharing your private Transylvania vendor info?? dinahsue at dinahfuller dot com

 

I have emailed you about Transylvania Discovery Tours. Bogdan is fantastic!

[HokiePoq]

We are considering Viking Passage to Eastern Europe in Oct 2017 and have questions. We like Viking, so suggestions of other lines probably will fall on deaf ears. We are interested to know:

 

1. Is this itinerary one that is risky for water levels in early Oct?

2. Anyone take this Viking itinerary and have comments about it?

3. Any comments on these ports (we'll also check the Ports thread):

 

Budapest -- hotel stay included (We're already sold on this city, but if you have more to add...)

 

Kalocsa (yes, I'll buy paprika!)

 

Osijek

 

Belgrade

 

Iron Gate (not a port per se, but looks amazing in photos...)

 

Vidin

 

Veliko Tarnovo

 

Bucharest- hotel stay included

 

 

Thank you!!

We are in Budapest. Just finished Embla and board a second Viking ship tomorrow.

Don't miss Transylvania is number one tip.

Second is be careful if you use Hop on hop off bus in Budapest. Our Viking hotel sold two lines. Both the giraffe one we bought and big bus, the two they sold, come along less than half as frequently as the one that says worldwide. Nice young folks at the stops sell those. They even helped us after we had mistakenly bought the giraffe. Giraffe line earphones were broken every time we rode..never heard anything and saw 6 or more worldwide buses for every one of the giraffe line we bought.

Tip 3..hope this is fixed before you go but only one toilet at Spring Palace and no break was provided before getting to the ship. So ask about that or choose the old town option for the included tour in Bucharest.

[cole]

We are considering Viking Passage to Eastern Europe in Oct 2017 and have questions. We like Viking, so suggestions of other lines probably will fall on deaf ears. We are interested to know:

 

1. Is this itinerary one that is risky for water levels in early Oct?

2. Anyone take this Viking itinerary and have comments about it?

3. Any comments on these ports (we'll also check the Ports thread):

 

Budapest -- hotel stay included (We're already sold on this city, but if you have more to add...)

 

Kalocsa (yes, I'll buy paprika!)

 

Osijek

 

Belgrade

 

Iron Gate (not a port per se, but looks amazing in photos...)

 

Vidin

 

Veliko Tarnovo

 

Bucharest- hotel stay included

 

 

Thank you!!

 

We just returned from this river cruise (last night) on Avalon, but the ports are the same. Here are the Cliff Notes from our trip:

Budapest, a beautiful city (especially at night) and we did an optional walking food sampling excursion one afternoon which was excellent. The city tour of course, was a bus tour (the only way you can really get a feel of the city) with a couple of photo stops. Boarded the ship the second day and we were on our way.

As one person said, it is more rural than the other river cruises, you don't see the charming little villages along the way and most ports or very industrial with a bus trip to the focus of the day.

It was a very eye-opening cruise since the countries are still struggling to rebuild after the Communistic rule. Many deserted factories, apartment buildings and collapsing structures. The beautiful churches and architecture that you experience on the other rivers are few and far between since the Communists felt these were seen as not reflective of their values and had been bulldozed down and replaced by their concrete structures.

You really need to take all of this into consideration as you begin your journey and learn from their experience. They are very strong people, fun loving and quite humorous. As we know - laughter can be very refreshing even in the worst circumstances. If you have any questions, I would be happy to answer.

Cole

[I_r_a]

Hi EW,

 

We very much liked our trip from Bucharest to Budapest.

 

Check to see if your boat stops at "Donji Milanovac from where a short 17 km drive takes you to the impressive LEPENSKI VIR EXHIBITION CENTER housing archaeological artifacts found in this area and from where you have unique views of the Danube Gorge".

 

Well worth the visit.

 

Ira

[Paulchili]

We will be on AMA Certo in October and have a few extra days in Bucharest... do you mind sharing your private Transylvania vendor info?? dinahsue at dinahfuller dot com

 

We are doing this in Oct 2018 with AMA.

I will e mail you our Transylvania tour info.