WACHAU VALLEY
The most beautiful stretch of the river, the Wachau Valley, is famed for its wonderful
wooded scenery, fine wines and apricot brandy
CULTURAL CRUISE
The section with the most cultural highlights is the stretch from Passau to Budapest
the timeless Danube flows through an incredible range of scenery
DURNSTEIN CASTLE
Richard the Lionheart was imprisoned here in the 12th century
Central Europe’s most important river, the Danube has inspired some of the most beautiful music ever composed. Operas, serenades and waltzes, including the most famous of all, Johann Strauss’s Blue Danube, all celebrate this river. Not that the river is especially blue – more of a murky grey with a mere hint of blue on a sunny day. Nevertheless, the timeless Danube flows through an incredible range of scenery, rising in Germany’s beautiful Black Forest and cutting through the wooded hills of Bavaria before crossing the vineyard-clad ranges of Lower Austria to the magnificent capital, Vienna. The river then flows across the Hungarian Steppes and into the Balkans, through the southern tip of the Carpathian Mountains to its vast delta, rich with wildlife, on the Black Sea. So while a Danube cruise includes one big cultural highlight after another, one of the greatest pleasures is simply sitting on deck, watching the changing scenery. Danube cruises start at various points; some in Passau,
some in Vienna and others in Budapest, sailing upstream to Vienna. Longer voyages take in the Rhine as well, sailing the Rhine-Main-Danube Canal that links all Europe’s main
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waterways, while the ultimate Danube voyage takes in the whole of the river, from Passau, all the way to the delta. The most cruised area, and the section of the river with the most cultural highlights, is the stretch of the Danube from Passau, north-west of Vienna, to Budapest, which can be achieved in a week, including overnights in both capitals. Between Passau and Linz, the Danube flows through the
heart of Upper Austria, a quiet region of wooded hills, small villages and magnificent baroque abbeys, into the province of Lower Austria, which extends eastwards to Vienna through a subtle landscape of rolling hills and vineyards. The most beautiful stretch of the river lies between Krems
and Melk, a region known as the Wachau Valley, famed for its wooded scenery, fine wines and apricot brandy. The Wachau is peppered with castles and monasteries, the most famous being the Benedictine Abbey at Melk. The pretty village of Durnstein, at the heart of the wine-growing area, is overlooked by the dramatic ruin of Durnstein Castle, where Richard the Lionheart was imprisoned in the 12th century. Autumn is a wonderful time to cruise this stretch of the river, when the trees turn shades of scarlet, saffron and amber.
CRUISE-INTERNATIONAL.COM
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