Great advice! I did this cruise in 2019 and found it amazing. We got into Budapest a day early and walked around to see the sights. The ship was a short walk from our hotel. At the end of the trip, we added on a couple of days in Amsterdam and took in the museums. We did not need the drink package and if we had used it, we would have spent 400 dollars more than if we had a drink or two per night.I thought I was a history nerd but seeing history up close helped make history come to life. We did have to change ships once because of water levels, but since Viking has identical ships in their fleets, we went from room 206 on one ship to room 206 on another. Their service was great and we will always remember our cruise down the Wachau Valley drinking hot chocolate and seeing castle after castle. Waking up in Vienna we looked out our window to be greeted by swans swimming by our room.
I got in trouble because I fed the Swans. But I cannot wait I leave again in a week to go back over. I will be posting Shorts and Content during this trip.
@@MarinellCarrothers You are going to have a fabulous time. Last year I was on the Viking gymir and sadly our ship hit a bridge and we were stuck in Wertham for a couple of days. But it was good. Biking took really good care of us and I got to see a town. Not other people would see it was the glass blowers hometown. Enjoy the glass blowing presentation while you're on board.
Cologne Cathedral and the climb to the top was amazing. It’s a narrow winding staircase that’s 700 years old. If you can’t climb well, cross the river at the bridge and hit the roof of the building. 5 Euros gets you to the top. 28 floors. Walk around the whole roof. AMAZING. Best money you will spend in Europe.
If I wanted to have a drink every night without going for the Silver Spirits package I would just buy a bottle of my favourite stuff in the store IN Amsterdam before I even got on the ship. I don't need to be blotto every night. Thanks for the great tips and recommendations!
I honestly did the same thing when I got to Germany. I would get myself a bottle of Brandy and a bottle of Jager and that's what I took care of myself with on the ship
Personal tastes and all considered, I can’t believe you didn’t love Rothenburg ob der Tauber. It was one of the most fascinating places we visited. Added perc: it was the site for much of the filming of “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang”. But its intact medieval wall, the streets, the buildings. Just superb. Sorry you didn’t enjoy it. In Nuremberg, we did the included “Nuremberg Through History” and the extra cost “Surviving the War” tours. Both were very good. The “Surviving the War” was reminiscent of the movie “The Monument Men”. If you haven’t seen, you should. In Regensberg, our included walking tour was led by a lady who was and is part of the research team trying to nail down facts about the Jews that the Nazis killed, and established the placing of the Stumbling Blocks. And at the base of the bridge is the oldest restaurant in Germany (or the world, depending on who you talk to). Their beer, with sausage and mustard is one of the finest dining I’ve ever experienced. We bout several jars of the mustard to take back with us. When we used it all up, I found out that it’s available on Amazon. In Passau, we did the Salzburg tour. It was fantastic to see the origin of Mozart, and many of the scenes from “The Sound of Music”. We were fortunate enough to spend 3 or 4 days at each end (Amsterdam and Budapest). That enabled us to enjoy in depth more of the sights and sounds of those wonderful cities.
Ron, I'm going to be doing this tour again in a couple of months. Do you want me to reach out afterwards? I plan on doing some more videos during this grand European tour
@@EmilyJonesANTIMLM That would be great. It appears that the "Munich Highlights" would entail a bus ride of about 90 minutes each way from/to Regensberg. I'm willing to make that investment, if there's going to be adequate time to see the city and spend some time "on the ground". The Viking description doesn't exactly specify what amount of "free time" there might be.
Great advice! I did this cruise in 2019 and found it amazing. We got into Budapest a day early and walked around to see the sights. The ship was a short walk from our hotel. At the end of the trip, we added on a couple of days in Amsterdam and took in the museums. We did not need the drink package and if we had used it, we would have spent 400 dollars more than if we had a drink or two per night.I thought I was a history nerd but seeing history up close helped make history come to life. We did have to change ships once because of water levels, but since Viking has identical ships in their fleets, we went from room 206 on one ship to room 206 on another. Their service was great and we will always remember our cruise down the Wachau Valley drinking hot chocolate and seeing castle after castle. Waking up in Vienna we looked out our window to be greeted by swans swimming by our room.
I got in trouble because I fed the Swans. But I cannot wait I leave again in a week to go back over. I will be posting Shorts and Content during this trip.
We are going on this cruise in May 2025 and this was a very helpful video! I even made note of some things to remember in each city.
@@MarinellCarrothers You are going to have a fabulous time. Last year I was on the Viking gymir and sadly our ship hit a bridge and we were stuck in Wertham for a couple of days. But it was good. Biking took really good care of us and I got to see a town. Not other people would see it was the glass blowers hometown. Enjoy the glass blowing presentation while you're on board.
Cologne Cathedral and the climb to the top was amazing.
It’s a narrow winding staircase that’s 700 years old.
If you can’t climb well, cross the river at the bridge and hit the roof of the building. 5 Euros gets you to the top.
28 floors.
Walk around the whole roof.
AMAZING.
Best money you will spend in Europe.
If I wanted to have a drink every night without going for the Silver Spirits package I would just buy a bottle of my favourite stuff in the store IN Amsterdam before I even got on the ship. I don't need to be blotto every night.
Thanks for the great tips and recommendations!
I honestly did the same thing when I got to Germany. I would get myself a bottle of Brandy and a bottle of Jager and that's what I took care of myself with on the ship
Personal tastes and all considered, I can’t believe you didn’t love Rothenburg ob der Tauber. It was one of the most fascinating places we visited. Added perc: it was the site for much of the filming of “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang”. But its intact medieval wall, the streets, the buildings. Just superb. Sorry you didn’t enjoy it.
In Nuremberg, we did the included “Nuremberg Through History” and the extra cost “Surviving the War” tours. Both were very good. The “Surviving the War” was reminiscent of the movie “The Monument Men”. If you haven’t seen, you should.
In Regensberg, our included walking tour was led by a lady who was and is part of the research team trying to nail down facts about the Jews that the Nazis killed, and established the placing of the Stumbling Blocks. And at the base of the bridge is the oldest restaurant in Germany (or the world, depending on who you talk to). Their beer, with sausage and mustard is one of the finest dining I’ve ever experienced. We bout several jars of the mustard to take back with us. When we used it all up, I found out that it’s available on Amazon.
In Passau, we did the Salzburg tour. It was fantastic to see the origin of Mozart, and many of the scenes from “The Sound of Music”.
We were fortunate enough to spend 3 or 4 days at each end (Amsterdam and Budapest). That enabled us to enjoy in depth more of the sights and sounds of those wonderful cities.
I did on my First Grand European Tour. I did on my most Recent Grand European Tour. I like to do something different every time.
Did you mention the Munich Highlights tour? I'm really interested in doing that one when we do this cruise next June.
Ron, I'm going to be doing this tour again in a couple of months. Do you want me to reach out afterwards? I plan on doing some more videos during this grand European tour
@@EmilyJonesANTIMLM That would be great. It appears that the "Munich Highlights" would entail a bus ride of about 90 minutes each way from/to Regensberg. I'm willing to make that investment, if there's going to be adequate time to see the city and spend some time "on the ground". The Viking description doesn't exactly specify what amount of "free time" there might be.