In October 2010 I had the pleasure of travelling with AMA Waterways from Nuremberg
to Budapest aboard the elegant Amadagio. This luxury river cruise product was wonderful from start to finish.
The staterooms were modern and luxurious with large marble bathrooms and huge glass showers – the shower heads had six different spray levels. My stateroom had large floor-to-ceiling sliding doors with a French Balcony that opens up for fresh air. The largest suite aboard the Amadagio is 230 sq. ft. featuring a French balcony, large tub and separate shower.
The inclusiveness of an AMA Waterways river cruise is great! 24-hour front desk, complimentary coffee and espresso, complimentary wines with lunch and dinner, free internet, and complimentary shore excursions in every port – with different levels of activity.
I flew into Nuremberg, Germany a day ahead (always recommended when travelling to Europe) and stayed at a lovely small European hotel, Drei Raben. Medieval Nuremberg is a warm, lovely city in the German state of Bavaria, once almost completely destroyed in WWII. Nuremberg became famous for the “Nuremberg Trials” during WWII and on our complimentary tour we went to Hitler’s grandstand and huge fields where they held the
Nazi marches. Nuremberg is completely surrounded by 13th-century fortresses and towers and the town squares are rich with Bavarian gifts and cafes – you can smell the Lubkuchen (Gingerbread) being made. We sailed from Nuremberg on the Blue Danube River and later that evening crossed the Continental Divide before reaching Regensburg. In Regensburg we had a wonderful walking tour past the home of Oskar Shindler, of the famous movie “Shindler’s List”. We dined at one of the famous cooking houses sitting right alongside the Danube River where they served traditional German sausages – a great meal!
We continued our cruise passing many beautiful rolling hills and countryside into Austria. We spent a full day in Salzburg – home to many magnificent historical churches. We had the opportunity to step inside the church where Maria from “The Sound of Music” was married and were able to enjoy many sights from the Von Trapp family history – a wonderful experience for me.
One of the complimentary tours was a full-day tour to Vienna. In Vienna, they were decorating for the Christmas season, with lots of colorful boughs of holly & pine. Many horse drawn carriages were available to tour the city and the horse carriage museum is a tour not to be missed. I chose to tour the famous Schonbrunn Palace, summer home of the Habsurg monarchs, who ruled much of Europe for over 600 years. Other points of interest in Vienna are the Jewish Museum and the Museum of Fine Arts, and of course a host of other beautiful monumental buildings.
Back onboard the Amadagio we journeyed onto Melk – a quaint small village with many cafes and shops featuring homemade items. Our tour ventured up the hill overlooking Melk to the Benedictine Abbey, one of Europe’s largest baroque monasteries. This evening we had a night of wine tasting aboard the river ship.
We concluded our journey in Budapest, in my opinion the most gorgeous port of all, this city is actually two cities Buda and Pest diving in half by the Danube River. We had some shopping time, along with a tour of historical Buda Castle. In the evening our ship
sailed for an hour so we could take in the beautiful nighttime display of Budapest, with twinkling town lights and all the lit up bridges. This final evening we enjoyed traditional Hungarian goulash for dinner!
This is a trip I could take again! So much history, we had cool but great weather, and all the beautiful sights made even better by a superb staff, accommodations and tours put on by AMA Waterways aboard the luxurious Amadagio. Call us with questions and we can arrange this wonderful trip for you!
