Danube River Cruises: Central and Easten Europe by Boat

Forget backpacking across Europe! If you have the extra money, sail through Central and Eastern Europe on a Danube River cruise. See the beautiful blue body that composer Johann Strauss celebrated with his famous waltz. As the longest European river outside of Russia, the Danube winds its way through bucolic countryside and the cosmopolitan capitals of Vienna, Bratislava, Budapest, and Belgrade before emptying into the Black Sea. Besides transporting tons of commercial cargo, the Danube River takes tourist cruise boats from Germany all the way to Romania. After a blip on the radar of navigability due to Serbian wars, Danube River cruises can now sail safely and stop at ports in all eight nations that share the blue waters. Here are just three of the tour online tour companies that offer Danube River cruises.

www.bluedanubeholidays.com
Offering several cruises on the famed river, this company's most popular and consistently offered cruise is the "Danube Rhapsody." Departing weekly from spring through fall, this eight day excursion begins and ends from Passau, Germany - not far from Munich. With prices starting at 800 Euros ($975), the Danube Rhapsody package comes with everything except airfare, making it a smart option for anyone who can arrange cheap airfare on their own. Stops in Vienna, Bratislava, and Budapest are included, along with brief tours of each city. The company guarantees a "multilingual" tour director, but they never explicitly promise a deft English speaker, so it's best to check about particular dates before booking.

www.gate1travel.com
For slightly longer Danube River cruises with airfare included, Gate 1 Travel provides a solid array of packages. They offer 9-day and 11-day cruises in several different permutations, depending on which stops you want to include. Most trips either start in Budapest and end in Nuremburg - or vice versa. Some packages also combine a stay in Prague (which is not on the Danube) with a conventional cruise so that tourists can take advantage of the Czech gem city. In addition to expected stops in Vienna, Bratislava, and Budapest, these longer trips also dock in smaller Austrian and German cities. Prices start around $2000 (dual-city airfare and English-speaking guide included) but rise sharply for the peak summer season.

www.friendlyplanet.com
The previous two companies fall short of providing a complete Danube River cruise because they exclude several countries. To remedy this gap in the market, Friendly Planet offers a 13-day tour called the "Danube Discovery Cruise - The Road Less Traveled." In addition to exploring Vienna, Bratislava, and Budapest, this package moves beyond Hungary to sail the eastern waters of the blue Danube River. From Osijek in Croatia to the Serbian cities of Novi Sad and Belgrade, the Danube Discovery Cruise covers several ports in the former Yugoslavia before sailing through the Iron Gates that lead to Romanian and Bulgarian border waters. This package ends with a stay in Bucharest, just a short distance north of the Danube. Providing the most complete exploration of the winding river (stopping in every country but Germany) and its picturesque port cities, Friendly Planet's pricing is also reasonable. Given the amount of on-board services and in-port tours and entertainment, the starting price of $2200 is quite fair for an early season cruise. The price jumps as expected during the summer, but this package still packs the most punch per dollar.