This was our second river cruise. We had enjoyed our previous journey along the Rhine & Moselle so much, that we booked another one with the same company. This time we were joined by friend Pete & Donna.
There was an extensive blog about this holiday, which I wrote copiously each day during lulls in exploration. It went into an email to myself, but somehow it disappeared into the ether never to be seen again. I didn’t have the heart to try and recreate it. So all that’s left are the photos, and some brief recollections of our Danube Treasures cruise of 2025.
Budapest – Hungary 14th April
We arrived at Budapest on a cloudy and humid Monday. After settling in on the Tui Maya, we had a little time to kill, so set off for a short exploration of the area. We took a slow walk along the Liberty Bridge before returning for a short browse of the large local market.
Then it was back to the ship to get ready for departure. We enjoyed a warm evening sailing away from Budapest, enjoying an informative commentary from one of the crew.
Bratislava – Slovakia 15th April
The old town of Bratislava was small but picturesque. As the weather turned a bit on the damp side we took shelter int the atmospheric Zbrojnoš pub where we sampled a very nice dark local ale.
After another stroll we met up with Pete & Donna, who had strangely enough made it to the same bar where we had a little more refreshment before returning to the Maya.
Durstein – Austria 16th April
Wednesday saw the weather turn much for the better. We were able to enjoy time up on deck watching the world go by as we sailed along the Danube into Austria.
Durnstein, like most of our destinations was small and pretty. We enjoyed a walk in the sun through some colourful narrow cobbled streets, mostly lined with wine bars. Of course we had to stop at one try a couple of samples!
Linz – Austria 17th April
Linz is the third largest city in Austria, but thankfully it did have a ‘cultural centre’ which was where we spent the afternoon.
Our main aim was to ride the funicular railway up to the highest point of the city where the Pilgrimage Church dominated the skyline. After some confusion and conversation with other tourists, we discovered that there wasn’t a funicular as such, but a tram. We rode it anyway, and took in some breathtaking views from the top.
Vienna – Austria 18-19th April
It was a 2 day stopover in Vienna, and on the first we opted to book a walking tour with a local guide. It was very interesting and worth doing, spoiled only by the cold, wet and windy weather.
The following day was a complete contrast. We spent quite some time admiring Vienna’s superb architecture in the warm sun, before heading for lunch at the fabulous main market.
Budapest – Hungary 20th April
Our final day saw us return to Budapest for a full day’s stay. It was incredibly busy with tourists, and we queued along with many of them to catch the open-top hop on hop off taxis to journey up into the old town. We managed to upset a few Italians however, by refusing to hop off and make way for them at our first stop!
It was a beautiful day, with stunning scenery all around. We spent many hours exploring, stopping for lunch to try the local ‘langos’ fried bread. Can’t say I would recommend it though.
This long day in the sun finished off an enjoyable holiday, and we were very tired as we made our way back to the boat to enjoy a gorgeous goulash in the restaurant.
The Danube didn’t quite measure up to our previous river cruise along the Rhine and Moselle. The scenery as we cruised was often really not much look at, whereas the Rhine is full of vineyards and fairytale castles. The destinations were great however, and made it well worthwhile.
The onboard experience was similar to the previous Tui cruise. Live entertainment was laughably bad, but the restaurant food was superb. The crew made an effort each night to bring something of a local flavour, and there’s was not one meal that failed to impress.
So, would we do another one? We were thinking of sailing the Douro at one time, but the cruise appeared to go missing. But if it popped up on our radar again, perhaps we just night.
This was our second river cruise. We had enjoyed our previous journey along the Rhine & Moselle so much, that we booked another one with the same company. This time we were joined by friend Pete & Donna.
There was an extensive blog about this holiday, which I wrote copiously each day during lulls in exploration. It went into an email to myself, but somehow it disappeared into the ether never to be seen again. I didn’t have the heart to try and recreate it. So all that’s left are the photos, and some brief recollections of our Danube Treasures cruise of 2025.