Trip Itinerary – Viking River Cruise

The countdown is on with around five months to go until our trip on the Danube River with Viking River Cruises! Oh, also there’s a wedding two weeks before that as well : ) I shared our general plans a few months ago, but we’ve finally worked out the details for all of our flights, hotels, etc. It’s a rather lengthy vacation since we’re adding two extra days in Munich, so this itinerary was a blast to plan out.

Here we go!

Day 1:  Departure

• Fly overnight on Austrian Airways business class from Newark to Vienna  
• Hoping to find another Groupon for airport parking at Newark

Day 2: Vienna, Austria

• Arrive in Vienna early in the morning – Take an Uber/ U-Bahn (subway) to our hotel
  • We ran into a snag trying to book a flight using points from Newark to Budapest. The majority of the flights had a layover in Vienna, but the flight from Vienna to Budapest wasn’t available with points. So, we chose to take just the flight from Newark to Vienna, spend a day in the city, and take a train to Budapest the following day.
• Spend the rest of the day trying to stay awake and exploring Vienna
• Stay: Le Meridien Vienna
  Robert-Stolz-Platz 1 Vienna, 1010 Austria

Day 2: Budapest, Hungary

• Take a train from Vienna to Budapest (I’m thrilled about this part – I love taking trains in Europe)
• Cruise Embarkation day!! Check in and get acquainted with our room on board and the ship.
• Remainder of the day spent exploring Budapest
  • Buda Castle
  • Great Market Hall

Day 3: Budapest, Hungary

• Our first full day of the cruise will also be in Budapest
• Viking Shore Excursion – Budapest City Tour
  • Fisherman’s Bastion
  • Hungarian State Opera House

Day 4: Bratislava, Slovakia

• Cruise overnight to Slovakia
• Viking Shore Excursion – Bratislava Walking Tour
  • Bratislava Castle
  • Michael’s Gate

Day 5: Vienna, Austria

• Cruise overnight to Vienna
• Viking Shore Excursion – Vienna City Tour
  • Hofburg Palace
  • St Stephen’s Cathedral

Day 6: Melk, Austria

• Cruise overnight to Melk
• Viking Shore Excursion – Melk Abbey Visit

Day 7: Linz, Austria

• Cruise overnight to Linz
• Viking Shore Excursion – Cesky Krumlov Excursion 

Day 8: Passau, Germany

• Cruise overnight to Passau
• Viking Shore Excursion – Passau Walking Tour & Organ Concert
  • St Stephen’s Cathedral (apparently there are a lot of these in Europe…)
  • Bishops’ Residenz

Day 9: Passau, Germany

• Disembarkation day : (
• Take a train from Passau to Munich after leaving the ship
• See the sights in Munich
• Stay: Aloft Munich
  Bayerstrasse 37 Munich, 80335 Germany

Day 10: Munich, Germany

• Rent a car and drive to Neuschwanstein Castle!! This is a major bucket list item for me, so I’m beyond thrilled we’ll be able to see it.
• Return to Munich for an evening in the city

Day 11: Return Home

• Fly from Munich to Frankfurt on Lufthansa Business Class, then Frankfurt to Newark on United Polaris Business Class
• Drive back home and start looking through pictures to ward off depression!

Estimated Trip Costs

Viking Danube Waltz Cruise                        $2,099 per person
Le Meridien Vienna                                       10,000 points (10,000 per night)
Aloft Munich                                                   20,000 points (10,000 per night)
Austrian Flight (EWR to VIE)                     70,000 points + $6 per person
Lufthansa / United (VIE to EWR)              52,500 points + $95 per person
Train from Vienna to Budapest                   $57 per person
Rental car in Munich (estimate)                  $50 
Parking at EWR (estimate)                          $150
Total                                                              $2,457

 

Do you have any sight – seeing suggestions for the cities we’re visiting?