Danube River cruises are among our favorites. The Danube, in fact, is our number one choice for people new to river cruising. You’ll find itineraries that sail between Passau, Germany and the Black Sea and packages that range in length from 5 to 23 days.
What We Like About Danube River Cruises
Scenic beauty as you cruise through gorgeous landscapes and past fairy-tale villages
Visits to iconic cities such as Vienna, Budapest, Bratislava and Passau
Excursions to UNESCO World Heritage Sites such as Pesky Krumlov.
Picture Perfect Evening concerts and waltzes
About the Danube River
Flowing through Central and Eastern Europe, the Danube is the second longest river in Europe. It spans for 1,777 miles from Germany to Ukraine. On a Danube river cruise, you’ll typically travel between Germany and Hungary, although some Danube river cruises sail all the way to the Black Sea.
The Danube River is connected to the Main River via the Main-Danube Canal. Some itineraries include Nuremberg, which is located on the Main-Danube Canal and the Pegnitz River.
Danube River Cruises
The most common itinerary for a cruise on the Danube River is between Passau, Germany and Budapest, Hungary. Prague is often listed as a starting or ending point of a cruise; however, Prague is not located on the Danube River. It’s about 140 miles north of Passau and about 190 northeast of Nuremberg.
Danube River cruises are often combined with other waterways, such as the Main-Danube Canal, the Main River, the Rhine River and sometimes the Moselle and the Dutch and Belgian Waterways.
Other prominent cities often visited on a Danube River cruise include:
Passau, Germany
Bratislava, Slovakia
Belgrade, Serbia
Vidin and Belogradchik, Bulgaria
Bucharest, Romania
If you travel to Bucharest, you will cruise through the Iron Gates, which is a river gorge that forms a border between Serbia and Romania.
