Budapest to the Black Sea
13 Day River Cruise
Discover resort towns along Romania’s Black Sea Coast, explore an ancient Christian necropolis in Pecs, and visit “Dracula’s” castle in Transylvania… dine in the Soviet-style People’s Palace in Bucharest… Share homemade refreshments in the home of a Croatian family rebuilding their lives in postwar Vukovar, and listen to Béla Bartók’s piano music at a recital in his Budapest home. Experience authentic local cuisine, music and dance, and a wealth of architectural wonders as your river cruise winds its way through Hungary, Croatia, Serbia, Bulgaria and Romania, with nights on land at luxury hotels in the popular cities of Bucharest and Budapest (the Paris of Eastern Europe).
Countries: Bulgaria, Croatia, Hungary, Romania, Serbia
River(s): Danube
Pricing
River cruise starting at $8,170* CAD per person, based on double occupancy
13 Days – Budapest to Bucharest (reverse itinerary available)
Exclusive experience
- Exclusive evening at Belgrade’s Royal White Palace
Inclusions
- All gratuities to ship staff, drivers, local guides, Tauck Directors and Tauck Cruise Director
- Tauck’s private shore excursions and distinctive inclusions valued at CAD $2,535
- Two nights at a hotel in Budapest and three nights in Bucharest at a hotel with an ideal location next to the Parliament Palace
- Choices of bicycle excursions in Budapest & Belgrade
- Dinner at a palace in Bucharest
- Visit with a Croatian family in their private home in Vukovar
- A visit to the city of Pécs in Hungary, a UNESCO World Heritage Site
- Passage through the Iron Gate on the Danube River
- Choice of Romanian excursions exploring the story of Vlad Tepes, 15th-century inspiration for Bram Stoker’s “Dracula”
- Unlimited complimentary beverages aboard ship include regional wine, beer and premium spirits in addition to specialty coffee, water and soft drinks
- Airport and trains station transfers upon arrival and departure as noted
- 30 meals; service charges, taxes, porterage, and applicable fuel surcharge
Day
Day 1
Location(s)
Budapest, Hungary
Meals
Dinner
Description
A transfer is included from Budapest Ferenc Liszt International Airport and Budapest-Keleti Station to The Ritz-Carlton Budapest in the heart of the city. Meet your fellow travelers and Tauck Directors at the welcome cocktail reception and dinner at the Festetics Palace in Budapest.
Accommodation: Ritz Carlton (or similar, 2 nights)
Day 2
Budapest
Breakfast
Excursions: Discovering Pest guided tour OR Cycling excursion in Budapest
Once independent cities located on opposite sides of the Danube, Buda and Pest joined together when they were linked by the Chain Bridge in the mid-19th century to become Hungary’s cosmopolitan capital, Budapest. You have a choice of Budapest discoveries this morning. You can choose to join Tauck’s local guides for sightseeing in Pest starting with a visit to St. Stephen’s Basilica, Budapest’s neo-Renaissance cathedral completed in 1905; continuing with Pest’s impressive mix of architectural masterpieces and historic monuments, viewing City Park, patriotic Heroes’ Square with its statues of Hungarian leaders through the ages, the Gothic-Revival Parliament building and tree-lined Andrassy Avenue; and time spent wandering through bustling Central Market Hall, a veritable showcase of Hungarian life from food to gifts and cafés.
Or you can choose to spend the morning touring the Pest side of the city by bicycle with a local guide (you’ll need to be comfortable riding a bicycle in a city environment).
The rest of the day and evening are yours to enjoy the city as you like.
Day 3
Budapest (embarkation)
Breakfast, Dinner
Today’s exploration of Buda begins with a visit the Hungarian Parliament building, rich with history; it is nothing short of an architectural masterpiece. Next, travel to Castle Hill, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, where a guided walking tour introduces architectural landmarks such as well-known Fisherman’s Bastion. Go back to the days of World War II and the Cold War at the Sziklakórház (“Hospital in the Rock”), a museum recreating underground military medical and civil defense facilities in a former secret nuclear bunker hidden beneath Buda Castle.
Enjoy some time to explore more of Budapest as you please, then board your riverboat to begin your cruise. Join us tonight for a welcome toast followed by dinner onboard.
Accommodation: 7 nights aboard the ms Savor (or similar)
Day 4
Mohács
Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Excursion: Pécs walking tour
Arrive in Mohács this morning and travel to Pécs for a walking tour. Here you’ll also explore the fascinating Christian Necropolis, a complex dating back to the 4th century that includes underground burial chambers and chapels adorned with early Christian art and frescoes, a UNESCO World Heritage site. In the 19th century, Pécs was famous worldwide for the exquisite Zsolnay porcelain manufactured here, and your visit includes a stop at the Zsolnay Museum for a look at its stunning examples of Art Nouveau stoneware, tiles and pottery.
Visit a winery in Villány for lunch (this region is renowned for its red wines) then return to Mohacs for dinner aboard ship.
Day 5
Vukovar, Croatia & Novi Sad, Serbia
Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Your riverboat exploration of the lower Danube cruises into Croatia; an onboard lecture by a local expert provides insights into the country’s culture and history.
Dock in the Baroque city of Vukovar, once showcasing opulent 18th-century mansions, but now poignantly symbolizing the effects of the 1990s war as it rebuilds; visit the home of a Vukovar family who have recently returned to resume their lives in the city after the conflict, who will share homemade refreshments with you.
Reboard your riverboat for lunch and cruise to Novi Sad, Serbia, enhanced by commentary by your Tauck Directors. You’ll have a little free time this evening to explore Novi Sad before your cruise continues to Belgrade.
Day 6
Belgrade, Serbia
Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Excursion: Belgrade city tour
Exclusive: Evening at Belgrade’s Royal White Palace
Dock in Belgrade, Serbia’s eclectic, cosmopolitan capital at the juncture of the Danube and Sava rivers. You can choose to spend the morning touring the “New Belgrade” section of the city by bicycle with a local guide (you’ll need to be comfortable riding a bicycle in a city environment); or join our local guides for a city tour that includes visits to Tito’s Memorial and the formidable Kalemegdan Fortress, and views of busy Slavija Square (now one of the city’s major squares, but once a large pool where residents hunted wild ducks!), Parliament, Republic Square and City Hall.
After lunch onboard your ship (or own your own in town), you have the afternoon free to spend as you please.
Following onboard entertainment by Serbian performers during cocktail hour, you’ll return to shore for this evening’s sparkling Tauck Exclusive – dinner at the Royal White Palace of the Serbian Royal Family in Belgrade, built in the 1930s for members of the Yugoslavian royal family and set within the same complex as the Royal Palace of Dedinje, today home to HRH Crown Prince Alexander II of Serbia and his family.
Day 7
Iron Gate & King Decebalus
Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Continuing your Budapest river cruise, relax on a day’s sail past the fields and vineyards of Eastern Europe. Pass into Romania and through the Kazan Narrows and the Iron Gate of the Danube, a two-mile-long series of narrow gorges between the Carpathian and Balkan mountain ranges. As you glide along the Bulgarian / Serbian border, look for the massive monument to the 2nd-century Dacian King Decebalus – Europe’s tallest rock sculpture, completed in 2004, carved into the riverbank on the Romanian side – as well as spectacular views of the Transylvanian Alps. Join us tonight for the Chef’s signature dinner.
Day 8
Ruse or Ivanovo, Bulgaria
Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Excursions: Guided walking tour of Ruse OR Hike to the Rock Churches
Your Budapest river cruise along the Danube takes you to Bulgaria today; largely off limits during four centuries of Ottoman rule and decades behind the Iron Curtain, the country’s rich natural beauty and history is yours to discover for yourself. Disembark after lunch in Ruse – often referred to as “Little Vienna” for its Art Nouveau homes, Austro-Hungarian architecture and lively cafés – for a choice of afternoon sightseeing. You may join us for a guided walking tour of Ruse, or a beautiful (but challenging) hike to the celebrated Rock Churches in the village of Ivanovo, whose stony chambers carved into steep, cliffside caves reveal stunning medieval frescoes inside; a visit is richly rewarding.
Back aboard your ship tonight, a classical Bulgarian music performance precedes dinner.
Day 9
Constanta & Mamaia, Romania on the Black Sea
Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Excursion: Guided tour of Constanta
Free time at the beach in Mamaia
Spend the morning cruising the Danube all the way to Constanta, Romania on the Black Sea coast. Upon your arrival in the early afternoon, take a guided tour of this historic port city, originally the ancient Greek colony of Tomis and home to numerous Greek and Roman antiquities; sights include an Art-Nouveau casino and a monument to the Roman poet Ovid, who was exiled here by the Emperor Augustus.
Then it’s on to Mamaia, the largest seaside resort on the Black Sea, for some time at leisure to enjoy the beach before returning to the riverboat, docked in Constanta, for your final night aboard your Budapest river cruise.
Join us for the ship’s farewell reception and dinner onboard this evening.
Day 10
Bucharest (disembarkation)
Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Disembark your riverboat in Constanta and travel to Bucharest, capital of Romania and once regarded as the “Paris of the Balkans.” A sightseeing tour of city landmarks includes Revolution Square and the Triumphal Arch; erected to commemorate Romania’s reunification and those who fell in World War I, it is a smaller but otherwise exact copy of the Arc de Triomphe in Paris. Lunch in the Old Town, the city’s charming historic center; a former enclave of artisans and merchants in the 16th century, it’s now a trendy district of old inns, antique shops, galleries, and cafes, riddled with winding networks of vaulted cellars, cobblestone streets and passageways. Settle in for the next two nights at the JW Marriott Bucharest Grand Hotel in the heart of the city; if you wish, have dinner at the hotel tonight, or choose to enjoy a lunch or dinner at the hotel at another time during your stay.
Accommodation: JW Marriott Bucharest Grand Hotel (or similar, 3 nights)
Day 11
Bucharest – excursion to Transylvania or Sinaia / Peles Castle
Breakfast, Lunch
Excursions: Transylvania & Bran Castle OR Sinaia & Peles Castle
A choice of sightseeing today echoes the legacy of 15th-century Romanian prince Vlad Tepes (a.k.a. “Vlad the Impaler”), thought to be the historical model for Bram Stoker’s Dracula. You may choose to take a full-day excursion to Transylvania’s 14th-century Bran Castle, which Tepes once used as a fortress during his military campaigns; the excursion includes a brief walk and lunch in Brasov.
Or, you can travel on a full-day excursion into the Carpathian Mountains to the mountain resort town of Sinaia for a visit to Peles Castle.
Return to Bucharest for free time and dinner as you please.
Day 12
Bucharest
Breakfast, Dinner
Discover more of Romania’s capital on a morning sightseeing tour, ending in Bucharest’s Old Town. Following an afternoon spent pursuing what interests you most in the city, join us this evening as we travel to a Tauck Exclusive at the massive Palace of Parliament (a.k.a. the People’s Palace), built by dictator Nicolae Ceaucescu to be the center of political power in the capital; the Soviet-style white marble complex, 12 stories high, with over a thousand rooms and four underground levels, is the world’s largest building after the Pentagon, and some parts of it are still unfinished!
An introductory tour concludes with a special farewell reception and dinner at a palace, complete with musical entertainment.
Day 13
Bucharest
Breakfast
Fly home anytime. A transfer is included from the JW Marriott Bucharest Grand Hotel to Bucharest Henri Coanda International Airport and Bucuresti Gara de Nord; please allow 3 hours for flight check-in at the airport.
Reverse Itinerary
This trip also runs in reverse from Bucharest to Budapest.
*Hotel rooms are subject to availability and are confirmed by the supplier at time of booking; they may be replaced by other hotel rooms of similar category at the sole discretion of the supplier.
Interested in the itinerary above? Click on the “START PLANNING” button below and reference “Budapest to the Black Sea” in the form, or give us a call at 587.997.5969 to book.
An adventure designed specifically for you
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*Prices are per person, based on double occupancy and subject to change and availability.