Cruise Description

21 Night Cruise sailing from Constanta to Amsterdam aboard ms Esprit. Hotel stay pre-cruise in Bucharest.

Travel like the royals of old on our grand eastern European river cruises combining Amsterdam to Budapest by Riverboat with Budapest to the Black Sea to create an unforgettable 25-day experience through the heart of Europe.

This remarkable voyage virtually links the North Sea to the Black Sea via the Danube, Main and Rhine rivers, taking you through the Netherlands, Germany, Austria, Slovakia, Hungary, Croatia, Serbia, Bulgaria and Romania. Glide past grand cathedrals, medieval monasteries, and historic citadels – as well as through the Main-Danube Canal and the Iron Gate of the Danube. Tauck’s private, inclusive shore excursions take in many UNESCO World Heritage Sites, and in-depth exploration of cities including Amsterdam, Köln, Vienna, Bratislava, Budapest, Belgrade and Bucharest. It's the ultimate European river cruise... with the Tauck Difference!

Highlights of this cruise:

Constanta
Constanta is the oldest extant city in Romania, founded around 600 BC. The city is located in the Dobruja region of Romania, on the Black Sea coast. It is the capital of Constanța County and the largest city in the region. It is also a beautiful touristic city during summer. It is Romania's largest seaport and a great city to begin to explore the wonders of the sea.

One of the largest cities in Romania, Constanța is an important cultural and economic center, worth exploring for its archaeological treasures and the atmosphere of the old town center. Its historical monuments, ancient ruins, grand Casino, museums and shops, and proximity to beach resorts make it the focal point of Black Sea coast tourism. Open-air restaurants, nightclubs and cabarets offer a wide variety of entertainment. Regional attractions include traditional villages, vineyards, ancient monuments and the Danube Delta, the best preserved delta in Europe.

Vukovar
Vukovar is a city in eastern Croatia, and the biggest river port in Croatia located at the confluence of the Vuka river and the Danube. the city has a long cultural history, today it is most noted for its fate during the war in the early 1990's in the former Yugoslavia and often called "The Hero Town". It has been last and the only town in the Europe completely devastated since WWII.

Among a number of attractive buildings, severely damaged in the recent war, the most interesting are the Eltz Manor of the Eltz noble family from 18th century, Baroque buildings in the centre of the town, the Franciscan monastery, the parish church of St. James, the Serbian Orthodox church of St Nicholas, and the birth house of the Nobel prize winner Lavoslav Ružička.

Vienna
Vienna is a unique blend of the historic and the modern with a wealth of architecture and artistic and musical heritage. Many of the world’s most important composers, including Beethoven and Mozart, have lived and performed behind Vienna’s Baroque façades. In addition to this Baroque splendor, there are excellent examples of Art Nouveau architecture .

The heart of Vienna is the Innerestadt where some of Vienna’s most popular tourist attractions can be found, along with pedestrianized streets lined with countless shops, cafés, bars and restaurants. The center point is the Graben (literally ‘moat’), which is a wide square lined with shops and pavement cafés under large umbrellas. Following the demolition of the city walls in 1857, the Ringstrasse was laid out and some of Vienna’s most beautiful buildings were built along it, between 1858 and 1865. Among the most important are the Staatsoper (State Opera House), Kunsthistorisches Museum (Museum of Fine Arts), Naturhistorisches Museum (Natural History Museum), Parlament (Parliament), Rathaus (City Hall) and Burgtheater.

Nuremberg
Nuremberg is a city in Bavaria, Germany. It is the largest town in Franconia, a region in the north of Bavaria and is located approximately two hours north of Munich. Nuremberg's Alstadt, or Old Town is surrounded by a mighty city-wall that is 5km long. Cobble-stoned squares and half-timbered houses make it easy to picture Nuremberg’s medieval past. This is also where sights such as Dürerhaus are to be found and in the festive season, thousands of people from all over the world visit the famous Christmas market on the Hauptmarkt. The city of Nuremberg expanded on both banks of the river Pegnitz and because of this, the Old Town is often divided into the Seebald-quarter and the Lorenz-quarter, both of which are named after the two main parish churches. Each quarter has its own distinct character.

Amsterdam
Amsterdam, the capital of The Netherlands is built around a concentric network of canals spanned by over 1000 bridges making canal cruises one of the most attractive ways of viewing the city. Many of the houses date back to the 17th century. These narrow-fronted merchants' houses are characterised by the traditionally Dutch ornamented gables.

The oldest part of the city is Nieuwmarkt, located near the first canals - Herengracht, Prinsengracht and Keizersgracht - built to protect the city against invasion in the 17th century. Today, Amsterdam's famous liberalism has survived in the city's 'coffee shops and thriving sex industry.

The city has also long been a centre of diamond cutting and it is still possible to see diamond cutters at work. Amsterdam has a booming cultural life, boasting 53 museums, 61 art galleries, 12 concert halls and 20 theatre. A special canal boat (the 'museum boat') links 16 of the major museums. In the local countryside it is still possible to see working windmills. There are annual events such as the Amsterdam Arts Week and the Holland Festival.