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Prague to Budapest 2024
Dear Cycling Enthusiasts,
On Embark Day we'll retrieve the final arrivals at PRG airport on our way to the Danube. To break up the 3-hour transfer (using spacious picture window coaches instead of cramped bench-seat vans), we’ll pause in historic Pilzn, where the final PreTour event is a quick tour, tasting and early lunch at Pilsner Urquell—where aficionados will never forget their visit to the authentic birthplace of translucent beer—a Pilzn innovation that remains clearly superior to all preceding brews.
By early afternoon we will cross the German border to board the Amadeus Silver III in the Bavarian Village of Vilshofen. Top deck bike assembly occurs as we cruise through locks to reach an early evening professionally-guided walking tour of old Passau—where the soaring cathedral houses the world’s largest pipe organ. Do you think we’ll hear a short performance before tonight’s welcoming dinner?
Our first day of cycling passes through an exotic corner of Bavaria to reach a remarkable segment of Austria. A highlight of most Danube cycling tours is pedaling through the serpentine bends of the Danube's Shlogen Gorge; a natural preserve that can’t be viewed from a car, bus or train because it’s only wide enough for the river and a paved bike lane.
Our tailwind ride through the Schlogen Gorge ends 40 miles downriver in Aschach, where the ship ties up to prepare a buffet lunch. The after-lunch ride continues 20-miles to Linz. If your pre-lunch ride was sufficiently long for our tour's first day of cycling, we provide two other ways to reach Linz. Easiest is to remain aboard for this afternoon’s repositioning cruise.
A third option was recommended to us by European Travel expert Rick Steves. Rick’s choice is a chartered coach ride from Aschach to Linz that detours to include a guided tour of KZ Mauthausen; a carefully-preserved remnant of Austria's German occupation.
With all three of our afternoon options you’ll be able to stroll Linz before reboarding the ship for a twilight cruise that includes gourmet views from our ship’s panoramic dining room.
Our third day begins in Grein. During our morning ride the ship moves to Melk, where we board for lunch after our guided tours of the town’s famous Abbey.
Our afternoon ride pauses for a shuttle up the two-mile 20% driveway to Aggstein Castle (pictured below), where your admission to the Danube’s most fascinating fortress is included.
A nearly-perfect pedaling segment through a swampy nature preserve delivers you to a totally-green ferry crossing. We’ve arranged your passage on a current-powered ferry where you’ll enter a solar powered video room to view a contemporaneous show projected via centuries-old technology.
Can this day get any better? Yes! The final dozen miles of afternoon cycling weave through fabled Wauchau Valley wine villages to end where our ship is tied up for small-group early-evening walking tours that pass through medieval walls to enter a trio of Heuriger, each in a small family-owned wine cellar. 
None of the three totally-authentic places should be confused with a larger Vienese-styled heurigen that’s open to the public and caters to tourists (we’ve saved that for tomorrow night!) On this insightful and unforgettable evening our local non-professional guides can be trusted to get you back to the ship in time for a late dinner which will be served as we cruise downriver.
Day four—a bit of a layover day—starts and ends in Vienna. In lieu of cycling, this morning's activity is a visit to Schönbrunn Castle. While half of us enjoy a ticketed tour of a Royal Palace that’s larger and grander than Versailles, the other half will find reserved seats in Schönbrunn’s diminutive Marionetten. Ninety minutes later, we'll swap venues.
Remember the movie Amadeus? Schonbrunn is where a tone-deaf Emperor sequestered an unhappy Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. To escape the pressure of his incarceration Mozart is said to have found refuge seated within a gaggle of royal offspring (including a young Marie Antoinette) who were schooled by Schönbrunn's marionettes to appreciate serious Italian opera.
After the young Mozart created his own serious Italian operas (including Don Giovanni and Marriage of Figaro) the aging genius’s final opera was the fantastical and childlike Magic Flute, which is thought to be Mozart's homage to the afternoons he spent in Schonbrunn’s Marionetten. 
In yet another experience that’s unavailable to a normal cruise passenger, cyclist or tourist, Santana's command performance of Mozart’s Magic Flute has been shortened to include the highlights. Our version of this masterpiece will be hosted and explained by a 22-inch reincarnation of the composer, who will speak English and moves a bit like Pinocchio.
Following our morning sessions at Schönbrunn, professionally-guided walking tours of old Vienna reveal lots of places to find a late lunch before time on your own that ends when you decide to catch a Danube Tram to its turnaround spot near our ship. Alternatively, you could return on our chartered coach for a gourmet lunch aboard Wolfgang Lüftner’s Amadeus Silver III.
Either way, if you can’t tolerate a day without cycling, our early evening group ride loops through the Vienna Woods and pauses for a glass of young wine at the big heurigen mentioned earlier. Because it’s in a delightful neighborhood and an easy walk from the ship, you can remain for dinner or pedal back to the ship in time for dinner aboard. If you want to return later (or stay in central Vienna), the tram runs until late and our ship remains here overnight.
Day five’s cycling connects a pair of capitals: Austria’s Vienna and Slovakia’s Bratislava. On a tour where all of the shorter cycling routes avoid challenging climbs, this is the only day where all the longer cycling choices are similarly flat.
Our morning exit from Vienna cycles the traffic-free spaghetti-shaped Danube River island that includes a naturalists' beach. Fifteen miles into our ride most will stop at a bicyclists’ biergarten for ice cream, brewed hot coffee, or a refreshing cold brew flavored with hops.
An optional pre-lunch loop visits a Roman archeological site with its restored victory arch and recently unearthed amphitheater. Lunch is served at the center of a medieval walled town. If you arrive before our ship, take a look at the infamous middle-ages gate tower where a sticky latch in the year 1683 prevented the escape of eight thousand Austrian residents fleeing Islamic invaders preparing their famous attack on Vienna’s city walls.
Today’s after-lunch route crosses a no man’s land between abandoned checkpoints. Here, as recently as 1989, Soviet border guards prevented the escape of civilians who attempted the short sprint to freedom. Less than ten miles beyond the rusted remains of Europe's iron curtain our afternoon rides end in Bratislava, the youthful and vibrant capital of Slovakia, a recently-minted country that’s the Eastern portion of what was formerly Czechoslovakia. If, like many Americans, you haven’t been previously intrigued by the changing tides of history, this tour will be a transformative experience.
For over 2,000 years the Danube River was the European continent’s most important thoroughfare. More than anywhere else in Europe, the Danube is where history occurred. Now that the Iron Curtain has been brushed aside, everyone can enjoy the beauty, history, and great cycling that exists between Bratislava and Budapest.
Santana’s Blue Danube Adventure was created for cycling enthusiasts who aren’t afraid to experience more. The sixth day of our cycling cruise passes deserted collective farms, reawakening centers of history, Esztergom's massive Basilica, and UNESCO heritage sights to reach Hungary’s strategic Danube Bend.
A long option visits a hidden valley that now yields some of Hungary’s finest wine and the jewel-like royal castle at Tata, a summer retreat that's older and far nicer than Camp David.
Twenty five miles upriver from Budapest the Danube descends through a tight switchback. The 1,000-foot summit at the center of the Danube Bend is a strategic location fortified by the Romans. After the Hungarians arrived an early King cleared away the Roman ruins to erect a massive fortress castle. If you reach Visegrad before the ship, another optional loop climbs up and through this mountaintop citadel.
This castle and its underlying village of Visegrad still exist. A later King (who hated the steep hike) built his vacation home below the fortress. His smaller, newer and well-preserved castle dates back to the 13th century. When the king arrived by boat; a knights’ procession guided him to his tower. Rarely open to the public, the carefully-restored “Solomon’s Tower” now houses the area’s archeological treasures.
Like the ancient King, our boat will be met for a procession that will ascend through the cobbled village, enter the usually-locked tower, and climb to the rooftop terrace to enjoy a 270-degree view, local wine, and an ancient Hungarian snack that’s reminiscent of pizza. On the way back down, we’ll take time to examine showcases filled with priceless artifacts.
In the courtyard, a dozen knights will demonstrate ancient weapons and practiced skills. Not to be confused with the cheesy tourist show you’re now imagining, this is a real castle and these are real knights.
The Knights of Visegrad belong to an ancient order that predates written history. They own and use deadly weapons, and will guide your use of their weapons after their performance. 
On the seventh day we’ll wake up in Budapest, where a score of youthful professional guides who usually guide tourists for their bus tours of Hungary’s compelling Capital, will instead arrive at our ship on their bicycles.
Our morning tour by bike is the very best way to get a guided overview of Budapest---the beautiful city our young guides love and are proud to share. 
My favorite photo from Budapest shows the prearranged mid-morning rendezvous of faster and slower groups that departed the ship at various times and in all directions.
On the way back to the ship’s lunch you’ll have time to stop for an in-depth view of your favorite highlight. The rest of the day is all yours. Why not share it with some of your new friends?
Tonight’s farewell dinner concludes with a top-deck dessert served while our ship glides beneath Budapest’s spotlit bridges, buildings, and monuments.
On the eighth day our first airport shuttle will get you to Budapest's BUD airport in time for the earliest departure. Flying with the sun, Americans who depart in the morning will be able to arrive home the same evening.
Ship & Stateroom Info Tomorrow!
Dates & Pricing on Wednesday!
Your personal invitation to Reserve a Stateroom will arrive on Thursday at 10am Pacific!
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