Upon arriving, a Vantage Representative will meet you and arrange your transfer to the ship, where you can settle in and enjoy a Welcome Briefing and dinner. (Or, depart 2 days earlier and begin with our optional 2-night extension in beguiling Budapest.)

Budapest is an architectural gem of baroque buildings, interesting streets and squares, and lively shops, coffeehouses, and restaurants. Not unexpectedly, the city center along the Danube has been designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Today you’ll get to know the city on an included panoramic tour that features historic Matthias Church and storybook Fishermen’s Bastion, which offers stunning views of Pest and the imposing Parliament House. Travellers taking the city tour on their pre-extension will instead enjoy an included tour to the artists’ village of Szentendre. Later, gather for the Captain’s Welcome Party and Dinner.

Cultural Connection: Attend a talk about Europe’s rivers and their prominence in daily life and commerce en route to Vienna. In Vienna, disembark for your choice of tours: embark on a tour of “Musical Vienna” sites associated with the great classical composers who lived in Vienna, or visit Schönbrunn Palace, the magnificent residence of the Habsburgs. Cultural Connection: The following day begins with a lecture on Vienna’s musical tradition, followed by a panoramic city tour. Cultural Connection: The evening ends on a high note with a private classical music concert.

Leaving Vienna, relax as your ship waltzes on through the incredibly scenic Wachau Valley, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The valley’s hilltop castles and walled villages, nestled among vineyard-covered hills, create a beautiful riverscape that has changed little since medieval times. Cultural Connection: Enjoy an onboard apple strudel making demonstration today.

This morning you’ll enjoy a walking tour of Passau. Cultural Connection: Inside St. Stephen’s Cathedral — beautifully decorated with frescoes — you’ll hear an included concert on the world’s largest pipe organ. The organ has 17,388 pipes and 231 registers!

Cultural Connection: This morning you’ll hear a lecture about the Main-Danube Canal, an engineering marvel. Your next port, 2,000-year-old Regensburg, is a virtual living museum of European architecture. On today’s walking tour you’ll touch ancient Roman stones at Porta-Praetoria Arch and cross the medieval Stone Bridge. Cultural Connection: On your return to the ship, you’ll be delighted by local entertainment on board.

Cultural Connection: As your ship arrives into Nuremberg this morning, you’ll hear a lecture on the development of a typical German town, using Nuremberg as the example. On your city tour of Nuremberg, you’ll visit the Documentation Center and the Rallygrounds as you explore the city’s World War II history. You’ll receive money for lunch and in the afternoon you’ll enjoy either a visit to the former home of Albrecht Dürer, the German printmaker and artist, or to the German Toy Museum.

You’ll soon discover why today’s destination is considered by many to be Germany’s most beautiful city. It was named a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1993. On your walking tour of the lovely Old Town, you’ll see many examples of the city’s fine architecture. Bamberg is also the center of a rich Bavarian beer-brewing tradition, which you’ll have time to discover at your leisure.

Cultural Connection: Enjoy a lecture on the European Union this morning. Later, choose from the two tours offered. The first takes you to along Bavaria’s scenic Romantic Road to the wonderfully preserved medieval walled town of Rothenburg ob der Tauber. Or, choose a tour of the grand Würzburg Residenz, a baroque gilded palace preserved as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. After your guided tour, you’ll visit the Residenz’s own wine cellar for a tasting. Cultural Connection: This evening, dine on hearty Bavarian fare at a Würzburg restaurant.

This morning’s scenic cruising brings us to the small Franconian town of Wertheim, located where the Tauber River flows into the Main. Cultural Connection: The Wertheim region is celebrated for its fine glassware, and a local glass blower will join us aboard ship to demonstrate this age-old art. Next, you’ll step back in time on a walking tour of Wertheim’s cobblestone streets and squares.

Set off from Aschaffenburg for a full-day excursion to Heidelberg, home to Germany’s oldest college. Arriving in this exquisite town, you’ll tour the 15th-century Heidelberg Castle, an imposing Gothic-Renaissance ruin of red stone, followed by lunch at a local restaurant and some time at leisure to explore Heidelberg on your own. Later, rejoin the ship in Frankfurt. Cultural Connection: Tonight, enjoy local entertainment onboard the ship.

In the Rhine Valley wine town of Rüdesheim you can choose to take a cable car to Niederwald Monument or visit Siegfried’s Musikkabinett. Then, listen to the Legend of the Lorelei as you sail past the quaint villages, fairytale castles, and dramatic cliffs of the Rhine Gorge. The day ends in style with the Captain’s Farewell Party & Dinner. Cultural Connection: Enjoy local entertainment on board tonight.

When you arrive in Cologne, you’ll admire this masterpiece of flying buttresses and sneering gargoyles that rivals Notre Dame in Paris. Inside you’ll find the revered Shrine of the Three Magi. As your Memorable Journey comes to a close, enjoy a final afternoon of relaxing and scenic sailing.

Or, stay in Amsterdam for our 2-night extension.

On the Budapest-Amsterdam itinerary, the dinner ashore is in Würzburg, and on the Amsterdam-Budapest itinerary, the dinner ashore is in Rüdesheim.

Breakfast, most lunches, and dinner are included daily while on board your Vantage river cruiser.

IMPORTANT NOTICE: This day-by-day itinerary is preliminary and subject to change. If any major changes occur in advance of your departure, you will be notified in writing by Vantage. If changes occur while on tour, you will be notified by your Vantage Program Manager or local representatives. In addition, should there be an extreme change in water levels that prevents the ship’s passage or docking, Vantage will do everything possible to provide either the included excursion(s) or an alternate at Vantage’s discretion.