Cruising the Danube on the Riverside Mozart

It was near the end of ski season. Captain Trish and I were facing a bleak rafting outlook for the summer after a dismal winter in Colorado. We applied for river permits via recreation.gov in January, but no one from our rafting family won a lottery.

We'd talked about doing a river cruise in Europe before, but hadn't looked into it much. Trish decided this was the year to make it happen. "If our rivers aren't great, let's go play on someone else's!" she said. Then she went to work. Before we knew it, we had a family trip booked down the Danube. Jack had a prior commitment, so it ended up just being Trish, Abbie, and me.

Our ship was the Riverside Mozart. It departed Vienna on June 14, cruised to Budapest, then returned through the Wachau Valley. You can read more about the week-long route at Danube Serenade: Iconic Capitals & Wachau Valley.

Arriving in Vienna

We started our adventure on Friday night, June 12. We'd timed our vacation to align with Trish's sister and family. Our brother-in-law went to high school in Vienna, and their family visits often. We met Claire, Doug, and James for dinner the day we landed.

Life aboard the Riverside Mozart

On a walk the next morning, I was surprised to find our cruise ship parked right outside our hotel. How convenient!

Abbie and I thought the cruise might be fancy because Trish kept mentioning all-inclusive. We didn't know how fancy until we handed over our bags and were handed champagne at the same time.

Passengers would join or leave the ship every few days. We had rooms on the bottom deck. You could spend four times as much as we did for more space and better views. The heated bidet toilets in each suite bathroom were a nice touch.

The spa at the front of the ship was amazing too! The full sauna was my favorite part of the ship.

Touring Vienna

We stayed in port on our first day aboard and toured Vienna. The Sisi Museum and Schönbrunn Palace were two of our stops.

Cruising toward Budapest

We ate very well every morning, afternoon, and evening.

If we wanted a good view, we just had to pop up to the rooftop.

We took full advantage of golden hour and the all-inclusive bar.

Visegrád and Hungary

We did excursions and tours every day. On our way to Budapest, our stops included a farm visit and Visegrád Citadel, with some excellent views of the Danube.

Budapest

Arriving in Budapest at night was one of the most beautiful scenes I've ever seen.

A couple of nights later, we got another chance to see Budapest lit up from the river.

Budapest was just as fun during the day. We toured City Park on Wednesday and took an e-bike ride to Margaret Island on Thursday.

Back through the Wachau Valley

On the way back to Vienna, we cruised through the Wachau Valley, stopped at Schloss Gobelsburg for some wine tasting, and admired Dürnstein from afar. It was a pretty great finish to the week.

It wasn't the kind of river trip we're used to, but it was a fantastic Plan B! If you get a chance to cruise with Riverside Luxury Cruises, I highly recommend it. Trish has already started thinking about the next one, perhaps on the Rhine or the Rhône.

For more photos, see my Cruising the Danube album on Flickr.