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Day 1: Engelhartszell
Day 2: Vienna, 21 mi. (34 km)
Day 3: Vienna - Klosterneuburg - Vienna 23 mi. (36 km)
Day 4: Esztergom - Visegrad - Budapest, 22 - 31 mi. (35 - 50 km)
Day 5: Budapest City Day
Day 6: Bratislava, 20 - 26 mi. (32 - 41 km)
Day 7: Wachau - Melk, 24 mi. (39 km)
Day 8: Departure or extension in Passau or Munich

All distances are approximate. The itinerary is subject to change in the event of adverse weather or other instances of force majeure.

Day 1: Embark in Engelhartszell near Passau
 At approximately, 3 pm, an included bus shuttle transfer (30 - 40 minutes) is offered from the main train station in Passau to the boarding dock in Engelhartszell, Austria. You are then welcomed on board your luxury vessel by your crew and guides.  Be sure to be ready for embarkation at 4 pm as the ship departs punctually at 5 pm and navigates downstream toward Vienna. After only 14 km, the ship reaches its first scenic highlight, the Schlögener Schlinge. Here the Danube makes its way through the Bohemian massif in several meanders. At the loop, the river turns in a narrow bend curved to the left by 180 °, followed by another 180 ° bend! 

Day 2: Vienna and along the Danube, 23 mi. (36 km)
In the morning the ship glides past the wooded slopes of the Vienna Woods and reaches Vienna around noon. After lunch on board, the bikes are readied for you on the bank. Today's bike stage begins right at the jetty. Over the Reichsbrücke you reach the elongated Danube Island, which is popular with the Viennese as a leisure and bathing area. The floodplain landscape of Lobau lies on the northern side of the Danube. In the Donau-Auen National Park, numerous water birds and other threatened animal and plant species are protected, which are threatened by the straightening of the Danube and its expansion into a large waterway. The cycle path leads across the Danube Island through the Viennese paradise of entertainment, the Prater. From here you come back to the ship on the banks of the Danube. If you like, you can spend the evening in downtown Vienna. The ship stays in Vienna overnight. Your guide will show you the best way to get into town. 

Day 3: Vienna - Klosterneuburg - Vienna, 22 - 31 mi. (35 - 50 km)
You begin cycling directly from the landing stage. Up the river, you pass Vienna toward the steep slopes of the Vienna Woods, which the Viennese have always called “nose”. The “Nasenweg”, which leads up to the Leopoldsberg, begins at a wine tavern village. With your Ebikes your ride up, high above the Danube. A wonderful view of Vienna spreads before you. Here the fate of Vienna was decided during the 2nd siege by the Turks!
An enjoyable descent takes you effortlessly to Klosterneuburg. Klosterneuburg Abbey was a center of art and culture in the High Middle Ages. Charles VI had Klosterneuburg rebuilt in the baroque style and turned it into a stone symbol for the connection between the kingdom of God and the empire, an Austrian escorial. From Klosterneuburg, you return to the ship in Vienna - almost free of traffic. In the evening the ship leaves Vienna and travels downstream toward Hungary.  

Day 4: Esztergom - Visegrad - Budapest, 22 - 31 mi. (35 - 50 km)
Today could be called a day of castles and fortresses. While you fortify yourself at a tempting breakfast buffet, the ship docks in Esztergom. As you peer out at the landscape, you will be amazed. Iconic Várhegy, also known as Castle Hill, rises 170 meters over the Danube River. The hill's history dates back to the 13th century when King Béla IV ordered the construction of a fortress to protect the city from Mongol invasions. Over the centuries, the fortress was expanded and transformed into a royal palace, now known as Esztergom Castle, which served as the residence of Hungarian kings and queens for centuries. The other notable landmark on Castle Hill is the Esztergom Basilica, an impressive neoclassical church, the largest in Hungary and one of the most important religious sites in the country. It houses many significant religious artworks, including the world-famous altarpiece by Michelangelo Grigoletti, which depicts the Assumption of the Virgin Mary.

Then a short transfer to Visegrad Castle on the Danube Bend is on the agenda. The Danube Bend is one of the most picturesque regions on the banks of the Danube. The ancient Visegrad Castle is located above the bend in the river. Above you can enjoy the intoxicating view of the narrow breakthrough of the river and, after visiting the fortress, start with a descent back to the banks of the Danube.

After a short section on a busy road, a small ferry transfers to the elongated island in the Danube Bend. A rural idyll awaits you here. The route leads more than 20 km south across the island of Szentendrei-Sziget, onward to Szentendre, only a few kilometers before Budapest. The cheerful baroque town on the right bank of the river was an artist colony and is characterized by many churches and its location on the banks of the Danube. It is approx. 15 km from here to Budapest which will be completed by bus transfer.

You may extend your biking into the city if you don’t mind the traffic which you will encounter as you near the Hungarian Capital.

Day 5: Budapest 
Almost a whole day in Budapest (without bike) is at your leisure! The writer Péter Esterházy called Budapest “the lady with the Danube between her breasts”. This lady shines again as perhaps the most beautiful metropolis on the Danube. The river majestically divides the city into two parts Buda and Pest, which are connected by splendid bridges. The highlights of the Pest district are the monumental parliament building and “Heroes' Square”. Not far from the river shipping port is the famous market hall from 1897, a basilica-like building based on a steel structure. In Buda, the castle district has a unique flair.

Public transport in Budapest is well developed and the city is served by metro, tram, trolley, and bus. You can explore the city center on your own or book a comprehensive 3.5-hour city tour on board. You will see the Millennium Monument on the spacious Heldenplatz, the magnificent opera, the former stock exchange and the gigantic parliament building. A tour through the castle district takes you past the Matthias Church to the Fishermen's Bastion. You continue to Gellért Hill and visit the 220-meter-long citadel, at the southern tip of which the Statue of Liberty rises.

The ship casts off at around 4 p.m. to travel upstream again towards Germany. 

Day 6: Bratislava, 20 - 26 mi. (32 - 41 km)
In the morning your ship docks in Bratislava, the capital of Slovakia. From the outside, the cityscape is still a bit brittle socialist, but the old town has been nicely renovated and, like Vienna and Budapest, exudes the old splendor of the Habsburg Empire. Pressburg was the name of the city until Czechoslovakia was founded. In 1993, when it separated from the Czech Republic, Bratislava became the capital of Slovakia.
The cycling stage begins in Hainburg/Austria at the Hainburger Pforte, a narrow part of the Danube between Austria and Slovakia.

From there you cross the Danube via a huge tension bridge and can reach the baroque palace Schloss Hof in Austria. The cycle route crosses the border to Slovakia and ends at the ruins of Devín Castle a few kilometers west of Bratislava. Bus transfer back to Bratislava or – if you do not mind a 2 km of city traffic – you can bike all the way back to the ship in downtown Bratislava mostly along the shore of the Danube. The ship will leave the city in the afternoon. 

Day 7: Wachau - Melk, 24 mi. (39 km)
While you have breakfast, the ship glides through the wonderful landscape of the Wachau. Your ship docks in Krems in the morning (approx. 8:15 am) and cyclists embark to Dürnstein, probably the most famous of all wine-growing locations in the Wachau. Dürnstein is picturesquely situated on the Danube, surrounded by vineyards and at the foot of an old castle. It has been a romantic ruin since the Thirty Years War and is a reminder that King Richard the Lionheart was a prominent prisoner there.
The further cycle route leads to Weißenkirchen, a wine-growing village past Dürnstein through terraced vineyards with small winegrowers' houses. You will be impressed by the Gothic fortified church from the 14th century in Weißenkirchen.
Other picturesque wine-growing towns such as St. Michael, Spitz, and Willendorf are included in your itinerary. The almost 30,000-year-old statuette “Venus von Willendorf” was found in Willendorf in 1908! It is Austria's most famous find from the Stone Age and is now exhibited in the Natural History Museum in Vienna. The bike tour ends in the early afternoon near Melk, opposite the imposing monastery complex. The baroque Benedictine monastery marks the beginning of the Wachau in a picturesque way and offers a unique interplay of landscape and culture. You will be back on board around noon and your ship will continue upstream toward Engelhartszell. 

Day 8: Departure or extension in Passau or Munich
The ship docks in Engelhartszell between 7 and 8 am and you are back at your starting point. Your trip ends after breakfast. Disembarkation and transfer to the train station in Passau around 9 am. Travel time is approx. 40 minutes.

Of course, extending another night (or two) in Passau or Munich is advisable to experience these lively and fascinating Bavarian cities even more extensively.

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  Constructed in 2002, the 124-meter-long cruise ship, Bella, with a passenger capacity of 242 passengers, explores the incredible river landscape of the Danube. Read More