Voted the best river cruise line by Travel Weekly and the world's most awarded cruise line by multiple travel industry publications, Viking is the largest river cruise line operating on the 1,775-mile-long Danube. No less than seven different Viking cruises cover Austria, featuring multi-day and multi-country adventures and offering varying prices and itineraries.
Within Austria, stops along the way range from the sumptuous capital of Vienna, with its beautiful buildings and public squares, to the charm of Passau, a cobblestone-street town steeped in picture-perfect cathedrals and storybook castles surrounded by snow-covered mountains.
The Danube River flows through the striking Wachau Valley, where the spectacular views of picturesque villages, vineyards, and apricot groves, are so breathtaking that it is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Viking River Cruises
5700 Canoga Ave.
Woodland Hills, CA 91367
1-877-668-4546
www.vikingrivercruises.com
Smolka Tours is a custom travel agency that specializes in Eastern European river cruises. Nine Austrian river tour packages provide multiple sailing dates throughout the year. Smolka's cruises reflect a strong emphasis on the music and romance of Austria, from the symphonies of Mozart to the waltzes of Vienna. One river cruise even includes a “Sound of Music” palace weekend near Salzburg, which is also a UNESCO World Heritage Site. A special Opera Cruise sails four times a year and moves from Passau to Vienna and on toward romantic Bratislav and Melk, home of the stunning Baroque Benedictine Abbey.
Smolka Tours
39 Avenue at the Common, Suite 200B
Shrewsbury, NJ 07702
1-800-722-0057
www.smolkatours.com
River tours are the specialty of AMA Waterways, voted "Best River Cruise" in Porthole Magazine's 2009 Readers' Choice Awards survey. It operates no fewer than seven tours along the Danube through Austria, ranging from the 12-day Romantic Danube cruise to the 23-day Grand Danube. Two 11-day Christmas cruises coincide with historic Christmas markets in Linz, Vienna and Regensburg.
AMA provides a unique glimpse into classic Austrian village life. While tours make the usual stops in Vienna with excursions to Salzburg, AMA Waterways emphasizes the history and romance of the smaller towns and villages, from the well-preserved medieval town of Regensburg, the storybook village of Darnstein, to the picturesque town of Passau and the medieval Benedictine Abbey at Melk.
AMA Waterways
21625 Prairie St.
Catsworth, CA 91311
1-800-626-0126
www.amawaterways.com
