So ....
Once again we left Dorset at about 13:00 hrs in one of Titan’s clean, comfortable unmarked modern vehicles. Actually they are no longer unmarked as some of them now have a see through image depicting one of their holidays on the rear window area of the vehicle, like some of the City buses have but somewhat more restrained. On the outward journey ours had an American Cowboy Scene but plain zilch on the return journey.
As is presently our custom when travelling with Titan we travelled to the Park Inn Hotel, Radisson brand, nr Heathrow on the preceding day to achieve a leisurely transfer to T5 for a mid-day flight to Munich. This was our third booking in this Hotel and the chap on reception noticed this and upgraded us to a business class executive room on the ground floor, thank you it was much appreciated. This Hotel is still being upgraded / re-furbished but the restaurant is now fully up and running, the menu however is presently limited to a small selection of pub grub type dishes but prices are reasonable for London and they also give a 20% discount for having booked via Titan. For customers requiring a wider choice of food there is a pub called ‘ The Magpie ‘ just across the road.
At 10:00 the following morning we were transferred to Terminal 5 for a 12:40 flight. Titan drop you at the nearest entrance to the appropriate check-in desk, their red uniformed staff are everywhere and will help with everything form carrying your luggage to using the boarding check-in machines. An excellent service for those who may need a little assistance from time to time.
The Itinerary ...
There were two nights in Salzburg followed by 7 nights cruising the River Danube, from Passau to Budapest and then back again. Coach transfers to and from Munich Airport were of course included.
We had visited most of the places on this itinerary previously but it wasn’t exactly a hardship to see them again, in any event virtually all were seen via a coach stop and none had been accessed by a riverboat.
Day 1 Home / Park Inn Hotel > T5 Heathrow
We had a short, direct scheduled British Airways, flight to Munich. On arrival we transferred by coach, approx 2 hours, to the Wyndham Grand Hotel in Salzburg.
This is a locally rated 4 star Hotel and the rooms plus public areas generally reflect that grading but the evening dinner laid on for our party of 30 the first evening was at best mediocre, basically it was a poor selection and the main course was tepid rather than hot plus its component parts were either cold, congealed and / or tough as old boots. Thankfully the beer and breakfast were extremely good.
Day 2 Salzburg
After a delightful breakfast we set off on a guided walking tour of old Salzburg, this historic city is set against a backdrop of breath-taking mountain scenery and is overlooked by the fortress Hohensalzburg. Our musical theme began today as we explored the city of Mozart’s birth and his house which is now a museum of his life and works. There is also a shop which sells ‘ Mozart’s Balls ‘, this being the local name for the famous Mozart chocolates which are unsurprisingly circular and made from a combination of hazelnut praline, pistachio and almond marzipan all contained within a chocolate coating.
There are many fine buildings in Salzburg including the cathedral which was built between 1614 and 1655, then there is a Castle and a Palace or two to visit plus the Getreidegasse which is a lively shopping street adorned with wrought iron signs. There are umpteen places to take photographs of else visit including locations seen, and indeed purporting to have been seen, in the famous film ‘ The Sound of Music ‘. Fans of this movie will need to consider visiting the places identified in the book as well as those which were ‘ borrowed ‘ for inclusion in the film footage.
After the walking tour we wandered about for a while and then decided to stroll back to the Hotel via the riverside path, not the Danube by the way. It was a lovely day for it in spite of storms and torrential rain having been forecast. Temperatures today were about 25, rising to 35 in Budapest and then back to 25 in Passau at the end of our cruise. Wall to wall shorts and sunshine basically.
Back at the Hotel with plenty of time to sit outside with a beer, do you serve food at this time of the day was greeted with an enthusiastic ‘ Yes ‘ and best of all they served very large portions of my favourite Austrian dish ‘ Weiner Schnitzel ‘ with chips ... and a couple of beers, please. Yummy, even though it did cost me 60 euros. Didn’t need to bother with the Titan dinner tonight although someone did mention that it was a vast improvement on the first evening.
After this evening’s evening meal we were driven to the Castle ( Fortress ) to watch an included classical concert. From the coach drop there were an awful lot of steps to climb to get to the very top of the castle but once seated it was a sensational venue for such an event. The walk down again was by comparison a bit of a breeze ... and still the rain holds off.
Day 3 Salzburg - Passau
After breakfast, we departed for a tour of the ‘Sound of Music’ country taking in the beautiful mountains, meadows, lakes and picturesque villages. We continued to St Gilgen, situated at the end of the Lake of St Wolfgang, and then followed the shores of crescent shaped Lake Mondsee arriving in time for lunch at the historic town of Mondsee with its delightful Benedictine Abbey. Many years ago we had sat in the same cafe, albeit virtually alone on that occasion, and watched in innocent amazement the grandeur of a horse drawn carriage as it turned left from the road leading up to the Abbey and to then pass sedately in front of us. It was a funeral procession of course and it seemed that the whole town was following on behind it with just us two chickens in the front row taking it all in.
Later this afternoon we arrived in the old German city of Passau and embarked Amadeus Royal ( pronounced Royale ). The coach driver did a circuit to show us part of the old town but we didn’t have time to explore it any further as we need to set sail early evening ... tonight we were welcomed on board with the Captain’s welcome dinner. Jacket and tie was the dress code tonight, most of the Titan group conformed but many of the Belgians, French and Israelis did not. No big deal as it was not an enforced code even though the Titan / Luftner blurp had implied that it would be.
Day 4 Melk - Vienna
This morning we took an included coach trip up the cliff side to Melk Abbey, an impressive Baroque complex with wonderful frescoes and a library stocked with medieval manuscripts that have been maintained by black robed Benedictine monks for over nine centuries. Our excursion was complimented with a wine tasting, the dry Riesling was good but the others were too sweet for our taste.
There was an opportunity to book an evening optional excursion to see Vienna by night, to enjoy the Sound of Vienna in a village outside of the City or to watch another classical recital. Having attended something similar during previous visits we stayed on board.
Day 5 Vienna
Another included guided tour this morning explored some of Vienna’s treasures. St Stephen’s Cathedral; the State Opera House, the elegant Parliament buildings plus the elaborate Town Hall etc. Our arrival coincided with an ‘ International Youth Day ‘ or some such so there were lots of young folk making a lot of noise and having a lovely time, all well behaved and peaceful I would add. An optional tour was available this afternoon to visit one of Austria’s most significant cultural monuments - the 1,441 roomed Schönbrunn Palace, this would complete your day if you decided to book it ... we didn’t and for the same reason as above.
The temperature is creeping up and the sun still shines wherever we go in spite of some menacing black clouds lurking a short distance away.
We spent the afternoon on board sitting on the upper deck doing nothing in particular. The riverboat operators, Luftner, have their own allocated birth on the Danube in Vienna, actually it is not in Vienna at all and access to the City Centre can only realistically be achieved by taking a taxi. Some of the other operators are moored within easy walking distance of a direct line Metro Station, none are actually moored in the City.
Day 6 Budapest
After a morning of sailing and lunch we disembarked in Budapest, with a temperature of 35 degrees, for an included guided excursion to view the main sights of both Buda and Pest including Heroes’ Square, Mathias Church, Fisherman’s Bastion and the Royal Palace etc. After dinner this evening we were entertained by a gypsy band / Hungarian folklore group, this was followed by a Danube cruise of Budapest by night which was of course best seen from the upper deck.
Day 7 Budapest - Esztergom
A morning in Budapest to do one’s own exploring or to take an optional excursion to Puszta-Lajosmisze, including a (an) Hungarian horse show. This we ducked but did choose an optional tour by coach in the afternoon to re-visit two Danube villages; Szentendre of art and craft fame plus Esztergom with it’s famous Benedictine Abbey. Boarded the boat again at the latter and then sailed back up the Danube towards Vienna.
Day 8 Bratislava
We arrived early in Bratislava, the capital of Slovakia, which nestles in the foothills of the Carpathian Mountains. The included guided excursion visits the ruins of the 13th century Grassalkovich Palace, Castle Hill and the Gothic cathedral of St Martins, site of the coronation of many Hungarian kings and queens. The old town is also well worth a visit, time permitting.
Day 9 Linz
After spending the morning on board we arrived in Linz for an independent stroll. The Old Town still retains its cobblestone charm, large main square and beautiful old stucco façades so a walk up and down the main street from the Town Bridge for about a mile to a lovely park for a sit down will suffice. There is also a regular Choo-Choo train tour available, just over the bridge, for a mere 9 Euros if this takes your fancy.
It was the Captain’s gala dinner this evening, usual thing .... seven courses including Sorbet, Surf ‘n’ Turf plus Baked Alaska etc, very nice it was too.
Day 10 Passau > Munich to London > Home .
+++ Additional thoughts and Conclusion.
This was our second Amadeus cruise and although the food was excellent at the price point it was not quite as grand as our Christmas Cruise on the Rhine last year, hardly surprising I dare say. We went for a suite ( cabin 301 ) this time, large ‘n’ grand but still no coffee making facilities although it was an extremely short walk to the 24 hour coffee station. We did however have a fridge which given the high temperatures proved to be a Godsend. Evening dining was for us restricted to Titan reserved tables but we all mingled and got to know each other, at all other times it was Freedom Dining.
The entertainment as always was low key but we did have a ‘ Travel Quiz ‘ plus the Gypsy Band, at other time a chap played the fancy keyboard and was accompanied by a female singer .... no prizes but pleasant enough.
A few foodie details ... as per the previous Amadeus cruise
Breakfast was buffet but the Breakfast Chef would whizz up a freshly made whatever on request, we didn't have room so stuck mainly with coffee and freshly made yogurt.
Lunch was DIY salad, if required, then freshly made soup ( always superb and very hot ) which had to be collected from the cauldron but it was ladled into a bowl and presented to you. The other courses were waiter served.
A covered basket of hand cut freshly made French bread was on the table at lunchtime and at dinner, plus butter pats of course.
All the courses were waiter served at the evening meal, all were plated and creatively presented.
Another nice touch, we thought, was when we returned to the ship following a trip etc they would always welcome us back on board with a small hot drink.
+++ AN AFTER THOUGHT
Many of the Amadeus ships were build c 2005, including ours although ‘ Royal ‘ had been refurbished in 2015. The design of their ships is very interesting in so much that they have inbuilt ballast tanks filled ( or not ) with water which are used to control the height that the ship sits in the river. The Captain’s Bridge towards the pointy end is controlled using hydraulics so can be raised or lowered to suit the prevailing conditions. Extremely useful of course when the level of the river is low or, as was the case on our cruise, very high. Our Captain therefore was able to use a combination of these facilities to ensure that we went under the bridges rather than through them which for one Viking ship during our cruise resulted in an unplanned ‘ Cabriole ‘ styled open topped Bridge. The fast running water also caught out a second Viking ship on the same day when it crashed into the side of a bridge while attempting a 180 degree turn. Not a good day for Viking, they of course have state of the art ships carrying more passengers but these do not have ballast tanks nor hydraulically controlled Bridges ... that’s progress for you.
FIN
