Cutting via the town of Budapest, the Danube River has all the most effective views of Hungary’s capital, and a river cruise reveals you every little thing. But what’s it actually like on board? Here’s what we discovered.
I’ve at all times needed to see the Danube. I’ve additionally at all times needed to go to Budapest.
When we moved again to Sydney in our 20s, Christina and I used to go to a little bit cafe in Surry Hills that had an enormous photograph of Budapest on a wall.
The river sparkled behind the unimaginable Parliament Building with its Gothic Revival arches, domes and needle spires. And throughout the Danube, on the Buda aspect, loomed the steep embankment and steepled church of Fisherman’s Bastion.
That picture has stayed with us and was a driving element in our go to to Budapest.
Funny the place journey inspiration comes from, isn’t it?
When we lastly made it to Budapest with the flowing waters of the Danube proper in entrance of us, we knew one of the best ways to see this fascinating metropolis of empires can be from the river.
Which Budapest river cruise is greatest?
A fast search will present you there are dozens of Danube cruises in Budapest. And each firm has one million variations too.
Thanks to our resort concierge, we narrowed our choices down to 2 totally different cruise corporations:
A Dinner-and-Cruise firm and a Drink-and-Cruise agency, each of which run night cruises.
We went with the Drink-And-Cruise possibility, however not for the explanations you would possibly assume. Here’s what we discovered:
Dinner and Cruise possibility
– solely runs for 90 minutes
– is a seated dinner, which implies much less freedom to maneuver concerning the ship and see the view
– takes away a possibility to discover a cool dinner spot someplace within the metropolis (of which there tens of millions) the place the meals might be higher
– prices HUF20,000 / €50 every, and that doesn’t embody drinks
Drinks and Cruise possibility
– runs for 2 hours
– has a dinner possibility if you’d like it, however in any other case you’ll be able to select from 5 totally different drinks packages
– prices vary between HUF6,900 to HUF13,500 (€18-€35). The buffet dinner cruise is HUF19,500 and the Hungarian dinner possibility is HUF15,900.
– the ship is an outdated paddle steamer, which provides a little bit of environment to the night
As you’ll be able to see, on paper the Drinks and Cruise possibility wins on most fronts, plus whenever you go for the Open Bar drinks possibility, you might have free run of the beverage state of affairs too.
Other drinks packages restrict you to a few cocktails, solely wine or solely beer. There’s additionally a Hungarian Tokaji Aszu (conventional dessert wine) bundle, the place you get one glass of Hungarian sweet-wine.
What was the Drinks And Cruise expertise like?
We joined the queue on the dock of the Danube and waited for our flip to board.
Behind us, a younger English couple from Liverpool stared moodily out over the Danube—Europe’s second largest river that passes via 10 nations and travels from the Black Forest mountains in western Germany to its finish on the Black Sea the place it splits the borders of Romania and Ukraine.
“’s not as big as the Mersey,” the lad complained.
It was an indication of issues to come back.
Aboard our cruise
As we pressed ahead within the line and at last crossed the gangplank to our ready paddle steamer, we got wrist bands, a glass of glowing wine and ushered into the bowels of the ship with the remainder of the drinks bundle plebs.
In a low-ceilinged room scattered with naked tables and onerous plastic chairs, we joined our fellow stow-aways and had been instructed to not depart the room till the ship was underway.
Meanwhile, friends with eating tickets had been guided to their tables down wood-panelled corridors or up broad oaken staircases.
Above our heads, the sound of glad folks music began and our already undrinkable glasses of glowing wine tasted simply that rather more bitter. Thoughts of fleeing the ship and leaving our hundred or so cellmates to their destiny handed significantly via our minds.
I’m glad we didn’t.
Before lengthy, the ship’s engines had been paddling us down the Danube and the surroundings started shifting by.
Escaping the claustrophobic confines of our waterline enclosure, we made our option to the higher deck and its lengthy, deep balcony.
The evening views of the town from the river will stick with us endlessly.
We settled in and put our gold Open Bar wristbands to good use. The faucet beer—Dreher I believe—was nice however the home wine was horrible.
Our seats, a bench dealing with the river, had been good. Even when hordes of individuals got here out to fill the balcony as we handed the gorgeous Hungarian Parliament Building, it supplied some wonderful people-watching alternatives.
We by no means went again downstairs.
Would we ebook the identical Danube River cruise in Budapest once more?
In spite of the horrible welcome drink and the disagreeable situations earlier than we received underway, I’d nonetheless ebook this cruise.
The ship is gorgeous and provides a way of historical past and outdated grandeur to the expertise, and the route it follows reveals you a whole lot of the highlights of riparian Budapest.
You cross beneath six of the town’s main bridges together with the Chain Bridge. Parliament from the water at evening is scintillating. It really glows gold with its lights on its structure.
Buda Castle and Fisherman’s Bastion up on the Hill of Buda, and the Citadella on the Gellért mountain, the Liberty Statue, the Hungarian National Gallery—Budapest is such a good looking metropolis.
The solely factor I’d change is the ticket kind.
The Open Bar cruise is pointless and doubtless over-priced. But I nonetheless wouldn’t select the dinner possibility for the explanations I’ve already talked about—not one of the individuals sitting at their tables inside gave the impression to be having a good time.
Instead, I’d both select the Wine Cruise, which provides you a alternative of seven totally different wines, or the Craft Beer Cruise, which presents seven totally different Hungarian brews to strive. Both of those choices are cheaper than the Open Bar ticket too.
I’d then get to the upstairs balcony as shortly as doable and keep there.
River cruises in Budapest are widespread for good cause: you get to decelerate for some time and let the river take you on a journey.
It’s an exquisite option to see a spot that was as soon as divided by the mighty Danube, however that now makes the nice river its centrepiece.