Grand European Tour

Budapest is one of the great embarkation cities in European river cruising, and boarding Viking Mimir here as the city lights come on across the Danube is exactly the right beginning.
The Chain Bridge illuminated above the river, the neo-Gothic Parliament building on the Pest bank and the thermal bath houses that have been in operation since the Ottoman era are all visible from the ship. Viking Mimir remains docked overnight, so the city is yours this evening. The ruin bars of the Jewish Quarter, the riverside restaurants of the Duna-korzó promenade and the Széchenyi thermal baths are all within easy reach.

A full day in Budapest before Viking Mimir begins her passage west, and the city rewards extended exploration.
The castle district on the Buda side, reached by the historic funicular or on foot, contains the Matthias Church, the Fishermen’s Bastion with its sweeping Danube views and the Budapest History Museum within the Royal Palace complex. On the Pest side, the Great Market Hall at Vásárcsarnok is the finest indoor market in Central Europe, with three floors of Hungarian produce, paprika, Tokaj wine and folk craft. November brings the first of Budapest’s Christmas markets to Vörösmarty Square, one of the most authentically Central European in the region.

Vienna arrives with its full imperial grandeur as Viking Mimir docks in the Austrian capital, and the city’s transformation for the Christmas season is already underway.
The Rathausmarkt Christmas market in front of the neo-Gothic City Hall typically opens around 20 November, making this arrival precisely timed for the opening week of one of Europe’s finest festive gatherings. The Ring Road, the Schönbrunn Palace, the Kunsthistorisches Museum and the coffee house culture of the first district are all within reach from the dock. Viking’s included shore excursion covers the city’s highlights; the evening is for the market.

A full day in Vienna and the city opens its more intimate layers beyond the imperial grandeur of yesterday.
The MuseumsQuartier houses both the Kunsthalle and the Leopold Museum with its extraordinary collection of Egon Schiele. The Naschmarkt, Vienna’s most celebrated outdoor food market, operates daily and represents the best single concentration of Austrian produce and coffee culture in the city. Schönbrunn Palace, the Habsburgs’ summer residence with its 1,441 rooms and formal gardens, is the day’s major excursion option. Vienna at night, with the Christmas market in full swing and the Opera and Burgtheater illuminated, is worth a long evening.

Melk Abbey is one of the great baroque monuments of Europe, and arriving at it by river is the finest way to approach it.
The vast monastery sits on a rocky outcrop above the Danube, its gilded twin towers visible from miles away as Viking Mimir rounds the bend. Your included tour takes you through the ornate Abbey Church, the marble hall and the ancient monastic library, home to medieval manuscripts saved from fires by the monks in the 13th century. Sailing on through the Wachau Valley afterwards, with terraced vineyards and ancient village churches lining the riverbanks, is one of the defining experiences of European river cruising.

Passau sits where three rivers meet, and the city has been shaped by water for two thousand years.
The baroque facades of the old town, the hilltop Veste Oberhaus fortress with its sweeping views over all three rivers, and St Stephen’s Cathedral with the largest church pipe organ in the world are all within easy reach of the dock. In late November the Passau Christmas market fills the cobblestone square in front of the cathedral with lights, handmade crafts and the scent of roasted almonds and gluhwein.

Regensburg is one of the best-preserved medieval cities in Germany, and its UNESCO World Heritage old town has barely changed in 800 years.
The 12th-century Stone Bridge, 310 metres long with 16 arches, remains the oldest bridge in Germany. Your guided tour walks through the patrician trading houses, the twin-spired Gothic cathedral and the ancient alleyways where the Holy Roman Empire once conducted its parliament. The Christmas market at Thurn und Taxis Palace, set in the baroque courtyard of one of Germany’s greatest noble residences, is one of the most atmospheric on the entire route.

Nuremberg carries more history than almost any other city in Germany, and the Christkindlesmarkt here is the most famous Christmas market in the world.
Running since 1628, the market fills the medieval Hauptmarkt square with hundreds of stalls selling handcrafted decorations, Lebkuchen gingerbread and the famous Nuremberg bratwurst. Beyond the market, the Imperial Castle above the city and the Gothic St Lorenz Church are remarkable, and the Documentation Centre at the Nazi Party Rally Grounds tells the story of the city’s darkest chapter with unflinching clarity.

Bamberg survived the Second World War almost completely intact, and its UNESCO World Heritage old town looks much as it did five centuries ago.
More than 2,300 heritage-listed buildings line the medieval streets, the New Residence of the prince bishops overlooks the famous Rose Garden, and the four-towered Romanesque cathedral is one of the finest in Germany. Bamberg is also one of Germany’s great beer cities, home to the famous Rauchbier smoked lager that has been brewed here since the 16th century. The Christmas market here is intimate and local, exactly the kind that people remember most.

Wurzburg sits in the heart of Franconian wine country and contains one of the great baroque palaces of Europe.
The UNESCO World Heritage-listed Würzburg Residence houses the largest ceiling fresco in the world, painted by Giovanni Battista Tiepolo in 1753 and covering the entire grand staircase ceiling in a single breathtaking composition. Your guided tour continues through the city, past the Gothic Marienkapelle and the hilltop Marienberg Fortress with its views over the Main River vineyards. December brings the Wurzburg Christmas market to the Residence’s own baroque courtyard, an extraordinarily beautiful setting.

Wertheim is one of the most perfectly preserved medieval towns on the Main River, and a morning here is a genuine step back in time.
Half-timbered houses in amber and ochre crowd the cobblestone market square in a scene unchanged since the Middle Ages. The ruined hilltop castle above the town offers sweeping views over the confluence of the Tauber and Main rivers. Viking’s included glassblowing presentation at the nearby Glass Art Museum in the town centre is one of the most distinctive shore experiences on the entire voyage.

Koblenz sits where the Moselle meets the Rhine, and from the Deutsches Eck promontory the two rivers visibly merge in different shades of blue and green.
The city’s 2,000-year history is visible at every turn, from the Electoral Palace on the Rhine promenade to the hilltop Ehrenbreitstein Fortress, one of the largest preserved fortresses in Europe. The Rhine Gorge, one of the most dramatic river landscapes in the world, begins just south of Koblenz and is visible as Viking Mimir continues north towards Cologne. The Christmas market at the Electoral Palace is set directly on the Rhine waterfront.

Cologne Cathedral is one of the great achievements of human architecture, and standing beneath its twin spires for the first time stops most visitors in their tracks.
632 years in the building, the cathedral rises 157 metres and was the tallest structure in the world when completed in 1880. Your guided tour covers the Cathedral, the beautifully restored old town and the Roman ruins that surface throughout the city. The Cologne Christmas market, one of Germany’s largest and most celebrated, spreads across multiple squares around the Cathedral with thousands of stalls, ice rinks and the warm glow of fairy lights reflecting off the Rhine.

Kinderdijk is one of the Netherlands’ most iconic images, and seeing the 19 UNESCO World Heritage windmills reflected in the still waterways is a genuinely moving experience.
Built in the 18th century to drain the polders and protect the low-lying land from flooding, the windmill network is the best-preserved example of Dutch water management in the world. In late November the winter light and the bare willow trees along the dykes give Kinderdijk an atmosphere quite different from its summer crowds. Amsterdam is just a short sail away, and the final evening aboard Viking Mimir is worth celebrating.

Amsterdam in late November is a city that glows, and a final day here is the perfect close to fourteen nights of European river travel.
The UNESCO World Heritage canal ring, lined with narrow Golden Age merchant houses leaning gently over the water, is best explored on foot or by bicycle. The Rijksmuseum, the Van Gogh Museum and the Anne Frank House are all within easy reach of the dock. The winter light on the canals in late afternoon is extraordinary, and the Christmas market at Museumplein is one of the most beautiful in the Netherlands. It is a fittingly elegant end to a voyage through the heart of Europe.