What a great experience we had, 6 colleagues and I were lucky enough to spend 3 nights on-board the Viking Ship VE travelling from Vienna to Budapest. From start to finish we were well taken care of by all the staff on-board. They’re so attentive and can’t do enough for you.
The Ship
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I have experienced many River cruise lines now and although they have their similarities they’re also very individual. What I picked up on as soon as I boarded, is the ship felt very spacious. This is because it’s decorated in a modern Nordic way which gives you a sense of space and brightness.
Food
The food was outstanding! The menu was vast with choice and high quality there was literally something for everyone, it is the perfect opportunity to be adventurous with food trying local cuisines as well as meats, salads, pastas etc.
Tours
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The tours are organised very well, with 190 guests to organise the excursions seemed to go without a hitch without experiencing any queues or waiting around for fellow passengers.
You can choose from a few different excursions in each destination which are all included in the cost of your cruise. With the opportunity to pay extra for any additional excursions, which we in fact did on the first evening and took in a concert in beautiful Vienna.
The next day we arrived in Bratislava, with the old town only being a short walking away from the ship we headed out in the morning for a walking tour. Bratislava is extremely charming it is Slovakia’s capital and borders Austria and Hungary.
It has so much to offer from cafes and restaurants to sit and people watch while having a coffee or to experience the local cuisine.
The focus point is the Bratislava Castle. It’s a massive rectangular building with four corner towers stands on an isolated rocky hill of the Little Carpathians directly above the Danube river in the middle of Bratislava.
Also, St Martin's Cathedral is situated at the western border of the historical city centre below Bratislava Castle. It is the largest and one of the oldest churches in Bratislava, known especially for being the coronation church of the Kingdom of Hungary between 1563 and 1830.
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Because we were lucky with the weather throughout our trip after Bratislava we could take advantage of sitting on the top deck watching the world go by to take us to Budapest.
We arrived 10pm that evening and the views were out of this world. The next morning we jumped onto a coach and took in a tour by coach around the city. We were then dropped off on the Buda side where we had a walking tour and some free time.
After we had lunch on the ship me and a few others had the opportunity to visit The Gellért Baths Thermal baths, which are small pools containing water from Gellért hill's mineral hot springs. The temperature of the water is between 35 °C and 40 °C.The thermal baths are decorated beautifully with mosaic.
