Vineyards & Palaces along the Danube (2026)
Every bend of the Danube brings new delights.Every bend of the Danube brings new delights. Dramatic hills rise from the riverbanks in stunning contrast to serene valleys and manicured vineyards. Pretty villages beckon with medieval architecture and celebrated wineries. Majestic palaces and historic castles harken to the imperial grandeur of Austria’s monarchial era. This journey brings each of these elements together into one breathtaking river cruise.
Other Excursions:
Set out on a panoramic drive towards Nuremberg’s Old Town. Along the way, look out the window to catch a glimpse of several interesting sites, including the former SS Barracks, Nuremberg’s train station, and the old city walls. You’ll get off the bus near the castle for a walking tour of the historic neighborhood surrounding it, then descend underground to find a secret Nazi art bunker hidden beneath the castle.
In the medieval period, a network of tunnels was built under the castle hill, and parts of these tunnels were later turned into an artifact preservation bunker during World War II. The Nazis stored several highly valuable and symbolic items here to keep them safe from Allied air raids, including the imperial regalia of the Holy Roman Empire, looted artifacts from occupied nations, and paintings by Albrecht Dürer, a German painter whose home you’ll have passed on your tour through the Old Town.
Please note: you may find it beneficial to bring a warm jacket with you on this tour, as the art bunker naturally sits at around 55°C.
Hitler considered Nuremberg the perfect expression of German culture (partly because of its significance in the Holy Roman Empire, which he called the First Reich), and so beginning in 1927, he chose to hold his massive rallies in the city. By 1933, his favorite architect, Albert Speer, had designed the vast Nazi Party Rally Grounds, where thousands upon thousands of Nazi troops saluted Hitler. (Leni Riefenstahl captured these events in her famous propaganda film Triumph of the Will.) Not all of Speer’s plans were executed, and some of his grandiose structures were bombed out of existence, but the remainder stand as vivid testimony to Hitler’s megalomania. A four-square-mile (10-square-kilometer) complex known as Zeppelin Fields contains parade grounds and a huge grandstand, the excavation site where a stadium for 400,000 people was begun—the hole is now filled with water.
In the evening, a special Captain’s Welcome Reception and Dinner will be prepared for you.
Other Excursions:
Begin this three-hour excursion with a visit to the city center of Regensburg’s Old Town, which has much to offer including the Porta Praetoria Roman ruins, the Old Stone Bridge, St. Peter’s Cathedral, medieval patrician towers and the former Jewish Quarter among many other sights. Next, take a short walk to the Princely House of Thurn and Taxis. The family estate is difficult to miss: at over 1,000 years old, the mansion boasts over 500 rooms complete with chandeliers, gold leafing, incredible art and architectural touches to make it truly a sight to behold. The palace has an incredible history and stands as a tale of revival, endurance and baroque style. What’s even more spectacular? The palace has a long list of celebrities who have stayed within its walls: Mick Jagger, Michael Jackson, Steve Martin, Plácido Domingo and more. These walls may not be able to talk, but if they could they would surely say, “Come see us for yourself!”
Take a short drive to the Upper Palatinate Lake District to find something entirely unexpected: a giant wooden ball sitting right in the middle of the serene landscape. Made up of twisting walkable paths, this “adventure ball” is the largest of its kind in the whole world. Walk to the top of the ball for amazing views of the lake. After, take a short hike to the lakefront to discuss local plants, fish, and conservation with an expert guide. You’ll learn about how a passion for sustainability shapes the farming and building efforts in the area, and see some of the interesting Eco Houses that have been built at the lake.
This MAKE TRAVEL MATTER® Experience supports Global Goal 12: Responsible Consumption and Production; and Global Goal 13: Climate Action.
Hops vines grow up their strings in a field tower almost twice a person’s height. They’re grown for their flowers, which add a distinctive flavor to beer—but the fields they grow in add a distinctive flavor to the hops. You could call it terroir for beer, and you can delve into hops cultivation and hops brewing today. Travel through Bavaria’s Holledau region, the largest hops growing district in the world, and meet an enthusiastic ambassador of hops growing and beer making. She will give you a quick and lively history of hops in Germany—including Bavaria’s law governing the making of beer, which has specified since 1560 that the only ingredients permitted in beer are water, barley and hops—and lead you on a tour through the growing fields her family owns, followed by a craft beer tasting in the cozy barn turned beer hall. It’s a delicious way to get to know a fascinating aspect of the international farm-to-table movement.
Featured Excursion:
- Bavarian Forest Adventure
Enter the Bavarian Forest, Germany’s first and largest national park, to discover an abundant wilderness covered in diverse flora and fauna. This area is home to several unique craft traditions, and you’ll have your choice of which ones you’d like to discover today.
Enjoy a tasting of local schnapps. In Germany, schnapps refers to any hard liquor, and each is distinguished by the ingredients it is distilled from. The word means “snap,” since schnapps is generally “snapped” back in the style of a shot.
From there, you’ll move on to a glass workshop and see how the local style of glassware is crafted.
Featured Excursion:
- Let's Go: Scenic Bavarian River Biking
Featured Excursion:
- Castle Clam Visit
Inhabited by the Counts of Clam for over half a millennium, the Burg Clam is as much a beloved family home as it is a local landmark and attractive castle. The friendly Count will personally welcome you in for a chance to tour the building’s historic halls.
Other Excursions:
Step off the ship and into the quaint streets of Spitz, an idyllic medieval town tucked cozily into the valley below Tausendeimerberg—which literally translates to “Thousand Bucket Mountain,” so named because the vineyards that blanket the mountainsides are said to produce a thousand buckets of wine per year. As you take a leisurely walk with a local guide, who is one of the just over 1,500 people who live in this little town, you’ll learn about the history and traditions that make Spitz unique.
Walk through the attractive town of Spitz to arrive at the Schifffahrtsmuseum, where centuries of shipping and maritime history are on display. Here, you are invited to learn about the role of Spitz and the wider Wachau region in the Danube trade route—once far much more treacherous than it is today. To accompany your visit, a selection of delicious apricot treats will be waiting for you. Apricots, or marillen, as they are known here, are one of the most important products of Spitz. Countless apricot trees dot the landscape, blooming with white flowers in the spring, bursting with fruit through the summer, and turning bright yellow-gold in the fall.
Take to the vineyards of Spitz on a brisk hike to learn why the locals have dubbed their picturesque, green mountain “Tausendeimerberg.” The name literally translates to “Thousand Bucket Mountain,” in honor of how much wine these vineyards produce each year. How many bottles of wine is that? Roughly 74,600, give or take. But that’s not all Tausendeimerberg provides for the people of Spitz. As you take in the gorgeous views above the river afforded by your hike on this mountain, you’ll understand why the locals are so proud to call this place home.
Featured Excursion:
- Nights Out: Klosterneuburg Winery
After dinner, embark on a short drive out of the city to arrive at Klosterneuberg Abbey. With nearly a millennium of history, this Augustinian monastery has been a center of religious, social, and cultural life for centuries. It is also an excellent winery, where quality and craftsmanship are fueled by a long history of viticulture and winemaking.
Admire the abbey’s Baroque church and medieval cloister on a guided tour that includes a viewing of a brilliant copper altarpiece crafted by Nicholas of Verdun. After, enter the historic cellars to sample a selection of the abbey’s fine wines.
Other Excursions:
Embrace the imperial flair of Vienna with a visit to the famous Schönbrunn Palace complex. Arrive to marvel at the massive Baroque building with its iconic yellow exteriors. Stroll hallways elaborately decorated with golden stucco, rich velvet, and stunning frescoes. This palace complex was the primary summer residence of the Habsburgs and features many testaments to their history and extravagance.
In the evening, a special Captain’s Farewell Reception and Dinner will be prepared for you.
Featured Excursion:
- Klosterneuburg Visit and Wine Tasting
Embark on a short drive out of the city to arrive at Klosterneuberg Abbey. With nearly a millennium of history, this Augustinian monastery has been a center of religious, social, and cultural life for centuries. It is also an excellent winery, where quality and craftsmanship are fueled by a long history of viticulture and winemaking.
Admire the abbey’s Baroque church and medieval cloister on a guided tour that includes a viewing of a brilliant copper altarpiece crafted by Nicholas of Verdun. After, enter the historic cellars to sample a selection of the abbey’s fine wines.
Other Excursions:
Embrace the imperial flair of Vienna with a visit to the famous Schönbrunn Palace complex. Arrive to marvel at the massive Baroque building with its iconic yellow exteriors. Stroll hallways elaborately decorated with golden stucco, rich velvet, and stunning frescoes. This palace complex was the primary summer residence of the Habsburgs and features many testaments to their history and extravagance.
In the evening, a special Captain’s Welcome Reception and Dinner will be prepared for you.
Featured Excursion:
- Nights Out: Clam Castle
Inhabited by the Counts of Clam for over half a millennium, the Burg Clam is as much a beloved family home as it is a local landmark and attractive castle. The friendly Count will personally welcome you in for a chance to tour the building’s historic halls.
Other Excursions:
Step off the ship and into the quaint streets of Spitz, an idyllic medieval town tucked cozily into the valley below Tausendeimerberg—which literally translates to “Thousand Bucket Mountain,” so named because the vineyards that blanket the mountainsides are said to produce a thousand buckets of wine per year. As you take a leisurely walk with a local guide, who is one of the just over 1,500 people who live in this little town, you’ll learn about the history and traditions that make Spitz unique.
Walk through the attractive town of Spitz to arrive at the Schifffahrtsmuseum, where centuries of shipping and maritime history are on display. Here, you are invited to learn about the role of Spitz and the wider Wachau region in the Danube trade route—once far much more treacherous than it is today. To accompany your visit, a selection of delicious apricot treats will be waiting for you. Apricots, or marillen, as they are known here, are one of the most important products of Spitz. Countless apricot trees dot the landscape, blooming with white flowers in the spring, bursting with fruit through the summer, and turning bright yellow-gold in the fall.
Take to the vineyards of Spitz on a brisk hike to learn why the locals have dubbed their picturesque, green mountain “Tausendeimerberg.” The name literally translates to “Thousand Bucket Mountain,” in honor of how much wine these vineyards produce each year. How many bottles of wine is that? Roughly 74,600, give or take. But that’s not all Tausendeimerberg provides for the people of Spitz. As you take in the gorgeous views above the river afforded by your hike on this mountain, you’ll understand why the locals are so proud to call this place home.
Featured Excursion:
- Let's Go: Scenic Bavarian River Biking
Featured Excursion:
- Bavarian Forest Adventure
Enter the Bavarian Forest, Germany’s first and largest national park, to discover an abundant wilderness covered in diverse flora and fauna. This area is home to several unique craft traditions, and you’ll have your choice of which ones you’d like to discover today.
Enjoy a tasting of local schnapps. In Germany, schnapps refers to any hard liquor, and each is distinguished by the ingredients it is distilled from. The word means “snap,” since schnapps is generally “snapped” back in the style of a shot.
From there, you’ll move on to a glass workshop and see how the local style of glassware is crafted.
Other Excursions:
Begin this three-hour excursion with a visit to the city center of Regensburg’s Old Town, which has much to offer including the Porta Praetoria Roman ruins, the Old Stone Bridge, St. Peter’s Cathedral, medieval patrician towers and the former Jewish Quarter among many other sights. Next, take a short walk to the Princely House of Thurn and Taxis. The family estate is difficult to miss: at over 1,000 years old, the mansion boasts over 500 rooms complete with chandeliers, gold leafing, incredible art and architectural touches to make it truly a sight to behold. The palace has an incredible history and stands as a tale of revival, endurance and baroque style. What’s even more spectacular? The palace has a long list of celebrities who have stayed within its walls: Mick Jagger, Michael Jackson, Steve Martin, Plácido Domingo and more. These walls may not be able to talk, but if they could they would surely say, “Come see us for yourself!”
Take a short drive to the Upper Palatinate Lake District to find something entirely unexpected: a giant wooden ball sitting right in the middle of the serene landscape. Made up of twisting walkable paths, this “adventure ball” is the largest of its kind in the whole world. Walk to the top of the ball for amazing views of the lake. After, take a short hike to the lakefront to discuss local plants, fish, and conservation with an expert guide. You’ll learn about how a passion for sustainability shapes the farming and building efforts in the area, and see some of the interesting Eco Houses that have been built at the lake.
This MAKE TRAVEL MATTER® Experience supports Global Goal 12: Responsible Consumption and Production; and Global Goal 13: Climate Action.
Hops vines grow up their strings in a field tower almost twice a person’s height. They’re grown for their flowers, which add a distinctive flavor to beer—but the fields they grow in add a distinctive flavor to the hops. You could call it terroir for beer, and you can delve into hops cultivation and hops brewing today. Travel through Bavaria’s Holledau region, the largest hops growing district in the world, and meet an enthusiastic ambassador of hops growing and beer making. She will give you a quick and lively history of hops in Germany—including Bavaria’s law governing the making of beer, which has specified since 1560 that the only ingredients permitted in beer are water, barley and hops—and lead you on a tour through the growing fields her family owns, followed by a craft beer tasting in the cozy barn turned beer hall. It’s a delicious way to get to know a fascinating aspect of the international farm-to-table movement.
Other Excursions:
Set out on a panoramic drive towards Nuremberg’s Old Town. Along the way, look out the window to catch a glimpse of several interesting sites, including the former SS Barracks, Nuremberg’s train station, and the old city walls. You’ll get off the bus near the castle for a walking tour of the historic neighborhood surrounding it, then descend underground to find a secret Nazi art bunker hidden beneath the castle.
In the medieval period, a network of tunnels was built under the castle hill, and parts of these tunnels were later turned into an artifact preservation bunker during World War II. The Nazis stored several highly valuable and symbolic items here to keep them safe from Allied air raids, including the imperial regalia of the Holy Roman Empire, looted artifacts from occupied nations, and paintings by Albrecht Dürer, a German painter whose home you’ll have passed on your tour through the Old Town.
Please note: you may find it beneficial to bring a warm jacket with you on this tour, as the art bunker naturally sits at around 55°C.
Hitler considered Nuremberg the perfect expression of German culture (partly because of its significance in the Holy Roman Empire, which he called the First Reich), and so beginning in 1927, he chose to hold his massive rallies in the city. By 1933, his favorite architect, Albert Speer, had designed the vast Nazi Party Rally Grounds, where thousands upon thousands of Nazi troops saluted Hitler. (Leni Riefenstahl captured these events in her famous propaganda film Triumph of the Will.) Not all of Speer’s plans were executed, and some of his grandiose structures were bombed out of existence, but the remainder stand as vivid testimony to Hitler’s megalomania. A four-square-mile (10-square-kilometer) complex known as Zeppelin Fields contains parade grounds and a huge grandstand, the excavation site where a stadium for 400,000 people was begun—the hole is now filled with water.
In the evening, a special Captain’s Farewell Reception and Dinner will be prepared for you.
| Cruise Departure | Double Occupancy Pricing | Ship | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Sun, 24 May 2026
(Vienna to Nuremberg) |
$0.00 |
S.S. Emilie |
Select this date | |
|
Sun, 31 May 2026
(Vienna to Nuremberg) |
$0.00 |
S.S. Emilie |
Select this date | |
|
Sun, 21 Jun 2026
(Vienna to Nuremberg) |
$0.00 |
S.S. Emilie |
Select this date | |
|
Sun, 28 Jun 2026
(Vienna to Nuremberg) |
$0.00 |
S.S. Emilie |
Select this date | |
|
Sun, 19 Jul 2026
(Vienna to Nuremberg) |
$10,639.00 |
S.S. Emilie |
Select this date | |
|
Sun, 26 Jul 2026
(Vienna to Nuremberg) |
$10,239.00 |
S.S. Emilie |
Select this date | |
|
Sun, 16 Aug 2026
(Vienna to Nuremberg) |
$9,839.00 |
S.S. Emilie |
Select this date | |
|
Sun, 23 Aug 2026
(Vienna to Nuremberg) |
$10,239.00 |
S.S. Emilie |
Select this date | |
|
Sun, 30 Aug 2026
(Vienna to Nuremberg) |
$0.00 |
S.S. Emilie |
Select this date | |
|
Sun, 06 Sep 2026
(Vienna to Nuremberg) |
$11,699.00 |
S.S. Emilie |
Select this date | |
|
Sun, 13 Sep 2026
(Vienna to Nuremberg) |
$0.00 |
S.S. Emilie |
Select this date | |
|
Sun, 20 Sep 2026
(Vienna to Nuremberg) |
$0.00 |
S.S. Emilie |
Select this date | |
|
Sun, 11 Oct 2026
(Vienna to Nuremberg) |
$0.00 |
S.S. Emilie |
Select this date | |
- All fares are per guest in US Dollars based on double occupancy unless otherwise noted.
- Fares are capacity controlled and are subject to change at any time without notice.
- Availability of all stateroom categories cannot be guaranteed.
- Single Supplement applies for single accommodation.
- Itineraries, hotels, and vessels may change, and substitute visits to other sites may occur during your trip due to water level fluctuations and other uncontrollable factors.
- The order of sightseeing and docking ports are subject to change according to port authority assignments.
- Prices exclude additional port charges of $240 per person
Dining
- All meals onboard, prepared using the finest and freshest ingredients
- 7 breakfasts, 6 lunches, 7 dinners
- Welcome and Farewell Gala Dinners
- Captain’s Welcome and Farewell Receptions
- Unlimited beverages onboard the S.S. Emilie, including fine wine, beer, spirits, specialty coffee and tea, soft drinks, and mineral water
Excursions
- 6 days of excursions, all fully hosted by English-speaking local experts
- State-of-the-art Quietvox portable audio-headset system on all excursions
- Use of bicycles and Nordic walking sticks
Accommodations
- 7-night cruise in a riverview stateroom onboard the S.S. Emilie
- Lavishly appointed riverview staterooms and suites on the cruise have handcrafted Savoir® Beds of England, high thread count 100% Egyptian cotton sheets and European duvets, and a menu of pillow options
- Free Wi-Fi
Experiences
- 2 countries: Austria and Germany
- 3 UNESCO World Heritage sites
- Gratuities for onboard personnel (ship staff, crew, Cruise/Tour Manager) are included during the cruise/tour
- Services of an experienced Uniworld Cruise Manager
- Captivating onboard local entertainment
- Cultural enrichment
