Old World Prague & the Blue Danube (2012)

Budapest, Hungary • Bratislava, Slovakia • Vienna, Austria • Prague, Czech Republic
  • 11 days
  • from only:
  • $1895
  • $173 per day
    River Cruise Only
  • 12 days
  • from only:
  • $2845
  • $238 per dayIncludes international airfare and government taxes
IN THIS SECTION:
Detailed Itinerary
Video: Travelers' experiences of Old World Prague and the Blue Danube
Salzburg & Melk Abbey
It's Included
Hotel & Ship Accommodations
Pre- & Post-Trip Extensions
Budapest, Hungary
Berlin & Dresden, Germany
Prague, Czech Republic
Optional Tours
Local Team & Insider Tips
Your Travel Handbook
Grand Circle Foundation
Know Before You Go
Air information
LearnMore
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Customize your trip

Learn how to customize your River Cruise, or view standard air routing and travel times. The choice is yours with our True Choice program.

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Customize your trip

With our True Choice Program, you can choose to stay longer before or after your trip on your own, or combine two vacations to maximize your value. Here are more ways to create the Grand Circle Cruise Line River Cruise that’s right for you:

  • Choose our standard air routing, or work with us to select the airline and routing you prefer
  • Make your own international flight arrangements directly with the airline, applying frequent flyer miles if available
  • International airport transfers to and from your ship or hotel are available for purchase
  • Stay overnight in a connecting city before or after your trip
  • Request to arrive a few days early to get a fresh start on your vacation
  • Choose to “break away” before or after your trip, spending additional days or weeks on your own
  • Extend your vacation with our optional pre- and post-trip extensions
  • Combine your choice of Grand Circle Cruise Line vacations to maximize your value
  • Upgrade to business or premium economy class

The air options listed above will involve an additional fee of $100 per person for confirmed requests (as well as incremental airfare costs based on your specific choice). This service fee will be waived for Inner Circle/Sir Edmund Hillary Club members.

Or, when you make your reservation, you can choose our standard air routing, for which approximate travel times are shown below.

(Budapest to Prague)

GATEWAY

TRAVEL TIME*

Atlanta, Chicago, Denver, Detroit, Minneapolis, Orlando

13hrs

Boston, New York (JFK)

11hrs

Dallas, Houston, Portland, OR

14hrs

Los Angeles, San Francisco

15hrs

Newark, Philadelphia, Washington, DC (Dulles)

12hrs

San Diego

19hrs

* Estimated total time, including connection and layover. Actual travel time may vary.

The information above reflects approximate flight times from the gateway cities listed to Budapest, Hungary. Routing is based on availability and subject to change. You will receive your final air itinerary approximately 14 days prior to departure.

(Prague to Budapest)

GATEWAY

TRAVEL TIME*

Atlanta, Chicago, Detroit, Newark, Philadelphia, Washington, DC(Dulles)

12hrs

Boston, New York (JFK)

11hrs

Dallas, Minneapolis

13hrs

Denver, Houston, Los Angeles, Portland, OR, San Francisco

15hrs

Philadelphia

14hrs

San Diego

17hrs

* Estimated total time, including connection and layover. Actual travel time may vary.

The information above reflects approximate flight times from the gateway cities listed to Prague, Czech Republic. Routing is based on availability and subject to change. You will receive your final air itinerary approximately 14 days prior to departure.

REFER and EARN

Earn increasing rewards as a Vacation Ambassador

REFER and EARN as a Vacation Ambassador with
the BEST referral program in the industry

Inspiring new travelers to join the Grand Circle Cruise Line family is a rewarding experience—both for you and your new travelers.

Share your love of travel with others and, for each referral who embarks on a Grand Circle Cruise Line trip, you will earn $100 in CASH or credit. With your 4th referral departing on a 2012 departure, your reward increases to $200 in CASH or credit per person. And once you refer 8 travelers departing in either 2012 or 2013, you'll earn a FREE trip valued up to $4,500 per household—which will bring the total value of your earned rewards up to $5,600.

And you are also passing along savings to your new traveler: We'll instantly deduct $100 off the cost of their reservation when they mention your name and Customer Number while reserving.

To learn more about the benefits of our Vacation Ambassador Referral Program, please call us toll-free at 1-800-221-2610
or click here.

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Pre-Trip: Budapest, Hungary

3 nights from only $545
G30401

Budapest, the lively capital of Hungary, is both the political and cultural heart of the nation. Full of monuments to its past, it is also a place of contemporary arts and culture, cafes and restaurants, and museums and galleries, all enhanced by the presence of the mighty Danube.

Single Supplement: FREE.

Please note: This extension may not be available for all departures. Additional taxes and fees will apply. Ask your Travel Counselor for details.

Budapest is a pre-trip extension on the Budapest to Prague itinerary and a post-trip extension on the Prague to Budapest itinerary.

It's Included

  • Accommodations—for 3 nights at the Courtyard by Marriott Budapest City Center
  • 3 meals—3 breakfasts
  • Sightseeing—Budapest city tour, Veszprem & Lake Balaton
  • Exclusive services of an experienced Grand Circle Program Director
  • All transfers

Optional Tour

Hungarian Culinary Experience ($80 per person)

Day 1
Depart U.S.

Depart the U.S. today on your flight to Budapest. Please refer to your individual air itinerary for exact departure and arrival times.
Day 2
Arrive Budapest

Arrive today in Budapest. You'll be met at the airport by a Grand Circle representative and directed to the bus that will take you to your hotel.

Relax after your overseas flight, or venture out on your own explorations. You can join your Program Director for a walk to get acquainted with the vicinity around your hotel.

Get better acquainted with your Program Director and fellow travelers over a Welcome Drink. You can ask your Program Director for suggestions for where to dine on your own.
Day 3
Budapest city tour/Optional Hungarian Culinary Experience

After breakfast, gather for a briefing by your Program Director. Then set off on an included tour of Hungary’s lovely capital, Budapest, situated on both sides of the magnificent Danube River, with Pest to the east, and Buda to the west.

Afterwards, enjoy the remainder of the day to explore Budapest at leisure. You may want to wander through the city and view some of the classic architectural treasures that lie off the beaten paths.

While Budapest flourished as a cultural and commercial center in the latter part of the 1800s, the city greatly expanded the number of its buildings to meet the needs of its ever-growing populace. As you walk through the city, you’ll see that many of Budapest’s structures reflect two architectural styles—Historicism and the more predominant Hungarian Art Nouveau. The variations of this Art Nouveau embellished the facades of buildings with decorative ceramic tiles characteristic of Hungarian folk motifs.

The cityscape has retained its Art Nouveau elegance throughout the 20th century and is now protected by its inclusion on the UNESCO World Heritage List.

Dinner is on your own tonight.

Or join us for an optional Hungarian Culinary Experience—an excursion to Borkapolna Winechapel restaurant, for an evening of traditional food and wine. We’ll enjoy specialties of the region and sample the best local vintages in a tasting that features a few of the more than 1,000 Hungarian wines available here. We’ll dine in a vaulted cellar that served as an underground chapel during the communist years. One wall is still adorned with a gilded fresco of St. Stephen, Hungary’s patron saint.
Day 4
Budapest/Veszprem & Lake Balaton

Today, enjoy leisure time to explore Budapest on your own, or enjoy an included full-day excursion to Veszprem and Lake Balaton.You’ll take a guided walk in red-roofed Veszprem, the “city of seven hills.” Occupied since the ninth century, Veszprem was a favorite of Hungarian queens, and earned the nickname “City of Queens.” After lunch on your own here, stroll the shores of Lake Balaton, Central Europe’s largest body of water, nicknamed “the Hungarian Sea.” The lake is not only beloved among Hungarian leisure-seekers, it’s a boon for wine-lovers: Its vast surface acts like a mirror, radiating sunshine to the surrounding vineyards (the first of which were established by the Romans 2,000 years ago). After our visit here, we’ll return to Budapest in time for dinner on your own.

You can ask your Program Director for suggestions on where to dine on your own this evening.
Day 5
Budapest/Begin main trip

After a leisurely breakfast, you have the morning free to explore Budapest according to your own interests. You can browse city shops today, and seek out an interesting restaurant to savor the local cuisine.

You are free to follow your own interests this afternoon. Budapest is justly famous for its museums, some three dozen in all, providing information and enlightenment on a wide variety of subjects. There is an Agricultural Museum, an Ethnographic Museum, a Fine Arts Museum; a Historical Museum, several military museums, a National Gallery with some excellent late Renaissance and Baroque painting and sculpture, and a National Museum offering classical building and historical treasures. There are also several museums in the former Royal Palace that include exhibits and archaeological finds dating back to Roman times. Consider setting up your own museum tour.

You’ll transfer to your ship mid-afternoon. Tonight you’ll join your fellow travelers on your Old World Prague & the Blue Danube River CruiseTour.