The Great Rivers of Europe - President's River Cruise (2012)

Austria: Vienna, Linz • Germany: Regensburg, Kelheim, Nuremburg, Bamberg, Wertheim, Heidelberg, Mainz, Koblenz, Cologne • Amsterdam, the Netherlands
  • 15 days
  • from only:
  • $2695
  • $180 per day
    River Cruise Only
  • 16 days
  • from only:
  • $3895
  • $244 per dayIncludes international airfare and government taxes
IN THIS SECTION:
Detailed Itinerary
President's Cruise Special Events
It's Included
Hotel & Ship Accomodations
Trip Extensions
Vienna, Austria
Prague, Czech Republic
Brussels & Bruges, Belgium
Optional Tours
Know Before You Go
Your Travel Handbook
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.

(Vienna)

GATEWAY

TRAVEL TIME*

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

13hrs

Boston, Chicago, New York (JFK)

12hrs

Dallas, Los Angeles, San FranciscO

15hrs

Denver

20hrs

Houston, Miami

14hrs

Minneapolis, Portland, OR

16hrs

* 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 Vienna, Austria. Routing is based on availability and subject to change. You will receive your final air itinerary approximately 14 days prior to departure.

(Amsterdam)

GATEWAY

TRAVEL TIME*

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

13hrs

Atlanta, Miami, Minneapolis

9hrs

Boston, Houston

10hrs

Chicago, Dallas, Denver

13hrs

Detroit

8hrs

Los Angeles, Newark, New York (JFK), Portland, OR, San Francisco, Washington, DC (Dulles)

11hrs

Philadelphia

12hrs

San Diego

14hrs

* 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 Amsterdam, Netherlands. Routing is based on availability and subject to change. You will receive your final air itinerary approximately 14 days prior to departure.

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Post-Trip: Brussels & Bruges, Belgium

3 nights from only $595
G25813

Join us on an optional post-trip extension to one of Europe's great bustling cities and to one of its most charming. Brussels is a thriving city full of fine museums and outstanding classic architecture, and features a compact and carefully preserved 17th-century city center. Then discover Bruges; originally a ninth-century fortress built to protect the Flemish coast from marauding Vikings, it retains its reputation as one of Europe’s best-preserved Old World cities.

Single Supplement: FREE.

It's Included

  • Accommodations: for 3 nights at the First-Class The Hotel Brussels or similar
  • 3 meals: 3 breakfasts
  • Included tours: Brussels, Bruges, and Antwerp, Belgium; Delft, the Netherlands
  • All transfers
Day 1
Amsterdam/Delft/Antwerp, Belgium/Brussels

Disembark after breakfast aboard the ship and begin your motorcoach transfer to Belgium’s capital of Brussels. En route, you visit a porcelain factory in Delft, the Netherlands, known for its distinctive blue Delftware pottery.

You ride on to Antwerp, for our first visit in Belgium. After lunch on your own, you take a short walking tour of Antwerp’s Old Town.

You then continue on to Brussels. Once a sleepy village that grew up around a chapel on an island in the Senne River, Brussels is now a thriving small capital city and the headquarters of NATO and the new European Union (formerly the Common Market). It is second only to Geneva, Switzerland, in the number of headquarters of international organizations.

You arrive in Brussels just before dinnertime. After checking into your hotel, you are free to have dinner on your own.

Day 2
Brussels/City tour/Chocolaterie excursion/Optional Lier tour

Begin your introduction to Brussels with a walking and motorcoach tour of this lovely old city. Everywhere, you’ll see the beautiful architecture of the city and the special influence of the Art Nouveau style represented by the famous architect, Victor Horta. You’ll see the buildings of the European Union and the Atomium, an enormous steel construction representing an iron atom with nine spheres connected by walkways and escalators. You pass the impressive Cinquantenaire Arch, view the Chinese Pavilion, Japanese Pagoda, and the Royal Park.

Along the way, you stop at a famous local chocolaterie, where custom-made, personalized chocolate confections of the highest quality are a specialty. You see how molds are made, how chocolate is prepared and poured, and how the artistic hand decorates.

Your tour’s last stop is at Brussels’s Grand Place. Here, you walk through the famed market square and heart of medieval Brussels. The square is dominated by the magnificent 15th-century Town Hall, with its hundreds of little statues. Admire the square’s 17th-century buildings and guild houses with their golden inlays. You can remain here for lunch on your own, or return to the hotel with the motorcoach.

The rest of your afternoon and evening are free to explore on your own. You may want to visit the Royal Museum of Ancient and Modern Art, which houses a special section on the well-known Belgian surrealist, Rene Magritte.

Day 3
Bruges/Walking tour

Today, you’ll set off on a walking tour of Bruges, a city still defined by its canals. Dating from the 13th century, Bruges is a living museum and a treasure trove of fine architecture. From the 13th to the 15th centuries, Bruges was the most important trading center of northern Europe, based largely on its thriving wool and textile industries. You'll see signs of this mercantile history in the beautiful houses built by wealthy textile merchants.

Your walking tour takes you to Church of Our Lady and to Market Square, with its distinctive belfry tower and carillon of 47 bells. You also see the Holy Blood Chapel. Your tour continues with a look at Bruges from another vantage point—a tour aboard a canal boat. Then you'll visit a lace shop to see some of the world's finest lacemakers at work. You'll enjoy some free time to have lunch on your own and to explore independently.

After your visit here, you’ll return to Brussels in time to enjoy dinner on your own in town this evening.
Day 4
Brussels/Return to U.S.

After breakfast, you are transferred to the airport for your flight home.