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Bookending a Danube River Cruise - Amsterdam? Germany? Prague? Somewhere else?

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Hello wise RS-ers

We are doing a river cruise in early July 2022 that starts in Budapest. We will definitely arrive 3-4 days early to spend some time there.

The cruise ends in Nuremberg.

After the cruise, we originally planned to do a hiking/driving trip through the Scottish Highlands, but my SIL and a well-traveled friend said the Scottish midges would make our outdoor time miserable. So that's off the table. We will try visiting at a different time of year.

Now we are at loose ends.

July's heat makes me want to avoid Southern Europe - as much as I love Italy, the South of France, Spain, Greece, and Portugal probably fall into a "visit in the fall" plan.

Here's what we like:
--art and history museums
--easy hikes/walks which can be in a city or in the country
--reasonably good public transit (trains, trolleys, even short-hop air) - we would prefer not to rent a car unless we are out in the country

Here's our parameters:
--3-5 days post-cruise
--Should not duplicate the route of the cruise (Budapest, Vienna, Nuremberg with stops along the Danube)
--Reasonably cheap to there get from Nuremberg
--Reasonably cheap (without multiple long layovers) to get back to Boston

Amsterdam piques my interest with the museums, transit, and walkability.
I have looked at Germany tour guides and just haven't fallen in love with what I am seeing. What I am missing?

I am considering Prague, though the plane fare back to Boston is absurdly the most expensive part of the trip.

We have family in Ireland and have been there a couple of times, so that is a possibility, but I would really like to go where I have not traveled before.

Probably don't want to just go to Edinburgh or Glasgow without the option of doing some highland hikes.

We've been to London (long time ago with kids), Paris (a few years ago), Rome and Florence (a few years ago) and Dublin. July in these cities - probably very crowded?

OK RS-ers...where are some spots that I am missing?

Posted by
11608 posts

Copenhagen, Stockholm or Oslo? Thinking they may have cooler temperatures and each of them is a wonderful city to visit.

Posted by
20474 posts

Both Wizzair and Ryan Air fly out of Nuremberg which opens up a lot of obscure choices, but all day of the week dependent.

You want nature and hiking, there are some direct flights into a couple of airports in Romania and a few in the Balkans (sort of in keeping with your cruise theme).

You didn't say what airline you are going on, or if you had tickets already, but Turkish Air flies out of Boston meaning you could stay over in Turkey on the way home. Or, since Turkish Air serves most of Europe you could do something like fly to Zadar on Ryan Air (starts at $50), then go down the coast through Split to Dubrovnik and fly from Dubrovnik back home through Istanbul on Turkish Air. Sometimes the open jaw segments dont cost much.

Last July/August I purchased a RT Ticket for my daughter IAH to IST to IAH
I purchased for myself IAH to KYV and ODS to IST and IST to IAH (open jaw segments)
We both arrived back in Houston on the same flight. Which ticket do you think was cheaper? Mine! (by about $50)

Posted by
7207 posts

When did did the Budapest to Nurnberg cruise we ended it with 3 days in Prague. If we had to do it over, we would have added 3 days prior to the cruise in Budapest since we didn’t get much of a chance to see it. The cruise company only did a half day whirlwind bus tour of it.

Posted by
159 posts

Check out Dresden, beautiful city and wonderful museums. It is on the Elbe and you could cycle along the river or hike in Saxon Switzerland nearby.

Posted by
523 posts

How much time do you actually have in Nuremberg? Depending on the cruise schedule and your interests you may want to add a day/night in Nuremberg before moving on.

Posted by
5649 posts

Keep in mind that you MAY have to plan for covid testing each time that you cross borders. With each country having different - and ever evolving covid policies, I recommend keeping the number of countries limited. We actually traveled Sept, 2021, were fully vaccinated, and it took considerable time to keep up with the airlines' -and the countries' -covid testing mandates, tracker forms, etc., which kept changing, even after we were in country. For example, because we transited thru Heathrow, at that time, Italy required a quarantine, but Switzerland did not. Keep it simple- and flexible. Safe travels!

Posted by
7052 posts

Copenhagen, Stockholm or Oslo? Thinking they may have cooler
temperatures and each of them is a wonderful city to visit.

They are certainly cooler than the Mediterranean, and there are direct flights from Copenhagen to Boston. Another factor to consider apart from latitude is that coastal areas are in general a bit cooler in summer compared to inland locations.

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