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Two river cruises (Budapest-Regensburg and Arles-Chalon-sur-Saône) with a 10 days between - Oct 2025

Hi All,

Time for another adventure! October 2025. A bit of an odd schedule, but ...

This time we are meeting friends (two couples) in Budapest for river cruise to Regensburg (Viking), then have about four days to get to the Arles, FR area to meet another set of friends (four couples) for a week of driveabouts/trainabouts followed by a river cruise from Arles to Chalon-sur-Saône (Avalon) - from there back home.

Have not made any air arrangements either to or from.

We’re planning three days or so early in Budapest prior to the cruise, then probably training from Regensburg to the Arles area, spend seven nights of so in Arles area, ending up last three nights in Arles proper near the train station (which is also near the riverboat wharf I think) so we can drop cars, etc and walk/train last days prior to departure.

Would appreciate your thoughts on:
- three days in advance in Budapest?
- thoughts on the Budapest-Regensburg cruise (we’re already committed to both cruises)
- how best to get from Regensburg to Arles area via train (since have a few days far prefer training to flying) and where to stay for a night or two enroute?
- any particular hotels/B&Bs you’ve liked in the Arles area? We really like small chateau like places with separate bungalows with kitchens for cross hosting, but flexible - need parking for three cars - OK with staying in middle of small towns, as well
- thoughts on the Arles-Chalon-sur-Saône cruise
- thoughts on a few days after river cruise around Chalon-sur-Saône and Paris?
- is Paris the best departure point by air (we’ve been out of there before)
- we stayed at one of the CDG airport hotels (Marriott, I think); is this still a reasonable overnight prior to early flight?

I really appreciate all the comments and help provided on past holidays!!

Posted by
8161 posts

We did the Danube cruise from Regensburg to Budapest with Gate 1 Travel and it was great. We loved the itinerary. Also, we did a six day bus tour of Romania after our cruise with Gate 1 that was great.

The cruise visits small cities like Regensburg and Passau as well as large ones like Vienna, Bratislava and Budapest. Good you are doing more days in Budapest, we only had one full day there because of the Romania tour. Vienna is our favorite. We had a great optional tour in Vienna that was a great concert. Also, loved cruising down the Danube where there are great sites all along the river.

Our tour actually started by meeting at the Munich Airport, from there we were transported to Regensburg. You can train from Regensburg to Munich on a regional train.

Some years ago, we did an AMA Waterways cruise on the Rhone/Saone from Lyon to Arles. It was great, don't miss Ponte du Gard, which is an intact 1900 year old Roman aqueduct. Our cruise started in Lyon and we took the high speed train from Paris to Lyon. It left from the Gare Lyon.

Not sure about best way from Munich to Arles. You could train, or fly, but likely have to fly into Nice.

Posted by
19947 posts

Would appreciate your thoughts on:
- three days in advance in Budapest?

If the weather next October is like this October, you will enjoy.

I used to say you needed at least four full days to see just the best of Budapest. But with three full days you can formulate an informed opinion; and with 2 full days you will know if you want to return. One full day is enough to understand that you made a mistake by limiting it to one full day. A full day being when you wake and go to sleep in the city.

I have had friends come trhough Budapest and have bought two day extensions through Viking The prices were high and the hotels were really not approprite for a short stay (but very nice hotels). So book your own pre-sailing stay.

I sent you some information that includes hotels.

Favorite Tourism Video of Budapest: https://youtu.be/1nd5AtZIrTk?feature=shared
Anthony Bourdain describing how visually pleasurable Budapest is: https://youtu.be/0nd9DuDGCz0?si=aa0c19KaJHEtabkX
Favorite Guide Book because its small and does the essentials: DK Eyewitness Budapest Top 10 which you can get on Amazon. https://a.co/d/6JD82mf