Danube River Cruise

My husband wears shorts in Europe when the weather is hot. The other day I was looking at photos from a tour in France and our male French guide was wearing shorts. There will be lots of tourists along your route and many of them will be wearing shorts in warm weather.

Enjoy

I don't know when you are going, but we leave on a Riviera Danube cruise in ten days.
My husband will take some shorts, but looking at the forecast, not every day looks like shorts weather - chilly.

We've been told that we will look like American tourists (we are) and
stick out like a sore thumb ...

I have decided that there are two perspectives on this. One is all the other tourists will be wearing shorts and that has a lot of truth, so why not? If there are enough of "us" then "them" really doesn’t matter. In Prague there will be more than enough tourists to alter any cultural norms. Then there is the point of view that reflects on what the local population thinks of a lot of slobs wandering their streets. Not that all shorts are slobbish, but I saw a bunch of that in Rome a few weeks ago. Choose your perspective, it’s up to you.

I live in Budapest. The locals under 30 wear shorts, and a lot. Especially the men. Women seem to enjoy style a bit more than the guys, so yes, but not as much. But the locals don’t wear the ratty frayed cargo shorts that Canadians and Americans (and surprisingly a lot of Germans) seem to love. We have a tremendous number of Spanish tourists this year (and last), they dress impressively nice. The locals and the European tourists (except maybe for the Germans) over 30 not so much for shorts.

If you are a 45-year-old man and you are wearing shorts ... you are a tourist, but probably not a tourist from Europe (except maybe Germany). That’s fine, no one much cares if you are out doing the tourist walk. Just if you decide to go out for a nice meal or the theater or any place adult, you might want to change pants first. Or not. Up to your perspective.

I'll just say this about that. I will assume the shorts will be weather dependant, and also not worn when clearly inappropriate such as an evening concert or to an upscale restaurant. Yes you will stand out as a tourist. One of many. But consider for a moment who the spammers or pickpockets are most likely to target. An obvious tourist, or someone whose clothing blends in more with the locals? Just a thought.

First of all, relax and enjoy the trip and dont over think it too much. I assume all of the RS family are quality folks and if you travel as you live you cant do wrong. But its a fun subject to pick on so forgive me.

You don’t need shorts to give yourself away.

In Budapest you will look like a tourist if you are a couple and it’s a weekday between 8am and 5pm you are standing in front of the Opera House, or the Parliament or waking through the Central Market, or taking the tour of the Great Synagogue or wandering across Heroes’ Square, or traveling the M1 Metro or shopping on Vaci utca or speaking a language other than Magyar … or asking, “what is a Magyar?”

In Prague you will look like a tourist if you are in Old Town and you are not serving tourists.

The downside of looking like a tourist? There really isn’t one. But you do get to decide what sort of tourist you wish to portray yourself to others as.

I think those picking pockets are criminals of opportunity. They go for the easiest prey despite whether they are local or tourist. If tourists get hit more, it’s because they are the most careless or in the most opportune locations such as packed cheek to cheek in Prague Old Town or the Charles Bridge. But I also suspect that a sizeable number who claim they got picked just left their stuff someplace and forgot. In 25 years of coming or living here in Budapest I have never met a person who was pickpocketed. Never met a person who knew a person either. But I presume it does happen.

Hello, We did the exact cruise with Viking. You will love the service and I highly recommend Viking. Welded the 3 day extension in Prague. It was one of my favorite places to see. Enjoy your trip.

Just came off a VRC and did the 3 day pre-stay (without Viking) in Budapest. Yes, people were wearing shorts in Budapest, mostly men though. There were a few locals in NYY ballcaps - when I asked if the Yankees won last night, they looked at me funny. LOL. The locals casual is dressier then what I typically wear in Florida so I wore nicer tops. I have to say that most of the people on the cruise sported wash and wear type of long pants (such as Eddie Bauer, Columbia, REI, etc.) including myself. Some of the brands offer non sporty looking material. There were a few men who wore gym shorts and workout tops everyday on the cruise, even at dinner, which I thought was weird. The further we went towards Prague, the heavier clothes (long sleeves, jackets) came out. You may not have that issue. Have fun.

LuluBelle, I know its a lot of work, but I would love a trip report. The Good, The Bad, The Ugly.

LuluBelle, you also understood the style of the locals pretty good. A notch up from Americans and Germans and Canadians. Young folks nice tailored shorts, sometimes. Anyone over 40? Very rare.

And you didn't fall into the usual trap ...

"I went to City X and everyone was wearing ...."

"who was "everyone"?

"Well, tourists of course."

Thank you all for your input/suggestions. We’re just going to go with the flow. We leave on Saturday! Looking forward to a fabulous trip!

We did a great Danube cruise with Gate 1 Travel last year and it was great.

We are in our late 80s and generally don't wear shorts when on a tour or river cruise. Most river cruise passengers are seniors like us and don't wear shorts as well.

The locals will know you are American without the shorts.

We finished a Riviera Danube cruise on Wednesday. Everywhere was heaving with tourists. It was 32 degs C. Nobody cared what anyone was wearing (cover knees and shoulders in churches).
The cruise was fantastic.