

Begin your Active & Discovery river cruise vacation with an overnight stay in Bucharest—the “Paris of the East.” See the Romanian capital’s WWI Arc de Triomphe and the Royal Palace Square, and spend free time browsing the lovely shops and cafes of Victory Boulevard. Embark on your Suite Ship® in the town of Oltenita to begin your Danube River cruise through the Balkans, and cruise for Nikopol. See the incredible ancient architecture in Veliko Târnovo and Arbanassi or join your local guide and hike to the Kroushuna Waterfalls. Sail to Vidin, Bulgaria, explore the city and visit the medieval Baba Vida Fortress. You might prefer to join a panoramic trek in Belogradchik. Cruise through the Iron Gates Gorge, explore the amazing archaeological site of Lepenski Vir, and visit the fascinating Fortress of Golubač. Sail to Belgrade, Serbia, where the Danube and Sava Rivers meet, and discover ancient architecture in Novi Sad. Walk up the Petrovaradin Fortress or get to know Belgrade through its people. Sail into beautiful Croatia, where a 1,000-year-old winemaking tradition lives on in Ilok. Disembark in Osijek and spend the night in the Croatian capital of Zagreb—dating back to the Roman Empire. This Danube River cruise through the Balkans reveals the beauty of its people and culture across a land of beauty and inspiration.
Port charges:
$180
Gratuities to Local Guides & Excursion Drivers are included.
Avalon offers the opportunity for solo travelers to sail with no single supplement (subject to availability).
Please call for single accommodation price. Triples not available.
Today's world has changed, but what remains certain is Avalon Waterways' commitment to guest safety, comfort and peace-of-mind while traveling with us. To that end, Avalon Waterways has established a worldwide Assurance program, with enhanced on-trip protocols and procedures, to ensure the health – and happiness – of guests throughout their travels with us.
It all starts with Avalon Waterways' Global Health & Safety Team, dedicated to ensuring that cleanliness of all operations exceeds today’s travel standards—from start to finish. The following areas address Avalon Waterways' commitment to providing a safe and clean environment for guests.
WELCOME ABOARD
New embarkation procedures to offer guests a safe start to their journey, including:
FRESH AIR, INSIDE AND OUT:
In addition to Avalon Waterways' Open-Air staterooms, the air in the ships is not circulated between staterooms; only within an individual stateroom and mixed with fresh, outside air.
BLENDING CULTURAL PROXIMITY WITH SOCIAL DISTANCE:
New social distancing guidelines for guests throughout their Avalon cruise include:
NEW TECHNOLOGY TO ENSURE CLEANLINESS:
TOUCHING HEARTS, NOT HANDS:
Reducing risk with hands-free service, including:
COMMITMENT TO THE CLEANEST SHIPS:
Enhanced cleaning procedures throughout each ship, including these additional steps that go above-and-beyond Avalon’s already strict procedures:
FOCUS ON CREW HEALTH:
Ensuring a healthy crew, including:
Outstanding cruise,ship and crew were excellent.Cruise Director Simona is a delight,extremely knowledgeable and helpful. Will travel again with Avalon.
I would travel on valon only in the future. Cleaner, newer, more comfortable ships with a great stafff. Better than my previous river cruises with a high end ship! And the cruise director has to be the absolutely best in the industry!!!
The ship is beautiful and the rooms very comfortable. Avalon seems to attract a very friendly and social group of travelers. It is also welcoming to the solo traveler.
This was probably the best cruise we have ever taken and we travel a lot. Autumn from Affordable is the best. She was always there when I needed her and so accommodating. The ship Passion was a 10 plus in every way from the rooms to the tours, food and staff. I liked that they had healthy choices at every meal.
Our Avalon cruise exceeded our expections. We had a great staff, great tours, and met wonderful people.
This river cruise to see the Christmas Markets and tour parts of Austria, Germany, and the Czech Republic was a dream come true. Every part of it was amazing. From the organization of Affordable Tours pre-cruise to Avalon Waterways beautiful ship, great crew (especially cruise director Gusta) and the spectacular meals. The tours were marvelous and informative. Cant say enough about the great time we had.
As always the service on Avalon was excellent and the rooms wonderful. Missed the allergy notifications cards on buffet as my daughter had celiacs Did appriciate that after the third day the had made gluten fee desserts that she was able to have and the snacks provided at captains cocktail time. Would have been perfect if these items had been available the first few days also, as not having them made me feel my daughter was left out and me also feel guilty if I ate in front of her.
I thought the dinner meals were not as good as past cruise. Breakfast and lunch were fine. Service from staff was excellent
It was a wonderful trip and the person who made it really great was our Cruise Director, Monika. She was friendly, helpful and extremely kind. When I had a severe asthma attack in Venice, she made arrangements to get me to a hospital for necessary treatment and throughout the rest of the trip continued to check on me and make sure that I had whatever was needed to be comfortable. It can be a scary experience to be ill in a foreign country, but with Monika's help I made it through the rest of the trip without any more worries.
We had a great trip. This is our second river cruise with Avalon through Affordable Tours. We knew what to expect from our previous trip (Romantic Rhine a year ago). The day excursions are well-led, with lots of information from our capable guides. The food on board is very good, with buffet style (our preference) for breakfast and lunch. We're not gourmet food aficionados, honestly two-hour dinners every night are not our style, but we knew they were part of the package, so we weren't surprised.
Avalon staff and tours were excellent - enjoyed the many excursions.
The attention to detail is incredible. The tour director left nothing on the table. Everything was perfectly organized and described. The cruise was great and I would, and will, recommend this to all my friends and family. If you find yourself on this cruise, you are in for a great adventure. All arranged/included tours at each port were top notch.
The trip was an educational trip about the Balkan Region. It was wonderful!
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Knowing you got the best deal, all that's left is for you to pack your bags and enjoy your vacation!
This tour /cruise was fantastic. The pre-cruise extension in Transylvania was for me the highlight and anyone considering the cruise should definitely include this. Our Avalon cruise director and the entire crew were outstanding as were the local guides who were extremely knowledgeable and spoke perfect English.