

Along the "river of kings"... medieval castles and Gothic cathedrals... charming riverside villages... the Imperial treasures of the Habsburgs... lush Wachau valley vineyards... the music of Mozart... From Prague to Budapest, castles of all descriptions have watched over the landscape from their royal perches for centuries. On this 12-day journey featuring a 9-night Danube cruise, they remain lasting testimony to kingdoms and culture, ready to welcome you… during a private dinner in Lobkowicz Palace… an exclusive evening of Imperial entertainment at a private Vienna palace... in Baroque Salzburg and atop Budapest's Castle Hill... and exploring Vienna's Hofburg or Schönbrunn Palace. It's a Blue Danube cruise to remember!
Tour begins: 5:30 PM, Prague Mariott Hotel. A transfer is included from Václav Havel Airport Prague or the Praha Hlavni Nadrazi train station to the Prague Mariott Hotel in the heart of the city. Those arriving early may join your Tauck Director for a walk to this historic city's Old Town Square. Begin your amazing Blue Danube river cruise adventure early this evening with a Tauck Exclusive – a royal welcoming reception, tour and dinner at 16th-century Lobkowicz Palace at Prague Castle. Immerse in an evening of classical cultural treasures – music and art played an important role in the aristocratic world of the Lobkowicz family.
Your boat stays docked in Linz today, with a choice of how you spend your day – full-day excursions to Salzburg (Austria), or Cesky Krumlov in the Czech Republic, or remaining in Linz. A setting for The Sound of Music, Salzburg is enticing with Baroque architecture, painted wrought-iron signage, ornate church towers, and grand palaces. Our walking tour explores Old Town, Mirabell Gardens, and Mozart's birthplace with time on your own to have lunch and experience the sights as you wish. Alternatively, travel with us through beautiful landscapes to Cesky Krumlov, which has been called a living gallery of elegant Renaissance-era buildings with a well-preserved medieval heritage and charming ambiance. A walking tour takes you to part of Krumlov Castle; it's worth climbing the many steps to see firsthand the medieval, Renaissance and Rococo design found inside, along with the stunning views of the town below. Your riverboat overnights in Linz.
Begin the day with a Tauck Exclusive – a presentation by our local guide that takes you inside contemporary Slovakia and Bratislava for a look at politics, the economy, religion, the social order, preservation and emergence of the arts, and more. Then, it's your choice of a walking tour of this cobblestoned, vehicle-free city, where you'll see 17 centuries of history eloquently chronicled in sites including its 13th-century Old Town Hall, Baroque Habsburg-era palaces, the Opera House, Slovak Philharmonic Hall and St. Martin's Cathedral – or a guided bicycle excursion through the "Iron Curtain Area" of Bratislava. Back aboard ship, get ready to celebrate tomorrow's arrival in Budapest.
Begin the day by exploring Buda. Head up to Castle Hill, a UNESCO World Heritage Site overlooking the Danube on the Buda side of the city, for a choice of sightseeing. A guided tour includes Fisherman's Bastion, with its Neo-Romanesque design, the stained glass windows and centuries of history in the 14th-century, late-Gothic Matthias Church (may be closed on some days due to services) and more. Alternatively, learn about the city's historic thermal water springs on a visit to the famed Szechenyi Bath Spa. Following a free afternoon with time to explore as you please, join us for a final night aboard the riverboat, beginning with a farewell toast and dinner.
Tour ends: Budapest, Hungary. Fly home anytime. A transfer is included from the riverboat to Budapest Ferenc Liszt Airport or the Keleti train station; allow a minimum of three hours for check-in at the airport.
Along the "river of kings"... medieval castles and Gothic cathedrals... charming riverside villages... the Imperial treasures of the Habsburgs... lush Wachau valley vineyards... the music of Mozart... From Prague to Budapest, castles of all descriptions have watched over the landscape from their royal perches for centuries. On this 12-day journey featuring a 9-night Danube cruise, they remain lasting testimony to kingdoms and culture, ready to welcome you… during a private dinner in Lobkowicz Palace… an exclusive evening of Imperial entertainment at a private Vienna palace... in Baroque Salzburg and atop Budapest's Castle Hill... and exploring Vienna's Hofburg or Schönbrunn Palace. It's a Blue Danube cruise to remember!
Traveling with Peace of Mind
Our commitment never wavers – to earn your trust by always doing the right thing. As we explore the world together again, this will be more important than ever as we adapt to living and traveling in the presence of COVID-19.
Tauck is 97-years young this year, and our ability to weather many storms over the decades is a result of our values and beliefs – as a family and as a family-owned and led company. In addition to the guiding light of these values, our extensive experience, local knowledge and global support network help to ensure your safety on every Tauck journey. Building upon our bedrock of award-winning guest care, we have worked tirelessly to prepare for your return following the COVID-19 hiatus in travel. With guidance from leading experts, including the CDC and WHO, together with our internal Global Response Team and, most importantly, with feedback from thousands of our guests, we have redefined how we will conduct our experiences as we resume travel.
Tauck is Prepared for the Unexpected
For decades, Tauck has operated in over 70 countries in all 7 continents. Over this time, our staff and network of supplier partners have always been there to support our guests and team on the road. Our guests travel with a comprehensive, built-in support system that starts with the care and local knowledge of our Tauck Directors and extends to our network of partners around the world, including hoteliers and transportation companies.
At the core of our ability to quickly and effectively respond to the unexpected is our Global Response Team - a group of over 50 employees across all departments who stand ready to spring into action around the world. This team has plenty of experience, from weather events, high and low water on rivers, earthquakes, volcanic ash, civil unrest and work stoppages. They have also dealt with past virus outbreaks including the SARS and Zika viruses.
The Tauck Travel Well Pledge
Before we operate tours and cruises, all Tauck employees, our supplier partners and our guests will take Tauck’s Travel Well Pledge.
As a company, we will follow our enhanced protocols with diligence and rigor; review them frequently as the landscape changes and always make common-sense decisions grounded in purpose and pride. We embrace these new and necessary measures to combat COVID-19 and will do our very best to provide the Tauck care we have been honored to deliver for 97 years.
OUR NEW HEALTH & SAFETY PROTOCOLS
Consistent with our commitment to the well-being of our guests, we are implementing enhanced health and safety protocols. These protocols may vary by geographic regions and will certainly evolve over time, as science and society respond to new realities:
Tauck Staff
Prior to interacting with guests, each member of Tauck’s field staff is trained in enhanced protocols and participates in a personal health screening.
Once on tour, our Tauck Directors and supporting staff are responsible for maintaining these protocols with a special focus on cleanliness and physical distancing. They will relay critical information regarding requirements, advise when protocols are mandatory – such as wearing a face covering in group settings – and help facilitate guest care through communication with appropriate parties should a guest become ill on tour. All Tauck staff will adhere to the same requirements.
Guest Responsibility
When joining a Tauck journey, every guest is responsible for their own health and, in turn, the protection of their fellow travelers, the Tauck staff, our suppliers and the places we visit. Guests will pledge to follow the direction of the Tauck staff and adhere to health and safety protocols.
Guests are expected to wear face coverings in all group settings, to wash their hands frequently and to adhere to supplier and government regulations. While supplies of face coverings, gloves, and hand sanitizer will be available, guests are asked to bring such personal items for their own comfort.
Small is BIG
For many years, Tauck has emphasized and invested in more choices of activities, resulting in smaller groups for activities like sightseeing and events. This is consistent with our mantra that “Small is Big” – small groups and smaller ships with fewer guests.
We initially focused on these elements to improve the guest experience. Yet today they take on an additional dimension; small group experiences and more personal space are critical in providing the peace of mind our guests expect. Accordingly, we are offering even more small group experiences and limiting guest numbers across all of our journeys.
We have been working diligently with our partners to be prepared to welcome you back when the time is right.
Tauck has worked meticulously with our global supplier partners to plan for every itinerary following the hiatus in travel. All partners, whether they be a hotel, museum, small ship/riverboat, restaurant or other partner, have been thoughtful about how to provide a Tauck experience in this environment.
And while it's impossible to list all of the enhanced health and safety protocols for the hundreds of Tauck partners across the globe, we would like to share a representative sample of what you can expect:
Hotels
Our hotel partners all have world-class health and safety protocols. However, these guidelines may vary depending on local situations and regulations. Here are some typical examples:
Ships and Riverboats
We have worked closely with our cruise partners to ensure the best possible health and safety protocols and to ensure the care and service you expect from Tauck:
Sightseeing and Local Activities
Many of our experiences are exclusive and/or private and that’s important in taking care of you. Whether it be a guided tour, a visit to an iconic museum or private home, a musical performance, or any other special Tauck activities, we are applying the same rigor to health and safety protocols:
Dining
Tauck has always been known for a la carte dining; having more freedom to decide when and with whom to dine now has more value than ever. Additionally, our partners whether they be hotels, ships, special venues or restaurants, are raising their already rigorous hygienic standards. Here are some examples:
On-Tour Transportation
Keeping on-tour transportation safe is a major focus of our team who has worked with hundreds of partners to ensure continuity in health and safety protocols:
Our Supplier Partners are ready for you
Tauck is proud to have worked closely with our partners around the world, many of them for decades, to deliver the quality, comfort and safety you expect. Whether it be hotels and resorts, riverboats and small ships, restaurants, event venues or transportation companies, their meticulous health and safety protocols reflect their leadership and well-earned respect in the travel industry. The following are some select health and safety protocols. We will update these on a regular basis.
In addition to our supplier partners, we have also been actively engaged with global travel organizations to standardize health and safety protocols throughout the travel industry. TourCare is one example:
TourCare are health and sanitation guidelines developed by the tour industry's major global associations: the United States Tour Operators Association (USTOA), The Canadian Association of Tour Operators (CATO) and the European Tourism Association (ETOA). Tauck, and our supplier partners, meet and exceed these guidelines that require members to adhere to the highest standards in the industry.
While this trip was nice, it was a little bit boring. We had day trips in the morning. One of the excursions took us to a small town in Austria. It took 1 hour 45 minutes to get there and return. We had a 45 minute tour. Then there was lunch but there wasn\'t much else to do. We left at 9 a.m. and returned at 5 p.m. When we went to Vienna there were great tours in the morning but not enough time to do an on our own tour in the afternoon because of the bus schedule. If you like to do nothing in the afternoon or eat or drink or read then you will like this tour. If you are an adventure traveler, River cruising isn\'t great. The food was mediocre. The service was great.
Tauck was very professional and offered a high quality of a travel experience albeit for a premium price.
Tauck was fabulous -- ship was beautiful and the staff was above and beyond in every area!! Food and drinks were great!! Loved the Itinerary -- we went 2 days early and stayed 2 after and Tauck made sure all was taken care of -- picked up upon arrival and car to airport upon departure. Local guides were great with a fun sense of humor.
I loved the fact that everything was included(drinks, tips, etc.) It is always an undue burden to have the right amount of tip money for all at each guided tour and end of trip. Tauck also gave many extras that although may not have been a great expense(ice cream and or a drink), it was appreciated. Great company. will definitely travel with them again.
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Tauck is incredible. I would recommend them to anyone. They think of details I would never have imagined... down to the coins it takes to use a restroom at one of the Christmas markets in Salzburg.