Danube River Travel Guide

Our hand-selected menu of cruises is all-inclusive, with shore excursions, meals, and drinks, and guides all wrapped into what you pay. We have done our best to curate unique cruise experiences for travelers of all interests - from history buffs to active explorers…and everyone else!

A Danube River cruise packing list during the months of May through September starts with essentials like lightweight trousers, shorts, comfortable walking shoes, a sweater for cooler days, a combination of short and long sleeve shirts to layer, and one set of semi-formal clothes for specialty dinners.

The upper and lower Danube Rivers have extremely different cuisines, cultures, sights, and people. Learn about the differences in this article!

The bustling town of Passau, Germany straddles the Danube River where it meets the Inn and Ilz Rivers on the border of Austria, and is home to around 50,000 residents. Known for its baroque old town, Passau features a number of monuments, museums, and historical sites that make this charming city a staple part of any Danube River cruise. Passau also serves as the port of embarkation or departure for many European river cruises.

The season for Danube River cruises runs from late February through the Christmas market season, but there are distinct seasons that each have their own unique benefits and drawbacks.

European river cruises can be an amazing experience for families with members of all ages, and if you’re traveling with minors (under the age of 18), a cruise can be a fantastic way to engage them in history and culture as they see their textbooks come to life in the form of castles, museums, battlegrounds of ancient and modern wars, ruins, and so much more.

As any veteran river cruiser will tell you, which riverboat you choose makes all the difference. With the recent surge in the popularity of European river cruises, competition between the main cruise operators has really improved the quality of the itineraries and river ships across the board, so there aren’t any bad options - it just depends on what you’re looking for on your Europe river cruise.

An experience cruising from Bavaria to Budapest along the Danube visiting traditional Christmas Markets.