Blue Danube with Oberammergau 2022

We are scheduled westbound 5/30/22, coming in early in Budapest. Anyone else arriving early that wants to meet?

Comments

  • We are arriving early and would love to meet.

  • We are on this trip in August…we will be interested in your comments when you return. Please post. Thanks!

  • We are on this trip that begins July 20 in Budapest, and are arriving July 18. If anyone else is arriving early, we'd like to know. We're also interested in reading comments from those who take this trip earlier in the year.

  • We are doing this trip beginning in Munich. We leave Friday!! We are arriving a day early and also staying an additional day in Budapest. I will post comments when we get back.

  • edited May 2022

    We are on the west bound trip, arriving in Budapest on June 12. Would love to hear from those on the earlier trips about their experiences.

  • What a great review from a seasoned Tauck traveller, thank you. It looks as if the first few river cruises that had complaints have been noted and improved by Tauck as best they can during these difficult times.

  • cvc
    8:54AM
    First update on our trip - we left May 27th on Lufthansa headed for Munich. . . . .

    Great review! When I read the first line, I thought it was going to start out like our horror story! :D

  • edited June 2022

    Great review - thanks. We are going on the Oberammergau tour//Ultimate Alps & Dolomites in Sept. I loved reading about how much you loved the music & the play. Our tour also starts in Munich - can you please tell me which hotel you stayed in and any other info about it that may be helpful to us- we are flying in 2 days early. Thank You

  • Thank you for the detailed review. We leave soon for Munich. Our cruise will be on the Rhine, but all of your info on the Munich and Oberammergau days was very helpful. I'm glad there was a tour of Ettal Abbey before departure for the ship. I hope they will include that for us as well.

  • We stayed at the Westin Grand - rooms were fine. Food was good - not great. The Marienplatz was not within walking distance of the hotel. On our pre day, we took a taxi to the Residenz Museum, then walked to Frauenkirche and then to the Marienplatz. We took a taxi back to the hotel from there. If you plan what you want to see in the area, you can manage walking between places and just take the taxi to and from the area. As I mentioned, most of Tauck's city tour was viewed from the bus window but they did give us a good amount of time at the Marienplatz following the tour.

    Sugarcreek, if the Ettal Abbey tour isn't offered, several people walked from the Hotel Blaue Gams and went through the Abbey on their own. The tour did not provide time to go in the gift shop - several people who visited on their own enjoyed the shop.

  • Thanks for the information. We'll find time to visit the Abbey. I wonder way Tauck selected a hotel that was not more centrally located in Munich. When I looked up the location, it did seem a ways out. We have a pre-day too and want to visit the Alte Pinakothek art museum, so I will follow your advice on the taxis.

  • Thanks - we are on a different tour for the Passion Play and a different hotel in Munich - ours is city center - I appreciate the info anyway.

  • When we did Ultimate Alps & Dolomites years ago we stayed at the Four Seasons in Munich. It was on the Maximilianstraße just a short walk to the Hofbrauhaus, Victualienmarkt, the Residenz, and Marienplatz. They had the largest and best breakfast buffet we have ever seen before and since.

  • A few pictures from our trip. The first ones were taken at the Residenz Museum in Munich - the Antiquarium and a close-up of sea shells in the Grotto.

    The next ones are the Glockenspiel and the Frauenkirche. We took the picture of the church from the tower in the New Town Hall. One of the nice things about this tower is there are no steps - you access the viewing area by elevator. (Sorry about the sideways pictures)

    These pictures are of the Ettal Abbey (taken from our hotel grounds) and also ones in Oberammergau. There is the theatre and also the stage for the Passion Play (taken from our seats prior to the play beginning). There is also a picture of the cemetery of the St. Peter and Paul Church - this is near where the first Passion Plays were performed. And finally, one of the interior of this same church.

    And one more of the Sun Deck on the MS Joy.

  • Great travelog and photos, cvc...I copied it and sent it to our group going in August. We've debated doing a walking tour of Munich and rethinking it now and just see some of the highlights. Thanks for sharing your observations especially about the play! Kathy, that had to be so dramatic when you went! Wow!

  • I have a question for CVC. Since we will be returning to the states early July from Munich, I was wondering how did you complete the covid testing? We will be staying at the Weston Grand Munich. Great photos. Thanks for sharing.

  • capted
    2:18PM
    I have a question for CVC. Since we will be returning to the states early July from Munich, I was wondering how did you complete the covid testing? We will be staying at the Weston Grand Munich. Great photos. Thanks for sharing.

    Things could change by then- you might not need the test, but don't worry if you still need to be tested. On both tours we did this spring, our Tauck TD made arrangements or provided points of contact for those doing a post-stay who needed later testing. Unless you are traveling to another city, don't worry about it. We stayed an extra day at the end of Jordan & Egypt, but were leaving early in the morning for a private excursion. We arranged with the doctor to be tested even earlier.

  • Thank you, cvc, for the detailed reports. They are most informative and helpful. We are leaving in a week and a half for the westbound Heart of the Danube with Oberammergau play, which is the first trip for this tour. We have a couple of days in Budapest before the tour begins. If anyone has information about what to do in Budapest, we will appreciate it. I'll try to post during or after the trip to help others on future trips. Also, if anyone has comments on MS Joy, please post them. If anyone is on the trip beginning July 20, we are interested in hearing from you and meeting you on board the ship.

  • Besides the Passion Play, Budapest was our favorite part of the tour. Our hotel was on the Pest side. We had Covid for part of the time, but could take walks outside if we wore masks. It's enjoyable just to walk around. We walked to the Shoes on the Danube Promenade. The Parliament was very near so we walked around the Parliament but did not take a tour of it (2nd picture). Once we tested negative, we also went to St. Stephan's Basilica, the Dohany Street Synagogue (third picture) and the House of Terror. The Synagogue was beautiful. We are not Jewish so found the museum very interesting as it explained some of the beliefs/customs. I wasn't at all sure what I would think of the House of Terror, but it was a moving experience. They had recorded stories from those who had lived through those times throughout the building - really an oral history. There are also written sheets in most of the rooms that explain what you are seeing. We also went to the Great Market Hall. It looks like you will visit Heroe's Square and the Fishermen's Bastion as part of your tour. There are great views of the Parliament Building from Fishermen's Bastion - that's the last picture I posted. Have fun - I think you will love Budapest!



  • MMMJRH - we also booked a one-hour evening cruise that would take us by the Parliament Building as well as some other sites. We thought seeing some of those places lit up after dark (we booked the 9PM cruise) would be really cool. Unfortunately, we had to cancel that because of our Covid.

  • We too toured the synagogue in our free time and were so impressed. Wished we had longer but had to run back to the hotel to head for the ship. The great market is interesting - designed by Eiffel. Food shopping on the lower level is good for paprika. Souvenirs upstairs a bit tacky and disappointing. Our ship was docked really close to the market so an easy walk between the two.

  • Thanks to cvc and Claudia for the very helpful information. The pictures posted by cvc are great. We plan on visiting some of these places. We also have booked through Viator a half-day wine-tasting tour to Etyek.

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