Options
Blue Danube
Wishing we could do Salzburg and Cesky Krumlov, it I understnd why we can’t. We have been to Salzburg years ago & did a lot of Sound of Music tours and loved what we saw. We went to CK on another river cruise in 2018 and loved the history, but the others going with us haven’t been to either. Has anyone done this after Covid? How was the tour of Salzburg? We would love to know what is on that tour. TIA.
0
Comments
Which tour are you looking at?
We were on Blue Danube, eastbound and did both. We hired a private guide to take us (a group of 7) to Cesky Krumlov from Prague before the start of the tour. On Day 5 we took the Tauck full day excursion from Linz to Salzburg (which we had seen before during Ultimate Alps). According to what we experienced and were told by a Tauck TD, we were able to spend more time in CK than if we had taken the excursion with Tauck. We actually arrived in CK at the same time as a bus from a westbound Blue Danube boat, but they were long gone before we left to return to Prague. The only negative was that our van trip from Prague was longer than the bus from Linz.
Wondering about Sound of Music excursions from the Ms Joy, Danube ccruise, any info? Thanks!
I visited CK in October 2021 on the Blue Danube eastbound tour on the MS Joy. I loved the town, but I really wished we had more time there. I did join a few others for a sit-down lunch. Grabbing something quick to eat would certainly have provided more time. I very much enjoyed the tour with the local guide.
Alan, do you recall who you used for the tour of CK? We’re looking at doing the same. Thx.
PragueWalker https://www.praguewalker.com/ - we also used them for a tour of the Prague Jewish Quarter so we could take the other Tauck option. They are great to work with and extremely accommodating. We had the same guide, Tereza, for both tours. She was fantastic. Rick Steves recommends them- the owner is featured in one of his Prague episodes.
Thanks, Alan!
Salzburg specifics: You will leave Linz around 8 or a little after. It is about an hour and a half. You will stop at a rest stop 30 minutes prior to arriving in Salzburg. Nicest rest stop I have ever seen. The bus will park on the opposite side of the river where you will meet your tour guide. From there you will walk through part of the Mirabellgarten. You then cross the pedestrian bridge full of locks-Makartsteg Bridge. You walk down the main shopping street past Mozart's birthplace and end at the Salzburg Cathedral. You will not go into any buildings. After which you have three hours to explore and have lunch on your own. We met up around 3 and headed back to the bus. We did not stop on the way back. In our free time we went to the castle/fortress and on the way down stopped at the Stiegkeller for an outdoor lunch and beer overlooking the city. Did a little shopping and had plenty of time to get back to the meeting point.
We did do the Praguewalker Jewish town tour and it was great. I did a separate post several month back on Prague tips that you may find helpful
We basically missed this stop. There were four of us traveling together, but half of the ship caught a virus. My friend and I were were fine, but both of our wives were down for the count for about forty eight hours. Tauck did give us some compensation for that. But, we missed the ‘Sound of Music”.
Ben, are you saying that Salzburg is mostly on our own without a guide?
The first 2 hours is with a local tour guide where you walk from the bus through the town to the cathedral. It gives you the basic information. The next 3 hours you will be on your own.