Magnificent Europe 2016

This 3-week tour included a 2-day stopover in Singapore on our way to Europe. We used the Hop-On, Hop-Off bus to tour the city, enjoyed a Singapore Gin Sling at the famous Raffles Hotel, dinner by the Marina to watch the spectacular Sound and Light show, went to ChinaTown and enjoyed a bit of retail therapy. We flew on to Amsterdam and spent the next day at the famous Keukenhof Gardens. Over 7000 (mainly) tulip bulbs are planted (3 per hole) each year so there are flowers for the entire time the Gardens are open.

The following day we joined the APT River Cruise ship MS Amabella for the 15-day Magnificent Europe sailing. Our first day on board was spent seeing tourist attractions around Amsterdam, and we went to Zannse Schans, a re-created village showcasing all the different styles of housing in the Nederlands. We rejoined the ship further down the Dutch waterway and entered the River Rhine. That evening we enjoyed a private function at Namedy Castle with a piano recital after a sumptuous dinner. We cruised through the spectacular Rhine Gorge stopping off in Rudesheim after lunch. We sailed on until we turned into the River Main.

The remainder of the trip we stopped at picturesque villages, towns and cities along the River Main, then into the Main-Danube canal, and finally into the Danube River, finishing our cruise in Budapest. Highlights along the way included tasting “Rauchbier” a smokey flavoured beer in Bamberg, catching the restored Royal train, The Imperator to Salzburg, a concert in a private castle in Vienna, watching the training at the Spanish Riding School, also in Vienna, horsemanship show at the Bodor Major farm and night cruise looking at the city lights of the Buda and Pest sides of the river in Budapest.

The Magnificent Europe cruise passes through 620 nautical miles of rivers, through 68 locks and travels through 5 countries and is a truly amazing experience. After we disembarked from the cruise, we travelled to the Budapest Railway Station where we caught the train to Prague, Czech Republic.

We spent the next 3 days here enjoying a morning walking tour of the city, a 3-course dinner at a Czech Beer Hall and exploring the city on our own. We then flew from Prague, back through Singapore (transit stop only) and back to NZ.