Tours

Our Time in Bucharest, Romania

Posted on June 20, 2026 by 2btravel

Passage to Eastern Europe: Trip Introduction
Flight Review: LOT Polish Airlines 797-9 Business Class, ORD-WAW
Lodging Review: Hampton by Hilton Krakow
Our Time in Krakow, Poland
Flixbus from Krakow to Budapest
Lodging Review: Corinthia Budapest Hotel
Our Time in Budapest, Hungary
Our Time in Kalocsa, Hungary
Our Time in Osijek and Vukovar, Croatia
Our Time in Belgrade, Serbia
Our Time in Golubac, Serbia
Our Time in Vidin, Bulgaria
Our Time in Ruse, Bulgaria
Our Time in Bucharest, Romania
Lodging Review: JW Marriott Bucharest Grand Hotel
Flight Review: SWISS Airlines 777-300 ZRH-ORD

With Bulgaria and Romania being separated by the Danube, our ship didn’t have far to reposition during our last evening on board. We simply crossed the river and docked at the town of Giurgiu, Romania. The following morning we packed up our suitcases and the Viking crew took care of all of our bags while we boarded motor coaches for the drive inland to Bucharest, our final stop. Depending on traffic, it’s roughly a 70 to 90-minute drive to the country’s capital.

Romanian National Opera House

Our first stop was the home of both the Romanian National Opera and Ballet companies. The Romanian National Opera was founded in 1877 and in 1953 this building was created as their permanent home. The first opera to be performed was Tchaikovsky’s The Queen of Spades. On the next night, the first ballet performance of the company, Coppélia, took place at the same theater.

Photo credit: opera-online.com

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Categories: Cruises, Europe, Historical Site, River Cruise, Romania, Tours, Trip Report, Viking | Tags: , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Our Time in Ruse, Bulgaria

Posted on June 19, 2026 by 2btravel

Passage to Eastern Europe: Trip Introduction
Flight Review: LOT Polish Airlines 797-9 Business Class, ORD-WAW
Lodging Review: Hampton by Hilton Krakow
Our Time in Krakow, Poland
Flixbus from Krakow to Budapest
Lodging Review: Corinthia Budapest Hotel
Our Time in Budapest, Hungary
Our Time in Kalocsa, Hungary
Our Time in Osijek and Vukovar, Croatia
Our Time in Belgrade, Serbia
Our Time in Golubac, Serbia
Our Time in Vidin, Bulgaria
Our Time in Ruse, Bulgaria
Our Time in Bucharest, Romania
Lodging Review: JW Marriott Bucharest Grand Hotel
Flight Review: SWISS Airlines 777-300 ZRH-ORD

While the ship docked in Ruse, Bulgaria (pronounced like ROO-say by our Bulgarian tour director), we did not spend any time in the immediate area. Instead we boarded motor coaches and, after a rest stop, our first real cultural site was the Konstantsalieva house in the town of Arbanasi (ar-bahn-AH-see). After that we stopped by the amazing Church of the Nativity, followed by a lunch stop and ended our tour at the Tsarevets Fortress.

Arbansi was considered a “privileged settlement” during the Ottoman rule that began in 1396. That meant it had certain tax exemptions and bit of autonomy because its residents provided certain military-related services. This status attracted wealthy merchants, craftsmen, and clergy and they, in turn, built fortified homes and ornate churches.

Konstantsalieva House

This house dates to the late 1600s, right in the middle of the Ottoman rule which lasted for five centuries. It’s a home typical of a wealthy Christian: the thick stone walls and small windows provide a defensive front, it has an inner courtyard for privacy, it’s fairly unassuming from the street view, yet inside it’s rather lavishly decorated with a Turkish flair.

Photo: museumvt.com

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Categories: Bulgaria, Europe, Historical Site, River Cruise, Tours, Trip Report | Tags: , , , , , | Leave a comment

Our Time in Vidin, Bulgaria

Posted on June 18, 2026 by 2btravel

Passage to Eastern Europe: Trip Introduction
Flight Review: LOT Polish Airlines 797-9 Business Class, ORD-WAW
Lodging Review: Hampton by Hilton Krakow
Our Time in Krakow, Poland
Flixbus from Krakow to Budapest
Lodging Review: Corinthia Budapest Hotel
Our Time in Budapest, Hungary
Our Time in Kalocsa, Hungary
Our Time in Osijek and Vukovar, Croatia
Our Time in Belgrade, Serbia
Our Time in Golubac, Serbia
Our Time in Vidin, Bulgaria
Our Time in Ruse, Bulgaria
Our Time in Bucharest, Romania
Lodging Review: JW Marriott Bucharest Grand Hotel
Flight Review: SWISS Airlines 777-300 ZRH-ORD

We awoke to another beautiful day docked in the town of Vidin, Bulgaria. Our excursions on this day would lead us to a couple of fortresses, the Belogradchik Rocks & Fortress in the morning and the Baba Vida Fortress in the afternoon. The second half of the afternoon tour was a wine tasting that my friend enjoyed but, since I don’t drink alcohol, did nothing for me. I don’t have photos of that because we basically just sat in a large room where the other trip participants sampled the wine.

Belogradchik Rocks and Fortress

As you can see, this reconstructed fortress is truly imposing. The earliest version of a fort here was during the Roman empire when it was used primarily for surveillance. The designers incorporated much of the huge rocks into the design so that fortified walls only had to be constructed in a few places. There are three separate yards, each connected by gates, inside the walls.

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Categories: Bulgaria, Cruises, Europe, Historical Site, Tours, Trip Report, Viking | Tags: , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Our Time in Golubac, Serbia

Posted on June 17, 2026 by 2btravel

Passage to Eastern Europe: Trip Introduction
Flight Review: LOT Polish Airlines 797-9 Business Class, ORD-WAW
Lodging Review: Hampton by Hilton Krakow
Our Time in Krakow, Poland
Flixbus from Krakow to Budapest
Lodging Review: Corinthia Budapest Hotel
Our Time in Budapest, Hungary
Our Time in Kalocsa, Hungary
Our Time in Osijek and Vukovar, Croatia
Our Time in Belgrade, Serbia
Our Time in Golubac, Serbia
Our Time in Vidin, Bulgaria
Our Time in Ruse, Bulgaria
Our Time in Bucharest, Romania
Lodging Review: JW Marriott Bucharest Grand Hotel
Flight Review: SWISS Airlines 777-300 ZRH-ORD

The overcast skies that put a (literal) damper on our visit to Belgrade were nowhere to be seen when we awoke the following morning in Golubac, Serbia. The pronunciation of the city name was not intuitive to me as it is pronounced GOH-loo-bats. Naturally I wanted the final syllable to sound like “ack” but the Serbians choose to pronounce it differently!

Golubac Fortress

When we exited the boat, we only had to glance to our left to see our first stop for the day. The magnificent Golubac Fortress sits right on the Danube and is just everything you want a medieval fortress to be. Tall, seemingly impregnable walls, crenelated towers, built into the side of a rocky hill, you name it, it’s there, just a few hundred yards from where our ship docked.

Built in the 14th century by the Medieval Serbian state on the site of a former Roman settlement it saw action in numerous battles as various nations sought ownership. Over the years it has belonged to the Ottoman Empire, the Kingdom of Hungary, the Turks, the Bulgarians, the Hungarians (again), the Serbs (again), and the Austrians before being turned over to the Serbian king in 1867. Continue reading →

Categories: Cruises, Europe, Historical Site, Serbia, Tours, Trip Report, Viking | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Our Time in Belgrade, Serbia

Posted on June 16, 2026 by 2btravel

Passage to Eastern Europe: Trip Introduction
Flight Review: LOT Polish Airlines 797-9 Business Class, ORD-WAW
Lodging Review: Hampton by Hilton Krakow
Our Time in Krakow, Poland
Flixbus from Krakow to Budapest
Lodging Review: Corinthia Budapest Hotel
Our Time in Budapest, Hungary
Our Time in Kalocsa, Hungary
Our Time in Osijek and Vukovar, Croatia
Our Time in Belgrade, Serbia
Our Time in Golubac, Serbia
Our Time in Vidin, Bulgaria
Our Time in Ruse, Bulgaria
Our Time in Bucharest, Romania
Lodging Review: JW Marriott Bucharest Grand Hotel
Flight Review: SWISS Airlines 777-300 ZRH-ORD

We had a rainy day in Belgrade but fortunately the rain either stopped completely or let up quite a bit during most portions of our city tour.

Kalemegdan Park

Our first stop was Kalemegdan Park. It’s the largest park in the city and was once the town field within Belgrade Fortress. It’s situated on a cliff that overlooks the confluence of the Danube and Sava Rivers. As we made our way to and through the fortress we came across this statue call the Monument to the Gratitude of France. It celebrates the cooperation of Serbia and France at the end of World War I and in its aftermath. Continue reading →

Categories: Cruises, Europe, River Cruise, Serbia, Tours, Trip Report, Viking | Tags: , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Our Time in Osijek and Vukovar, Croatia

Posted on June 15, 2026 by 2btravel

Passage to Eastern Europe: Trip Introduction
Flight Review: LOT Polish Airlines 797-9 Business Class, ORD-WAW
Lodging Review: Hampton by Hilton Krakow
Our Time in Krakow, Poland
Flixbus from Krakow to Budapest
Lodging Review: Corinthia Budapest Hotel
Our Time in Budapest, Hungary
Our Time in Kalocsa, Hungary
Our Time in Osijek and Vukovar, Croatia
Our Time in Belgrade, Serbia
Our Time in Golubac, Serbia
Our Time in Vidin, Bulgaria
Our Time in Ruse, Bulgaria
Our Time in Bucharest, Romania
Lodging Review: JW Marriott Bucharest Grand Hotel
Flight Review: SWISS Airlines 777-300 ZRH-ORD

While we’d been to Croatia before, it was always on the country’s west coast. Twice we’d visited Dubrovnik and the surrounding area and on our last Mediterranean cruise we’d had an unscheduled stop in Zadar. Our port on this date was Vukovar (VOO-koh-var) which is in the far eastern part of the country. We’d also visit Osijek (OH-see-yeck) which was not terribly far away on the Drava River. Our included morning tour saw our boat’s passengers divided into four groups. Two groups visited local residents first while the other two groups visited a local church and then the groups swapped activities.

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Categories: Croatia, Cruises, Europe, Historical Site, River Cruise, Tours, Trip Report, Viking | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Our Time in Kalocsa, Hungary

Posted on June 13, 2026 by 2btravel

Passage to Eastern Europe: Trip Introduction
Flight Review: LOT Polish Airlines 797-9 Business Class, ORD-WAW
Lodging Review: Hampton by Hilton Krakow
Our Time in Krakow, Poland
Flixbus from Krakow to Budapest
Lodging Review: Corinthia Budapest Hotel
Our Time in Budapest, Hungary
Our Time in Kalocsa, Hungary
Our Time in Osijek and Vukovar, Croatia
Our Time in Belgrade, Serbia
Our Time in Golubac, Serbia
Our Time in Vidin, Bulgaria
Our Time in Ruse, Bulgaria
Our Time in Bucharest, Romania
Lodging Review: JW Marriott Bucharest Grand Hotel
Flight Review: SWISS Airlines 777-300 ZRH-ORD

After our first night aboard the Viking Ullr we docked in Kalocsa, Hungary which is only about 1.5 hours south of Budapest by car but of course we were floating leisurely down the Danube. We boarded a motorcoach and for about 20 minutes we wound our way through farmland and the town of Kalocsa, which has a population of about 16,000 people. We then turned by this sign for the Bakodpuszta Horse Farm. Continue reading →

Categories: Cruises, Europe, Historical Site, Hungary, River Cruise, Tours, Viking | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Our Time in Budapest, Hungary

Posted on June 12, 2026 by 2btravel

Passage to Eastern Europe: Trip Introduction
Flight Review: LOT Polish Airlines 797-9 Business Class, ORD-WAW
Lodging Review: Hampton by Hilton Krakow
Our Time in Krakow, Poland
Flixbus from Krakow to Budapest
Lodging Review: Corinthia Budapest Hotel
Our Time in Budapest, Hungary
Our Time in Kalocsa, Hungary
Our Time in Osijek and Vukovar, Croatia
Our Time in Belgrade, Serbia
Our Time in Golubac, Serbia
Our Time in Vidin, Bulgaria
Our Time in Ruse, Bulgaria
Our Time in Bucharest, Romania
Lodging Review: JW Marriott Bucharest Grand Hotel
Flight Review: SWISS Airlines 777-300 ZRH-ORD

Since we’d visited Budapest before by staying over for a couple of days after our 2016 Danube cruise, we weren’t in any hurry to try to see a lot of things. So after arriving at the Corinthia, we threw our dirty clothes in a bag and headed for the closest laundromat. Not very exciting, but quite practical.

The next day a city tour was included with our tour package. We decided to go along just in case it covered something we hadn’t seen before, but of course it did not. But that was fine. At least we didn’t have to pay for a taxi or Uber to take us up to Buda.

Heroes’ Square

We drove around a bit on the Pest side first, pausing at Heroes’ Square for in-bus photos. But the Archangel Gabriel, normally found on top of the column in the square, had been taken down for cleaning (or something) so while the photo below is decent enough for being inside the bus, I much prefer the photo I took in 2016 when we visited the square on foot.  Visit the referenced post if you want to see it.

Heroes’ Square

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Categories: Cruises, Europe, Hungary, River Cruise, Tours, UNESCO World Heritage Site, Viking | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Our Time in Oslo

Posted on December 7, 2024 by 2btravel

Introduction: Late Summer in Scandinavia
Flight Review: American Airlines B737-800 First Class, MEM-DFW
Flight Review: Finnair A350-900 Business Class, DFW-HEL
Flight Review: Finnair E190 Business Class, HEL-CPH
Lodging Review: Fairfield by Marriott Copenhagen Nordhavn
Our Time in Copenhagen
Lodging Review: Best Western Hotel Hebron, Copenhagen
Lodging Review: Next House, Copenhagen
Lodging Review: Story Hotel Studio Malmö
Our Time in Malmö and Ystad, Sweden
Lodging Review: IKEA Hotell, Älmhult, Sweden
Our Time in Älmhult, Sweden and High-Speed Train to Stockholm
Lodging Review: Motel L Älvsjö, Stockholm
Our Time in Stockholm
Flight Review: SAS A320neo Economy Class, ARN-OSL
Lodging Review: Comfort Hotel Grand Central, Oslo
Our Time in Oslo
Lounge Review: SAS Lounge, Oslo airport
Flight Review: Lufthansa A320-200 Business Class, OSL-FRA
Flight Review: Lufthansa 787-9 Business Class, FRA-MSP
Flight Review: Delta B737-800 First Class, MSP-MEM

I really enjoyed Oslo. The weather was ever so slightly cooler than at our other stops but it was still warm enough that locals were enjoying dips in the fjord – though they were happy to have the huts to pop into once they got out of the water! I would enjoy going back some time with a car so we could get out from the city center a bit.

How we got around the city

While the city does have good public transportation, we bought a 48-hour ticket for the hop-on/hop-off bus to use as our primary transport. That’s because some of the places we wanted to see were either not very close to public transport or would have taken a combination of trams and buses to get there and the tourist bus basically hit all the things we wanted to see.

The train station from Karl Johan’s Gate.
Oslo City Street

There was a major tram and city bus stop just outside our hotel, which itself was attached to the train station. While there is a hop-on/hop-off bus stop near the opera house, which we could see from the hotel, it was one of the later stops in the loop, so it was nearly lunch time before the bus made it to that stop. Continue reading →

Categories: Europe, Norway, Tours, Trip Report | Tags: , , , , | Leave a comment

Our Time in Venice, Italy

Posted on January 5, 2024 by 2btravel

Trip Report: Athens and a Mediterranean Cruise
Lounge Reviews: The Club CLT and Centurion Lounge Charlotte Airport
Flight Review: Lufthansa A340-600 Charlotte-Munich
Lodging Review: Academias Hotel, Autograph Collection, Athens
Our Time in Athens, Part I (Acropolis and Museum)
Our Time in Athens, Part II (Roman Agora, Hadrian’s Library, Ancient Agora)
Our Time in Athens, Part III (Kerameikos, Temple of Zeus, Panathenaic Stadium)
Our Time in Athens, Part IV (Restaurants and Observations)
Ship Review: Viking Neptune
Our Time in Ancient Olympia (Katakalon, Greece)
Our Time in Corfu, Greece
Our Time in Kotor, Montenegro
Our Time in Dubrovnik, Croatia
Our Time in Zadar, Croatia
Our Time in Venice, Italy
Flight Review: Iberia A330-300 Madrid-Chicago

As is usual on Viking cruises, they try to sell you on another cruise while you’re on the current one, offering special incentives to do so. My friends and I have a system for selecting our international vacations: whoever has a birthday ending in a 5 or 0 gets to pick the destination. That covers six out of every 10 years, so it works for us. 2025 is my choice and I’d had my eye on Viking’s Passage to Eastern Europe river cruise which runs between Budapest, Hungary and Bucharest, Romania. When we checked with the on-board travel consultant we learned that we could book this cruise for just $25 down and it didn’t have to be paid off until six months before the sailing. That was huge for me as normally the cruises have to be paid off in 2-3 months. So we went ahead and booked this cruise for $25 and that gave us 18 months to pay. When we added in our past-traveler discounts and our on-board booking discounts, that took another $600 off the price. Plus we got shipboard credit for our current cruise and additional shipboard credit for the one we’d just booked. Want to join us? Click on the link at the top of the page for more info.

Since we’d had an overnight port of call in Venice on our previous Mediterranean cruise back in 2008, our original plan was to skip the included tour and just wander around ourselves. That was something we’d really enjoyed doing the first time around. But now we had shipboard credit to spend. We could have stuck to the plan and used the credits to cover crew tips and some small purchases but where’s the fun in that? Instead we used it to book The Island and the Abbey tour, which took us to the island of Murano and then to the Church of San Giorgio Maggiore as we’d not visited either of time in our previous time in the area. Continue reading →

Categories: Cruises, Europe, Historical Site, Italy, Tours, Trip Report, UNESCO World Heritage Site, Viking | Tags: , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

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