Posts Tagged With: City Tour

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: Bucaresti, Bucharest, City Tour, Europe, Historical Site, River Cruise, Romania, Tours, Trip Report, Viking | Leave a comment

Our Time in Belgrade, Serbia

Posted on June 16, 2026 by 2btravel

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: Belgrade, City Tour, Fortress, Nemcek, River Cruise, Serbia, Tour, Viking, Viking Ullur, Violin | Leave a comment

Our Time in Budapest, Hungary

Posted on June 12, 2026 by 2btravel

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: Buda Castle, Budapest, City Tour, Europe, Fisherman's Bastion, Gödöllő, Hungary, Matthias Church, Parliament, River Cruise, Tour, UNESCO World Heritage Site | 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: City Tour, Europe, Norway, Oslo, Trip Report | Leave a comment

Our Time in Stockholm

Posted on December 4, 2024 by 2btravel

Our German friend joined us in Stockholm. Not only had she arrived a day early, she had been to Stockholm before so she was a big help in navigating the city and public transport.

Here are some of the places we visited.

ABBA Museum

I remember when ABBA’s music was in primary rotation back in the 1970s. Later they became the butt of jokes as music of that era was looked down upon. But they surfaced again first with the play and then the film of “Mamma Mia” and now they’re revered as classics. I’d been told that the museum was well done and a lot of fun and I think that’s a fair assessment. There are lots of costumes, musical instruments, and other displays.

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Categories: Europe, Sweden, Trip Report | Tags: ABBA Museum, City Tour, Europe, Harbour Cruise, Stockholm, Sweden, Trip Report | Leave a comment

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Posts Tagged With: City Tour

Our Time in Bucharest, Romania

Romanian National Opera House

Our Time in Belgrade, Serbia

Kalemegdan Park

Our Time in Budapest, Hungary

Heroes’ Square

Our Time in Oslo

How we got around the city

Our Time in Stockholm

ABBA Museum

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