Serbia’s Golubac Castle dominates this part of the Danube River, as seen from the deck of the Viking River Cruises Neptune. Photo by Gene Korte

Our odyssey on the second longest river in Europe began in Vienna and it took us seamlessly through five countries of the former Soviet bloc. Unexpectedly, the shoreline was mostly pastoral and tree-lined with only the occasional town or city. And of the metropolises on the river’s edge, Budapest with its architectural splendors was the most stunning.

The Viking River Neptune, our home for 14 days, is a well-organized, bright and friendly floating hotel with first-rate food and wait staff. Menus often matched our locales, giving us a taste of each country through daily fish, vegetarian and meat entrees at lunch and dinner. We found this ship perfect for travelers like us who are looking for a comfortable classy way to see new parts of the world with a minimum of international travel fuss. The always-interesting daily bus excursions were included in the trip price and we unpacked our luggage just once, and thankfully the ship’s crew took care of all our passport details in and out of each country.

Award-winning Viking River Cruises offers scenic cruising in 19 vessels along the rivers of Europe, Russia, China, Southeast Asia and Egypt.

…