Vienna, Bohemia & Treasures of the Danube River Cruise for Solo Travellers - MS Thomas Hardy
Holiday Highlights
- Change your booking free up to 45 days before travel
- Covid Cancellation protection included as standard
- Happy by day two or we'll bring you home with a full refund
- Nine visits and guided tours including Vienna, Regensburg and Linz; full day excursion to Český Krumlov with guided tour; guided tour of Göttweig Abbey; and visits to Krems, Passau, Aldersbach Abbey and Schönbrunn Palace
- Seven nights on board in your choice of luxury cabin or suite, with river views
- All meals on board from dinner on your day of arrival through to breakfast on your day of departure, including a welcome dinner and the Captain’s Dinner
- A packed lunch during the full day trip to Český Krumlov
- Live classical recital on board
- Complimentary on-board tea and coffee
- Complimentary on-board Wi-Fi
- Five-star service from an English-speaking crew and knowledgeable local guides
- No surcharges guaranteed
- ABTA, ATOL and IATA protection
What's Included
- Prices are per person based on one person in a twin cabin for sole occupancy. The price includes:
- Full board from dinner on your day of arrival until breakfast on your final day; if you choose to travel with us on any of the full day excursions by coach, a packed lunch will be provided. Anyone choosing to stay on the ship may of course have lunch in the restaurant
- Morning/afternoon tea and coffee
- All visits and excursions as mentioned
- Airport transfers
- Coach travel as mentioned
- Travel to and from port of embarkation
- The services of a Riviera Travel cruise director & concierge
Itinerary
Day 1
You fly to Vienna, where a coach takes you to your river cruise ship, moored in this spectacular city. On arrival the professional friendly crew welcome you on board as you familiarise yourself with the ship and settle in to your cabin. Reconvene with your fellow travelling companions in the bar before tonight’s excellent dinner in the elegant restaurant.
Day 2
The Viennese have a reputation for ‘Gemütlichkeit’, quite literally ‘cosiness’, and there can be fewer European capitals more supremely nostalgic or elegantly civilised than Vienna. The imperial grandeur of its magnificent architecture speaks for itself – awash with dazzling palaces, grand avenues fringed with fine baroque facades and a majestic cathedral amongst a tangle of historic streets. Home to world-class art collections, museums, orchestras and opera, its cultural heritage is equally extraordinary with countless composers such as Mozart, Strauss and Haydn, all inextricably linked to this ‘City of Music’. Like so many other European cities, Vienna has been fought over since Roman times, with varying tribes throughout the centuries leaving their mark, until the arrival of the Habsburgs in 1278, who despite two Turkish sieges then ruled for 640 years. During its golden age, which ended in 1918 with the collapse of the empire, Vienna became a cultural centre and the city’s coffee houses were crammed with artists and intellectuals from all over Europe. The first foreign capital to fall to the Nazis during World War II, then remaining under allied occupation for the following decade, today Vienna serves as one of the headquarters of the United Nations. Surprisingly compact, at the heart you’ll find the colossal landmark Gothic Saint Stephen’s Cathedral with its striking multicoloured roof. Former royal court of the Habsburgs, the vast Hofburg, now a complex of excellent museums and galleries, also houses the crown jewels and the world-famous Vienna Boys’ Choir and Spanish Riding School. On our guided tour we will see some of the many sights and enjoy an insight into Viennese life with our local guide. There’s some free time to explore under your own steam before returning to the ship for lunch. This afternoon our cruising commences, so head up on to the sun deck to take in the glorious views from the comfort of a sun lounger as we get our first tantalising glimpses of the lush green slopes of the Danube Valley, sprinkled with sleepy little towns - clusters of red roofs swarming around a pretty baroque church spire. Wooded hills give way to wide fields of maize and sunflowers, and the carefully tended terraces of the region’s vineyards, famed for their wine. During tonight’s dinner we arrive in the medieval town of Krems, after which retire to the lounge to enjoy a live classical recital.
Click here to step inside with our 360° virtual tour of the MS Thomas Hardy
After years of painstaking research to create the most perfect vessels afloat, a new era in river cruising dawns as we introduce our brand new, state of the art, ‘all suite’ ships. Swiss operated and truly world-class, we are absolutely delighted to present the five-star MS Thomas Hardy.
It is extremely difficult to convey just how extraordinary this outstanding ship really is and exactly what distinguishes it from similar vessels. It would be very easy to just say ‘luxurious’ but it’s much more than that; we have deliberately avoided the current trend for a minimalist style where you could be anywhere in the world, creating instead a unique yet exquisite blend of understated taste, style and elegance at the highest level. Immediately striking is just how exceptionally spacious this new vessel is as you enter a gleaming, richly coloured marble-floored lobby flooded with natural light from a stunning atrium above. Moving inside, exceptional creativity from Europe’s finest design studio has produced a superbly balanced masterpiece of onboard style, utilising sustainable rich hardwoods, gleaming brass and polished copper, sparkling glass and intricate wrought iron. The ship is beautifully illuminated throughout – including the exterior and imaginatively furnished with harmonious colour schemes, all designed to create the serene atmosphere reflective of the golden age of cruising which time after time you tell us you adore.
The restaurant rivals the finest on shore establishments taking fine dining to another level complemented by delicate European porcelain, gleaming glassware and the intuitive service in which the Swiss excel. This superb vessel carries 44 in-house trained crew members serving just 167guests (similar size vessels may carrywell over 190 passengers) giving the ratio which our experience proves is concurrent with our first class service levels.
Furthermore your suite will easily exceed your expectations for not only will you enjoy the most discerning décor, so too the ship’s dimensions afford the ultimate in space and comfort - a minimum 17 square metres (183 square feet), with upgrades available to ‘Superior’ and ‘Deluxe’ accommodation.