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Since 1992, it has been possible for
river vessels to sail 3500km from Amsterdam, on the North
Sea, to Romania and Bulgaria, on the Black Sea, thanks to
the completion of the 171 km canal linking the Main and Danube
rivers. We were lucky enough to sail half of that distance
in 2003 (from Vienna to the Black Sea) and have always wanted
to do the other half. Eleven years later, we have now done
it and we loved it! Most of the villages and cities along
the route have existed for hundreds of years. The culture,
history and architecture of the settlements, combined with
the spectacular natural beauty of the vineyards, farms, and
rolling hills along the river, made it a wonderful cruise.
We sailed along the Danube, Main, and Rhine Rivers and through
the Main-Danube Canal. We cruised for two weeks on two delightful
river vessels, the Scenic Diamond and the Scenic Sapphire
(more about that later!), visiting four major European cities
(Budapest, Vienna, Cologne and Amsterdam) and 11 towns and
villages along the rivers. We also passed through 68 locks
as our ships crossed the continental divide of Europe. Our
cruise covered 1856 km. |
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