River Cruise
Taking in castles and vineyards, historic villages and picturesque valleys, Natasha Dragun enjoys the leisurely look at life along the Danube on board Uniworld’s boutique river ship SS Beatrice.
A leisurely look at life on the Danube on board a boutique vessel.
IT’S 11AM ON the Danube, and I’m sipping my third glass of wine. The first two – champagne – were enjoyed over a breakfast of cheese-andpeach strudel aboard the SS Beatrice, while gazing at blink-and-you’ll-miss-them villages that appear to have slipped from the pages of a fairytale. “When you’re in this part of Europe, surrounded by historic vineyards, wine time should not be dictated by a clock,” says Jaan, my dapper white-gloved waiter. It’s the most agreeable thing I’ve heard in days, and I don’t resist his efforts to refill my glass.
Such is the service aboard this boutique Uniworld river ship, which first floated on Europe’s second-longest river in 2009. Over the past decade, the intimate 125-metre cruiser has transported thousands of passengers between Budapest and Passau, a pretty Bavarian city at the confluence of three rivers. While the journey has always been one of comfort, the style stakes were raised last year when Beatrice was sent to dry dock to become a ‘Super Ship’: essentially, a more glamorous model of the original, with all 76 cabins and public spaces given a complete makeover.
From bow to stern, Beatrice now sports a yacht-like elegance, her nautical palette of blue and white given a Scandi edge thanks to plenty of blonde wood and natural light throughout. The lobby is as grand as they come, featuring a Murano chandelier, marbled floors, a dramatic staircase and original art by the likes of Pablo Picasso. When I retreat to my suite, I find gilded mirrors and plush linens, cashmere blankets and a flatscreen TV – not that I’ll need it, as my floor-toceiling windows and French balcony provide ample eye-candy.
Truth be told, Beatrice is more luxury hotel than traditional river ship. It comes as no surprise to learn her design comes courtesy of sister company Red Carnation, which oversees some of the most glamorous accommodation offerings in the world: think the Twelve Apostles in Cape Town and Ashford Castle in Ireland.
RAMBLING RIVER
The Danube begins in Germany’s Black Forest, where the Brigach and Breg rivers converge in Donaueschingen. It ends at the Black Sea, some 2,850 kilometres to the southeast, passing through 10 countries and countless cities, towns and villages along the way. Our journey from Budapest to Passau is only around
550 kilometres by road; less by river. But the Beatrice is in no rush to arrive in Germany, and takes seven nights to cover the distance.
I board the ship with 100 other passengers in the Hungarian capital, where the Danube splits the city into Buda (the hills) on the west bank, and Pest (the flatlands) on the east. Before we depart, I spend a day exploring World Heritage-listed buildings and crooked cobbled streets that spill down to the Hungarian Parliament – an incredible example of Gothic Revival architecture, and the only reason all Beatrice passengers need to converge on the top deck.
One of the joys of river cruising is the permanent glimpse of shore – on the Danube, this means that Budapest’s russet-roofed
houses and glorious Art Nouveau untibuildingsbuildingsremainourbackdropuntil the sun sets and cocktail hour beckons in the bar. Staff pass around heavy silver bowls of peanuts and pretzels, and gush over guests dressed in lacy gowns and bow-tied suits. We sip Bellinis and politely applaud the ship’s pianist, who serenades us with everything from the theme tune from
Chariots of Fire to Come Fly with Me. And then we make our way to the dinner table to eat some more.
While we sleep, Beatrice slips under bridges and through locks, leaving Hungary behind and entering Slovakian and Austrian waters. I wake to fifind the river has widened, with a variety of traffific now joining us on the water: wooden fifishing boats, a coal barge, another passenger ship. We drift past the highlands of Dunántúl and the Danube-Ipoly National Park; on the top deck I pull out binoculars to get a closer look at centuries-old stone villages with names like Dömös and Visegrád.
When not spent boat- or village-spotting, hours on SS Beatrice are broken with lectures and spa treatments – and lots of food. Breakfasts are indulgent spreads involving pastries and creamy scrambled eggs; lunch might feature Hungarian goulash, liptauer (a spicy Austrian cheese spread) slathered on warm rye, or, when we reach Germany, bratwurst sausages washed down with tall glasses of pilsner. In between, there is morning tea, afternoon tea and all-day tea – homemade macarons and shortbread, or cheesy bread sticks and choc-chip cookies – available in the Captain’s Lounge around the clock.
THINGSHORESHORETHINGS
With so much time spent consuming, it’s a good thing we have plenty of opportunities to explore ports of call on foot. After docking in Vienna, however, there’s no time for strolling – we’re whisked off to a concert hall as dusk falls and the city’s weddingcake buildings are cast aglow with spotlights. The birthplace of Franz Schubert and one-time home of classical masters including Mozart, Beethoven and Haydn, the Austrian capital deserves its reputation as one of the world’s key orchestral centres. We watch musicians and dancers perform to Mozart and Strauss and end the evening eating Wienerschnitzel back on Beatrice.
Leaving Vienna behind, we arrive in the tiny Baroque village of Dürnstein on day fifive. On one side of the town, apricot orchards stretch uphill to a castle where Richard the Lionheart was held captive in the 12th century; on the other, vines of the Domäne Wachau estate spill down to the water’s edge. It’s the perfect perch for an 11am glass of mineral-y rosé (that third glass of wine), which is fresh and full of sunshine.
From Dürnstein until we reach Melk, we’ll be in the heart of the Wachau Valley, arguably the most beautiful stretch of the Danube. For the next 30 kilometres, the river carves through a rocky gorge in the foothills of the Bohemian Forest. Steep slopes are cloaked in pines and vines and tiny winemaking communities dot the shore.
Drawing my curtains on day six, I see that we’ve arrived in Linz, Austria’s third-largest city and only a stone’s throw from the Czech border. It’s also within easy reach of Salzburg, a university town hemmed by the Alps that draws thousands of visitors for two main reasons: it has an exceptionally wellpreserved Baroque city centre, and it has a rather famous historical resident. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was born in Salzburg’s old town in 1756, and from monogrammed chocolates and liquor bottles to eponymous restaurants and bars, the town’s entrepreneurs don’t let you forget it.
PRETTY IN PASSAU
Our fifinal port of call, Passau is all wildflflowers and wonderful architecture. Also known as Dreiflflüssestadt – ‘the City of Three Rivers’ – for the fact that it sits at the conflfluence of a trio of waterways (the Danube, Inn and Ilz), this southeast German town is in full spring swing when we dock: buxom Bavarian ladies ring their bells as they cycle past the boat, and tables spill from cafes onto the sidewalk, where locals sit in the sun sipping glasses of beer. I venture uphill toward the Pilgrimage Church of Mariahilf, accessed via 321 steps and still a working monastery. And then inhale sharply when I fifinally rest to take in the view. From above, Passau is so pretty you’d think postcards were invented just to show it off: pastel-hued buildings with fanciful trims and turrets cling to waterside streets, and medieval alleyways ring an ornate Baroque cathedral. A small paddlesteamer chugs around the city’s peninsula and makes its way up the Danube and, for a moment, it’s lost behind the
SS Beatrice, bobbing in the distance.
THE DETAILS
SS Beatrice sails on six itineraries along the Danube, to destinations including the Czech Republic, Germany, Austria, Hungary, Croatia, Romania, Bulgaria and Serbia. For more information on destinations and to book, visit uniworld.com