History & Art on the Danube
HIGHLIGHTS
6–13 JULY 2026
Why travel with us?
Leading expertise
Since 1988 we have been the most in uential organisation in the eld of cultural travel, o ering an unequalled range of tours and events. Pioneering and innovative, we have led the way with ideas and itineraries and by setting the benchmarks for customer service and administration.
First-rate speakers
Expert speakers are a key ingredient in our tours. Academics, curators, writers, broadcasters and researchers, they are selected not only for their knowledge but also for their ability to communicate clearly and engagingly to a lay audience. eir brief is to enlighten and stimulate, not merely to inform.
Personal service
We aim for faultless administration from your rst encounter with us to the end of the holiday, and beyond. We want you to come back again and again – as most of our clients do. We can provide options without international travel if you prefer to make your own arrangements.
Congenial company
Our travellers are self-selected by common interests and an endorsement of our ethos. You are highly likely to nd yourself among like-minded companions, whether travelling solo (as 50% of our clients do) or with a travel partner.
Privileged access
Special arrangements are a feature of our tours – for admission to places not generally open to travellers, for access outside public hours, for private concerts and extraordinary events. In innumerable ways, we li our clients’ experience far above standards which are regarded as normal for tourists.
Holiday protection
We provide full nancial protection for our package holidays which include international ights, by way of our Air Travel Organiser’s Licence (ATOL); and for those that do not include a ight, by way of a bond held by ABTOT – e Association of Bonded Travel Organisers Trust Limited.
Award-winning
Five consecutive years as Best Special Interest Holiday Company at the British Travel Awards (2015–19) re ects our commitment to excellence. With a remarkable 99% satisfaction rating from more than 1,100 independent reviews, our attention to detail and client care is unmatched.
Value for money
e price includes nearly everything, not only the major ingredients such as hotel, transport and the costs of the lecturer and manager but also tips, drinks with meals, and airport taxes. e price published is the price you pay.
Find out more about us at martinrandall.com/about
How to book
Either: on our website
Click ‘Book now’ on any tour page. Fill in your details, consent to the booking conditions, and pay the deposit (15% of the total booking price) or full balance if booking within 12 weeks of departure.
Or: by telephone or e-mail
Call or e-mail us to make a provisional booking, which we hold for up to 72 hours. Within that time, we require you to complete a booking form (we can provide this electronically or by post) and pay the deposit, or full balance if booking within 12 weeks of departure.
Confirming your booking
Once you have completed the above, we will send a formal con rmation. Your deposit is then nonrefundable except under the special circumstances mentioned in our booking conditions.
Booking conditions
It is important that you read these before committing to a booking. We will direct you to these when you book, but you can also nd them online: www.martinrandall.com/terms
Fitness
Ensure also that you have read ‘How strenuous’ in the ‘Practicalities’ section of the tour description –and that you have taken our tness tests, available at martinrandall.com/about under ‘Fitness’.
Martin Randall Travel Ltd
10 Barley Mow Passage, London W4 4PH
Tel +44 (0)20 8742 3355 info@martinrandall.co.uk
From North America: Tel 1 800 988 6168 (toll-free) usa@martinrandall.com
3622
Above: The Danube above Linz, wood engraving c. 1880.
History & Art on the Danube
6–13 July 2026 (mm 110)
8 days • Lecturer: Gavin Plumley
Cruise in comfort along the Danube, Europe’s most captivating river.
Central Europe’s most glorious capitals: Vienna, Budapest & Bratislava.
Exclusive charter of a small ship, with time to savour the riverine scenery and historic towns.
Special arrangements are a feature, including a private a er-hours visit to the Upper Belvedere.
Daily talks by a cultural historian – specialist in Central Europe and the Habsburg Empire.
To travel the course of the Danube is to experience Europe in microcosm. Unlike any other great river between the Urals and the Bay of Biscay, this majestic stream has never belonged to a single state or empire. A wonderful diversity of landscapes mirrors the ethnic, linguistic and national variety that has always de ned this region. Nowhere is this more vivid than between Budapest and Passau, where our Danube river cruise threads together some of the most beautiful riparian scenery in the world with historic towns and cities that once formed the spine of the Habsburg Empire – a vast, polyglot mosaic of peoples and cultures.
We begin in Budapest; on the western bank Buda’s ancient citadel rises dramatically on a rocky outcrop; to the east, Pest’s grand boulevards unfold across the atlands. A powerful kingdom in the Middle Ages, Hungary embraced the Renaissance early, but centuries of Ottoman occupation le few visible traces. Much of what de nes the city today dates from the 18th and 19th centuries – built to rival Vienna and to express growing Magyar demands for national self-determination.
Our cruise then follows the river northward, through the Pannonian Basin, as we trace the Hungary–Slovakia border to Bratislava. From 1536 to 1784, Bratislava was the capital of the Habsburg rump of Hungary while Ottomans occupied most of the country. Now Slovakia’s capital, recent restoration has charmingly transformed its compact historic centre.
Overnight we reach Vienna – the principal Habsburg seat and centre of the Holy Roman Empire. Its grandeur is unmistakable: palaces, churches and museums re ect centuries of dynastic ambition. Yet beneath the veil of imperial order, Vienna was also a ferment of radical thought and artistic revolution. ere emerged a brilliant array of artists and intellectuals who were determined to break with the past. Today, Vienna’s collections – ranging from Old Masters to modernist masterpieces – rank among the world’s nest.
As the Danube winds west into the Wachau Valley, the landscape shi s to rolling vineyards, wooded hills, and picturesque riverside towns. Among the loveliest is Dürnstein, nestled amid Austria’s nest wine-producing region. Further upstream, as we approach the nal stop in our Danube river cruise – the handsome city of Linz –the hills rise to reveal splendid monasteries of the Baroque era. Chief among them is Melk Abbey, its domes and spires soar from a rocky outcrop to crown the mighty river below.
Full details are available on our website:
Included:
– Accommodation on a rst-class river cruiser, MS Amadeus Nova, for 7 nights.
– All meals, from dinner on the rst day to breakfast on the last with wine, beer and so drinks.
Flights Economy with British Airways and Lu hansa.
Option 1:
Monday 6 July: London Heathrow to Budapest (BA 868) departing at 09.50 and arriving at 13.20.
Monday 13 July: Munich to London Heathrow (LH 2480) departing 18.35 and arriving at 19.40. Coaches take you rst to the centre of Munich, where you have approximately four hours of free time.
Option 2:
Monday 6 July: London Heathrow to Budapest (BA 874) departing at 13.20 and arriving at 16.50.
Monday 13 July: Munich to London Heathrow (LH 2476) departing 14.35 and arriving at 15.40.
– Coach travel between airport and ship, and to sites when not reached on foot.
– Lectures by Gavin Plumley, Veronica Buckley and Philipp Blom on the ship, plus services of local guides ashore.
– Excursions, visits and admission costs. Additional, optional excursions will be available to book nearer the time, at a supplementary cost.
– All tips for waiters, ship crew, guides, drivers; all city and port taxes.
– e assistance of an experienced team of Martin Randall Travel sta .
– A printed booklet including practical details, maps and background information.
How strenuous? Quite a lot of walking is involved, some of it uphill and over roughly paved paths. A good level of tness is necessary. e cruise should not be attempted by anyone who has di culty with everyday walking and stair-climbing. We ask that you take these simple tness tests before booking.
If you have a medical condition or a disability which may a ect your holiday or necessitate special arrangements being made for you, please discuss these with us before booking - or, if the condition develops or changes subsequently, as soon as possible before departure.
Itinerary
Highlights of the Habsburg Empire by river cruise
Iti nerary
Day 1: Budapest. Fly from London Heathrow to Budapest (British Airways), or make your way. See Practicalities for travel options.
Day 2: Budapest. e result of the triumphant amalgamation of Buda and Pest in 1873, today Budapest is the principal metropolis of EastCentral Europe, a city of vitality and splendour. Morning tour of the Parliament building – housed here is the precious Coronation regalia including the 10th-century crown of St Stephen. Cross the Danube to the hill-top Castle District of Buda. e National Gallery has a marvellous collection of Hungarian art from the Middle Ages to the present. We conclude with an exclusive visit to the Gothic Matthias Church (Mátyás-templom), the key Hungarian national shrine.
Day 3: Bratislava, Schloss Hof. Bratislava’s old centre is a web of attractive streets and historic buildings. Visits include the Coronation Cathedral of St Martin’s, the neoclassical Primacial Palace, and the collection of 20thcentury art at the Nedbalka Gallery. Alternatively, cross the border into Austria to visit the palace of Schloss Hof. Enlarged by Lukas von Hildebrandt, in the early 18th century as a hunting lodge for Prince Eugene of Savoy.
Day 4: Vienna. e ship is moored all day at Nussdorf, 30 minutes from the centre of Vienna. Morning visits to the Kunsthistorisches Museum and the Court Treasury. Free a ernoon. A er dinner return to central Vienna for an exclusive, out-of-hours visit to Schloss Belvedere. See the world’s largest collection of paintings by Klimt, including e Kiss. Also works by Egon Schiele, Oskar Kokoschka and others.
Day 5: Vienna, Wachau Valley. Morning visit to the Leopold Museum, home to a collection of turn-of-the-century art and artefacts. e a ernoon is spent sailing through the Wachau, an especially beautiful stretch of the Danube.
Day 6: Dürnstein, Melk. Moor at Dürnstein. e ruins of a castle in which Richard the Lionheart was imprisoned cling to a steep hill, while a Baroque abbey church perches on the waterfront. In the a ernoon, the domes of Melk abbey appear on an outcrop. A tour of the abbey passes through a sequence of ceremonial courtyards and rooms, culminating in a church of unsurpassed decorative riches.
Day 7: Linz, Český Krumlov. Arrive in Linz, the historic capital of Upper Austria, the old part of the city lies just south of our mooring, around the Hauptplatz, the largest market square in Austria. Nearby are the Alter Dom (Old Cathedral) and the Altes Rathaus (Town Hall). Alternatively, join the optional excursion to the picturesque unesco town of Český Krumlov.
Day 8: Passau, Munich. e ship moors in Passau and coaches leave for Munich city centre and the airport by 9.30am. Or stay on independently. See Practicalities on the website for travel options.
Illustration: Dürnstein, 1820s aquatint by Jacob Alt (1789–1872).
‘I thoroughly enjoyed the tour. For me, it was the right mix of education and pleasure.’
The ship
Highlights of the Habsburg Empire by river cruise
MS Amadeus Nova (lue ner-cruises.com):
Launched in 2024, the MS Amadeus Nova is one of the most comfortable river cruisers in Europe. e multinational crew is dedicated to the highest standards of service.
With a oor area of 16m2 (Haydn deck) or 17.5m2 (Strauss and Mozart decks) the cabins are reasonably spacious by the standards of river cruisers. All have windows to the outside and are equipped with the facilities one would expect of a rst-class hotel such as adjustable air-conditioning, telephone, TV and safe. Bathrooms have showers only. Special attention has been paid to noise insulation.
In layout and furnishings the cabins are identical, the signi cant di erences being the size of windows and height above water level (higher cabins enjoy better views and fewer stairs).
Cabins on the top decks (Mozart and Strauss) are the most desirable, with oor-to-ceiling windows which slide open, and minibars. ere are 12 suites (Mozart) measuring 26.4m2 with a corner sofa and small balcony. Cabins on the lowest deck (Haydn) have smaller windows which do not open. ere are no single cabins as such but we are allocating some twin-bed cabins for single occupancy.
e public areas include the lounge and bar, a library area and a restaurant which can seat everyone at a single sitting. e sun deck has a tented area for shade.
Haydn deck cabin
Strauss/Mozart deck cabin
Mozart deck suite
The speakers
Gavin Plumley
Writer, broadcaster, lecturer and the English-language commissioning editor for the Salzburg Festival, Gavin Plumley specialises in the culture of Central Europe during the last years of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. As well as writing for newspapers, magazines and opera and concert programmes worldwide, he has lectured at the National Gallery, the British Museum and Wigmore Hall.
Veronica Buckley
Writer of historical biography, Veronica Buckley’s forthcoming book, Seven Sisters: Captives and rebels in revolutionary Europe’s rst family, is a composite biography of the daughters of Empress Maria eresia. Veronica’s previous works include Christina, Queen of Sweden; Madame de Maintenon: e secret wife of Louis XVI; and – with Philipp Blom – Twilight of the Romanovs: A photographic journey across imperial Russia
Philipp Blom
Author of many books on history, politics, and philosophy, as well as four novels, Philipp also works as a journalist, radio presenter, podcaster, documentary lm maker, and public lecturer. His extensive research interests include the Habsburg Empire and n-de-siècle Vienna. A keen amateur violinist, Philipp has presented a series of chamber music concerts at Vienna’s Konzerthaus. He has received numerous prizes, and his books are translated into sixteen languages.
More Martin Randall cruises
CAMBODIA BY RIVER
7–21 March 2026
SAILING THE DALMATIAN COAST
30 April– 9 May & 13–23 October 2026
THE RHINE PIANO FESTIVAL
22–29 June 2026
MUSIC ALONG THE DANUBE 15–22 August 2026
MUSIC ALONG THE RHINE
31 August–7 September 2026
CRUISING THE DOURO 14–22 October 2026
‘An amazing experience executed with the usual Martin Randall Travel professionalism.’
‘It was brilliantly organised. Every detail of every day was planned to perfection, and carried out exactly as planned. e accommodation on the boat was comfortable, the food excellent.’
‘ e sta on board were knowledgeable, always ready to help and explain, and did so with charm, and patience.’
‘It was a wonderful holiday which we would highly recommend. One of our best ever.’
‘MRT o er holidays with interesting themes, good quality facilities, excellent logistics and highly knowledgeable, friendly, e cient and thoughtful team members.’
Martin Randall Travel Ltd
10 Barley Mow Passage, London W4 4PH
Tel +44 (0)20 8742 3355 info@martinrandall.co.uk
From North America: Tel 1 800 988 6168 (toll-free) usa@martinrandall.com
‘An excellent trip of a very high standard. It surpassed my expectations.’
ATOL 3622 | ABTOT 5468 | AITO 5085 www.martinrandall.com