Danube River Cruise - where do they dock in Vienna?

[Donalyn]

After doing the Rhine with ABD for oldest DD's graduation trip, seems that river cruising was a big hit with the family. Younger DD just picked the Danube ABD for her graduation trip. So, off to planning I go.

Question for those who have taken the ABD Danube - where did the boat dock in Vienna? I'm trying to figure out our OOO time in the afternoon on the Vienna day and just the transition from Schonbrunn to OOO time (like is it easy to go back to ship for lunch and then actually get back to mid-Vienna where most of what you'd want to see is? Do you have to figure out transport, or is there a bus somewhere to get back to the ship after some OOO time?)

Also, while I have you - what is the day in Bratislava like? How long, is there OOO time, etc?

thanks!

 

[NYCgrrl]

Never been on a Disney cruise of any kind but most of the river boats dock near the Reichsbrucke.

ETA we visited an art gallery, shopped and ate in Bratislava then took the train back to Vienna.

 

[abdgeek]

After doing the Rhine with ABD for oldest DD's graduation trip, seems that river cruising was a big hit with the family. Younger DD just picked the Danube ABD for her graduation trip. So, off to planning I go.

Question for those who have taken the ABD Danube - where did the boat dock in Vienna? I'm trying to figure out our OOO time in the afternoon on the Vienna day and just the transition from Schonbrunn to OOO time (like is it easy to go back to ship for lunch and then actually get back to mid-Vienna where most of what you'd want to see is? Do you have to figure out transport, or is there a bus somewhere to get back to the ship after some OOO time?)

Also, while I have you - what is the day in Bratislava like? How long, is there OOO time, etc?

thanks!

I did the ABD Danube River Cruise in July 2023. You don’t have much OYO time in Bratislava. You do a walking tour of the city (downtown area) and then I think we were given about 60-90 minutes to look around. There isn’t much to see, but there is a castle or church on a hill that they point out that some people walked to. I found a bench and sat down with some other guests and just talked. There were some shops, but I wasn’t interested in shopping.

I forgot to take a picture of where we docked in Vienna, but I can tell you it was not close to the central area. Probably about 15 minutes away. We were told there was a metro nearby or to take a taxi if we wanted to get to the center of town. Guests who wanted to sightsee after visiting Schonbrunn Palace or have lunch in the city were dropped off in town and the rest of us took the bus to the boat. I didn’t take advantage of it, but I believe they ran a bus from the boat to the center of town at certain times. When we dropped people off, the guides made sure they knew where to catch the bus back to the boat.

 

[sayhello]

I also don't recall where we docked, but it wasn't too close to the main area of Vienna. My experience was similar to @abdgeek 's. After Schonbrunn, they drove the motorcoach through town, and those who wanted to stay in town were dropped off at the "Schwedenplatz Strassenbahn Haltestelle" (tram/bus stop). I know, because I took a photo of the sign so that I could get back there if I needed to. There were food places right there, and I grabbed a quick lunch. The tram stop is within easy walking distance of St. Stephen's Cathedral, the Spanish Riding School and the Hofburg Palace Complex which contains the Sisi Museum and the Imperial Apartments. If you wanted to, you could catch a bus back to the ship from the tram stop at a couple of scheduled times during the afternoon. I actually later met up with the group for my afternoon excursion at the Spanish Riding School, and then caught the motorcoach back to the ship with them afterwards. (They'd told us that that was an option).

When I did the Danube the first year in 2016, we did the walking tour of Bratislava (which stayed pretty close to where the ship was docked). Then in the afternoon, there was an excursion to a nearby castle ruin where ABD had activities set up for us like archery and print making and a comedic dueling class. I guess they don't do that one anymore, or the tour of Schloss Hof.

Sayhello

 

[pjacobi]

You can see on Google Maps/Earth the general area where the cruise ships are docked on the Danube River.

Schönbrunn Palace, St. Stephen's Cathedral, the Spanish Riding School and the Hofburg Palace are impossible to see in a day. Pick one or stay for several days.

St. Stephen's Cathedral, the Spanish Riding School and the Hofburg Palace are at least two miles from the boat dock.

Consider about a 3/4 mile stroll from the boat dock to the Riesenradplaz and ride the Riesenrad (literally "giant wheel" an historic Faris wheel). If it is not crowded, this would be easy to on a free afternoon.


-Paul

 

[sayhello]

You can see on Google Maps/Earth the general area where the cruise ships are docked on the Danube River.

Schönbrunn Palace, St. Stephen's Cathedral, the Spanish Riding School and the Hofburg Palace are impossible to see in a day. Pick one or stay for several days.

St. Stephen's Cathedral, the Spanish Riding School and the Hofburg Palace are at least two miles from the boat dock.

Consider about a 3/4 mile stroll from the boat dock to the Riesenradplaz and ride the Riesenrad (literally "giant wheel" an historic Faris wheel). If it is not crowded, this would be easy to on a free afternoon.


-Paul

Wow! Then it's a really good thing that's exactly what I did when I was in Vienna!! I accomplished the impossible! Cool. We did a tour of Schonbrunn and some of the gardens, attended a strudel making demo and a marionette performance in the morning. Then, in the afternoon, I went to St. Stephen's Cathedral on my own, saw a bit of Hofburg Palace (although I didn't have enough time for the full Sisi tour), then met the group at the Spanish Riding School for a private tour (unfortunately, the stallions weren't in residence, so we didn't see a performance, but we did get to meet the mares & ponies). None of it was rushed. But I'm glad to know it's impossible!

Oh, and then to extend the impossible, we went back to Schonbrunn for a Mozart concert at the Orangerie that evening! Quite the fabulous impossible day!

Sayhello

 

[Donalyn]

I initially thought that my DD would pick the Krakow/Prague/Vienna land tour, so I'd already spent a lot of time planning all of our extra days in Vienna.... And now to take that very long list and pick just one or two things to do in the afternoon - let's just say it is really hard!!

 

[sayhello]

I initially thought that my DD would pick the Krakow/Prague/Vienna land tour, so I'd already spent a lot of time planning all of our extra days in Vienna.... And now to take that very long list and pick just one or two things to do in the afternoon - let's just say it is really hard!!

I totally get that! It's the downside of a river cruise, where you generally do one day per locale!

Sayhello

 

[Donalyn]

Oh - another question for anyone who has taken the east bound trip: For the day where you decide to either stay in Vienna or go to Bratislava, how does that work? Does the boat stay in Vienna or travel to Bratislava?