Sailing Viking: Off We Go

Posted onAuthorChris Owen

About to leave for the airport for our flights to Germany, the first stop on our Viking River Cruises itinerary.  From there we go on to the Czech Republic where we stay overnight in Prague, as planned. Right about there is where things get interesting. This trip will be a rather unusual one and we’re really looking forward to it, for a couple interesting reasons.   First, Lisa has never been to Germany in the Summer so there’s that.  Also, due to low water levels on the Elbe River we won’t actually be ‘sailing’ on it but rather using Viking’s two new modified longships as bases from which to launch daily adventures.

VIK Braubach/Koblenz Germany - 00011

The Roadmap
See more details about our modified itinerary above, if you are reading this in journal form or in Sailing Viking: We’ve Been Modified if following along by individual event posts. On that topic, we have a total of 23 different events planned to cover during this trip, each will have a separate post or be a separate journal entry.  It’s a form we tested when sailing with Azamara Club Cruises last week which it seems readers approve of, so we’ll keep on it this time as well.  See the production plan below for what’s in store. The number usually swells as interesting topics come up along the way and some will drop off or be combined with others.  We know that.  But if you’re in Florida and driving to Los Angeles, you need a plan of how to get there.  This is that plan, subject to change any time something catches our eye, demands we sit down and enjoy it, rivers rise or the sun sets.  We think it’s a great way to enjoy travel and get the most out of it.

VIK Beaune, France - 00048

New Term: Ship Swapping
Stacking up the modified itinerary against the original, we’ll see everything we went there to see but instead of traveling by Viking longship, we cover the ground by Viking motorcoach.  What makes this work is that Viking has two ships on the Elbe, strategically positioned at about the 1/3 and 2/3 mark on the distance to be covered.  Exciting to me: we get to do what is called a “ship swap” about half way through the itinerary. It’s a huge advantage of sailing with Viking River Cruises that most commonly comes into play when water levels are too high and ships can not pass under bridges.  In that case, the enormous Viking Longship fleet makes it possible to swap ships at the impasse and continue on down (or up) the river.  Easy Peasy.

So stay tuned, this is going to be interesting, no matter what happens

Production Schedule

LOCATION WHERE WE SLEEP PLANS AT DESTINATION EVENT # Photo Event Title Images To Capture ORIGINAL ITINERARY
DAY 1 – PRAGUE
Prague HILTON PRAGUE Arrival and check-in 1 Prague Airport Meet and Greet Prague, Czech Republic
1 Prague Seen on the way to the hotel
2 Hilton Prague Hotel Exterior, Interior, Rooms
1 Prague Dining Images/ Street Food
DAY 2- PRAGUE
Prague Panoramic city tour & tour of Hradcany Castle 1 Prague Breakfast venue and dining images Prague, Czech Republic
Litomerice Travel by coach to Litomerice for a guided tour through historic city center & sampling of regional Bohemian beers (44 miles) 3 Litoerice Walking Tour Attraction Features
Dresden VIKING ASTRID Embark Viking Astrild (identical sister ship) 4 Bohemian Beer Sampling Venue Background, Pax Photos
5 Viking Astrild Accommodations, Features
6 Viking Dining
DAY 3 SAXON, SWITZERLAND
Saxon Switzerland VIKING ASTRID Travel by coach to Saxon Switzerland to see the Bastei and panoramic Elbe views (30 miles) 7 Saxon Switzerland Attraction Features Litoměřice, Czech Republic
return to your ship in Dresden (30 miles) 8 The Bastel Attraction Features
5 Viking Astrild Dining Venues, Aquavit, Sundown
DAY 4 – DRESDEN, GERMANY
Dresden VIKING ASTRID City tour featuring Dresden Castle & Green Vault; guided walk to Zwinger Palace & Semper Opera House 9 Dresden Dresden City Tour Saxon Switzerland, Germany
10 Dresden Castle Attraction Features
10 Green Vault Attraction Features
11 Zwinger Palace Attraction Features
12 Semper Opera House Attraction Features
5 Viking Astrild
DAY 5 – DRESDEN, GERMANY
Dresden Disembark Viking Astrild 13 Meissen Porcelain Factory Attraction Features
Meissen Travel by coach to Meissen for a porcelain factory tour & demonstration (18 miles) 14 Vikiing Beyla Accommodations, Features
Wittenberg VIKING BEYLA Continue by coach to Wittenberg (72 miles), embark sister ship Viking Beyla 15 Viking Crew Dresden, Germany
DAY 6 – TORGAU, GERMANY
Torgau VIKING BEYLA Travel by coach to Torgau for a guided walk & see Hartenfels Castle (30 miles); return to your ship in Wittenberg (30 miles) 16 Torgau, Germany Attraction Features Meisen,Germany
17 Hartensfels Castle Attraction Features Torgau, Germany
14 Vikiing Beyla Crew Photos
DAY 7 – WITTENBERG, GERMANY
Wittenberg VIKING BEYLA Guided walk including tour of Martin Luther’s house & Castle Church 18 Marten Luther’s House Attraction Features Wittenberg, Germany
19 Wittenberg Castle Church Attraction Features
14 Vikiing Beyla Pax Photos on ship
DAY 8 – WITTENBERG, GERMANY
Wittenberg VIKING BEYLA Travel by coach to UNESCO Site Wörlitz Park & Gardens for a tour (14 miles); return to your ship in Wittenberg (14 miles) 20 Worlitz Park & Gardens Attraction Features Wittenberg , Germany
14 Vikiing Beyla Magdeburg, Germany
DAY 9- BERLIN
Potsdam Travel by coach to Potsdam for a guided tour of rococo Sanssouci Palace or baroque New Chambers (50 miles) 21 Sanssouci Palace Attraction Features Potsdam, Germany
Berlin STEIGENBERGER BERLIN Continue by coach to Berlin (22 miles); hotel check-in 22 Berlin Attraction Features Berlin, Germany
DAY 10 – BERLIN
Berlin HOME Check-out and departure 23 Berlin Airport Attraction Features Berlin, Germany

 

Stick around and follow along.

In Journal Form-See the post stuck to the top of the list here at ChrisCruises.com, I’ll add more to it every day

Story By Story- Don’t want to follow along day by day or just want more on a particular experience? We will add a short post right here tagged Sailing Viking:

Follow Chris and Lisa on their Viking River Cruise, right here and any or all of these engaging ways: