Itinerary
Fly into Budapest, fly out of Munich, and we’ll take care of everything in between!
- days
- hours
- minutes
- seconds
Take your time making your way to the famed A Boat. By now, your paperwork will be complete and you’ll be poised to embark on a journey through Central Europe. Registration and initial announcements commence @6pm that evening. Although we will have boarded, we actually won’t leave Budapest on night one.
Wake up and have a light and energizing breakfast in your running gear. Our first run will take us through the parks of Budapest. After some great exercise, the likelihood of your appetite kicking in is very high. So…time for brunch on board! After brunch, we’ll have an optional two hour professionally guided walking tour with plenty of time to see the sites on your own after. Then it’s off to our second city and country, Bratislava, Slovakia. Delicious fare and some evening cocktails will help pass the time from one port to the next.
Separated from the neighboring Czech Republic in 1988, the country of Slovakia stands on its own. It’s a bit less known in comparison to Hungary, Austria, and Germany, which makes it a hidden gem of Central Europe.
When here, we’ll wake up, eat a light breakfast, go for a stunning run in the Carpathian Mountains outside of the city, come back to freshen up and have brunch, explore the city, and then head back to our boat for dinner, drinks, and set sail once again. So…you’re getting the gist of this daily agenda now, yes?!
Ah, Vienna. Arguably one of the most beautiful cities in the world. This thriving metropolis is decked out with museums, cathedrals, parks, city squares, and cafes. There’s also a trolley that takes you on a loop around the city. But before you rely on modes of transport, let’s race!
We’re in Vienna from 7am until exactly midnight, so there’s plenty of time for a run, exploration of the city center, optional guided tours, and everything in between. We’d recommend coming on board for another fantastic dinner before heading back out to enjoy the nightlife.
There are FIFTY bikes on board and we’ll make sure that everyone has the ability to put these to use regularly. Durnstein to Melk is the best example. Post run, we’re going on a bike ride! 20 miles (32K to be exact), all along the Danube! You see, most tourists get back on the boat after seeing Durnstein and then make their way to Melk. Not us! We’re going to have the boat meet us at the next port, and make our way through small towns and picturesque bike paths. There’s zero rush (and yes, you can forego the biking adventure by taking the boat should you choose). We’re going to make sure that 120 bikes are ready to go for this journey from port to port!
Today is a crown jewel for us. It’s a little less leisure and a little more “make sure we do it all”! We’re going to hike the Austrian Alps! There’s a good deal of elevation gain so hiking will be the preferred theme today. No timing on this adventure. Let’s go see the Alps in all their splendor.
Post hike, we’re continuing onto Salzburg! Salzburg is the city associated with “The Sound of Music”. It has a beautiful castle that overlooks the rest of the city. A tour of the castle is highly recommended. That or play a local in life size chess. That or visit a market with local fare. There’s no wrong answer here.
After Salzburg, we’ll return to the port in Linz by bus. Hope all of this land travel didn’t throw you off. Back on the boat!
Our sixth and final race is today. We’re going to make our way up to a fortress overlooking scenic Passau. And how fitting is it that at the finish line of this final race is the quintessential beer garden with German beer and sausages?! No offense to the beer garden at your local town’s 5k or 10K, but we’re going to one up them this time!
Sadly, this is our last night on the boat. It’s also the last time we’ll be a unit with no one else in site. Tomorrow…gets a little crazy. So, let’s be sure to congregate tonight, look back on all the countries, cities, towns, ports, and trails we’ve explored, and prepare ourselves for one last hoorah tomorrow.
It’s a VERY early start in Passau this morning. We are saying goodbye to our vessel fondly known as “The A”, looking back on a journey that very few will ever even understand. 124 of us will have exercised, explored, and experienced a breathtaking piece of Europe. It will have been exhilarating and exhausting. So now…we celebrate! The grounds at the Oktoberfest in Munich open up in the morning and stay open all day and night. It’s beer tents, dancing, toasting, and the backdrop is the equivalent of a county fair with oom pah pah bands, ferris wheel rides, and rollercoasters. You’ve never seen anything like it.
Wow. Just reading this itinerary gets the blood pumping. A number of you may be headed home today. Some of us will likely stick around for one extra day in Munich, heading home Monday. Some may have extended their tour throughout Europe, moving west to Paris, north to London and Amsterdam, east to Prague, or south to Italy. The choice is yours.
We’ve done a lot here at R2A. We’ve seen much of Central America, South America, Europe, and the South Pacific. But this? This will be a first. We will have shared countries, cuisine, and the biggest celebration in Europe together. We will have shared “The A Boat” together. As usual, it should go without saying – we can’t wait to see you on another adventure again!
