Optional Excursions
Here's a list of optional excursions you can enjoy during your vacation. Whether it's a special dinner, a local show or a special behind-the-scenes glimpse into an historical site, optional excursions are a wonderful way to enrich your vacation even further. Plus, they give you flexibility. We include the must-see sites and experiences, and we also understand that people take interest in different activities and may want to craft a more personal vacation by hand-picking optional excursions that appeal to them.
Availability is subject to sufficient participation, weather conditions, seasonal suitability, days of operation, group interests, and general feasibility for your vacation. The approximate value listed gives you a good, general idea of what you can expect to pay but may vary once you are on your vacation. Some information provided might be in a foreign currency; you can use our online
currency converter for exchange rate information.
CITY: AmsterdamRembrandt & Co - A Visit To Amsterdam's Rijksmuseum The Masterpieces of Amsterdam's Rijksmuseum offer a unique way to view all the highlights of the Golden Age in one place. Discover with our local experts their interrelationships, thematically or chronologically, discover the stories and view the artworks close-up. The most famous painting at the Rijksmuseum is Rembrandt's Night Watch, a national icon that fires the imagination and is always at the centre of discussion. The painting has been successively analyzed, interpreted, praised, abused, damaged and restored; It is, in short, the focus of attention. But what makes this portrait of a group of civic guardsmen so special, apart from being the largest painting that Rembrandt ever made? What is it about; what is its background? Find your answers in this visit to the Rijksmuseum.
Approximate value: EUR €27 per person
Sunflowers & Other Masterpieces In The Van Gogh Museum A visit to the Van Gogh Museum is a unique experience. The museum contains the largest collection of paintings by Vincent van Gogh in the world. It provides the opportunity to keep track of the artist's developments, or compare his paintings to works by other artists from the 19th century in the collection. The museum also holds an extensive offer of exhibitions on various subjects from 19th century art history. Join your local expert for an introduction to Van Gogh, before you start exploring the collection at your own pace.
Approximate value: EUR €29 per person
"Klompen", Cheese And Peanut Oil - Zaanse Schans The Zaanse Schans is a delightful old hamlet on the banks of the river Zaan with characteristic green wooden houses, charming stylized gardens, small hump-backed bridges, tradesmen's workshops, historic windmills and engaging little shops. This enchanting hamlet gives an excellent impression of how a typical Zaanse village must have looked in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Join our local expert for a journey through times when Dutch Sailing Ships crossed the seven seas and goods from all corners of the world traded in Holland. Don't miss your chance to see a working windmill from inside and admire the craftsmanship of its mechanics.
Approximate value: EUR €29 per person
CITY: PassauSalzburg - Mozart's Sound Of Music True, Salzburg is the birth-place of Mozart and you will find the face of the city's most famous son everywhere. Salzburg is also the setting for the Sound of Music Movie, which has shaped the city's perception in the minds of generations. But Salzburg is much more. It is a city with history based on the salt trade from the nearby Alpine Mountains, a city of beautiful baroque buildings, and a city perched between the mountains and green waters of the Salzach river. It is a city with a long cultural heritage and in the small busy lanes like the "Getreidegasse," with its wrought iron signs, you might get a feeling for how busy this city always was. Today we would like to show you Salzburg and its past, we will show you the Austrian Lake district and our local experts will talk about what it makes to be Austrian and to live in this country today. And who knows, perhaps this excursion will also give you wings. . .
Approximate value: EUR €64 per person
CITY: RegensburgExcursion To Weltenburg Abbey And Danube Gorge The Danube Gorge has both a gentle and a strange beauty. In a magnificent show of force, the Danube has carved its way through the Swabian Alb to create a stunning landscape - a wild, romantic stretch of river with sheer cliffs rising up to 100 meters out of the water. At its upper end, the Weltenburg Abbey is located on a peninsula directly beneath the cliffs of the Gorge. It was founded by Irish or Scottish monks in 620 and is one of the oldest abbeys in Bavaria. The present Benedictine Abbey dates back to the 18th century when it was extensively rebuilt in baroque style. Their ceiling frescos of the Heavenly Jerusalem blend seamlessly with the abbey interior and are particularly noteworthy. Important is also that Weltenburg Abbey houses the oldest abbey brewery in the world, as the monks have been brewing beer since 1050. A beer and a "pretzel" are a welcome refreshment.
Approximate value: EUR €39 per person
CITY: ViennaA Visit Of Schonbrunn Palace Schonbrunn, the former summer residence of the imperial family, is considered one of the most beautiful baroque palaces in Europe. The Habsburgs resided here the better part of the year in numerous rooms for the large imperial family, in addition to representational rooms. Emperor Franz Joseph, who later married the enchanting Sisi and reigned from 1848 to 1916, was born here in 1830. The monarch spent his last years entirely in the palace, which became the property of the new Republic of Austria only two years after his death. Today, the palace is part of UNESCO's cultural heritage due to its historic importance, its unique grounds and its splendid furnishings. Follow our local expert and visit Empress Sisi's former summer residence. Afterwards, take your time to stroll through the park or enjoy a demonstration of how the famous Viennese Apple Strudel is made - Samples to taste included. . .
Approximate value: EUR €44 per person
Royal Waltz Concert Would a stay in Vienna be the same if you were not able to listen to the tunes of the "Blue Danube Waltz" or the "Radetzky" March? Your Cruise Director will accompany you to one of Vienna's Famous Concert Halls. Avalon will make preferred seating arrangements. In order to celebrate this evening in style, have a glass of sparkling wine during the intermission, before you listen to the famous tunes brought to you by opera singers; watch the elegant ballet dancers as they interpret some of the most well-known classical tunes from Vienna.
Approximate value: EUR €49 per person
CITY: WurzburgExcursion To Rothenburg Ob Der Tauber The best preserved medieval town in Germany, Rothenburg ob der Tauber fits the word "romantic" perfectly. Walk the wall that encircles Rothenburg to get various perspectives of architecture in the middle ages (as well as a lot of exercise). Climb to the top of the Rothenburg Town Hall Tower (circa 1250-1400) for a wide-angle view of Rothenburg and its surrounding, mostly pastoral, countryside. The entire walled town of Rothenburg is a museum. The wall connects five medieval gates complete with guard towers that date from the thirteenth to sixteenth centuries. Just walk along Rothenburg's narrow cobblestone streets and admire the gothic, renaissance, and baroque houses and fountains. You may wish that you had lived in these prettier, quieter, slow times. As well as the attraction of the town itself, Rothenburg offers a complete selection of historic restaurants, gothic churches, art exhibits, museums, suits of armor, and great Franken wine, to name only a few.
Approximate value: EUR €39 per person
Please note that some amenities, features and enhancements are only available on 2011 river and small-ship cruise departures.