Grant Bradley takes a river cruise down the Danube.
Getting actively involved in a cruise is a great way to see some of Europe, as Grant Bradley and Estelle Sarney discover.
The Danube is a river of romance, commerce and canoes.
A luxury river ship is a great way to experience this mighty artery that winds its way through Central Europe, but by paddling on it you really feel its power.
Avalon Waterways passengers can experience this as part of a new range of "Active Discovery" itineraries on Europe's second longest river. The aim is to add activity and immersive local experiences to traditional river cruising - and it works.
Our canoe trip started in Spitz, one of several tiny market towns the Avalon Luminary was able to dock at in Upper Austria.
The town is in the Wachau Valley. Its steep granite hills provide the ideal base for soils that grow some of the best wine grapes in Austria - and spectacular canyons for our small canoe group to paddle down. The big canoes are rafted together in pairs and very stable. Our guide Gregor - a rare Austrian surfer - accompanied us on his stand-up paddle board. The current of the mighty river helping us as well.
The Danube is bustling with a fascinating mix of vessels including river cruise boats, coal barges and small pleasure boats and is a crucial lifeline, passing through 10 countries in the heart of Europe.
Quartz grains stirred through the Danube mean it's not blue as in the waltz but its water is swimmable, and the fishers you see along its banks are a good sign.
We paddled downriver, pulling in at a white sand beach beneath the ruins of a castle, high on the hill at Durnstein. We swam in the bracing 16C water and used the stand-up paddle boards before setting off for the final stretch to the outskirts of Krems. It was a magic morning, and at Krems we met a group from the Luminary who had done a 20km guided ride on one of the riverside bike trails that attract cyclists from around the world.
ON YOUR BIKE
During the seven-night cruise from Linz in Austria to Budapest there were many opportunities to join guided cycle tours around the small towns of Upper Austria and in Vienna and the Hungarian capital. The ship also has a small fleet of bikes. The cycling is easy and mostly in bike lanes, but some basic fitness and experience helps. The Luminary's 82 passengers were nearly all fairly fit and keen.
Being on a bike meant we could cover more distance and see more architecture and scenery than is possible on foot, and get there more quickly than in a bus. Cruise director Katy Huyskens has 15 years' experience on rivers and says the Active Discovery concept is what more of the increasingly younger passengers are demanding, though she stresses it is "no boot camp".
Paddling a canoe down the Danube on Avalon Waterways cruise. Photo / Grant Bradley
Food aboard the Luminary was splendid - multi-course tables at lunch and dinner and freshly cooked omelettes and Belgian waffles with the breakfast buffet. Food is on offer 24/7 with pastries and cakes served in the stern lounge, and great summer fruit in the big forward lounge and bar area. Complimentary wine and beer is served with lunch and dinner, so getting active is a great idea.
WALKING FOR YOUR SUPPER
Hikes were offered throughout the cruise to further explore the ports at which we stopped. They included a walk through pine forest above Engelhartszell, following symbols of the Catholic stations of the cross to a small chapel at the top of the hill, next to which was a memorial to German airmen who crashed there in World War II. Another day we walked about 4km along the banks of the Danube to a neighbouring village. An outing to a Viennese restaurant for a traditional heurigen dinner could be reached by bus, or via an hour's hike through the Vienna Woods and vineyards.
Vienna is loosely surrounded by this green belt, which is preserved from development and home to the city's wealthy and famous - former Formula 1 Champion Niki Lauda has a home here with his wife and young twins. Our exuberant guide Cornelia was full of fascinating titbits as she led us through woods to the little Sisi Chapel, built in 1854 and looking like an illustration from a fairytale. We startled a pair of deer, which sprung from where they'd been grazing between the first rows of vines back into the woods.
Cornelia pointed out edible plants and inedible berries on the easy stroll past the vineyards. We emerged in the historic district of Dobling, where Beethoven and Strauss used to holiday, and walked past beautifully preserved stone buildings to a heuriger.
Avalon Luminary in Budapest.
These wine gardens, open for short seasons in wine-growing areas, serving local blends with simple Viennese food such as bread and spreads, roast meat and strudel. We sat around tables under trees in the warm evening and enjoyed a delicious platter of pork, sausage and chicken, accompanied by sauerkraut, mustard and horseradish, with two local white wines. The entertainment was in traditional heurigen style - an accordian player and a 75-year-old guitarist, who sang Austrian folk songs and waltzed with Cornelia.
HANDS-ON IN THE KITCHEN
Another way to get active on this cruise was to get hands on with local culture. In Vienna we visited the Andante cooking school, where chef Nabiel attempted to teach us how to mould bread into Viennese rolls - mohnflesserl (poppy seed buns), handsemmel (pumpkin seed rolls), and salzstangerl (salty sticks).
After much kneading, rolling and twisting, amid sprays of flour and water, let's just say some of us were better at it than others. A fellow Kiwi passenger (Avalon caters to English-speaking travellers so most are from North America, Britain, Australia and New Zealand) may have missed his calling as he was so adept at turning lumps of dough into woven works of art that he became Nabiel's right-hand man, ferrying completed trays to the ovens.
An offer to visit a "Trout Circus" sounded too intriguing to pass up, and it turned out to be just one part of Michael and Bernadette Sageder-Luger's fascinating historic farm at St Aegidi.
Fifty years ago Bernadette's father Karl began training trout that ran through the property's farm, and at 85 handed over the circus to his son-in-law. Now Michael delights his visitors by holding a worm behind a ring to entice the trout to jump through it or bump a miniature soccer ball into a tiny net floating on the stream. The day we visited, Michael had his work cut out with the understudy trout, who had to step up after the star performer had passed on to the big river in the sky the previous week. But the youngster didn't disappoint (see a video at
Estelle Sarney and Grant Bradley stand up paddle boarding on the Danube.
From there the property unfolds as an authentic and charming example of 19th century rural life. The site has been inhabited since 1348, and the current Erledt Millhouse has stood there since 1820. Bernadette's family has owned the farm since 1905, and has preserved the millhouse with its living room, kitchen, bedrooms and warren of attic rooms decorated in traditional style. The sawmill building next door still contains a working timber saw powered by a waterwheel, and the interior is filled with curiosities like a cider press, cabbage slicer and, in the rafters, taxidermied birds, deer, stoats and squirrels.
TRAPPIST ORDER TURNS TO DRINK
What would be regarded as a more traditional river cruise activity was also in Engelthartszell, a town of 921. The abbey is home to one of just 110 Trappist monasteries around the world.
There's a labour shortage throughout Austria, and our guide Silvia said that is especially acute among the Trappist monks. A job ad would be a challenge. The monks' motto translates to ''pray and work" - prayers start at 4am, and they pray five more times until 8pm. Under strict rules the Trappists are forbidden from talking, there is no TV or trappings of modern society. The talking bit has been relaxed a bit, the Abbot of Engelthartszell sometimes has a chat apparently but none of the monks were to be seen when we were there. There are just four of them left, an Abbot aged 81, a Father 86 and two brothers in their late 50s.
While a church on the site dates back centuries, and the magnificent Catholic Church is 250 years old, the Trappist order is young, coming to the area in 1925 when there were 75 Monks.
Although declining, the Engelthartszell order is showing it's not done, turning to on-site brewing to fund a re-roofing project on the church. Our small tour group was treated to a generous beer tasting from one of just 11 Trappist breweries in the world (rules are strict - it must be brewed on-site) with brew strength ranging up to the 10.5 per cent Gregorious to cleanse the soul. It was delicious and on sale for about $4.50 a bottle - try finding a craft beer in NZ for that, let alone one brewed by Trappist monks.
CONFRONTING HISTORY
About 1.4 million people live in Upper Austria (from a total population of around 9 million) and their nickname of "granite heads" derives from the importance of granite rock to the economy, says our guide Silvia, who adds it may also have something to do with a stubborn streak.
It was that rock, however, that attracted the attention of Austria's most infamous son, Adolf Hitler, following Anschluss or annexation of Austria by Nazi Germany in 1938, and led to the siting of a notorious death camp at Mauthausen. Hitler's grandiose buildings required large quantities of granite from a quarry high on a hill with a beautiful view down to the medieval town on the Danube. A visit there was sobering and chilling.
About 200,000 prisoners - of all nationalities - that the Nazis that deemed enemies were kept in brutal conditions. Nearly half were murdered, dying of overwork after climbing down the "stairs of death" into the quarry, or being beaten to death for not working hard enough. But as the tide of the war turned, more prisoners from areas being overrun by the Russians were shipped to Mauthausen and killing by the SS started on a mass scale with a mechanised shooting gallery and a gas chamber. After the war, citizens of Mauthausen were taken to the site of the camp to see what they had turned a blind eye to.
The Houses of Parliament in Budapest. Photo / Getty Images
It's not every day you get the opportunity to have a real life Count show you round his castle. Count Carl Philip Clam is a charming host who runs guided tours of Clam Castle, inland from Grein in Upper Austria, for tourists from all over the world, which he unashamedly says are key to funding the ongoing maintenance of this impressive former fortress, built in 1149.
Count Carl's descendants took possession of the castle in 1454, and it is with humility and wit that our guide confesses to feeling the burden of being the latest Clam to take responsibility for its care and preservation. "Being a family property you have to share it with family. We are having a party for my brother-in-law's 50th birthday this weekend - we'll have 50 people staying and 200 people coming to the party in the dungeon - I will just be hoping they don't start throwing glasses."
He leads us up narrow staircases and past rooms laid out with traditional furnishings, explaining paintings and artefacts on display. The family chapel is a beautiful miniature of a gothic abbey, complete with ornate altar and narrow timber pews below a vaulted ceiling.
The family live in private rooms in the castle - the Count's French wife is about to have their third child - and they move from cold to warm wings depending on the season.
The tour finishes with a queue for pictures with the Count and a tasting of a locally crafted brew in a covered courtyard with sweeping views of the surrounding estate.
The seven-night cruise started in Linz in Upper Austria and finished at Budapest. There was also one night in Sofitel's Chain Bridge Hotel in the Hungarian capital
The price
A smartly appointed top deck double stateroom with an exquisitely comfortable bed and French balcony aboard the Avalon Luminary was just over $7000 per person. This included gratuities and most activities.
The Avalon Luminary.
The Active Discovery choices
● Independent biking or several guided rides through Vienna, Budapest or between scenic port towns in Upper Austria along the famed Danube bike trail. The bikes are great, European-style and much more comfortable to ride than most in NZ. ● Canoeing on the Danube between Spitz and Krems, which included and the opportunity to learn stand-up paddle-boarding from guides, and take a dip. It's a great way to get a real sense of the might of the river. ● Hands-on breadmaking at a Vienna cooking school allows you to exercise your inner chef, and reap the rewards with freshly baked rolls to take back to the boat. ● Bush hikes are built into a range of activities. You can take a one-hour stroll through forest and vineyards to an outdoor restaurant on the outskirts of old Vienna, a walk up through a pine forest to a chapel on a hill after visiting a family farm in Austria, or a hike down through bush in Visegrad, Hungary, to learn about the history of the region. ● A caving option is offered to explore historic caves on the outskirts of Budapest. ● On board, the 110m-long Avalon Luminary has a decent length walking track on its sky deck, and a gym equipped with biking machines and a treadmill.
Getting there An Active Discovery cruise on the Danube, from Linz to Budapest, sailing on the Avalon Luminary starts from $4823 pp, twin-share cabin. Upgrades to Category-A cabins on the Sapphire Deck start at $884 pp.
