Stay active on your cruise down the Rhine, Main, and Danube rivers! You’ll enjoy a bevy of active endeavors. Here are but a few:

• Extend your walks! Your Cruise Director or local guide can suggest scenic routes by location
• Reserve a complimentary bicycle aboard ship and explore designated biking routes in select cities
• Make use of your ship’s fitness room and spa services, including massage

• Join an exclusive “German Village Life” tour in Marktheidenfeld, featuring visits to local artisans and a wine party with barbecue lunch and live German music
• Enjoy an exclusive Hungarian folklore program in Kalocsa, including a welcome drink, paprika bread-making workshop, folk painting, wine, and sausage tasting — a Vantage exclusive!
• Learn about Croatia’s independence firsthand in the university city of Osijek, where you’ll meet a Croatian family for lunch in their home
• Engage in lively conversation over lunch with university students in Veliko Tarnovo
• Visit the Church of Archangels Michael and Gabriel in Arbanasi for an Orthodox choir performance

• Enjoy complimentary use of high-end bicycles on board & helmets — simply see your Concierge once you're on board to reserve, keeping in mind that the bikes are first-come, first-served
• Use our suggested route maps, or your onboard staff can add alternatives
• Bring along water in a collectible Vantage bottle from your stateroom

If biking, please bring firm-soled shoes, lightweight layers in moisture-wicking fabrics, a windbreaker, and pants made of breathable fabric (or padded cycling pants). Hats and gloves are suggested for chilly months.

• Opportunities for intimate cooking classes with our world-class chefs, learning about how to prepare local delicacies — and then savoring them!
• Rub elbows with the locals over lunch at a traditional restaurant in the ancient town of Heidelberg
• Learn how to make an authentic Apfelstrudel, or apple strudel, in a culinary demonstration by the ship’s chef. Hint: It’s all in the dough!
• Enjoy local beer with regional specialties, including Kölsch beer with sour cabbage
• Take part in a folklore workshop to explore the importance of paprika to Hungarian culture. You’ll discover it’s many grades, from sweet to spicy hot, and see how a tasty paprika bread is made
• Enjoy lunch and conversation with university students who are eager to meet Americans and practice their English in the ancient Bulgarian capital of Veliko Tarnovo
• Take a Viennese Heurigen Dinner optional tour for an authentic heurigen experience
• Sit down with a Croatian family to share stories, laughs, and traditional dishes at a home-hosted lunch
• Raise a toast with daily demonstrations teaching you how to make cocktails — then enjoy them with fellow travelers!

• In Rüdesheim, take the opportunity to visit Siegfried's Musikkabinett, a remarkable collection of mechanical music makers, from tiny music boxes to giant calliopes
• Learn about “Musical Vienna” during a shipboard lecture by an expert in the field, and attend an exclusive classical concert at the city’s Kursalon music hall
• Listen to a concert played on the massive pipe organ in St. Stephen’s Cathedral in Passau
• Learn about Bulgarian music during live performances by an Orthodox choir and children’s dance troupe

You’ll want to have your camera ready at all times to capture the majesty of all seven countries you’ll visit on this epic cruisetour. Here are a few tips to help you along the way:

• Don’t be afraid of the dark! Exploring cities and landmarks at night offers different lighting and unique new perspectives — just make sure you have a tripod or your camera comes equipped with a night feature!
• Change your point of view. Try shooting from a different angle and enjoy the adventure. For example, climb a stairwell and shoot a landscape from up high or, alternately, get low and shoot a scene from the ground. Wherever you are, embrace this artistic challenge by getting out of your comfort zone!
• Take a selfie! You’ll be glad to have a few portraits of yourself at the distinctive landmarks you’ll find on this journey
• Look beyond landmarks — sometimes everyday scenes are just as inspiring, and a lesson in embracing the unexpected and seizing the moment in front of you

• See Cologne’s great twin-towered cathedral, a UNESCO site
• Hear a concert on the world's largest church organ in Passau
• Enjoy an organ concert in Kalocsa
• Enjoy an Orthodox choir concert in a village church in Bulgaria

• Cruise through two UNESCO World Heritage landscapes — the Upper Rhine Gorge and the Wachau Valley — enjoying views of hilltop castles, ancient monasteries, terraced vineyards, and more
• Join a tour of Nuremberg on an excursion that reveals the city’s role during and after World War II
• Experience a full-day tour to one of Bulgaria’s most beautiful towns, Veliko Tarnovo, and the 16th-century village of Arbanasi
• City tour of Budapest, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, including Fisherman's Bastion
• Walking tour of Regensburg, a UNESCO World Heritage Site
• Enjoy a tour of Budapest’s Parliament building — a Vantage exclusive!
• Visit Vienna’s UNESCO-listed Palace and Gardens of Schönbrunn
• Visit Cologne’s UNESCO-listed Cathedral
• Visit the early Christian Necropolis of Pécs, Hungary, a UNESCO site

The wines of the fertile Moselle region are world-famous, and on this river cruise, you’ll see — and taste! — why. While riesling is without a doubt the most well-known, there are plenty of other varietals you’ll try — both with enriching new on-the-ground features and added onboard tastings.

• You’ll enjoy the opportunity to immerse yourself in the village culture of Rudesheim, during an optional wine hiking tour
• Wine pairing menus on board give context and enlightenment about the scenery and luscious vineyards you’ve seen from your river ship — with many different samples
• Tour the Residenz Palace in UNESCO-listed Würzburg, with an included wine tasting
• During your leisure time, you can add on more samples at a Viennese Heurigen dinner (on your own), a lively affair with local music

• Complimentary biking options — take a spin alongside your Concierge, who will lead small-group bike rides, or explore independently with our complimentary locks, helmets, and biking maps
• A lively social media night and musical performances most nights
• Solo-friendly social activities, including a Solo Connection mixer
• Onboard entertainment, lectures, and cooking demonstrations

Customize your Great European experience with these top Concierge suggestions:

• Belgrade’s Great War Island kayaking tour
• Belgrade underground tour and wine tasting
• Vukovar canoeing photo safari
• Budapest thermal spa visit
• Restaurant reservations in Budapest
• Electric boat rental in Vienna
• Tickets to the Vienna Zoo (Tiergarten Schönbrunn)