Traveling Huntleys

Inspiring travel stories, tips, and guides from a couple exploring the world one destination at a time.

Michael Huntley

From Amsterdam to Bucharest: Our Complete Rhine, Main, and Danube River Cruise

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Last Updated: May 2026

Some trips stay with you for years. The river cruise Sandy and I took aboard Uniworld’s River Duchess — from Amsterdam to Bucharest — is firmly in that category. Over three weeks we sailed through eight countries along three connected waterways: the Rhine through Germany’s most celebrated wine valleys and cathedral towns, the Main through Franconia’s medieval heartland, and then the Danube itself — broad and green through Austria, Hungary, Croatia, Serbia, Bulgaria, and Romania, growing quieter and wilder the further east we traveled.

We wrote a dedicated post for every stop on the journey. This is the post that connects them all — a stop-by-stop account of twenty-one destinations in the order we visited them. If you are researching a similar cruise or simply want to revisit the journey with us, the links below will take you to each full story.

Michael Huntley, lunch, Bucharest, Romania
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Snagov Palace and Monastery, Bucharest, Romania

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Last Updated: May 2026

The day before we had toured the Palace of the Parliament in Bucharest — a building designed to project absolute power at enormous human cost. On our second day from Giurgiu, we drove north of the city toward Snagov Lake for something entirely different: an elegant royal lakeside palace, a medieval island monastery, and one of the most persistent legends in Romanian history. Sandy and I had barely recovered from Ceaușescu’s colossus when the pine trees opened up and there was the lake, calm and silver in the morning light, with a small white church visible on an island in the middle.

Sandy Huntley on the garden path leading toward Snagov Lake, Snagov Palace, Romania
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Palace of the Parliament, Bucharest, Romania

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Last Updated: May 2026

The River Duchess docked at Giurgiu, a port town on the Romanian bank of the Danube, and we boarded motorcoaches for the 65-kilometer drive north into Bucharest. The approach to the city is unremarkable until suddenly it isn’t — the Boulevard Unirii opens up wide and at its far end, filling the entire horizon, sits the Palace of the Parliament. Sandy said nothing for a moment. Then: “That’s one building?” One building. The Palace of the Parliament in Bucharest, Romania is one of the world’s most awe-inspiring and controversial architectural achievements, a colossal structure that dominates the cityscape and serves as a dramatic symbol of the country’s complex modern history.

Sandy Huntley on the grand marble staircase inside the Palace of the Parliament, Bucharest, Romania
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Arbanassi, Bulgaria

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Last Updated: May 2026

The River Duchess docked at Ruse, a graceful Bulgarian city on the Danube sometimes called “the Little Vienna” for its handsome 19th-century architecture. Our excursion took us inland by motorcoach through the rolling Bulgarian countryside — first to a medieval heritage complex, then to Veliko Tarnovo, the ancient capital of Bulgaria, and finally to the village of Arbanassi just above it, where two extraordinary stone churches hold some of the most remarkable fresco cycles in the Balkans. Sandy and I had no idea what we were in for. By the end of the day, we agreed it ranked among the most memorable excursions of the entire cruise.

Nativity Church interior fresco depicting biblical scenes covering every wall, Arbanassi, Bulgaria
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Vidin, Bulgaria

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Last Updated: May 2026

The River Duchess docked at Vidin on the Bulgarian bank of the Danube, a small city with its own medieval Baba Vida Fortress visible from the water. Our excursion took us 50 kilometers south by motorcoach into the foothills of the Balkan Mountains — and as we rounded the last bend before the town of Belogradchik, the red cliffs rose suddenly above the rooftops like something from another planet. Belogradchik Red Rock Valley is a spectacular natural wonder known for its striking sandstone and conglomerate rock formations, stretching approximately 30 kilometers in length and about 3 kilometers wide. Sandy turned to me immediately and said: “Why have I never heard of this place?” Neither of us had any idea what we were walking into.

Sandy Huntley among the towering red sandstone formations at Belogradchik Red Rock Valley, Bulgaria
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Golubac Castle, Lepenski Vir, Serbia

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Last Updated: May 2026

Sailing downstream from Belgrade, the Danube grows quieter and the landscape more rugged with every passing kilometer. Sandy and I were on the upper deck of the River Duchess watching the river banks gradually rise into steep, forested hills when the fortress appeared around a bend — Golubac Castle, perched on a cliff face at the very entrance to the Đerdap Gorge, its nine stone towers reflected in the dark water below. It looked exactly like a medieval fortress should look, which is to say it looked almost unreal. We went ashore to explore the castle, then continued by motorcoach to Lepenski Vir — one of the oldest planned human settlements in Europe — before sailing the full dramatic length of the Iron Gates gorge back aboard the ship that afternoon. It was one of the most varied and extraordinary days of the entire cruise.

Golubac Castle medieval fortress rising above the Danube River at the entrance to the Iron Gates gorge, Serbia
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