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Traveling Huntleys

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

Bulgaria

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

December 28, 2025 by Michael Huntley

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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Arbanassi, Bulgaria

December 16, 2025 by Michael Huntley

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

December 13, 2025 by Michael Huntley

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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