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.
