Passage to Eastern Europe on the Viking Ullur
May/15/2026 to 6/1/2026

Click on the above link buttons that will take you directly to a particular page or area of the review; or you can just click through to the next page at the bottom of each page.

Page 1 - Pre-Trip in Bucharest, Romania
Page 2- Pre-Trip in Bucharest, Romania; Ship; Ports of Call: Ruse, Bulgaria
Page 3 - Vidin, Bulgaria; Iron Gates; Belgrade, Serbia
Page 4 - Ports of Call: Belgrade, Serbia; Osijek, Croatia; Kalocsa, Hungary; Budapest, Hungary
Page 5 - Ports of Call: Budapest, Hungary; Prague Extension
Page 6 - Prague Extension; Recap

Preface

Having been on so many cruises and visited so many countries, it is a challenge to find a cruise that will go to new ports around the world. I don’t mind revisiting ports, since it gives Cathy a chance to enjoy them. One area Cathy and I have always wanted to visit is Eastern Europe. Most Danube River cruises travel west of Budapest. This one would end in Budapest but start in Bucharest, Romania, a town that has been on my bucket list for some time. We would also visit the countries of Bulgaria and Serbia for the first time.

Pre-Trip in Bucharest - Day 1

To get to Bucharest, we flew out of Miami with a connection in Frankfurt. I always worry at the start of the trip when we have a connection. I can deal with delays when returning home, but the thought of missing part of a vacation stresses me. We had a scheduled hour and 50-minute turnaround, but since you must be in the plane about 20 minutes before departure, there is less time to get to the gate. Our plane was 30 minutes late arriving in Miami and leaving for Frankfurt. We were repeatedly told in emails that we would need to use the new European Electronic Entry System (EES) that just recently started. I also read that Frankfurt can have 1–2-hour delays through immigration. Once in Frankfurt, it was a 10-minute walk to immigration. They weren’t using EES, so we got into the immigration line. There was a sign saying it was a 10–20-minute wait at that point. It was 30-minutes. It was quite a long walk to get to B gates. Fortunately, they were in the same secure area, so there was no security screening delay. Because we were on a smaller plane to Bucharest, we had to get on a bus that drove around the airport for 15-minutes to get to the plane. We arrived at the plane 10-minutes before the scheduled departure time. We ended leaving 30 minutes late, but we didn’t care, since we were on the plane to Bucharest

When we landed in Bucharest, it was raining. The rain stopped while we were taxiing. It didn’t rain during the day again until the end of the trip. For our transfers, we usually use the Welcome Pickups service, but on this trip we used Airports Taxi Transfers (https://airportstaxitransfers.com) for all the transfers to and from airports. Their prices were much better.

Viking includes one night at the JW Marriott Bucharest Grand Hotel before the cruise. We booked two extra days for the same room by contacting the hotel and Viking months before the trip. It is a very nice hotel.

We could see the largest Eastern Orthodox church in the world, the National Cathedral, across the street. It is quite a sight!

With it being after the 3:00 PM check in time, we were able to go directly to our room. It was a large comfortable room with adequate closet and drawer space.

The bathroom was a decent size with plenty of counter space and good size shower.

Since we flew all night, we took a power nap so we would be wide awake for dinner. Before traveling to a new destination, we try to watch YouTube videos about must-see attractions and interesting restaurants. One restaurant that everyone recommended was Hanu’ Liu Manuc (https://hanumanucrestaurant.ro/en/restaurant/). With our hotel being about a mile and a half from old town, we used Uber to get to the restaurant. In Bucharest, Budapest and Prague, they have Uber and Bolt, which are basically the same thing. But they are called Uber Taxis or Bolt Taxis. All the various Uber trips we took during this vacation ran between $6-$12 each before tips. We also never had to wait very long for a ride.

The restaurant is in the oldest operating hotel building in Bucharest, Manuc’s Inn, which was built in 1808. The history of the original owner, Manuc Bei is quite interesting, but I won’t go into it here. It is a large building with the restaurant spread around much of it including the huge courtyard.

We were seated at an indoor table with a nice view of the courtyard.

There were several items we wanted to try at the restaurant. One of them was their Transylvania bean soup with smoked pork in a bread bowl. I was very disappointed that they were out of it for the day. With it being a Sunday, it was all consumed during lunch. We still got a delicious meal. I had the stuffed cabbage, and Cathy got the Goulash of the Great Plains. For dessert, we had the most popular dessert in Romania called papanasi, which is fried cottage cheese doughnuts with a sour cream type topping with berry jam. We loved everything, although the donuts were a bit drier than we thought they should be.

Pre-Trip in Bucharest - Day 2

For our first full day in Bucharest we booked a wonderful tour guide, Dan Nica (https://www.tourguidesromania.com). He had great reviews on TripAdvisor, as well as recommendations from a couple of his former clients, Rick Steves and Mick Jagger. Dan is a wealth of knowledge and told us so much about what we were seeing along with relevant history. He presented information in a way that was enjoyable to listen to rather than us feeling like we were in a boring history class. He is just a great guy and a real pleasure to spend time with.

I do want to mention how pleased we were with Dan's SUV. It is the first time in all our travels that a guide had a vehicle with a panoramic sunroof. What a difference it made for Cathy in the back seat. She could see more of the beautiful buldings than I could in the front seat.

Our first stop was to take photos of the Palace of the Parliament. It is the heaviest and largest civilian administration building in the world. The building of it was initiated by dictator Nicolae Ceaușescu. Construction started in 1980. When the 1989 revolution took place, it was 90% complete and Ceausescu never saw its completion. We would tour the building later in the day but wanted to get photos early in the day when the lighting was right and no crowds.

Ceaușescu cleared much of the old town, displacing 40,000 residents, to build a whole complex of buildings around the palace, as well as a wide Champs-Élysées type boulevard through the town. In front of the palace was a large square designed for crowds to hear the dictator’s speeches from palace balcony.

Our next stop was to the Patriarchal Cathedral. We walked through Patriarchal Park with a couple of important statues. The first was of Serban Cantacuzino, who was instrumental in defeating the Ottomans and for printing the first full bible in Romanian.

The next was Alexandru Ioan Cuza, the first ruler of the Romanian Principalities from 1859 to 1866.

When we arrived at the church, it was part of a complex with several other buildings.

From the complex, we could see the palace and cathedral in the distance.

The church itself was completed in 1659. There was a type of service happening, so I couldn’t take photos, but Dan told me it would be OK to take a couple. I was a bit frustrated that I couldn’t take more, but I had no idea at the time how many incredibly gorgeous churches and monasteries we would see on this vacation. I apologize in advance for the large number of church photos in this review.

On the way to our next destination, we passed by the Heros of the Air monument. It was built in the early 1930’s to honor Romanian airmen.

A short way down the road we could see the Arch of Triumph. It was built in 1922 to commemorate Romania’s victory in WW1 and the coronation of King Ferdinand 1 and his wife Marie.

We passed by the arch and next saw the House of the Free Press. That is a strange name for the building since it served as the headquarters for the Communist Party’s main propaganda newspaper, Scinteia.

Dan then came back to the arch and stopped near it so we could get better photos.

We then headed back to old town to do a walking tour. We saw an unusual statue on Revolution Square. It is a memorial dedicated to the victims of the 1989 Romanian Revolution. It commemorates the struggles and sacrifices made during the anti-communist uprising. It has several disembodied limbs on a body.

Close by was the small Kretzulesku Church. It was originally constructed in 1722.

The interior is small but totally covered by gorgeous frescos.

After leaving the church, I was able to take a photo of the back of the church. It shows how small it is.

Close by is the statue of Iuliu Maniu who was the prime minister of Romania until the 1947 Communist takeover. He was imprisoned and sentenced to life in prison. He suffered brutal treatment and died in 1953. The statue is intentionally crafted to depict a broken man.

It is in Revolution Square formerly Palace Square until the 1989 revolution. The building behind the statue is the former Parliament Palace where Ceaușescu gave his final speech on the balcony with the flags on December 21, 1989, when the riots began. Four days later while trying to escape the riots, he was captured by the military, tried and executed on Christmas day.

Continuing our walk, we came to the beautiful Central University Library of Bucharest with the equestrian statue of King Carol 1 of Romania.

Close by is the Romanian Athenaeum concert hall. This was one of the places that was on my must-see list.

I read that it can be difficult to get into the hall to just see it rather than attend a concert. Dan took us to a side entrance. There were two people sitting at a table having coffee. Dan asked if we could go into the hall. They told him that there was something going on in the hall, but we could come back the next day after 1:30 PM. He asked how much it would cost. They told him 15 Lei or $3.31 US. It sounded like a bargain to me.

Continuing our walk back toward the car, we came to a unique monument on Revolution Square, the Memorial of Rebirth. It commemorates the struggles and victims of the 1989 Romanian Revolution that overthrew Communism. The crown at the top of the monument has been referred to as a potato on a stick.

While driving to lunch, we passed by the CEC Bank building. It is a beauty!

The restaurant we were going to for lunch was the very popular Caru’ cu bere (https://www.carucubere.ro/en/) or beer wagon. With the canvas covered outside dining, it is difficult to see the exterior of the restaurant other than the building’s upper floors. The front door was decorated with artificial flowers.

The beautiful unique interior alone makes this restaurant a great place to visit. We loved the beautiful woodwork.

We were seated in a separate room upstairs, which gave me an opportunity to take photos from above.

Romanian food is their specialty, and I was very pleased to be able to get some bean soup in a bread bowl with smoked pork. It was just outstanding!

After the great lunch, we walked over to TripAdvisor’s number 1 attraction in Bucharest, the Stavropoleos Monastery.

We were surprised that there wasn’t a line of people waiting to go inside. Dan told us that there must be a service happening. As we got closer, we could hear the music. Dan said the service could last hours, so we hoped we might get in the next day. We continued our walk around old town enjoying the streets with beautiful buildings and interesting shops and restaurants.

I got a kick out of the restaurant named Dracula’s Bites & Beats. A good name, since we were so close to Transylvania.

We then walked to St. Anthony’s Church that was right across from the Hanu’ Liu Manuc restaurant we ate at the previous night.

The interior was nice, but I didn’t take a lot of photos.

We then went to the highlight of the day, our visit to the Palace of Parliament. Dan purchased tickets for us for a 2:00 PM entry. As we entered the building, I took a photo of a photo from above to show how large the building is. It has over 1,100 rooms.

The entrance hall was massive and elegant, as was the rest of the building. The staircase, chandeliers, pillars and floor were so gorgeous.

We met our guide who told us that we were lucky to be there that day, since the politicians would be meeting over the next several days to choose a new prime minister. Several of the rooms we would see would be closed to visitors after our visit. We continued our tour upstairs seeing more of the sumptuous interior. As we were appreciating our surroundings, the guide told us that the palace has over 1,500 chandeliers. Amazing!

We then went to see Constantin Stere Hall where the Romanian senate’s permanent bureau meets.

We next came to Avrum Iancu Hall where meetings of the joint Permanent Bureaus of the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate take place. Rather impressive!

The next room was the foyer of the Plenary Hall. This is a multi-purpose room used for welcoming senators at the beginning of the legislature, the Christmas tree celebration, thematic exhibitions, etc. News television studios are also set up here, and senators give interviews to the press. An interview was going on while we were there.

We then came to Plenary Hall. It is the primary meeting room for legislative sessions.

The tour lasted an hour and was most impressive. But it is difficult to understand how something like this could be built while the Romanian people were suffering and needed help from their government. The current maintenance cost for the palace is about one million euros per month.

After the palace, Dan wanted to take us out of the city to see the Mogusoaia Palace that was built around 1700.

As we walked into the grounds, we came to a statue of Romania national hero Constantin Brâncoveanu. The wording on the monument says, “the holy martyr”.

Before we arrived at the palace, there were several other buildings on the grounds.

The palace interior hasn’t been renovated, so we didn’t go inside.

In front of the palace was a statue, Motherhood. It depicts a pregnant woman holding a baby while standing on a snake. It represents the protective instinct, resilience, and inherent strength of motherhood triumphing over adversity and evil forces. There was a pregnant couple taking photos with it when we first arrived.

We walked around to the back of the palace to see the gardens. The palace exterior was much prettier in the sunshine, and the grounds were very pretty.

After returning to the hotel, we got ready for dinner. On the way there, we saw a statue we saw before in Rome of Romulus and Remus nursing on a she-wolf.

That night we ate dinner at a restaurant Dan recommended, Lacrimi și Sfinți (https://lacrimisisfinti.eu/en/povestea/). It was a nice restaurant. We were amused by what looked like Lego animals mounted on one of the walls.

Once again, we were having Romanian food. I had a dish called Sarmale “Forget me not”, which is a goose, veal and pork stuffed cabbage cooked in wine with polenta. Cathy had “Good Weather” Veal which is pan fried veal with capers, orange juice and dry wine with oven baked potatoes with rosemary. We shared a wonderful caramelized green peas side dish. These dishes were outstanding. The stuffed cabbage was much better than what we had at Hanu’ Liu Manuc the first night, even though it was very good. I was most surprised and glad of it.

For dessert, we decided to try their papanasi. Another great decision. It was similar but much better because the doughnuts were moist.

Dan had not only given us a great tour, he also gave us a great restaurant suggestion. After the very full day, we were ready for bed early.

Pre-Trip in Bucharest - Day 3

For our second full day in Bucharest, we went to old town on our own to see some sights. After being dropped off by an Uber, I saw a church that wasn’t on my to do list, the Zlatari Church. I went in to check it out. I was glad I did, it was a pretty one.

Since I just stumbled into the church, I forgot to take an exterior photo. I found the below one online.

We walked through the streets appreciating the beautiful buildings and quaint streets. I particularly liked the café with the teddy bears on the tables.

A popular tourist attraction we saw in videos was the Carturesti Carousel bookstore (https://carturesti.ro/?lang=en-US). Since it was on the street, we went in to see it. It is a beautiful multi-story store.

Close by was the Stavropoleos Monastery we couldn’t enter the previous day. I walked around taking additional photos of the gorgeous exterior and courtyard.

We were pleased to be able to get inside to see the amazing frescos and decorations covering this small church. I was so glad we were able to return and see it. We were also very lucky that there was no one else in the church when we were there. When we came by the next day while on a Viking excursion, it was so crowded, the people from the excursion could barely get inside.

Another place that we wanted to visit was the Macca-Vilacrosse Passage. It is a yellow glass covered arcaded street. There were many cute shops and cafes along the passage, but they must open later since we didn’t see much activity.

Cathy had enough walking for the morning, so she decided to take an Uber back to the hotel. We waited for it in front of the Romulus and Remus statue we saw the previous day. I was able to take better photos of it with the sun shining on it.

I continued exploring what was in the area. I passed by another beautiful building, the Coltea Hospital. I like the statue of an interesting looking gentleman. He was Mihai Cantacuzino, a 17th century nobleman and founder of a nearby monastery.

One of the places on my to do list was the New St George church. It is called new but consecrated in 1707. In its courtyard is the Kilometer Zero Monument. It is located at the center of Bucharest and where mile markers are measured from.

The exterior of the church was nicely decorated.

When I went inside, there was a service going on, so I took some photos from a distance and quickly left.

I then walked to the Choral Temple, not too far away.

I purchased an entrance ticket and found that it included a tour with lots of information about Bucharest and the temple. I sat and listened with another couple for a few minutes before excusing myself with the guide. I had to leave to go back to the hotel to get Cathy for lunch. I was able to get some photos of the beautiful temple before leaving.