European Cruise November

[bart]

Originally Posted by AudioNut

My wife and I took a European River Cruise in November two years ago - which - in spite of the occasional grey weather - was fabulous.

Our boat cruised from Amsterdam to Budapest in 16 days and every stop was amazing.

Every day on the boat, just looking at the gorgeous landscapes, cities, castles, villages, farms, people, that we passed, was incredible. I think I took around 1500 pictures.

Many of the towns had already set up their Christmas Markets and had decorated for the holidays. . . . and were beautiful, and a new experience for us.

I would highly recommend river cruising at just about any time of year. The costs are reasonable, the food is excellent, the lodging is comfortable and the boats are rather luxurious.

My wife and I have cruised in big ships 15 or more times, but the most memorable cruise we have ever taken was on a relatively small (about 110 passengers) river cruise boat.

Think about it!

Julian, it was also great to have you at our house just before that tour!

[DonBattles]

Booked trip today ,4 days in Rome, Paris, and Madrid. Decided the cruise would be for another time. I’m really looking forward to this

[Formerly YB-2]

Great choice. 4-days in three of the greatest cities in the world. No wonder you're psych'd.
On our first visit to Madrid (we stayed next to Neptune's fountain in the NH Hotel) we booked a Viator '4hr Evening Walking Tapas Walking Tour'. It was inexpensive as it included tapas and wine at 4 or 5 tapas bars in 'old town'. We had a terrific guide and was a great intro to Madrid's 'old city' section and their take on tapas. Enjoy!!

[DonBattles]

Originally Posted by Formerly YB-2

Great choice. 4-days in three of the greatest cities in the world. No wonder you're psych'd.
On our first visit to Madrid (we stayed next to Neptune's fountain in the NH Hotel) we booked a Viator '4hr Evening Walking Tapas Walking Tour'. It was inexpensive as it included tapas and wine at 4 or 5 tapas bars in 'old town'. We had a terrific guide and was a great intro to Madrid's 'old city' section and their take on tapas. Enjoy!!

We’ll be staying at the NH as well and will be sure to check out the Tapas Tour!

[Formerly YB-2]

Great hotel. They treated us about as good as possible. Bottle of bubbly & a dozen grapes, each, for New Years Eve (tradition is to eat a grape at each stroke of midnight). Here's Fuente de Neptuno from our room. Prado is across the street to the right and 'old town' starts a block to the left. Just follow the Calle del Prado, which runs thru the heart of same. We had a couple of good meals at the Lamucca de Prado a few blocks up on the Calle del Prado. We ask about one of the better Rioja wines and the 'wine guy/owner' brought over a bottle, opened it and poured all of us a very generous pour and joined us to give it a try, on-the-house (excellent, BTW). There are several good restaurants on the Plaza de Santa Anna (where we met for the tapas tour) and Puerta del Sol. We also had a great meal at the La Fragua de Vulcano, about a block off the far corner of the Plaza de Santa Anna. And, about another 1000 great tapas/restaurants in easy walking distance around the area. Vermouth on tap at most (like beer). Make sure to have some pulpo tapas. Hope you have as great a time as we did. Madrid deserves more press as a destination. We are really looking forward to our next visit.