Cruising the Lower Danube river on AmaMagna
We start this journey in Bucharest as we make our way from the airport for the hour or so drive to Guirgui on the Danube river where the gorgeous AmaWaterways AmaMagna was waiting for us.
We were invited by AmaWaterways to experience this unique river ship for a week long cruise on the lower Danube starting in Bucharest and ending up in Budapest. Along the way we stop at 7 destinations in 4 countries with some stunning scenic sailing through Eastern Europe along the way.
Having flown in on the day we boarded (something we would not normally advise but we knew the ship was staying in Bucharest for another day so we would be able to join it the next day if our flight was delayed) we joined the AmaMagna quite late in the day with just enough time for a quick cocktail in the lounge and a chance to meet the Captain of the vessel before heading down to the main dining room for dinner. The main dining room is colourfully decorated with larger tables around the edge of the room, taking advantage of the views from the floor to ceiling windows and booth style seating in the middle of the room, where we were delighted to see there were plenty of tables for two. Having not eaten since breakfast, dinner was very welcome and we soon realised that if this meal was anything to go by we knew we were going to be well fed over the next week.
Overnight the ship moved from Guirgui in Romania over to the other side of the river to a place called Rousse in Bulgaria, but still a short drive over the Friendship bridge to Romania. Our first full day on board and there were two included excursions of offer, one a full day in Bucharest and the other an excursion to the Bulgarian city of Veliko Tarnovo. Since most passengers had already spent a couple of days in Bucharest the majority of guests had chosen the excursion to Veliko Tarnovo but as we hadn’t had time to explore Bucharest we chose the other option, along with just three other guests.
Leaving the ship, we started off by crossing the Friendship bridge, one of only two crossing points from Bulgaria to Romania on our way back to Bucharest. The drive to Bucharest took about an hour, starting with a stop at the Parliament Palace building, the second largest building in the world after The Pentagon.
From the Parliament building, we drove to the Royal Palace for a quick look at some of the interesting buildings located there, including the communist headquarters and the balcony from which Ceaușescu made his final address from before being arrested and executed. Then we moved to the Old City where we had a quick walking tour with a chance to soak in some of the gorgeous architecture. Bucharest is such an interesting city with an eclectic mix of architecture from Neoclassical Gothic, Baroque, Art Deco and Ottoman Byzantine with influences from its chequered history including the French’s the Germans, and the Ottomans. Following the walking tour we had some free time to wander around the Old City and get lunch.
While we had been enjoying ourselves on our excursions the ship had been sailing along the Danube to a little place called Svishtov where we returned to reboard. With everyone back on board we set sail for our next stop Vidin, located at the northern most part of Bulgaria, where we are scheduled to arrive at lunchtime the next day.
In the meantime we headed to the lounge to enjoy an AmaWaterways Sip and Sail hour while Florentin, our cruise director, gave us a brief overview of the next days port, excursions and schedules. Sip and Sail hour is an AMA signature event across all of their river ships, when guests can gather in the ships lounge and enjoy a complimentary pre-dinner drink from a defined list of drinks, usually between the hours of 6 and 7pm every evening.
That evening we had a dinner reservation in another of the restaurants of the four on AmaMagna, the Al Fresco restaurant at the very front of the ship. This Mediterranean tapas style informal restaurant is located in the conservatory area in front of the lower lounge. With only a handful of tables this offers a very relaxed but attentive dining experience with a delicious five course menu and a perfect view, especially if you are treated to beautiful sunset as we were.
We sailed through the night and woke up to a beautiful sunrise as we sailed along the Danube towards Vidin. As we had a morning of scenic sailing we decided to have a leisurely lay in, throwing open our patio doors out to the balcony and enjoying the views from our bed as we sailed along.
Up on the large sun deck plenty of guests were out enjoying the glorious weather, playing pickleball, visiting the Captain and his crew in the wheelhouse, taking a dip in the pool, joining in with a line dancing class or just relaxing in the sun.
Later that day we reached Vidin, our next stop and the location of our afternoon shore excursion. Vidin has the unfortunate title of being the poorest region of the poorest country in Europe. Population here has almost halved in the last 30 years (post communism) with a steady exodus of working age adults due to its stagnating economy and chronic lack of investment. The falling fertility rates and the desire for the young population to move to the richer western member states of Europe means that companies won’t invest in an area with no workforce and as a result, Vidin is in a death spiral that’s seemingly irreversible. So as you can imagine we were not expecting much from Vidin, however it greatly surprised us with its pretty riverside area and some locals coming down to see us arrive.
We had chosen an excursion to a local home where we would learn how to make (and eat) a traditional party delicacy, Banista. A short coach drive took us to Ramona’s home in a village just outside Vidin. Ramona greeted us warmly showing us through to her kitchen and then introducing us to some of her family before showing how to make Banista. After her demonstration, it was our turn to have a go whilst Ramona’s cooked ready for us all to sample straight from the oven. What a lovely afternoon, and we even took some Banista back to the ship for the crew to enjoy later.
Back on the ship we freshened up for cocktail hour which tonight was made even more enjoyable with a traditional folklore show from some of the young people from Vidin, followed by dinner in another of the ship’s restaurants, Jimmys, a family style sharing restaurant. The restaurant itself is very cool with a basement bar type vibe to it and lager tables for 8-12 guest to share dinner together. We joined a table with five other guests and the food was brought out on large platters for us to help ourselves to.
During the night the ship had gone through the first of the Iron Gate locks and at about 5.30am we entered the second dock located next to one of the largest power stations in Europe. With such a big difference in water levels to navigate the dock is split into two sections, taking about an hour to navigate them both. Leaving the locks we headed into one of the most scenic sections of the river for the whole voyage, particularly the magnificent Rock Sculpture of Decebalus which is carved into the mountain wall. With some of the narrowest and trickiest sections of water on the whole the river Danube, our fabulous Captain skilfully negotiated this section of the river giving us the best views he could. With such stunning scenery we decided to have our lunch at the Al Fresco restaurant where we could soak in the scenery while enjoying a burger and pizza lunch with a nice cold beer.
There was only one excursion on offer that afternoon as we made our first stop in Serbia, and that was a late afternoon visit to Golubac Fortress. Golubac Fortress was built during the 14th century by the Medieval Serbian state. It has three compounds and ten towers, none of which are connected in order to make attacks more difficult, a tactic which successfully saw off over 120 attacks. Golubac Fortress itself has had a tumultuous history becoming the object of many battles, especially between the Ottaman Empire and the Kingdom of Hungary. Nowadays it is a popular tourist attraction in the region and is now one of the most visited tourist attractions in Serbia. We only had a short stop here, giving us just enough time to climb a couple of the smaller towers before dropping by the visitor centre to sample some local Serbian cheese and breads and drink Rajacke wine.
Arriving into Belgrade as the sun rose we were up early for our excursion that day, a tour of the city which started at the fortress park located on a hill at one end of the city, giving amazing views over the city. Next we visited the Church of Saint Sava, one of the largest Orthodox churches in the world. We really hadn’t expected to find one of the most stunning churches we’ve ever visited in Belgrade but it was an absolutely incredible church with beautiful golden mosaics covering the four wings and domes. The main dome mosaic which was only completed in 2017, depicting the resurrection, is one of the largest mosaic compositions in the world. After some time in the church we headed back through the city to learn about Serbian born Nikola Tesla at the Tesla museum where we had for a guided tour of the museum, including the chance to have a go at some electric experiments.
Back on the ship we grabbed a lunch in the main dining room before heading out on foot to explore the city independently, heading for the Hotel Moscow and the cafe there, famous for its signature dessert, the Moscow Šnit (Slice), a rich layered cake made with almonds, pineapple and sour cherries, first introduced in 1974. We grabbed a table on the lovely roadside outdoor terrace to watch the world passing by with a slice of the delicious signature cake. All caked out, we took a slow walk through this vibrant city back to the ship.
Another evening back on the AmaMagna and another of the restaurants, this evening a special meal in the final and most fancy of all the restaurants on board, The Chefs Table. The menu here is a seven course tasting menu which is prepared by the chef in the open kitchen for all guests seated in this intimate, refined venue to see.
Sailing up river overnight, we arrived in Novi Sad early the next morning. We were excited about our excursion today as we had finally got around to booking onto a cycling tour. We set off with our guide along the river to the university campus before heading back through both the industrial, newer and then older parts of the city to the ship.
Still only lunchtime the ship slipped her tie-ropes and set sail from our all to brief stop in Novi Sad, heading towards country number four, Croatia, where we had an afternoon excursion to the little Croatian border town of Ilok. Before our stop there we first headed inland for a stop up on the hills overlooking the town and the river to sample a refreshing pink sparkling wine from the Iloki-Podrumi winery at the stunning Principovac country estate.
Then it was time to visit the town itself, starting with the old town walls and hilltop church with views over the river. Also in the town centre was the ancient wine cellar of the country estate we had visited earlier, so we stopped by there to visit the cellars which house some very old and mouldy bottles of wine. Wines from this estate are apparently a favourite of King Charles and one of the white wines was used to celebrate his recent Coronation. So of course we had to try (and buy) some.
With just one full day left on board this magnificent ship and the only tour options being full day excursions we decided to skip the tours and stay on the ship to make the most of the last few hours on board, making the most of the glorious weather while moving on towards our final destination of Budapest, where we would say goodbye to what had been a very sumptuous, relaxing and comfortable home for the last week.
Thank you to AmaWaterways who hosted us on this week long Lower Danube river cruise, covering the cost of our cruise excluding air fares which were paid for by us. AmaWaterways had no editorial control over any of our content, either before, during our after our voyage and have not paid us to promote them or this post.
If you enjoyed this blog why not take a look at some of our other blogs, especially our AmaWaterways Rhone river cruise or our complete guide to the AmaMagna
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