Thinking about a trip to Prague/Vienna/Budapest but would love to add a short river cruise somewhere between at least 2 of the cities, if possible, preferably on a small boat.

The challenge I see is that the cruises that go to these cities are both longer than I want and only make brief stops in them. I want to be able to stay in each city for an extended period of time so a cruise stopping for a night or 2 isn’t what I’m looking for.

Are there any short (ie 3-4 days) cruises between either Prague & Vienna or Vienna and Budapest? Is one stretch of the river more beautiful than the other? I’d consider a cruise of 6 days but I definitely want to be able to stay in each city for at least 5-7 days each.

One thought I had is to take a cruise from Prague to Budapest, where we are able to spend time in Budapest and then backtrack to Vienna, but that does seem pretty convoluted and I’d like to keep it simple.

Any thoughts or suggestions?

You can't travel between Prague and either Vienna or Budapest entirely by river. Prague's river connects with the Elbe. Vienna and Budapest are on the Danube. A cruise from Prague to Budapest would involve at least one overland connection. So, see Prague separately. A regular boat/ferry ride between Budapest and Vienna only takes about 7/8 hours, so I'm not sure you'll find a "cruise" for this route.

boat Vienna to Bratislava, short, great scenery
Bratislava to Budapest by train

I believe you can take short river cruises in / around Prague and Budapest -- just a few hours for each. I remember them as quite pleasant.

Progol are you looking for the full experience of cruise such as meals, entertainment, lodging, social? Or some other aspect?

If so, and you're not seeing itineraries that your'e wanting, they either may not exist or you may need to think outside the box for them (yacht charter perhaps). Maybe someone on Cruise Critic can suggest something or you may need to reach out to a TA that specializes in cruises.

https://ddsg-blue-danube.at/cruises/?lang=en

Would any of these work for you?

Many thanks eveyone! You’ve given me a lot of good info and food for thought; bottom line is that if it isn’t easily doable it really isn’t worth it for us.

Jean, thank you. I’ve seen that the cruises that officially start in Prague and travel to Budapest include a transfer of some kind. But it’s clear that there’s no short cruise between Prague and Vienna. I have seen some cruises listed between Vienna and Budapest that are 3-5 nights so they do exist but very few.

bilbo, thanks! Your suggestion is the most intriguing I’ve found should we decide to do this.

kja - great idea! Again, another very good option. My idea is really to experience the waterways in a relaxed way but the nature of the cruises don’t quite appeal to me. Short trips on the water may be the way to go.

TravelNerd, thanks for asking. I’m not interested in a long cruise - that is, more than 4-5 nights, and even that is more than I really want. I was hoping that there were shorter cruises but the few I’ve found don’t quite work for me.

FTOttawa - interesting! The description of the tour between Vienna and Budapest is exactly what I was looking for but when I click the link, it doesn’t work. I’m not sure if the cruises actually exist but the reviews of the company’s primary Danube cruise is very mixed at best. My sense is that I’m better off doing a day trip or short boat ride if that’s important to me and skip the idea of a cruise. It also seems that the Danube area around Vienna is not that appealing so I may forget this entirely.

I've cycled the route Bratislava to Vienna twice in the last 20 years. Very interesting

Thanks, Bilbo. This is still in an exploratory stage but the distance between them seems short enough to be able to do a day trip easily. But I don’t think we’re up to a bike ride anymore!

There is no cruise between Budapest and Prague because there is just no waterway.
All cruise companies offer a cruise from Budapest to either Viennna, Linz, Passau, Regensbuirg or Nuremberg, followed by a 3 - 5 hrs bus ride to Prague.

I realize that the cruise doesn’t start in Prague but there are a few cruises that are listed as Prague to Budapest but offer a transfer from Prague to the initial boarding place.

This is moot since I’m not interested in a longer cruise anyway and those that are described as Prague to Budapest are longer than I want.

In summer, there are daily hop on/hop off boat trips from Vienna into the Wachau and sometimes up to Linz
https://www.donau.com/en/the-danube-...ships-ferries/
and from Budapest to Esztergom https://mahartpassnave.hu/en/esztergom-cruise

Oh, neckervd, some of those look quite appealing. There is a sentimental appeal because of how our high school German teacher introduced German compound nouns:

Donaudampschifffahrtsgesellschaftkapitänswitwenpen sione

bilboburgler, the bike ride is on my bucket list.

Many thanks, neckervd! That’s a great website with a good map! So many interesting options! I’m sure I’ll find something that appeals when we do go.