16 Night Cruise sailing from Budapest to Amsterdam aboard Crystal Mahler.

Discover a region dotted with centuries-old castles, lush valleys, and colorful half-timbered homes as you sail from Budapest along the charming Danube, Main and Rhine rivers; admire masterpieces of glasswork in Passau and savor the classical music vibe of Vienna.

Highlights of this cruise:

Budapest
Cast your eye over the Budapest skyline, and you’ll see all the makings of a world-class city and striking photograph: domes and spires, bridges and lampposts, splendid architecture in the foreground, rolling hills in the back, and the Danube River placidly curving through it, providing a reflective surface for sunsets and city lights. Look closer, and the treasures of Budapest—Hungary’s capital and the largest metropolis—really come to light. Castle Hill is at the top of most visitors’ lists, a UNESCO-listed district hosting Buda Castle, Trinity Square, Matthias Church and Fishermen’s Bastion. The area is also residential, with 18th-century houses, cobblestone streets and few cars, thanks to a strict vehicular ordinance, giving you a real sense of what the city must have been like ages ago. Budapest is full of history, originally a Roman settlement, formed as a unified city when Buda and Pest joined in 1873, overtaken by various invading forces over the centuries, and today an interesting goulash of local culture and foreign influences. Take a seat in a Turkish-era bath or savor rich Esterházy torte in a gentile coffee house to experience the many sides of a city that charms from both sides of the Danube.

Vienna
Layered and elegant, with elements of cozy and grand, musical and visual might be the best way to characterize Vienna—or one of many ways, as this imperial city surely can inspire endless lines of poetic descriptions. Once the capital of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and forever known for its distinguished roster of composers who either were born or lived and worked here—including Mozart, Haydn, Beethoven, Schubert, both Strausses, Liszt and Brahms—Vienna finds itself at the very center of European culture, even as it sits near the border of the Czech republic, Slovakia and Hungary. Turn to a blank page to memorialize your own impressions of this grand city, remarking on its manicured gardens, ornate architecture—especially that of the famed Ringstrasse—intimate bistro pubs called beisln and a certain flourish that can only be called Vienna.

Passau
At the confluence of the Danube, Inn and Ilz rivers, Passau is also situated at a meeting of cultures. The town began as a Roman settlement, enjoying the rising tide of influence as the largest bishopric in the Holy Roman Empire and enduringly vibrant as a hub for various trade and manufacturing pursuits, including salt, swords and ideas. Experience Passau’s charm as you the wander the cobbled streets of Old Town, gaze upon arched bridges and Italianate manses and encounter magnificent St. Stephen’s Cathedral and the New Bishop’s Residence.

Bamberg
Unfolding over seven hills, each crowned by a church, Bamberg is often called “Franconian Rome.” Locals often reverse the phrase, playfully claiming that Rome is the “Italian Bamberg.” However you look at it, Bamberg’s medieval beauty is unrivalled, with the entire Old Town listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Wandering the impossibly cute cobbled lanes, aim your camera at half-timbered buildings topped by steep roofs and bordered by the waters of the river, in places whooshing around buildings’ very foundations. Arched bridges and summer-blooming flowers add to the storybook charm, while the town’s famed Rauchbier, a smoked beer first brewed in 1536, lends a celebratory air. If you prefer sampling Bavarian suds to snapping pictures, you’re in for a treat: Bamberg has more breweries than Munich.

Amsterdam
Everyone has an image of Amsterdam. For some, it’s small boats gliding on the canals and locals two-wheeling on bikes to and from work and, as frequently, to meet friends for drinks. For others, it’s gabled buildings leaning, seemingly precariously, over cobbled streets and cozy taverns illuminated by candles. Still others imagine tulips in bloom and the colors, both muted and vibrant, of the paintings Vermeer, Van Gogh and Rembrandt. All images are true and even more beguiling when experienced in person. Sit a spell in a convivial cafe, explore world-class museums and feel the significance of a unique history—one of a city reclaimed from the sea, rising in prestige and influence as merchants built trade and wealth, and forever known for its attics and attitudes that offered refuge from war. Narrow streets and great manses tell the story not only in images but with the aroma of appeltaart, a taste of the avant garde in newly constructed buildings and a feeling of warmth from the amiable locals.

Two of Amsterdam’s most renowned museums are the masterstrokes of your Crystal itinerary: the Rijksmuseum, displaying 8,000 objects of art and history, including Rembrandt’s The Night Watch and Vermeer’s The Milkmaid, and the Anne Frank House, the 17th-century canal house where Anne, her family and four others remained hidden and silent for more than two years. Today, Anne Frank’s original diary and other exhibits speak volumes about war and persecution.