Maxima, Danube Panorama ex Passau Return

5 Night Cruise sailing from Passau roundtrip aboard Maxima.

Experience a lot in a short space of time – and in comfort: you’ll be sure to do this on this cruise. We will show you the real highlights of the upper section of the Danube: the lively and musical Vienna, Bratislava, the coronation city of Hungarian monarchs, and the historical Budapest metropolis. In the meantime, you’ll get to know the enchanting countryside of the Danube region of Wachau. The UNESCO World Heritage Site awaits with picturesque little towns and the impressive Melk Abbey.

Highlights of this cruise:

Passau
Passau is a town in Lower Bavaria, Germany. It is also known as the Dreiflüssestadt or "City of Three Rivers," because the Danube is joined at Passau by the Inn from the south and the Ilz from the north.

Tourism in Passau focuses mainly on the three rivers, the St. Stephen's Cathedral and the "Old City". With 17,774 pipes and 233 registers, the organ is the second largest in the world. Organ concerts are held daily between May and September.

Passau is also known for its gothic and baroque architecture. The town is dominated by the Veste Oberhaus and the former fortress of the Bishop, on the mountain crest between the Danube and the Ilz rivers. Right beside the town hall is the Scharfrichterhaus, an important jazz and cabaret stage on which political cabaret is performed.

Vienna
Vienna is a unique blend of the historic and the modern with a wealth of architecture and artistic and musical heritage. Many of the world’s most important composers, including Beethoven and Mozart, have lived and performed behind Vienna’s Baroque façades. In addition to this Baroque splendor, there are excellent examples of Art Nouveau architecture .

The heart of Vienna is the Innerestadt where some of Vienna’s most popular tourist attractions can be found, along with pedestrianized streets lined with countless shops, cafés, bars and restaurants. The center point is the Graben (literally ‘moat’), which is a wide square lined with shops and pavement cafés under large umbrellas. Following the demolition of the city walls in 1857, the Ringstrasse was laid out and some of Vienna’s most beautiful buildings were built along it, between 1858 and 1865. Among the most important are the Staatsoper (State Opera House), Kunsthistorisches Museum (Museum of Fine Arts), Naturhistorisches Museum (Natural History Museum), Parlament (Parliament), Rathaus (City Hall) and Burgtheater.

Budapest
Budapest is the capital of Hungary. As the largest city of Hungary, it is the country's principal political, cultural, commercial, industrial, and transportation centre. Cited as one of the most beautiful cities in Europe, its extensive World Heritage Sites includes the banks of the Danube, the Buda Castle Quarter, Andrássy Avenue, Heroes' Square and the Millennium Underground Railway, the second oldest in the world. Other highlights include a total of 80 geothermal springs, the world's largest thermal water cave system, second largest synagogue, and third largest Parliament building.

Most of Budapest's famous sights are concentrated on Castle Hill on the Buda side, in downtown Pest and along the riverside walkways. The main sights on Castle Hill are the Royal Palace, the National Gallery, the Fisherman’s Bastion and Matthias Church. In downtown Pest the main sights are the Parliament Building, St Stephen’s Basilica, the Great Synagogue and the Jewish Museum and the Eötvös Loránd University.

Budapest is also known for its many hot and thermal springs. Budapest has 118 hot springs that supply the city’s many bathhouses and spas with warm therapeutic spring water. Such was the reputation of its springs that in 1934, the Budapest was declared the “City of Springs.”

Our MS MAXIMA is a classic comfortable ship. The spacious outer cabins are equipped in style and comfort. On the middle and upper deck, all cabins have a French balcony, on the main deck, large portholes. This gives a fantastic view of the landscape passing by. A whirlpool invites you to soothing relaxation in the wellness area. And there is one thing on the menu: enjoyment!

At meal times, all guest will find a place in the generously arranged panorama restaurant. Let yourself be pampered by the friendly staff. International specialities can be found in the menu, as well as dishes from kitchens of the countries along the travelling route.

Theme evenings, quiz events, bingo (depending on the programme) as well as live music ensure that there is no time for boredom. Books, board and card games are also available.

nicko cruises Schiffsreisen GmbH is one of the most dynamic cruise providers in Germany. In recent years, the company has evolved from a leading river cruise provider with more than 30 years of experience into a well-known provider of small ships with destination-oriented ocean routes. With its fleet, which is as modern as it is comfortable, nicko cruises travels the world’s oceans as well as all domestic waterways and coastal sections that are in demand for tourists. In 2023, the programme includes not only 22 river ships, but also the classic ocean-going vessel VASCO DA GAMA.

With its "time to discover" philosophy, nicko cruises focuses on cruise schedules that are rich in discovery and on intensive travel experiences in the product fields river and ocean. The product features of so-called “slow cruising”, such as small ships and long anchorage times, are combined with emotional moments at nicko cruises. During the cruises, guests always have plenty of time for exploring. Thanks to the large variety of products, everyone will find just the right trip at nicko cruises, individually tailored to their needs. The ships in the fleet are all in the 4 to 5-star category according to German land hotel trade standards. Attractive inland excursions and the varied culinary offers on board round off the travel experience. nicko cruises Schiffsreisen GmbH has its company headquarters in Stuttgart, where it employs roughly 110 highly motivated members of staff.