Our second day morning during our Travel to Vienna has been quite enjoyable. And after a quick lunch at McDonald’s, we are set for the water. With a cruise on Danube.

You can perhaps feel what the weather is like. It’s been like that since last afternoon. And is expected to continue for the next two days too. But we are still loving it and living out every moment. Soaking in the beauty of this wonderful city, Vienna.

We took a two minutes walk to the ‘Big Bus’ stop from McDonald’s. Our destination Schwedenplatz. The DDSG Blue Danube cruises depart from there. The canal cruise comes complimentary with the ‘Big Bus’ 72 hour hop-on-hop-off ticket and is a welcome addition. You can save quite a few Euros, which you would have paid otherwise.

After exchanging our voucher for the ticket, we still had some time to go. So there I was searching for a coffee parlor to satisfy my thirst. Luckily I found one within the terminal itself, having my choice of Americano.

The Danube is Europe’s second longest river, after the Volga. The Danube was once a long-standing frontier of the Roman Empire, and today flows through 10 countries, more than any other river in the world. Originating in Germany, the Danube flows southeast for 2,850 km passing through Austria, Slovakia, Hungary, Croatia, Serbia, Romania, Bulgaria, Moldova and Ukraine before draining into the Black Sea. Its drainage basin extends into nine more countries.

The Danube river basin is home to fish species such as pike, zander, huchen, wels catfish, burbot and tench. It is also home to a large diversity of carp and sturgeon as well as salmon and trout. Since ancient times, the Danube has become a traditional trade route in Europe. Today, 2,415 km of its total length are navigable. The river is also an important source of hydro-power and drinking water. It’s time for us to board.

DDSG’s Blue Danube is one of the red-white fleet of six modern ships that depart for numerous journeys during the day and at night. From relaxed cruises through the Wachau region, sightseeing cruises on Vienna’s Danube Canal or evening cruises, they offer plenty of options in entertainment and culinary delights. A relaxed atmosphere with their friendly crew made our stay on board quite memorable.

The history of Danube Canal is also quite interesting. The current one that we would be traveling on today is actually one of the regulated arm of the actual Danube canal, an offshoot of the river. In the 1970s, it was split into two parallel arms where it passes through the city. While the southern arm is known as Danube, the northern arm is called New Danube. The artificial land between the two is known as Danube island, a recreation zone and home to Europe’s largest free music festival. When you visit the Danube Tower, which is a must when you are in Vienna, you get a great view of the island. It’s time to get going and as we sail it’s also time for some refreshing Lemon Tea.

Keep a watch on the wall paintings, each taking you into a beautiful world of creative thoughts and art as we sail and also explore the beautiful skyline.

For those of you who love going through the history of a place while on your travel, there are some important facts for you on how Danube canal evolved over the years into the present day form.

We were as much glued to the screen picking up some new learning as we were to the canal banks and their activities while passing by them. And next it was our turn to go up to the upper bunk to feel the coolness of the breeze, the nature, a taste of on-and-off showers and the beauty of Vienna and its creations.

Austria. It seemed a fairy tale destination when we were planning our trip. Experiencing it right now.

Vienna. Amazingly beautiful. And Danube, its lifeline.

Hope you enjoyed the ride.PIN it for later