Optional Excursions

Here's a list of optional excursions you can enjoy during your vacation. Whether it's a special dinner, a local show or a special behind-the-scenes glimpse into an historical site, optional excursions are a wonderful way to enrich your vacation even further. Plus, they give you flexibility. We include the must-see sites and experiences, and we also understand that people take interest in different activities and may want to craft a more personal vacation by hand-picking optional excursions that appeal to them.

Availability is subject to sufficient participation, weather conditions, seasonal suitability, days of operation, group interests, and general feasibility for your vacation. The approximate value listed gives you a good, general idea of what you can expect to pay but may vary once you are on your vacation. Some information provided might be in a foreign currency; you can use our online currency converter for exchange rate information.

CITY: Amsterdam

Rembrandt & Co - A Visit To Amsterdam's Rijksmuseum
The Masterpieces of Amsterdam's Rijksmuseum offer a unique way to view all the highlights of the Golden Age in one place. Discover with our local experts their interrelationships, thematically or chronologically, discover the stories and view the artworks close-up. The most famous painting at the Rijksmuseum is Rembrandt's Night Watch. A national icon that fires the imagination and is always at the centre of discussion; the painting has been successively analyzed, interpreted, praised, abused, damaged and restored; It is, in short, the focus of attention. But what makes this portrait of a group of civic guardsmen so special, apart from being the largest painting that Rembrandt ever made? What is it about, what is its background? Find your answers in this visit to the Rijksmuseum?
Approximate value: EUR €27 per person

Sunflowers & Other Masterpieces In The Van Gogh Museum
A visit to the Van Gogh Museum is a unique experience. The museum contains the largest collection of paintings by Vincent van Gogh in the world. It provides the opportunity to keep track of the artist's developments, or compare his paintings to works by other artists from the 19th century in the collection. The museum also holds an extensive offer of exhibitions on various subjects from 19th century art history. Join your local expert for an introduction to Van Gogh, before you start exploring the collection at your own pace.
Approximate value: EUR €29 per person

CITY: Bratislava

Schlosshof - A Castle & Its People
Just another castle? No! Schlosshof is more than just a castle. While other palaces show you the splendor of representation, this one grants a view backstage. Our local experts show you what happened to the palaces in wintertime, when it was simply too expensive to heat the mighty structure; we will stroll through the park and hear the stories of how the old patterns were miraculously found and redone. We will get an idea of what a feast might have looked like, in the days of Prince Eugen. But the real fun part is to see how the many helping hands worked in former times from the farmers to the gardeners, from the locksmiths to the servants, from the laundry girls to the kitchen staff. Explore the herb and spice garden; Pet the white donkeys, and after all take your time to look behind the scenes in order to get a full picture of living like a Marie Antoinette ( - just don't loose your head over it
Approximate value: EUR €39 per person

CITY: Passau

Salzburg - Mozart's Sound Of Music
True, Salzburg is the birth-place of Mozart and you will find the face of the city's most famous son everywhere. Salzburg is also the setting for the Sound of Music Movie, which has shaped the city's perception in the minds of generations. But Salzburg is much more. It is a city with history based on the salt trade from the nearby Alpine Mountains, it is a city of beautiful baroque buildings, and a city perched between the mountains and green waters of the Salzach river. It is a city with a long cultural heritage and in the small busy lanes like the "Getreidegasse" with its wrought iron signs you might get a feeling, how busy this city always was. Today we would like to show you Salzburg and its past, we will show you the Austrian Lake district and our local experts will talk about what it makes to be Austrian and to live in this country today. And who knows perhaps this excursion will give you also wings. . .
Approximate value: EUR €64 per person

CITY: Regensburg

Excursion To Weltenburg Abbey And Danube Gorge
The Danube Gorge has both a gentle and a strange beauty. In a magnificent show of force, the Danube has carved its way through the Swabian Alb to create a stunning landscape - a wild, romantic stretch of river with sheer cliffs rising up to 100 meters out of the water. At its upper end the Weltenburg Abbey is located on a peninsula directly beneath the cliffs of the Gorge. It was founded by Irish or Scottish monks in 620 and is one of the oldest abbeys in Bavaria. The present Benedictine abbey dates back to the 18th century when it was extensively rebuilt in baroque style. Their ceiling frescos of the Heavenly Jerusalem blend seamlessly with the abbey interior and are particularly noteworthy. Important is also that Weltenburg Abbey houses the oldest abbey brewery in the world, as the monks have been brewing beer since 1050. A beer and a "pretzel" are a welcome refreshment
Approximate value: EUR €39 per person

CITY: Vienna

A Visit of Schonbrunn Palace
Schonbrunn, the former summer residence of the imperial family, is considered one of the most beautiful baroque palaces in Europe. The Habsburgs resided here the better part of the year in numerous rooms for the large imperial family in addition to representational rooms. Emperor Franz Joseph, who later married the enchanting Sisi and reigned from 1848 to 1916, was born here in 1830. The monarch spent his last years entirely in the palace, which became the property of the new Republic of Austria only two years after his death. Today, the palace is part of UNESCO's cultural heritage due to its historic importance, its unique grounds and its splendid furnishings. Follow our local expert and visit Empress Sisi's former summer residence, afterwards take your time to stroll through the park or enjoy a demonstration of how the famous Viennese Apple Strudel is being made - Samples to taste included. . .
Approximate value: EUR €44 per person

Royal Waltz Concert
Would a stay in Vienna be the same if you were not able to listen to the tunes of the "Blue Danube Waltz" or the "Radetzky" March? Your Cruise Director will accompany you to one of the Vienna's Famous Concert Halls. Avalon will make preferred seating arrangements. In order to celebrate this evening in style, have a glass of sparkling wine in the intermission, before you listen to the famous tunes brought to you by opera singers and watch the elegant ballet dancers as they interpret some of the most well known classical tunes from Vienna.
Approximate value: EUR €49 per person

Depart Date	Vacation Start Date	Vacation End Date	Departure Number	Calendar	Ship				Photo represents the type of room & price is the "starting at" price.
09/11/10	09/12/10	09/26/10	00912		Imagery	$4,799.00	$5,797.00	$7,197.00	NOT AVAILABLE
09/18/10	09/19/10	10/03/10	00919		Poetry	$4,799.00	$5,797.00	$7,197.00
10/09/10	10/10/10	10/24/10	01010		Imagery	$4,049.00	$5,047.00	$6,447.00
10/16/10	10/17/10	10/31/10	01017		Poetry	$3,949.00	$4,947.00	$6,347.00
04/23/11	04/24/11	05/08/11	10424		Tranquility	$4,449.00	$5,447.00	$6,847.00
04/30/11	05/01/11	05/15/11	10501		Imagery	$4,699.00	$5,697.00	$7,097.00
05/17/11	05/18/11	06/01/11	10518		Panorama	Sold Out	$6,107.00	Sold Out	NOT AVAILABLE
06/14/11	06/15/11	06/29/11	10615		Panorama	$4,849.00	$6,007.00	$8,047.00	NOT AVAILABLE
07/02/11	07/03/11	07/17/11	10703		Tranquility	$4,749.00	$5,747.00	$7,147.00
07/09/11	07/10/11	07/24/11	10710		Imagery	$4,749.00	$5,747.00	$7,147.00
07/12/11	07/13/11	07/27/11	10713		Panorama	$4,947.00	$6,007.00	$7,947.00
08/09/11	08/10/11	08/24/11	10810		Panorama	$4,749.00	$5,907.00	$7,947.00
09/06/11	09/07/11	09/21/11	10907		Panorama	$5,199.00	$6,357.00	$8,397.00
09/10/11	09/11/11	09/25/11	10911		Tranquility	$5,199.00	$6,197.00	$7,597.00
10/04/11	10/05/11	10/19/11	11005		Panorama	$4,649.00	$5,807.00	$7,847.00
11/01/11	11/02/11	11/16/11	11102		Panorama	$3,699.00	$4,857.00	$6,897.00

Prices shown are "starting at" prices and do not include airfare.