UNIWORLD RIVER CRUISES - GRAND EUROPEAN SERENADE

24 Night Cruise sailing from Giurgiu to Amsterdam aboard River Duchess. 2 night stay pre-cruise in Bucharest.

The River Duchess has joined the Uniworld fleet in June 2003. A sister ship to the magnificent River Empress and River Countess, she will again raise the standard of river cruising in Europe.

Step aboard into the spectacular two-story lobby, and feel the warmth and elegance that has been created just for you. Relax in the Europa (Main) Lounge, with its panoramic floor-to-ceiling windows. The beautiful Panorama restaurant offers elegant dining in one luxurious seating, with astonishing views on all sides.

With only 138 passengers, enjoy the small-ship ambiance aboard the River Duchess. Sail aboard the magnificent River Duchess, the ship of your dreams, part of the most luxurious and modern fleet in Europe.

West meets East on one grand exploration

Combine European Serenade and Eastern Europe Explorer into one grand journey where you'll visit nine countries and experience the best of Western and Eastern Europe.

Sail the romantic Rhine, the meandering Main, and the enchanting Danube from lively Amsterdam to Romania for more than 2,200 miles. All along the way, as you sail through the heart of Europe, enjoy the natural beauty of vineyard-rich landscapes, picture-perfect towns, and Medieval cities, combined with the surprising flavors of Eastern Europe. Marvel at the plethora of UNESCO World Heritage Sites, such as Cologne Cathedral, Bamberg's and Regensburg's Old Towns, Budapest's Castle Hill district, the upper middle Rhine Valley with its many castles, and the wonderfully scenic Wachau Valley.

This perfectly paced trip truly is a voyage and value of a lifetime, and provides you with an up close and personal view of the sweeping history from Amsterdam to Bucharest.

Who will enjoy this cruise: Those yearning for a life-enhancing cultural immersion experience that takes you from the colorful canals of Amsterdam to the re-emerging cities of Eastern Europe.

Highlights of this cruise:

Rousse
This city's advantageous location on the Danube between Romania and Bulgaria has made it a centre of commerce and culture through the ages. Visit the Ethnographical Museum and see Rousse's prosperous past. Take a tour of the town and witness the architectural differences that mark the passage of time in this lovely Bulgarian port.

Budapest
The importance of BUDAPEST to Hungary is difficult to overestimate. Over two million people - roughly one-fifth of the population - live in the city, and everything converges here: wealth, political power, cultural life and transport. Surveying the city from Castle Hill, it's obvious why Budapest was dubbed the "Pearl of the Danube". Its grand buildings and sweeping bridges look magnificent, especially when floodlit or illuminated by the barrage of fireworks launched from Gellért Hill on Constitution Day. The inner city and the nineteenth-century boulevards are now under siege from Western fashions and advertising, but they retain a distinctively Hungarian character, which for visitors is highlighted by the sounds and appearance of the distinctive Magyar language.

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.

Nuremberg
Nuremberg is a city in Bavaria, Germany. It is the largest town in Franconia, a region in the north of Bavaria and is located approximately two hours north of Munich. Nuremberg's Alstadt, or Old Town is surrounded by a mighty city-wall that is 5km long. Cobble-stoned squares and half-timbered houses make it easy to picture Nuremberg's medieval past. This is also where sights such as Dürerhaus are to be found and in the festive season, thousands of people from all over the world visit the famous Christmas market on the Hauptmarkt. The city of Nuremberg expanded on both banks of the river Pegnitz and because of this, the Old Town is often divided into the Seebald-quarter and the Lorenz-quarter, both of which are named after the two main parish churches. Each quarter has its own distinct character.

Amsterdam
Amsterdam, the capital of The Netherlands is built around a concentric network of canals spanned by over 1000 bridges making canal cruises one of the most attractive ways of viewing the city. Many of the houses date back to the 17th century. These narrow-fronted merchants' houses are characterised by the traditionally Dutch ornamented gables.

The oldest part of the city is Nieuwmarkt, located near the first canals - Herengracht, Prinsengracht and Keizersgracht - built to protect the city against invasion in the 17th century. Today, Amsterdam's famous liberalism has survived in the city's 'coffee shops and thriving sex industry.

The city has also long been a centre of diamond cutting and it is still possible to see diamond cutters at work. Amsterdam has a booming cultural life, boasting 53 museums, 61 art galleries, 12 concert halls and 20 theatre. A special canal boat (the 'museum boat') links 16 of the major museums. In the local countryside it is still possible to see working windmills. There are annual events such as the Amsterdam Art Weeks and the Holland Festival.

  __  __   ___   _  _   _ _    _  __   __
 |  \/  | | _ \ | \| | | | |  / | \ \ / /
 | |\/| | |   / | .` | |_  _| | |  \ V / 
 |_|  |_| |_|_\ |_|\_|   |_|  |_|   \_/