In the morning we will dock in Melk, which is at the edge of the Wachau valley. We will go on a tour of the city of Melk and be impressed by the historical buildings, the special atmosphere and the postcard views. The town of Melk has been a spiritual and cultural center of Austria for more than a thousand years, and is best known for its impressive Baroque style. At the end of World War II, one of the outer camps of the Mauthausen concentration camp operated in Melk, which we will talk about in our tour.

Among the important historical sites in Melk is the Melk Benedictine Monastery, one of Austria's greatest cultural highlights and the largest monastery in Europe. The Benedictine monastery was built in the Baroque style and is housed in an amazing structure in its size and strength and is considered one of the most well-known and important heritage sites in Europe. We will also tour the ancient post office building, the St. Koloman fountain, the "House on the Rock" (the oldest building in the city built in the 15th century), the town hall square and more as time permits.

At the end of our tour we will continue with our bus driving along the picturesque Wachau Valley which has been declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site for its agricultural and architectural landscape. It has inspired romantic legends for centuries and the castles are full of stories of love and heartbreak, especially from the Middle Ages. The Wachau Valley is also one of the most important wine regions in Austria. Towards the afternoon we will cruise with our ship towards the town of Durnstein. We will have a full lunch on the ship, after which we will go on a walking tour of the town of Durnstein, which is surrounded by walls and vineyards. We will tour the charming village during which we will see the ancient castle built in the 12th century whose name became famous due to the story of the imprisonment of the King of England Richard the Lionheart which is also connected in a certain way to the city of Acre in Israel. Towards the evening we will return to the ship for dinner and later at night sail towards Vienna.

This morning we will start with a visit to the First District and a bus tour of the Ringstrasse, Vienna’s circular boulevard, which boasts some of the city’s most spectacular sights—the Parliament Building, City Hall, the Opera House, palaces, museums, and parks.

After the bus tour, we will continue on foot to the elegant Kärntner Strasse and Graben pedestrian areas.

Vienna was home to a thriving Jewish community in the Middle Ages, one of the largest and most important in Europe. Famous Rabbis taught and worked here, making Vienna an influential center of Jewish knowledge.

Unfortunately, this lively and creative environment was forced to an abrupt and violent end in 1420, with the expulsion and murder of the Viennese Jews. The ruins of the then-destroyed Synagogue, excavated under the Judenplatz in 1995, bear witness to the life and destruction of that medieval community.

In 2000, the Museum at Judenplatz was opened as a branch of the Jewish Museum Vienna. The city unveiled the solemn Judenplatz Holocaust Memorial on the square itself: a reinforced concrete cube resembling a library with its volumes turned inside out, designed by British artist Rachel Whiteread.

To this day, new sources and scientific and architectural findings are shedding a more detailed light on medieval Jewish Vienna. Our visit to the museum will include an animated virtual tour of Jewish life.

We will continue touring Vienna in the morning and towards noon will drive towards Bratislava where we will eat our packed lunch and visit the Chatam Sofer’s Burial site. The Chatam Sofer is one of the most influential Poskim and the leader of the prestigious Pressburg Yeshiva. We will continue with the tour towards the city center and will return to the cruise ship to prepare for Shabbat. The chazzan will lead Kabalat Shabbat and Ma’ariv prayers.

On Shabbat morning, we will join the local Jewish community in Bratislava’s Heydukova Street Synagogue, the only Synagogue in Bratislava and only one of four active synagogues in Slovakia. While three other synagogues did survive the Holocaust, they were demolished in the 1960s.

Bratislava’s Synagogue also houses the Bratislava Jewish Community Museum. The Museum is a Slovak National Cultural Monument. Following morning services, a community leader will give us a private tour of the museum located on the upper level of the Synagogue and share with us the fascinating history of Bratislava’s Jewish community, home to the prestigious Pressburg Yeshiva and whose pre-World War II Jewish population accounted for 12% of the city’s residents. This museum’s remarkable collection of Judaica and religious objects, many formerly hidden, were collected and preserved by the Jewish community. Finally, we will return to the ship for the Shabbat meal.

After the Shabbat meal, we will have some time to rest. In the afternoon, we will hear a lecture and enjoy tea and cake, followed by a lecture, Seudah Shlishit, and singing lead by the chazzan. After Havdallah the ship will start cruising.

Discover the magical city of Budapest with a guided bus & walking tour. As the capital of Hungary, Budapest is often called the “Paris of the East” and is a highlight for travelers worldwide.

The time will not only give you a sense of Budapest’s colorful history but also give insight into how the city’s division by the Danube river has played such an essential role in society over the centuries – one side known as “Buda” and the other “Pest.” Our first stop will be at the famous Neolog Synagogue, the Dohanny Synagogue, which is Europe’s largest. Designed in oriental style, the Synagogue can seat some 3,000 people. Its central location on a leafy boulevard serves as a complex for the Synagogue,

Heroes Temple, Memorial, and Jewish Museum and graveyard. Built on the site of Herzl’s home, it is no surprise that the 13-year-old Theodor celebrated his Bar Mitzvah here. Our next stop is the Jewish Museum. From there, we will continue towards the famous monuments located on Andrássy Út street, including the exquisitely designed Opera House, Hero’s Square, the famous Great Market Hall, and the Parliament, which strikingly resembles the British Parliament building with nearly 20 km of corridors! We will return to the ship for lunch.

In the afternoon, our tour continues as we cross the famous chain bridge towards Buda Castle, where the coronation of Sisi and her husband as Hungarian Hapsburg rulers took place. You’ll have an opportunity for an unforgettable view of Budapest and take in the exotic Fisherman’s Bastion, where you can enjoy the city at your fingertips.