Cruise itinerary
28-Night Europe Cruise from Nice
28 nights · Europe · 29 ports of call
28-night Europe cruise aboard Emerald Dawn, departing Nice and calling at Arles, Avignon, Viviers, Tournon-sur-Rhône, Mâcon and Lyon and 22 more.
- Free advisor
- No booking fees
- 10,000+ sailings
At a glance
- Ship
- Emerald Dawn
- Cruise line
- Emerald Cruises
- Duration
- 28 nights
- Region
- Europe · Western Europe · Danube · Main · Rhine
- Departs
- Nice
- Returns
- Budapest
How NestCruise works:we're advisor-led, not a booking engine. No fares are listed and there are no booking fees — tell an advisor your dates and party and they price your exact Emerald Dawn sailing, typically within 24 hours.
Where this voyage takes you
Day-by-day itinerary
- Day1
Nice
The capital of the French Riviera, curving along the pebbled Baie des Anges. The seafront Promenade des Anglais runs past the ochre lanes of the old town, and Monaco, Èze and the rest of the Côte d'Azur lie a short drive along the coast.
- Promenade des Anglais
- Vieux Nice
- Baie des Anges
Arles
A Provençal town on the Rhône River in southern France, ringed by Roman monuments. Its great amphitheatre still hosts events, and the surrounding light and streets inspired the painter Van Gogh during his year in the town.
- Roman amphitheatre
- Van Gogh sites
- Place du Forum
- Day2
Arles
A Provençal town on the Rhône River in southern France, ringed by Roman monuments. Its great amphitheatre still hosts events, and the surrounding light and streets inspired the painter Van Gogh during his year in the town.
- Roman amphitheatre
- Van Gogh sites
- Place du Forum
- Day3
Avignon
A walled city on the Rhône in Provence, southern France, once the seat of medieval popes. The vast Palais des Papes dominates the centre, and the broken Pont d'Avignon reaches partway across the river below the ramparts.
- Palais des Papes
- Pont d'Avignon
- City ramparts
- Day4
Viviers
A small town on the Rhône in southern France, set below a rocky bluff in the Ardèche. River ships moor here within reach of the lavender fields, vineyards and stone villages of Provence, with the cathedral town of Viviers itself just ashore.
- Rhône river
- Provence villages
- Ardèche country
- Day5
Tournon-sur-Rhône
A small town on the Rhône in southern France, facing the steep Hermitage vineyards across the river at Tain. A medieval castle overlooks the water, and the surrounding northern Rhône slopes are known for their Syrah wines.
- Hermitage vineyards
- Hilltop château
- Rhône wines
- Day6
Mâcon
A river town in eastern France on the Saône, at the southern edge of Burgundy. It serves the celebrated Mâconnais and Beaujolais vineyards, with the rock of Solutré rising over the slopes and a Romanesque heritage in the surrounding villages.
- Mâconnais wine
- Rock of Solutré
- Saône riverfront
- Day7
Lyon
A French city at the meeting of the Rhône and Saône rivers, long regarded as the country's gastronomic capital. Its Renaissance old town hides covered passages called traboules, while the Fourvière basilica crowns the hill above the two rivers.
- Vieux Lyon traboules
- Fourvière Basilica
- Bouchon dining
- Day8
Lyon
A French city at the meeting of the Rhône and Saône rivers, long regarded as the country's gastronomic capital. Its Renaissance old town hides covered passages called traboules, while the Fourvière basilica crowns the hill above the two rivers.
- Vieux Lyon traboules
- Fourvière Basilica
- Bouchon dining
Basel
A Swiss city on the Rhine where Switzerland, France and Germany meet, and a common starting point for Rhine cruises. Its old town climbs from the river to a red sandstone cathedral and a medieval market square ringed by guild houses.
- Basel Münster
- Old town
- Rhine starting point
- Day9
Breisach
A small town on the Rhine at the edge of Germany's Kaiserstuhl wine country, just across the river from France's Alsace. It is crowned by the St. Stephan minster on its hilltop and serves as the river gateway to Freiburg and the southern Black Forest.
- St. Stephan minster
- Kaiserstuhl vineyards
- Black Forest gateway
- Day10
Kehl
A German town on the right bank of the Rhine, directly across the river from Strasbourg in France. A bridge and garden link the two banks, and the riverside park makes it a crossing point for cruises between Germany and Alsace.
- Two Banks Garden
- Rhine bridge
- Strasbourg nearby
Strasbourg
The capital of France's Alsace, set on the Rhine close to the German border. Its Grande Île old town centres on a soaring pink-sandstone cathedral and the canal-laced lanes of Petite France, while the modern European Parliament sits across the city.
- Strasbourg Cathedral
- Petite France
- European Parliament
- Day11
Mannheim
A city in southwest Germany where the Neckar meets the Rhine, laid out on a grid of numbered blocks rather than street names. The baroque palace is among Europe's largest, and the water tower anchors a green boulevard through the centre.
- Mannheim Palace
- Wasserturm
- Squares grid
- Day12
Koblenz
A German city at the meeting of the Rhine and Moselle rivers, the point known as the Deutsches Eck or 'German Corner'. A cable car climbs from the headland to the Ehrenbreitstein fortress, and the town marks the northern end of the Rhine Gorge.
- Deutsches Eck
- Ehrenbreitstein Fortress
- Rhine cable car
- Day13
Cologne
A Rhineland city dominated by its twin-spired Gothic cathedral, the tallest in Germany when built. River cruises call beside the old town, where the cathedral, riverside promenade and 12 Romanesque churches sit within easy walking distance.
- Cologne Cathedral
- Old town
- Rhine promenade
Düsseldorf
A city on the Rhine in western Germany, capital of North Rhine-Westphalia and a hub of fashion and finance. Düsseldorf is known for the historic Altstadt and its rows of taverns, the riverside promenade, and the modern architecture of the MedienHafen.
- Altstadt taverns
- Rhine promenade
- MedienHafen
- Day14
Amsterdam
The Dutch capital, laced with concentric canals and gabled merchant houses from its 17th-century golden age. Most river sailings depart from here, leaving time for the Rijksmuseum, the Anne Frank House or a stroll through the Jordaan before lines cast off.
- Rijksmuseum
- Anne Frank House
- Jordaan canals
- Day15
Amsterdam
The Dutch capital, laced with concentric canals and gabled merchant houses from its 17th-century golden age. Most river sailings depart from here, leaving time for the Rijksmuseum, the Anne Frank House or a stroll through the Jordaan before lines cast off.
- Rijksmuseum
- Anne Frank House
- Jordaan canals
- Day16
Amsterdam
The Dutch capital, laced with concentric canals and gabled merchant houses from its 17th-century golden age. Most river sailings depart from here, leaving time for the Rijksmuseum, the Anne Frank House or a stroll through the Jordaan before lines cast off.
- Rijksmuseum
- Anne Frank House
- Jordaan canals
- Day17
Cologne
A Rhineland city dominated by its twin-spired Gothic cathedral, the tallest in Germany when built. River cruises call beside the old town, where the cathedral, riverside promenade and 12 Romanesque churches sit within easy walking distance.
- Cologne Cathedral
- Old town
- Rhine promenade
- Day18
Rüdesheim
A small wine town on the Rhine, set where the river enters its dramatic gorge. River ships call here for the half-timbered lanes of the Drosselgasse, the vineyards of the Rheingau and the cable car up to the Niederwald monument above.
- Drosselgasse
- Rheingau vineyards
- Niederwald monument
- Day19
Miltenberg
A small medieval town on a bend of the Main River in Bavaria's Franconia region. Half-timbered houses line the marketplace below a hilltop castle, and the surrounding hills are planted with vineyards and forest.
- Market square
- Half-timbered houses
- Mildenburg castle
Wertheim
A timber-framed town in Baden-Württemberg where the Tauber River joins the Main, a frequent river-cruise stop. Wertheim is known for its half-timbered old town, the ruined hilltop castle above the rivers, and its long glassmaking heritage.
- Hilltop castle
- Half-timbered old town
- Glass museum
- Day20
Würzburg
A Bavarian city on the river Main, at the start of Germany's Romantic Road. The hillside Marienberg fortress overlooks the old town and the vineyards along the river, while the baroque Residenz palace anchors the centre with its grand frescoed staircase.
- Marienberg Fortress
- Würzburg Residenz
- Old Main Bridge
- Day21
Bamberg
A Bavarian town built across seven hills above the river Regnitz, its medieval and baroque core preserved as a whole. A painted town hall stands on an island mid-river, and the town is known for its smoked Rauchbier and many small breweries.
- Old Town Hall
- Bamberg Cathedral
- Smoked beer
- Day22
Nuremberg
A Bavarian city on the Pegnitz with a walled medieval core and an imperial castle above it. River ships call here along the Main–Danube corridor, within reach of the old town's half-timbered houses and the famous grilled Nürnberger sausages.
- Imperial Castle
- Old town walls
- Nürnberger sausages
- Day23
Regensburg
A Bavarian city on the Danube with one of Germany's best-preserved medieval centres. River ships call within walking distance of the 12th-century Stone Bridge, the Gothic cathedral and a tangle of lanes lined with patrician towers.
- Stone Bridge
- Regensburg Cathedral
- Medieval old town
- Day24
Passau
A Bavarian city where the Danube, Inn and Ilz rivers meet, near the Austrian border. Long a starting point for Danube cruises, its baroque old town centres on St. Stephen's Cathedral, home to one of the largest church organs in the world.
- Three rivers
- St. Stephen's Cathedral
- Baroque old town
- Day25
Moselle River, Germany
A winding river in western Germany, threading between steep terraced vineyards from Trier toward its meeting with the Rhine at Koblenz. River cruises pass hilltop castles, riverside wine villages and some of the country's steepest Riesling slopes.
- Riesling vineyards
- Cochem Castle
- Bernkastel-Kues
Dürnstein
A village in Austria's Wachau valley, set among terraced vineyards on a bend of the Danube. A blue-and-white baroque abbey tower marks its skyline, and the ruined castle above town is where Richard the Lionheart was once held captive.
- Baroque abbey
- Castle ruins
- Wachau vineyards
- Day26
Vienna
Austria's imperial capital on the Danube, long the seat of the Habsburgs. River ships call within reach of Schönbrunn Palace, the Hofburg and St. Stephen's Cathedral, in a city famed for coffee houses, classical music and grand ringstrasse architecture.
- Schönbrunn Palace
- St. Stephen's Cathedral
- Coffee houses
- Day27
Bratislava
Slovakia's compact capital on the Danube, within sight of both Austria and Hungary. A hilltop castle overlooks a small, walkable old town of pastel facades, baroque squares and the Gothic St. Martin's Cathedral where Hungarian kings were once crowned.
- Bratislava Castle
- Old Town
- St. Martin's Cathedral
- Day28
Budapest
Hungary's grand capital, split by the Danube into hilly Buda and flat Pest. River ships moor in the centre, within reach of the neo-Gothic Parliament, the thermal baths at Széchenyi and the panoramic ramparts of Fisherman's Bastion.
- Parliament Building
- Széchenyi Baths
- Fisherman's Bastion
- Day29
Budapest
Hungary's grand capital, split by the Danube into hilly Buda and flat Pest. River ships moor in the centre, within reach of the neo-Gothic Parliament, the thermal baths at Széchenyi and the panoramic ramparts of Fisherman's Bastion.
- Parliament Building
- Széchenyi Baths
- Fisherman's Bastion
Upcoming departures
- 25 Jul 2026
- 3 Oct 2026
Upcoming sailings of this itinerary — a NestCruise advisor confirms current availability and your fare.
28-Night Europe Cruise from Nice FAQ
Which ports does this cruise visit?
This 28-night Europe cruise calls at Nice, Arles, Avignon, Viviers, Tournon-sur-Rhône, Mâcon, Lyon, Basel, Breisach, Kehl, Strasbourg, Mannheim, Koblenz, Cologne, Düsseldorf, Amsterdam, Rüdesheim, Miltenberg, Wertheim, Würzburg, Bamberg, Nuremberg, Regensburg, Passau, Moselle River, Germany, Dürnstein, Vienna, Bratislava and Budapest.
How many days are spent at sea?
This is a port-intensive itinerary with no full days at sea.
Where does this cruise depart from?
It departs from Nice and ends in Budapest.
How long is this cruise?
28 nights aboard Emerald Dawn.
When does this itinerary sail?
Upcoming departures include 25 Jul 2026 and 3 Oct 2026. A NestCruise advisor can confirm current availability.