Mountain City's Travel Blog

If a picture speaks a thousand words, then a video is running commentary. That's why we wanted to share with you exactly what the health protocols on board an Avalon Waterways river cruise in France are in the Fall of 2021. We know some people have already begun traveling again - but others are still hesitant. Maybe you wonder if...

Austria’s capital city is famous as a cradle of classical music and high culture, for its skyline shaped by Hapsburg palaces, the Opera House and city symbol Giant Ferris Wheel, for tastes and experiences like chocolate/apricot Sacher Torte and coffee house culture, and even the renowned, high-performing and high-stepping, gleaming white Lipizzaner horses. You may have been to Vienna before, but...

The secret about river cruising was out, even before the pandemic. Like all cruise travel, it's the ‘easy button’ way to ‘sample’ multiple destinations and get an overview of a region. You unpack once, really settling in to your ship environment like a home away from home in a floating boutique hotel that winds its way through marquee cities as...

For many of us, September feels more like the ‘New Year’ than when the calendar says it’s January. Time to exhale, regroup, and reset yourself on a fulfilling course for the future, one that includes meeting life and wellness goals.Maybe that’s why September is National Yoga Month.The ideal time to practice – or at least plan for - two intersecting life...

Every year on June 29th, eighty-one million people in 14 European countries celebrate the single river that ties them together and provides drinking water, food, power, recreation, jobs and transportation. Danube Day annually marks the signing of the Danube River Protection Convention, which facilitates collaboration between the countries of the Danube River and the rivers that flow into it to...

It’s news that marries two of the fastest-growing styles of travel: river cruising and family heritage travel. AmaWaterways has partnered with Ancestry, the company that specializes in genomics and connecting people to their family history. The river cruise line has done family-heritage themed cruises before, but now, you’ll be able to uncover specific details about your own family. That’s because...

There’s a phrase in travel: ‘Multi-modal’. Think of ‘planes, trains and automobiles,’ where you complete your trip via a number of different types of transportation. Multi-modal travel is not new. But one version – larger-than-life journeys combining the romance of both cruise and rail - is picking up steam. Ships and trains are a natural fit, even mirror images of each other:...

In response to COVID-19, cruise lines have been working with the best minds and leaders in public health, biosecurity, epidemiology, hospitality and maritime operations. They continue to work closely with the CDC and are committed to science-backed plans for safe and healthy cruising. Although cruising has largely ceased for the past year many people are unaware that Royal Caribbean has...

 If you thought Tulip Time in the Netherlands was the ultimate garden travel experience, you haven’t heard about Floriade.Horticulture is famously the Netherlands’ most ‘colorful’ industry. The country sells half of the world’s ‘floriculture’ products and over three-quarters of the world’s flower bulbs. It’s number one in greenhouse horticulture and leads global exports of cut flowers, ornamental plants and even...

If this year’s altered holiday celebrations left you wistful and nostalgic for full-bore Christmas festivities, there’s a river cruise that gives you a chance for a re-do. Christmas in July on the Danube comes without snow – but it does come with plenty of seasonal cheer on Uniworld’s S.S. Maria Theresea. On two sailings in July, the Maria Theresea will have...

You may not be celebrating the holidays as usual this year, but that doesn’t mean you can’t create some new holiday entertaining traditions.While we wait to travel and celebrate again, here are two recipes for ‘spirited’ holiday drinks from favorite destinations to warm your heart and remind you of better times ahead.Perfect for a virtual holiday cocktail party, long winter...

A passion for style, art, cuisine and living well. Capturing that iconic Italian way of life and the essence of Venice was the goal of the latest ‘Super Ship’ by Uniworld Boutique River Cruises. The S.S. La Venezia, like all Uniworld ships, is more ‘local boutique hotel’ than ‘river cruise ship’. We often say that one of the attractions of cruising...

In some very special places in North America, Mother Nature has found a perfect formula to make dramatic hillside scenery decked out in autumn colors even more breathtaking: she’s added waterfalls.If you’re planning an autumn colors getaway, here are three fantastic falls that will put the icing on the cake of the fall color pictures you’ll want to post on...

From rivers, to oceans and lakes… and now to America’s heartland. Viking Cruises has announced it will cruise the Mississippi between St. Louis and New Orleans beginning in 2022.The company’s first custom vessel, purpose-made in America for these iconic river itineraries, is named Viking Mississippi and debuts in August 2022.  It will be the largest and most modern ship in the...

It’s been going on for 400 years. Every year ending in 0: 1990, 2000, 2010… and this German cultural tradition was supposed to happen again in 2020.

We hope you are well and keeping yourself, your family and your community safe by staying at home. Now, more than ever, we all really need some good news.

If you’re a Jann Arden fan did you read Jann’s JANNuary 1st Facebook post? Arden welcomes 2020 in her say-it-like-it-is style, accompanied by gentle and insightful words. Much like her music.   Simple words that beautifully serve every human on planet earth, this was my personal favorite from her post: There is so much love in the world.There is so much good.Smile at...

A visit to the Juno Beach Centre is life-changing. Walking in the footsteps of young, Canadian soldiers who landed on this stretch of beach in Normandy, France on DDay is emotional, eye-opening, and never-to-be-forgotten. Some Canadians do more than visit. They work here. Permanent staff and young Canadians greet and guide visitors at the Centre, through the restored bunkers, and...

Your next cruise vacation shouldn’t just start and stop at the ship’s gangway. Make the most of your holiday by extending your cruise before you board and even after you disembark.Here are some pre- and post-cruise extension moves for every smart cruise traveler.  1. Arrive at least one day earlyThat doesn’t even qualify as a pre-cruise extension. It’s just common sense.We recommend you...

Have you taken a river cruise in Europe yet? The 'Big Three' river cruises are the Rhine, the Danube and the Rhone/Saone. You may have heard about cruising on the Seine, even Main and Moselle cruises.But for a little 'off the beaten track' river cruising in Europe, Portugal's Douro river is enjoying its day in the sun. Warm-weather Portugal, in the heart of...