Free Time on Rhine and Danube River Cruises?

[Golden Rose]

We are planning to do one of the ABD River Cruises in the summer of 2020 or 2021, although we haven't yet figured out if we want to do the Rhine or the Danube. We are planning to have 3 generations traveling, and my step-father is an avid golfer. I know this may sound like a strange question, but which of the river cruises has the most time on your own somewhere he could get in 9 or 18 holes of golf? (18 holes usually takes about 4 hours.)

Also, if one would really like to do something on one's own, such as a morning or afternoon of golf, how difficult is it to just forgo the planned activities and set out on your own for a few hours?

(If it matters, my mom speaks French, and my step-father speaks German, so local language would not be much of an issue in many of the cities.) They've done a lot of traveling in Europe (he's actually Austrian by birth), and love the idea of a family river cruise, but don't necessarily feel the need to do all the standard touristy things in the various cities.

 

[tink1970]

Easy, peasy to have free time, just don't go on an excursion. If he's comfortable getting to a golf course, then no one is going to stop him from leaving the ship on his own time.

The only caveat I can think of is that sometimes wherever the river boat docks there are limited berths so the ship might not be in the same exact location all day (so not like parking a car).

 

[sayhello]

We are planning to do one of the ABD River Cruises in the summer of 2020 or 2021, although we haven't yet figured out if we want to do the Rhine or the Danube. We are planning to have 3 generations traveling, and my step-father is an avid golfer. I know this may sound like a strange question, but which of the river cruises has the most time on your own somewhere he could get in 9 or 18 holes of golf? (18 holes usually takes about 4 hours.)

Also, if one would really like to do something on one's own, such as a morning or afternoon of golf, how difficult is it to just forgo the planned activities and set out on your own for a few hours?

(If it matters, my mom speaks French, and my step-father speaks German, so local language would not be much of an issue in many of the cities.) They've done a lot of traveling in Europe (he's actually Austrian by birth), and love the idea of a family river cruise, but don't necessarily feel the need to do all the standard touristy things in the various cities.

There is NO issue just forgoing the planned activities on the river cruises. Just don't sign up for one, or let the Adventure Guides know if he signed up for one and wants to skip it. The days are structured so that you can totally skip activities if you want. He'll have to arrange his own transportation to wherever he chooses to golf. And as @tink1970 said, the only concern might be getting *back* to the ship afterwards. The ship will sometimes sail from one port down to another, or just shift docks, and the excursion buses will meet the ship at the new location for us to get back on the ship. So he'd have to be sure he knew where the new dock was, and get transportation to that new place to meet up with the ship.

Sayhello

 

[Woodview]

Please check & find out if there are Golf Courses along the route ?

Beware Golf is not a common game in most of mainland Europe And the nearest Links / Course might be

a good distance & drive time away

 

[OhanaCuz]

They definitely encourage you to go on as many or as few excursions as you want.

The ship's concierge would be a huge help for you. They can arrange taxis and other things.

 

[amberwc]

We did the Danube last summer and I don't remember noticing any golf courses. It's easy to do anything on your own. So it may come down to you doing the research for courses along both routes.

 

[lpm23]

Yes, echo those above. you can definitely skip any activity you want. We did the Rhine last summer and our boat didn't seem to move around very much during the day. However, I also didn't see any golf courses either near the ship or when we are driving to excursions. i would probably do a search for which area has more golf courses nearby and do it that way.