15 Cruises & Boat Tours in Austria to Build a Day Around

1.Hallstatt Day Trip with Boat Ride Option

★★★★★★★★★★4.7 · 6,311 reviews · 13 hours · from $108Our pick

Vienna to Hallstatt day trip with UNESCO Salzkammergut views, a Schloss Ort wedding bridge photo stop, and optional lake boat ride when Skywalk is closed.

“It was ana amazing experience! Our guide Lily explains everything and I like it when she talked about famous people of Vienna and then she put some music of them to listen while we were in the bus. Hallstat is amazing place...we put a ticket on our bucket list!”

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2.City Cruise with Optional Lunch

★★★★★★★★★★3.4 · 3,982 reviews · 1h 15m · from $38

Relax on a 75-minute Danube Canal boat loop from Schwedenplatz, with optional Wiener schnitzel lunch and screen-based city info.

“A really nice cruise, lovely drinks service - enjoyed”

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3.City Cruise

★★★★★★★★★★3.3 · 2,978 reviews · 1h 15m · from $38

75-minute Danube Canal cruise from Schwedenplatz: apple strudel and hot drink included, plus optional Heidi Horten museum ticket.

“Great trip, was a lovely day out! Drinks and food available on board too. Not too many things to see but if you love a boat cruise then you will enjoy this!”

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4.Wachau Valley, Melk Abbey Tour with Danube Boat Trip

★★★★★★★★★★4.5 · 1,413 reviews · 8h 30m · from $151

Vienna day trip to the Wachau Valley, with a Danube boat cruise in summer and a guided visit to Melk Abbey and Dürnstein.

“Beautiful tour! A must do if you are in Vienna. From the small cobbled corridors in Durnstein to the majestic rooms in Melk Abbey, you will enjoy every minute of this tour. Remember Umberto Eco when you are at the library in the Abbey ;) The boat road though the Danube river is also wonderful. Highly recommended!”

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5.Guided Tour to Bratislava with Speed Boat Ride

★★★★★★★★★★4.2 · 1,404 reviews · 11h 30m · from $111

Full day Vienna to Bratislava with a local Old Town walk, free time to explore, and a Twin City Liner speed boat back.

“Meeting point was excellent and also the tour guide. Ivan was great and a very nice chap. the only dissapointment was the fast ferry as our tickets were not next to each other even though we booked 2 tickets togethet otherwise all was perfect.”

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6.Hallstatt Guided Day Trip from Vienna With Boat Ride Option

★★★★★★★★★★4.5 · 1,301 reviews · 13 hours (approx.) · from $139

Guided Vienna to Hallstatt day trip with coffee stops, Seeschloss Ort photos, Hallstatt old town, and Skywalk views or a lake boat.

“Dasha was an excellent tour guide with lots of great stories. Overall a great trip, the boat ride was worth it and the views were amazing. The only downside was that there was no working bathroom on the bus, and the rest stops were were taken too were extremely expensive.”

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7.Evening Cruise Along The Danube

★★★★★★★★★★3.5 · 1,280 reviews · 3 hours · from $55

3-hour evening cruise on Vienna's Danube, sunset views from the upper deck, plus an onboard restaurant with Viennese classics.

“An absolutely wonderful river cruise, I went at 7pm and saw the sunset which was beautiful! The food and drinks were great and service was excellent”

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8.River Cruise, Dinner & Fortress Concert

★★★★★★★★★★4.6 · 406 reviews · 5 hours · from $128

Salzburg: cruise the Salzach, dine at Hohensalzburg’s Panorama Restaurant, then hear Best of Mozart in the fortress halls.

“Besides h the rainy weather it was great. Food was good and concert was wonderful”

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9.Dürnstein and Wachau Cruise

★★★★★★★★★★4.5 · 336 reviews · 1 day · from $116

Sunday Wachau cruise from Vienna on MS Kaiserin Elisabeth II with included meals, river views, and a 2-hour Dürnstein stroll.

“An accurate description of meeting place would have helped as cab driver didn’t know where to take us. And getting transport back to hotel was horrible because the Uber system was only offering to pick up on Handelskai, a long way in the dark from the boat tie up. We were very stressed by the walk to the Hilton and a ride with the third Uber.”

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10.Mozart Concert and Dinner or VIP Dinner at Fortress Salzburg with River Cruise

★★★★★★★★★★4.5 · 280 reviews · 4 hours 10 minutes (approx.) · from $136

Salzburg at dusk with a Salzach river cruise, dinner in Fortress Hohensalzburg, and Mozart chamber music, with optional VIP perks.

“The rover cruise was nice, but very warm. Dinner was ok, our server was what made the experience fantastic. Very accommodating. The concert was beautiful, however we had to leave at intermission because the room was entirely too hot. Understand no a/c, but fans would have been a welcome addition”

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11.Harbor Cruise

★★★★★★★★★★4.3 · 204 reviews · 45 min · from $17Best value

A 45-minute Linz harbor cruise on MS Linzerin with close-up views of ARS Electronica, Lentos, and Linzer cake onboard.

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12.Day Cruise to Bratislava

★★★★★★★★★★3.9 · 178 reviews · 1 day · from $116

Cruise Vienna to Bratislava on MS Kaiserin Elisabeth with meals and 4 hours in town, plus sun deck views. From $116.

“Leider war nicht abgegeben wie lang die Schifffahrt in eine Richtung dauert. Da andere Liner etwa 1,5-2 Std brauchen, bin ich von dieser Zeit ausgegangen. Von Wien nach Bratislava haben wir 3,5 Std gebraucht. Von Bratislava nach Wien etwa 6 Std. Es waren 3,5 std schon grenzwertig, aber ok. Aber wenn ich wusste, dass wir erst gegen 22 Uhr zurückkommen, hätte ich die Reise nie gebucht.”

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13.Hop-on Hop-off, Ferris Wheel, and River Cruise

★★★★★★★★★★4.1 · 116 reviews · 1 day · from $88

Vienna in 24 hours: hop-on hop-off bus routes, skip-the-line Riesenrad Ferris wheel, a Danube cruise, and a digital walking tour.

“Plan is amazing. Whole city tour with hop on and off as much as you want “untill 17:00” which wasn’t mentioned until we went to the meeting point and get the brochures of the event. The thing is they divided the city tour into 2 lanes. Blue lane and red lane. One day is not enough at all to visit all destinations by hopping off the bus every single time so you have to pick locations by elimination method which was a clueless experience via google. We had the full package with my kids which included boat tour and ferris wheel ride and we didn’t have time to go there…”

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14.24-hour Hop-On Hop-Off with Ferris Wheel and River Cruise

★★★★★★★★★★3.5 · 59 reviews · 1 hour 40 minutes (approx.) · from $90

Vienna in 24 hours with a hop-on hop-off bus, Danube river cruise voucher, and skip-the-line Wiener Riesenrad ticket, with audio in 8 languages.

“Always enjoy the hop on/off yours. Only reason for 4 not 5 stars was that person that gave us tickets didn't say there were 2 totally different buses! Found out when on wrong bus it wouldn't take us to where we had tickets. Needed to find closest stop to other bus, walk a few blocks, then get on correct bus.”

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15.Salzburg Panorama Cruise on the Salzach river

★★★★★★★★★★3.5 · 46 reviews · 40 minutes (approx.) · from $24

40-minute Salzach river cruise in Salzburg with live English commentary, alpine views, and a fun boat dance finale.

“Cruise was about 45 minutes up river and back down passing out of the built up area of the city and showcasing residences along the river banks. The boat itself is rather small and mostly inside under cover. You can pay an extra 3 euro/per person to sit outside which is nice on a warm clear day.”

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