Viking Vilhjalm: the fullest Danube calendar, and the most balanced
One hundred and eighty-nine departures measured in our catalogue on 25 August 2026. That is the fullest calendar of the twelve Viking ships we sell on the Danube, and it splits almost exactly in two: 98 departures from Passau to Budapest, 91 from Budapest to Passau.
That balance is not an administrative detail. It means you choose your direction of travel without sacrificing dates, which is not true everywhere — on the Rhine nearly every departure runs down from Basel to Amsterdam, and a traveller who wants the reverse searches for a long time.
Passau rather than Regensburg
Vilhjalm works the Bavarian end of the Danube from Passau, the city of three rivers, where the Inn and the Ilz join the main stream. Eight of the twelve Longships we sell on the Danube start instead from Regensburg, two hundred kilometres upstream.
The difference shows most on the first and last day. Passau is an hour and a half by road from Munich, Regensburg about an hour. Passau is smaller and easy to cross on foot the evening before boarding; Regensburg has a listed medieval centre and enough to fill a full day. If that gateway appeals, look at Viking Var and her 163 departures.
The hull: a Longship, 190 berths
She belongs to the Longship series, the most common hull in Viking's river fleet: 135 metres long, 190 guests, 53 crew, 95 staterooms split into 25 Standard, 22 French Balcony, 39 Veranda, 7 Veranda Suites and 2 Explorer Suites.
One crew member for every 3.58 guests is thin compared with an ocean ship. The closeness passengers describe does not come from service density: it comes from there being a hundred and ninety of you, from crossing paths at breakfast, and from faces having names by the third day.
Getting there from Montreal
No year-round direct flight links Montreal to Budapest or Munich: plan on one connection, usually through Frankfurt, Zurich, Paris or Amsterdam. Door to door the trip runs about thirteen to fifteen hours depending on the connection, against three and a half for a flight to Florida — the kind of gap worth knowing before you pick your first day back at work.
Two sister ships work the same axis on comparable calendars: Viking Ingvi with 179 departures, and Viking Skadi with 151. If your dates miss Vilhjalm, they often land on one of the two.
What happens when you book with us
First a fact you can verify in 30 seconds: from a Quebec address, Viking's reservations site does not answer and sends you to a page inviting you to contact an agent. The agency is not an added intermediary, it is the only route open.
Then a method. A Viking River Cruises advisor confirms in writing the exact fare, what the package covers and what it does not, before any deposit. That is what Quebec consumer protection rules require, and we participate in the compensation fund for travel agency customers.
