AmaWaterways River Cruise Land Packages

You’ve heard of AmaWaterways’ cruise land packages – but what can they provide that is different or better than custom-planning a pre-cruise or post-cruise experience? 

What’s In a Land Package?

Back in October, 2025 the AmaMora sailed the Romantic Danube itinerary from Vilshofen to Budapest. The itinerary offered three options: a pre-cruise land package in Munich or Prague, as well as a Budapest post-cruise land package.

Choosing the pre-cruise land package in Munich added two and a half days of exploring the heart of Bavaria. 

The hotel AmaWaterways uses for land packages is one of the biggest benefits you’ll find in the land package. It’s the historic Hotel Bayerischer Hof, a 5-star luxury property in the heart of historic Munich, home to quite a bit of history and a wide swathe of rooms and restaurants.

This hotel is where many of the world’s notables have stayed, and it has quite the high price tag if you book it separately. If you’re considering a land package in Munich and wish to stay at the hotel, it’s likely the land package price will be cheaper overall than booking the hotel independently. The land package also includes daily breakfast for AmaWaterways guests, which is an additional benefit. 

For land packages, the cruise line provides transfers to the ship from your pre-cruise hotel or from the ship to your post-cruise hotel. 

AmaWaterways Cruise Land Packages Experiences

I touched down in Munich in the morning and headed to the Hotel Bayerischer Hof via AmaWaterways transfer (which must be organized and paid for separately from the land package price). 

Since it was too early to be given a room, I left my bags with an attendant and headed out for much of the day, fighting off jetlag by keeping myself moving until the evening—seriously, do yourself a favor and don’t sleep until your local bedtime. It’ll save you a ton of tiredness later. 

During my first day in Munich, I visited the Residenz Palace, ate my first pork schnitzel on a bun at the charming Viktualienmarkt, an open-air market selling everything from fresh food to souvenirs and live plants, and familiarized myself with some of the layout of the city’s historic center.

I also spent some time in the hotel’s wellness area, which has a sauna and pool, before popping into the first AmaWaterways experience: a cocktail hour at the hotel bar, where we land package travelers met our Munich guide and familiarized ourselves with each other. Our guide was knowledgeable and informative, and made sure we understood how the rest of the trip would work, along with important times for transferring to the ship. 

I had dinner at the tour guide’s recommended stop, Augustiner Klosterwirt, a lively restaurant with amazing Bavarian food that even the locals frequent. 

One note: the hotel offers a dedicated table for AmaWaterways guests to ask questions, meet our tour guide, or get assistance from an AmaWaterways representative. This was helpful, since I got to meet our guide and obtain a map of the city. It was also a required pit stop when I first arrived, as I had to be checked in both with the hotel and with the cruise line. 

The next day, I partook of an included breakfast at the hotel—one of my favorite amenities at the Hotel Bayerischer Hof. Located high up in the hotel and featuring beautiful city views, the breakfast restaurant offers a full buffet-style German breakfast, complete with freshly made pretzels, yogurt, muesli, fruit, cheese, sausage and more familiar breakfast staples. It was a great way to start another busy day. 

Then I joined my tour guide and the other land package travelers on a leisurely walk through the city. In true river cruise fashion, we had QuietVoxs for the tour, allowing us to hear the guide without needing to stay too close. Following her, we visited several key churches and sites in the city, learning about Bavaria’s history and Munich’s historical importance from the middle ages to World War II. 

One of my favorite experiences on the tour was walking into the Frauenkirche and hearing someone practicing on the church’s organ—it was such a magical experience to hear that sound echoing across the medieval vaulted ceiling. 

As the tour wound down, we followed the tour guide into a local pub, where we had a free beer and pretzel tasting and asked her as many questions as we could.

After the half-day tour ended, I spent the rest of the day doing some souvenir shopping and explored Englischer Garden, a massive park that reminded me of New York’s Central Park. 

For dinner, I visited another local Bavarian restaurant, and also really loved it. 

The next day we would be transferred to the ship, so I had to spend my remaining time wisely. I had half a day to pack and prepare my luggage and say goodbye to Munich, so I packed early and went exploring to find one of Munich’s historic city gates and St. Michael’s church. I ate a quick lunch at the Viktualienmarkt—this time it was a sausage sandwich—and partook of some freshly roasted chestnuts before claiming my luggage and heading aboard the transfer bus to Vilshofen. 

The transfer to Vilshofen took a few hours. We drove the famous Autobahn and took in the scenic German countryside, stopped at the airport to pick up some travelers (this was also our bathroom stop, should we need one), then headed to Vilshofen, where the AmaMora was waiting for us. 

Benefits of AmaWaterways Cruise Land Packages

Overall, with the included price of the hotel, I found the land package gave me a good value for the time I spent in Munich. I would have regretted not spending some time getting to know Munich ahead of my cruise, and loved the location, history and included breakfast at the Hotel Bayerischer Hof. 

While I saw a good number of sites that the tour touched upon during my first day in Munich, I was happy to learn the city’s history from a local, and understand a bit more about the city than I would have on my own—which for people like me who love to learn, is invaluable.

It was also satisfying to have had as much free time as I did during the land package, able to browse for souvenirs, wander the streets and choose my meal times however I liked. The flexibility was a great benefit, knowing I was constantly supported in case something went wrong, but always free to do whatever I liked until it was time to transfer to my ship. 

In short, whether a land package is right for your clients is entirely up to them—but AmaWaterways land packages typically offer great accommodations, a knowledgeable tour guide, helpful support and plenty of free time for travelers to explore on their own before or after their cruise. 

This article originally appeared in TravelPulse.

Contact My Journey Begins Travel to book your AmaWaterways river cruise and land package.