In December of 2013, we travelled up the Danube from Budapest to Passau, Germany. This time, we headed down the Danube from Budapest to Bucharest. We passed through 5 countries: Hungary, Croatia, Serbia, Bulgaria, and Romania.

All 5 countries still bear - to varying degrees - the scars of wars and communism. Despite this, there are lovely, well-preserved older districts that are only slightly different versions of the more touristed western European cities. Tourism was present - there were other river cruise boats besides ours - but not overwhelming.