The Real Princess Diaries

A luxury river cruise along the Danube with children is the opportunity to open their eyes to a world of culture and history, discovers Sara Macefield.

- Sara Macefield

We’re travelling along a cobbled street in Vienna’s alluring old town when a pack of plague-ridden squealing rats suddenly races past us in a raging torrent.

I shriek in horror as I feel their tails whipping past my legs, but there’s barely time to think as we follow them at dizzying speed along the ramparts of the city’s cathedral, tearing to the top of the spire where we gaze across the city nearly 450ft below while being buffeted by blasting gusts of wind.

A few minutes later, we’re taken to a grand palatial hall, floating above hundreds of identikit elegant couples gently twirling to Johann Strauss’s Blue Danube waltz, before cowering in an air raid shelter as bombs rain down from Allied planes overhead.

It’s an enthralling start to a Sunday morning where our visit to the Time Travel museum brings alive the city’s 2,000-year history thanks to high-tech wizardry that transports us from its Roman origins through the Middle Ages to the present day.

The excursion strikes a chord with all ages and is fully in tune with the family-friendly theme of this Uniworld Generations sailing along the Danube River onboard S.S. Beatrice. And as we have our 16-year-old twin daughters, Dani and Holly, in tow, such a cruise proves to be a no-brainer for myself and my husband Geoff.

As soon as we board this sleek river ship in the German city of Nuremberg, I sign us all up for the daily activities that have become hallmarks of these signature sailings which mainly attract a younger age demographic.

Our cruise to Budapest is largely made up of families and includes a few multi-generational gatherings of Americans who account for more than 100 of the 124-passenger total. Brits make up the second-largest nationality though there are only nine of us.