16 Sep 2025
Positives: the lady that took the tour was friendly, pleasant and polite. The Danube is an awesome place to be on the water. Wildlife - I saw a beaver by the island. The Parliament buildings and bridges in the last part make the trip.
Negatives: no real tour guidance from the instructor apart from very brief information at the beginning. There was no information about what we were seeing and no tips on how to improve your technique if you already have experience (only commenting on this as when I've been on other tours when on holiday, this is what I've experienced). As there is a current moving you forward, to stay with the group who were moving incredibly slow I pretty much had to stop paddling which made it really frustrating for a lot of the tour. I know it says for beginners but it felt more like a float down the Danube than a paddleboard. (Again when I've been on trips with mixed abilities, the instructor made an effort to engage with everyone and push everyone to improve their technique, it felt kind of encouraged to basically sit down on your board and float). There were no leashes on the paddle boards which made me feel very wary - particularly taking beginners out, maybe that's why they encouraged people to sit! The paddles also weren't the best, really stiff to adjust and we were told if we fell off to get them first as they would fill with water. Every paddle I have ever used floats so that you can get back on your board and then retrieve it, fortunately no one fell in as I can imagine it would be a nightmare without a leash attaching you to your board and having to get the paddle first. I would recommend taking wet shoes as the end point is really slippy rocks and saw a few people slip with bare feet, plus there was glass everywhere (appreciate that is out of the tours hands as a public place).