Viking has launched its 2021 river itineraries for sale at 2020 prices including free economy flights to Europe.

“Now is the time to plan ahead for your pick of dates, staterooms and value for money for our 2021 departures. 2020 pricing must end soon – we highly recommend booking early to avoid disappointment,” says Michelle Black, managing director of Viking Australia and New Zealand.

The popular, 15-day Amsterdam to Budapest voyage or vice versa is priced from $5995 per person with free economy flights to Europe. Bookings must be made before 31 August this year.

The river cruise which departs Amsterdam will visit Kinderdijk, in southern Netherlands, the German cities of Cologne, Koblenz, Miltenberg, Wurzburg, Bamberg, Nuremberg, Regensburg and Passau. It will then reach the Austrian cities of Melk and Vienna where the ship will spend two days so that guests can explore Europe’s centre of classical music where Strauss and Mozart composed some of their finest music. The cruise will then arrive in Hungary’s Budapest, often called Paris of the East where guests can discover the city’s rich Art Nouveau architecture and vibrant cultural scene.

Viking also has a 13-day, Waterways of the Tsars journey from Moscow to St Petersburg with prices starting from $7995pp including free economy flights to Europe.

Passengers will fly to Moscow and spend four days exploring the capital city where they can admire the onion domes and towers of Moscow’s Red Square, taste Russian caviar with blini pancakes, explore the vast Kremlin, the seat of Soviet power, tour the Tretyakopv Gallery – the world’s foremost museum of Russian fine art, visit the largest monasteries in Russia or soak up the steam in a traditional banya in the riverside Mandrogy village.

The cruise will then cruise the Volga River and visit Uglich, a magnificent city founded in 1148, Yaroslavi stretching along the river banks, Kuzino known for its Kirillo-Belozersky Monastery, Kizhi located at Lake Onega and home to the famed Open Air Museum of Architecture, Mandrogy before arriving at St Petersburg where passengers will spend four days. St Petersburg often called Venice of the North has many canals, bridges and islands. Here passengers can see baroque buildings, dazzling onion-domed churches, visit the Hermitage Museum and take in a performance of Russian ballet.

Viking is also offering a 10-day Portugal’s River of Gold itinerary from Lisbon to Porto which is available from $4495 pp. Economy flights are available from $995pp. Passengers will spend two days in Lisbon and discover the city’s trendy galleries and restaurants, taste Portuguese wine, food and fado singing. From Lisbon, the cruise will head to Porto for two days, then visit Regua, Barca d’Alva, Salamanca in Spain, Pinhao in Portugal, Regua before ending in Porto.

There is also an eight-day itinerary called Rhine Getaway from Amsterdam to Basel with prices from $3495 pp with economy flights from $995 pp. Guests will be able to discover the culinary traditions of Alsace, the Black Forest, visit a workshop to see a cuckoo clock making demonstration and enjoy the spectacular scenery of the Middle Rhine, one of Europe’s best-loved rivers.

The cruise starts from Amsterdam and visits Kinderdijk, Cologne, Koblenz, Heidelberg, Strasbourg, Breisach before arriving at Basel in Switzerland.