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This fantastic three-in-one Viking vacation combines the highlights of the Rhine with hotel stays to discover the best of Paris, sparkling Reims in the heart of the Champagne region and scenic Switzerland. You can choose to start or end the 12-day Paris to the Swiss Alps itinerary with two days in the French capital or the largest Swiss city of Zurich, nestling on a shimmering lake. A comfortable motor coach transfer will take you to and from your Viking ship. Excursions will take you to Trier, with its Roman history, and Germany's oldest university town of Heidelberg with its imposing red sandstone castle. In Bamberg you can try the curious smoked beer and other stops include Nuremberg which, despite almost being destroyed in the war, has three miles of medieval walls.
The 8 best Christmas market river cruises for 2024 - The Points Guy
The 8 best Christmas market river cruises for 2024.
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While much of the castle remains as ruins today, the fortress is so massive that it supports a luxury hotel, a restaurant, wellness center and a museum. Burg Gutenfels was built in 1220 and was used as a toll castle per the Holy Roman Empire. Pfalzgrafenstein is the small white castle on its own island in the middle of the Rhine River. Built to guard customs posts and for long-distance trade routes, it served as a sort of border crossing. Back in its prime, walls connected the two castles, leading directly down from Gutenfels and across the water to Pfalzgrafenstein.
Checking in for our Rhine River Cruise
Today, the castle is a UNESCO World Heritage Sight and was once used as a hotel but transferred to a private residence in 2006. In 1925, the castle was turned over to the Rhineland-Palatinate Youth Hostel Association. With multiple route options to choose from, we opt for embarking from Bingen. Buying our tickets through the Bingen-Ruedesheimer company, the cost was around 15 Euro per person.
Splendours of Europe (Start Amsterdam, End Budapest)
You can also expect thoughtful extra touches, such as money to buy something to eat if any tours take place over lunchtime. My favorite route to explore the gems of the Rhine River is with the Rhine Pass from Koblenz. It gives you the freedom to visit all the villages and castles at your pace. I recommend taking the route from Koblenz to Bacharach which covers all of the highlights mentioned in this post.
A special thank you to our cabin steward Farjai for all of the adorable towel animals he made for us every day and folding the washcloths to look like shirts. It's all the extra little things that really make your Gate 1 vacation extra special. Köln-Düsseldorfer (KD) and the Weisse Flotte Rhein are the best-known day-trip riverboat cruise lines on the Rhine River in Germany and are good choices for short to all-day excursion cruises. Viking, which bills itself as “the thinking person’s cruise,” is a major player on the Rhine, where it operates more than 40 riverboats—nearly identical sister ships with a capacity for 190 guests.
Croisi Europe Cruises: The Romantic Rhine Valley and the Rock of Lorelei
European river cruises are especially popular around the holiday season when Christmas markets are in business. The cruise also takes in ports along the lesser-known Moselle, which joins the Rhine at Koblenz. Quieter and narrower than the Rhine, the tributary winds through wine-growing regions that were first cultivated in Roman times. You will stop at Cochem, the prettiest town on the Moselle, where the old town is filled with half-timbered houses.
Towering above the of Braubach , the Marksburg is one of the principal sites of the Rhine Gorge UNESCO World Heritage Site. In opposite to other Rhine river castles, the fortress was used for protection rather than as a residence for royal families. You’ll be spoilt for choice when it comes to castle hooping on the Middle Rhine River, but I highly recommend to visit Stolzenberg Castle, probably the epitome of Rhine romantic. Oberwesel has the oldest, largest and best-preserved city fortifications on the Middle Rhine.
Steep vineyards, legendary castles on hilltops, great food and quaint wine villages are creating a truely enchanting setting. My favorite way to explore the German Middle Rhine River is by river cruise. Köln-Düsseldorfer is generally a good choice for day cruises on the Rhine.
Late in the afternoon there was a safety briefing and then a captain’s welcome cocktail, before we enjoyed our 5 course meal in the restaurant washed down by local wines. Numerous cruise lines offer a Rhine River cruise, including Avalon Waterways, AmaWaterways, Riviera Travel, Uniworld, Viking River Cruises, Emerald Waterways, and A-ROSA. When exploring the Rhine Region, know that many of the ports are the most expensive locations for meals and shopping. Travel into the cities a bit more and take a tour of more of the local areas to save money and for a better look at the rich culture of the region.
Düsseldorf has a decidedly modern skyline and wide curves in the Rhine River make for interesting vistas too. The Rhine River can be a food-and-wine paradise and AmaWaterways is the best choice if you're a foodie or oenophile. All of AmaWaterways' European ships are members of the Chaine des Rotisseurs, a prestigious international gastronomic society.
Our morning in Strasbourg ended with a boat trip with guided commentary through the Petite-France area of rivers and canals, with view from the water of many more beautiful old houses. Our first stop was in Strasbourg, to explore the city and do a wine tasting tour. By now it was time to return to the Amadeus Princess and check in. We found our cabin, which was compact but comfortable with plenty of storage.
A cruise down the Rhine River remains one of the most popular vacation options for travelers looking to get a taste of central Europe. Rhine riverboats usually cruise the Loreley Valley from late March to late October. Boats in winter are rare but it is always worth enquiring, especially during the Advent Christmas market season. When checking train schedules at German Railways, use the town name with KD added when available – the results will indicate how far the train station is from the Rhine riverboat landings in the specific town. Riverboats also cruise from Rüdesheim upriver to Eltville, Wiesbaden, and Mainz. However, the Rhine here is a much wider river and the scenery is less spectacular than downriver from Rüdesheim.
The cruise ends in Basel before continuing on by ground transfer to Zurich. Starting in the Alps and meandering 820 miles through Switzerland, France, Germany and Holland, Viking's extensive offerings of Rhine cruises take in every aspect of this beautiful waterway. There are week-long sailings -- ideal for first-time visitors -- through longer itineraries which are ideal for seasoned Rhine cruisers looking to discover more. Viking Longships have prime mooring spots in the center of town providing the option for easy independent exploration in between guided included and optional shore excursions. For something very different, Viking has a unique 15-day itinerary combining a Rhine River cruise with a Scandinavian sailing into the Norwegian fjords on one of its stylish ocean ships.
A ruined castle on the hill gives the town a romantic aspect and our first walk was around its courtyards and stone facades carved with statues and pillars. Bonner Schifffahrt Go on a Rhine cruise with the event ship Poseidon. The passenger shipping on the Rhine between Königswinter, Bonn and Cologne is the tourism highlight in the region. Book our ship for example as a floating event location in Bonn, for theme cruises, scheduled cruises or visit us at the event Rhine in Flames.
Your base can thus be in Koblenz or in one of the quaint wine villages like Boppard, St.Goar or Bacharach. The main difference to a Rhine Day River Cruise or tour is that you don’t have your base on the boat but in one of the quaint wine villages along the river or in a larger town like Koblenz or Rüdesheim. Rössler has mostly shorter Rhine cruises in the Rüdesheim vicinity but Rössler occasionally cruises down the Loreley Valley past Die Lorelei to St Goar / St Goarhausen. The shorter cruises in the popular Rüdesheim area may include visiting castles or winetastings — many may be booked online. A few independent Rhine boat cruise operators cooperate under the Weisse Flotte Rhein banner. These companies cruise on all parts of the Rhine but departures and cruises are most frequent in the vicinity of the Rhine where these independent boat cruise lines are based.
Despite the traditional appearance, our choice turned out to be an Italian restaurant and I ordered from their asparagus menu featuring several dishes using the local asparagus that was in season. The Riesling grape is well suited to the damp, cool summers and requires a long growing season before being harvested by October. A special variety of red-fleshed peach is also grown in many vineyards and is used to make a peach liqueur that is delicious mixed with sparkling white wine to make a Kir Moselle.
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