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The 40-mile Upper Middle Rhine Valley is a UNESCO World Heritage site and the banks are lined with more than 40 hilltop fortresses and lush vineyards. Here are five of our favorite Viking Rhine River cruises to help you find the perfect itinerary. Join us on a richly rewarding 8-day journey to some of Scandinavia’s most scenic and historic ports.
Night Rhine GetawayDetails
Sailing from one destination to the next at a leisurely pace, instead of traffic-filled highways you will admire an ever-changing panorama of riverside scenery. Tour highlights of the legendary Rhine River and discover Scandinavian wonders by sea. See the charming canals of Strasbourg’s Petite France, admire Cologne’s famous cathedral and explore Holland’s iconic windmills. Sail the North Sea, visit Denmark and witness Norway’s dramatic fjord landscapes and scenic cities.
Shore Excursions
If you want more relaxed, casual food with perhaps a table for just 2, the Aquavit upstairs is a great alternative. We had lunch a couple times there and it’s quite nice to see the river views and sit outside. Another advantage to booking airfare through Viking is they also include round trip transfers. So I recommend booking airfare through Viking (after doing a price comparison on your own, of course).
Day 1: Boarding in Basel 🇨🇭
Return to Breisach or choose an optional excursion to the quaint Alsatian town of Colmar. Spend free time in the pedestrian-only Drosselgasse and sample a glass of locally produced wine at one of the restaurants or wine bars. Proceed along the Rhine, disembarking to tour the 700-year-old Marksburg Castle and its museum. Enjoy an onboard lunch as you marvel at this scenic passage, a UNESCO World Heritage Site where castles overlook the river from their hilltop posts. Excursions will take you to Trier, with its Roman history, and Germany's oldest university town of Heidelberg with its imposing red sandstone castle.
Arrive in Mannheim and disembark for a tour of Heidelberg to see Germany’s oldest university, founded in 1386. Then, visit the beautiful sandstone ruins of imposing Heidelberg Castle and take in the scenery of the Neckar River Valley and the city’s many red rooftops from this hilltop post. Continue with a walking tour through Old Town to Heidelberg’s renowned gates.
Which is the Best European River Cruise?
If you're taking your first vacation on the Rhine take a look at Viking's selection of eight day sailings. They're a great introduction to the region and will leave you wanting to come back for more. To learn more about each port of call and our included as well as optional excursions, click on the individual days below. If I could offer one suggestion to Viking, I’d say either choose Speyer or Rüdesheim am Rhein, and spend the entire day there. However, cruising through the Rhine Gorge the next day made up for it. Sailing past all those castles was the highlight of this cruise.
Day 5: Cruise through the Rhine Gorge; Stop in Koblenz 🇩🇪
You’ll have to make this decision for yourself, but beer and wine are included with each meal even if you don’t purchase the unlimited drink package. I did the math, and you’d basically have to drink two additional cocktails each day (outside of lunch and dinner) to make the package worthwhile. I enjoy drinking to be sure, but I would typically have wine with my meals and limit myself to one cocktail per day. My total bar tab came out to be about 90 euro for the entire trip. Viking offered a short included tour, then we had about an hour or so to explore on our own. There are some other interesting churches a little further inland, or you could check out the many side alleys that branch off of the Maximilianstraße.
Enjoy scenic cruising through the Rhine Gorge, a UNESCO Site, passing iconic Lorelei Rock. Stroll through quaint Mainz and see an original Gutenberg Bible in the Gutenberg Museum. Visit Speyer and its landmark cathedral, the burial place of eight emperors.
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She is an expert in family travel and travel for adults aged 18 to 88. As the author of the book, "The Travel Mamas' Guide," she teaches parents how to make the most of traveling with babies and children. Colleen loves sharing tips on hotels, cruises, spas, theme parks, and global lifestyle topics. When she is not traveling the world, she lives in Arizona with her husband and two kids.
Rhine River Cruise Prices: 5 Steps for Finding a Good Deal - Cruise Critic
Rhine River Cruise Prices: 5 Steps for Finding a Good Deal.
Posted: Tue, 29 Aug 2023 07:00:00 GMT [source]
A Viking River cruise seemed like the perfect offering for a group of eight people spanning three generations. This post is a review of my time on the Viking Hermod as it sailed down the Rhine. They have a handy map to show the journey along the Rhine River and make it easy to see what your options are each day.
If you decide to stay onboard you will have a full-service experience in terms of food and drink and the chance to relax with a book or take a nap. Also, don’t forget to enjoy scenic sailing moments along the iconic Middle Rhine to enjoy the historic castles and hillside vineyards. Discover Nordic wonders by sea, then tour highlights of the legendary Rhine River. From the seaside village of Skagen, Denmark, sail the North Sea to Amsterdam. Admire Cologne’s famous cathedral and tour Ehrenbreitstein Fortress. Experience France’s multicultural Strasbourg and Germany’s storied Black Forest before disembarking in cultured Basel.
This sprawling botanic garden is filled with every varietal of tulips you could imagine among many other lovely flowers and things to do. Strasbourg, France captured my heart and has left me daydreaming of moving to this beautiful French town with a German accent. Discover what’s so enchanting about Strasbourg, France before you go. Land of cuckoo clocks, fruit elixirs, and its namesake hams and cakes — the Black Forest seems like a place dreamed up by the Brothers Grimm for their fairy tales.
The Rhine is Germany's largest wine producing area and Viking shore excursions provide plenty of opportunities for tastings in between sailing through glorious landscapes. This river cruise gives you all the highlights of the legendary Rhine in just 8 days. Itinerary and shore excursions are subject to change and may vary by departure.
The entire ship is airy and light-filled and despite it being a small river ship, it feels more spacious and open than some large cruise ships. I wouldn’t say there’s a “best” European cruise per se, but there are a couple main rivers in Europe that offer river cruise experiences. If you want a great view, Viking offers an optional tour that takes you all the way to the very top! I had already been to Cologne on a previous trip so instead, we opted for a palace excursion. Every street looks perfectly preserved and it’s quite colorful. We wandered mostly on our own, ducking into gelato shops and chocolate stores while enjoying the colorful, medieval feel.
From Speyer to Cologne (Day 4 to Day 6), the Rhine River is incredibly scenic. Viking did a great job of scheduling so that passengers could enjoy the view from the boat during the day on this portion of the trip. The vineyards, villages, and castles of the Middle Rhine are undoubtedly the river’s most unique offerings. River cruises are highly dependent on local water levels, and abnormally low water can negatively impact your trip by forcing the boat to re-route. Viking offers both pre and post extensions, which are a fun way to see more of Europe and combine the best of both worlds (guided group tours with individual trips).
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