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| Heidlberg |
After almost three weeks in the U.K, it was time to fly to Switzerland to begin our river cruise on the Rhine. We walked from our hotel to Paddington Station and caught the train for Heathrowe in the early morning. We found a pretty long line at airport security but made it to our plane on time. Then, we sat on the tarmac for some time while we waited for the weather to clear on the continent.
We took off after an hours delay and arrived in Munich with less than 20 minutes to get to our connection! We dashed across the airport to get to our gate, which seemed like it was on the other side of town! Upon arriving at the gate with only one or two minutes to go, we found the area deserted! Turns out there was a time change that wasn't accounted for in our itinerary, we were in fact an hour early!
The Viking Cruise proved to be wonderful! Normally, the boat would cruise at night and be dock by the morning. The stateroom was very comfortable, and we had the cheap seats! A river cruise is less regimented then ocean cruises, we could sit wherever we pleased at meal time and the food was generally very good. I would do another, and probably will someday.
Our cruise started in Basel, Switzerland and followed the Rhine up to the Dutch border. We stopped at Breisach and took an excursion by bus to the Black Forest in the morning. In the afternoon we strolled through the town of Breisach.
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| Basel, Switzerland. |
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| Our ship, the Viking Idi |
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| Our stateroom. |
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| The view out of our stateroom's window. Our floor was below the waterline! |
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| Ferry across the Rhine in Basel. |
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| Day tripping to the Black Forest. |
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| On a little hike. |
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| Old Breisach |
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| A walkway runs along the old city wall. |
Then next day found us outside Strasbourg, where we toured the old city and it's magnificent Cathedral. In the afternoon Shelly rested in the stateroom and I took a walk through the German city of Kehl, where our boat was actually docked.
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| Strassbourg |
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| The cathedral in Strassbourg really dominates the old city. |
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| Here's a peek inside. |
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| Another view. |
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| The town of Kehl, on the German side of the river. |
After Kehl/Strasbourg, we disembarked at Mannheim and took a bus to Heidelberg, visiting the old castle there.
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| Heidleburg |
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| Looking up at the Heidleburg castle. |
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| There is also the world's largest wine barrel. |
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| Another look at the castle. |
After Heidelberg, we returned to the ship at Mannheim and cruised up to Rudesheim, where we stayed the evening then cast off for Koblenz. while at Rudesheim, we strolled through town and came to a very nice square where a lot of local folks were relaxing. There was a small kiosk selling the local wine, (a nice white), which we enjoyed while relaxing in the square.
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| Back on the river. |
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| At Rudesheim, a nice public square afforded us a chance to sample the local wine. |
Next morning was a change from the routine, we were cruising during the daylight hours today in order to see the variety of castles strung along the Rhine, roughly from Wiesbaden to Koblenz. Unfortunately the weather had changed to cool and cloudy so our views weren't as great as they had been up to now. Still, it is an impressive sight and we enjoyed it. We were glad we brought our down jackets!
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| Castles... |
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| Many are undergoing preservation and renovation. |
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| A big one! |
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| Loreley Rock. |
By early afternoon we had reached Koblenz. Here we took a bus to Marksburg Castle. Shelly, (nee Marks), was especially eager to see this castle. It is a fine example, over 700 years old. It is probably one of the most complete examples of a Rhine Castle in existence.
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| Heading to Marksburg Castle |
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| Quite the view from the castle walls. |
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| The King's bed doesn't look too great! |
The next day we arrived at Cologne in the morning. We had an interesting tour of the city, Viking always provided excellent guides for our tours. I learned all about Kolsch, a favorite beer in this region. In the afternoon we were free to stroll through town. That night we cast off for Holland.
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| Last stop in Germany, Cologne. |
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| Cologne's twin-spired cathedral |
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| Remarkably well preserved tile floor from the Roman period, found next to the Cologne Cathedral. |
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| On a Cologne bridge, lovers' locks. |
We arrived at Kinderdijk at midday and were soon on a tour of the World Heritage site. There are quite a few of the old mills intact here, in various states of repair. All the real work is done by more modern means now, but there is an effort to keep these old machines going, and they are an impressive looking lot.
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| Kinderdijk World Heritage site. |
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| Shelly and the windmill! |
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| Lots of windmills! |
That night a number of us came on deck to watch the ship pass through the final lock of our trip. It's really a tight fit!
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| On deck the last night of the cruise to watch our final passage through a lock. |
That just about concluded our trip. Our ride to the airport in Amsterdam departed at 4:30 in the morning so we didn't get to see Amsterdam at all. We didn't realize that we could have booked a layover of a couple of days after our cruise. Oh well, maybe next time!
Click for (more) Rhine Cruise Pictures.
Overall, I have to say I was pleasantly surprised by the cruise experience. I think a lot of it has to do with this being a river cruise. It is more relaxed than an Ocean cruise and we had plenty of time to explore the ports on our own. We both thought the Viking facilities and services were excellent. We will probably try another some day.
This brought an end to our month long holiday which included London, Hadrian's Wall, Scotland, Bath and the cruise. It went by fast!
