Tauck The Romantic Rhine: River Cruise

Your river cruise begins with a transfer from Schiphol International Airport or Amsterdam Central Station to your riverboat. Check-in time aboard ship is 4:00 PM for all guests, after which you’ll join a welcome reception followed by dinner aboard your riverboat to celebrate the start of an amazing journey.

When you arrive in Amsterdam, you’ll take a canal tour. You’ll learn about landmarks such as Central Station (the city’s main train station), De Waag (Weigh House), and the Mint Tower, which are located along two intersecting canals. These landmarks are near a pedestrian-only shopping street and one of the city’s flower markets. As you cruise along the canal in a Dutch barge, you’ll glide beneath bridges carrying walkers and cyclists – sometimes trams and cars – and by narrow merchant homes. After visiting the Rijksmuseum – home to many works by Rembrandt and other old Dutch Masters – you’ll drive to Utrecht.

After breakfast, you’ll tour Cologne’s famous cathedral—one of the largest and most important Gothic cathedrals in Europe. You’ll learn about its history and architecture during a three-hour guided walking tour of the city. After lunch onboard and a free afternoon, you’ll enjoy a walking tour of the city followed by an exclusive private evening at Schloss Ehreshoven, a German castle dating back to the 15th century. Built in the 14th century and later expanded in the style of a grand Baroque manor house, with landscaped gardens and a castle park surrounding it, it’s frequently used as a film location but tonight it’s an elegant setting for dinner with Tauck guests!

This morning you will arrive in Koblenz, where two rivers meet. You may choose to explore the city by foot or bicycle, or go on a guided walking tour of Old Town Koblenz and Deutsches Eck – the “German Corner,” where the Rhine and Moselle meet – and visit Aldstadt (Old Town), a mix of delightful town squares, tucked-away corners, medieval churches and baroque residences. After lunch aboard the riverboat, the rest of today will be spent cruising through the quiet Rhine River Valley past small cities, churches and ancient walls. Tonight is dinner and other activities aboard ship.

Arrive in Speyer early in the afternoon. Once a trade hub, this German town has a cathedral and university. If you choose Speyer, begin at the Technik Museum—its vintage cars and space shuttles are on display. Then walk to Speyer Cathedral—a UNESCO World Heritage Site with natural glass windows and stone roofing. Or choose an excursion to Heidelberg, where narrow lanes, shops, and pubs housed in 17th-century structures keep students lively. Visit romantic ruins of Heidelberg Castle; from its terrace and gardens, sweeping views impress along with 600 years of history. Return to the ship for a cocktail reception followed by the Chef’s Signature Dinner onboard.

The Rhine River winds through the hills of southern Alsace, where you’ll find many vineyard-filled hillsides. In France’s Alsatian cultural capital of Strasbourg, a charming city of canals and half-timbered houses, you’ll see a Gothic cathedral. You can either stay in town to explore on your own or travel to Baden-Baden—a spa town on the edge of the Black Forest where you can take a walking tour then enjoy free time in this famed spa town. Afterward, visit Caracalla Spa for a sauna complex with both hot and cold rooms (some wellness treatments at additional cost). You’ll feel re-energized at the end of your visit. Return to the ship for dinner and an evening of cruising.

If you join on an excursion to Lucerne, the lakeside city of lights, you can visit Kappelbrucke, a covered wooden footbridge that dates back to the 1330s. You can also see an octagonal Water Tower and narrow lanes. In Altstadt Lucerne, narrow cobblestone lanes will lead you to town squares lined with houses painted with frescoes. From there, you’ll head out for the heights of Mt. Pilatus aboard a gondola climbing almost 7,000 ft high; return via Alpnachstad at the edge of Lake Lucerne aboard a steam locomotive or take the train through vineyards in Alsace, France for lunch and wine tasting along the wine route there. At the Schlossberg Castle you’ll see a picture of a medieval mountain fortress. Afterward, head to the French Alsatian town of Riquewihr for lunch and a wine tasting. Regardless of your choice, your day ends in Basel—a major crossroads of travel and thought since the 15th century. An orientation tour reveals parks, museums, galleries, and restaurants; the Rhine Promenade; 14th-century Münster Cathedral; and modern buildings by architects like Frank Gehry and Yoshio Taniguchi.

Your tour concludes in Basel. Please plan to depart the ship by 9:00 AM. Transfers are included to EuroAirport Basel-Mulhouse-Freiburg or Basel’s SBB train station; guests can also transfer to Zürich Airport or Zurich Hauptbahnhof (train station). Allow 3 hours for flight check-in.