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We love cruising, but our European cruises have often been vaguely dissatisfying. The itinerary always limited what you could see on land--many great cities are too far for a bus trip from the port of call--and the ships generally leave before dark, meaning you could never sample the nightlife of the country we were visiting.
Last summer, though, we took a cruise through the heart of Germany, exploring historic cities up close and still having time to tour the nightclubs and restaurants of such cities as Cologne and Rudesheim. The cruise was on the Viking Neptune, a luxurious three-deck river cruise ship operated by Viking River Cruises, a new company that had taken over many of the ships operated by the well-known K&D River Cruises.
That the new ships are luxurious should come as no surprise. The head of Viking River Cruises is Torstein Hagen, one of the founders of the late Royal Viking Line, which offered the finest in ocean cruise experience. Hagen knows well the limitations of the ocean cruises that offer a different port every day. Hagen's philosophy is this: if the city is interesting, the ship docks overnight, allowing passengers time to explore the city's nightlife and restaurants. And for a cruise that passes through some of the more legendary cities of Germany, this worked just fine for us.
Our river ship was the Neptune, one of four new ships in the VIking fleet, and it is a definite step up in class from the standard K&D vessels. The Neptune was almost identical to its three sister ships: 360 feet long, three decks, room for 150 passengers and a crew of 35. The cabin was spacious and luxurious, with a queen size bed, dresser and roomy closets, comfortable bathroom and a large viewing window that gave us a great view of the passing landscape.
The public rooms are beautifully decorated in Scandinavian style with light woods and dark blue fabrics. Passengers enjoyed pre- and post-dinner cocktails in the large lounge and, on some evenings, performances from local singers and dancers. This was also a wonderful place to sit during the daytime and watch the scenery from the floor to ceiling glass windows. The restaurant has open seating and offers tables for four, six and eight people. The food and service was outstanding.
The top deck sundeck, with lounge chairs, table and umbrellas was a great place to sun, read and spot castles on the rugged hills lining the Rhine. At meal time, we enjoyed the passing landscape from the beautiful dining room while feasting on gourmet food and wine. Many of the delightful wines were from the areas we were visiting or passing through, which enhanced our enjoyment.
Our cruise started in Mainz, Germany, near Frankfurt. Mainz is where Gutenberg started the printing revolution. The ancient city remains a colorful district with some Victorian homes and offices as well as many timbered and gaily painted buildings, beautiful fountain squares and many interesting shops and restaurants. There is also the famous Gutenberg museum that is definitely worth visiting.
After departing beautiful Mainz, we journeyed to Heidelberg, which is a lovely university town in the Neckar Valley nestled between the Neckar and Rhine rivers. It is quite a romantic city and in fact is known as "the city with a heart". There is much to see there and we took a wonderful tour of a castle atop a mountain and then a walking tour of the city. We ended our walking trip in Cafe Knosel, which has been famous for more than a hundred years for making their "Heidelberg Student's Kiss" nougat filled chocolate candy.
Rudesheim was the next stop on our Rhine journey. This city was truly a wonderful sight to behold; the buildings of the town were all white stucco and dark old timber. Each shop, it seemed, was more beautiful than the next. The boat was docked for the night, so almost everyone went in to town and had fun sampling the delicious local wines and beers and music of the local restaurants or beer gardens.
There was a special tour arranged for us at the music box museum led by the colorful owner, who has been collecting mechanical music machines for more than half a century.
Both before Rudesheim and for several miles past it, we saw the spectacular castles perched high in the mountains overlooking the Rhine. Most are vacant structures now, but they recalled the romance of kings and queens and knights of old and were quite interesting to see.
The highlight of our week on the Rhine was the 45th annual "Rhine in Flames" celebration. Over 70 river boats lined up in the early evening on the day of the celebration in preparation for the parade of boats. Each had colorful lights on deck and their many passengers beginning to celebrate with food and drink outside. The evening grew dark and the parade began. All along the Rhine there were revelers and they had set tightly controlled bonfires along the river. Up on the mountainsides the castles were lit up in flames and some were also highlighted by colorful lighting and fireworks. The parade ended 11 miles later in Koblenz, where there was a huge rock concert going on. This was the most unusual and spectacular event that we have ever experienced!
The day after the Rhine in Flames was another wonderful adventure. We toured the city of Cologne and were amazed at the beauty of its famous cathedral. We then took a long drive in the Moselle Valley, not only to see its beautiful scenery and its main city of Cochem, but also to sample its fantastic wines. We had a 2-hour wine tasting visit at local wineries and sampled the delicious apple strudels and ice creams in the town's cafes.
That evening we returned to the boat, docked next to the downtown area of Cologne and spent the evening after dinner strolling the beautiful downtown area and enjoying a stop in a cafe or two in between window shopping in the lovely shops.
From there we returned to Mainz and our flight home. But we left with a new appereciation of the delights of river cruising in Europe.
FOR MORE INFORMATION
Viking River Cruises offers cruises on the Rhine, Seine, Rhone, Po, Danube and Elbe rivers in Germany, France, Italy, Austria and Hungary. All staff and tour guides are fluent in English. Pricing includes the cruise, round-trip airfare from the U.S., all meals, sightseeing and special events and transfers but not port taxes. Call 1-877-668-4546.