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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. A lesser-known stop on the Rhine on this Viking river cruise is Speyer. A former Roman settlement, it's one of Germany's oldest towns and noted for is large Romanesque-style cathedral and rich Jewish heritage with a traditional bathhouse dating back to 1128.
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Stay current with special offers, news and destination-focused content. 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. On my January sailing, I was pleasantly surprised at how little the weather conditions affected my enjoyment of exploring the varied port calls.
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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. Read more about what to expect when visiting Germany’s Black Forest with Viking River Cruises.
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Experience France’s multicultural Strasbourg and Germany’s storied Black Forest before disembarking in cultured Basel. These tended to be walking tours that lasted about two hours and introduced guests to the various cities. However, if you’d rather explore one of the stops on your own (or even stay on the ship), you are more than welcome to skip any of the tours. At this point in the cruise, the Rhine starts to become much more scenic. Rüdesheim is a touristy town known for its wineries and historic center, called the Drosselgasse. Viking doesn’t offer an included tour here, so I explored on my own.
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Pre: Amsterdam Premium
If you are flying in from the U.S. on a first time river cruise it is well worth getting Viking to book the air and advise you of the best flight timings. To avoid unnecessary stress from flight delays or cancellations plan to arrive at least one day before your cruise departs. You should also allow plenty of time for airport transfers at the end of your voyage, especially if you're going to be traveling during the morning rush hour. A Rhine River cruise is a wonderful way to experience Europe and a top choice for a first time river cruise.
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Zürich Airport is the nearest major international airport to Basel, and the drive is about an hour. There are also frequent trains that run between Switzerland’s largest city and its gateway to the Rhine. Emerald Cruises is a great option for cruisers in their earlier adult decades. The lower-priced offshoot of Australian-owned all-inclusive line Scenic has contemporary ships that tend to attract a slightly younger crowd -- with good reason.
Despite this, the Viking Hermod had a beautifully designed interior. The lounge and front terraces were comfortable places to sit, relax, or sip a drink. The ship’s common spaces never felt cramped, even when all the passengers were gathered together (e.g. during dinnertime). After visiting the cathedral, I walked across the Hohenzollernbrücke, which is one of the most notable “love lock” bridges in Europe. Yes, I know this is a trend that’s swept almost the entire world, but the number of locks on the Hohenzollern Bridge is still a sight to behold.
I really looked forward to coming back on board after each excursion or tour to enjoy whatever was being served that day. The Netherlands is a small country, and Kinderdijk is only about 95 kilometers (59 miles) away from Amsterdam. As such, the Hermod was already passing through Utrecht by bedtime. The landscape here is so pretty, and one of the highlights of this visit was being able to see the inside of a mill.
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What’s more, Viking offered specialties from each region we were passing through. I loved the fact that I got to try Swiss, German, French, and Dutch food all onboard! They also have a permanent menu that includes classics like Caesar salad, steak, and burgers, but I ordered most of my meals from their rotating menu. Now that you’ve seen the itinerary for the Rhine Getaway, the second half of this post will include some information about the actual cruising experience on Viking. In all honesty, the Rhine (which turns into the Waal) is less scenic in the Netherlands than it is in Germany.
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. Longtime readers of my blog will know that I don’t shy away from giving my honest opinion when it comes to travel. With that in mind, I’m happy to report that this Viking River Cruise was an outstanding experience! I’ll cherish the memory of going down the Rhine with my extended family for the rest of my life. You can also pre-book one of many “Optional Excursions,” which are tours that you’ll have to pay extra for.
See how the Rhine, Main and Moselle river systems unfold to create a spellbinding display of storybook villages, Dutch windmills, German vineyards and splendid UNESCO Sites. One thing I really loved about this cruise was that there were lots of fun optional activities onboard the ship in the afternoons and evenings. Our family group enjoyed game nights and musical performances, but you could also attend things like a glassblowing demonstration or a Q&A session with the captains of the ship.
I had mixed feelings about this bustling Dutch metropolis, which I’ve written about in a separate blog post. I thought the main sanctuary of the cathedral was stunning, but I actually didn’t really like climbing the church tower. The views from the top were fine but not as stunning as some of the other panoramic views I saw on this cruise (e.g. in Breisach or Strasbourg). More importantly, the climb is essentially one long spiral staircase – with visitors going both directions on it! Frankly, being on a spiral staircase for that long with only the occasional narrow gothic window was disorienting and dizzying.
This also avoided the traditional double-docking situations when you sometimes find your view of the river obscured by another ship that suddenly moors up alongside. In most places, we enjoyed prime position and while Viking owns several docking locations, we weren't even in competition with the usual fleet of Viking ships as most were moored up for the season. Many guests had been keen to travel at this time of year, citing cheaper prices, less crowds and having more time to travel now than during the summer. Aside from Amsterdam, which had the usual crowd of international tourists, it was the same everywhere which gave a fascinating taste of everyday local life. In all the stops on this cruise, we appeared to be the only tourist group -- even in the likes of Cologne and Strasbourg which, especially during the summer months are busy with tourists.
If you have extra time and want to walk around the town, feel free to. But if you don’t have time or want to rest on the ship instead, you probably won’t miss out on too much. Neuf-Brisach is a sleepy little French town that is surrounded on all sides by a visually stunning series of fortified walls. These walls were designed by French architect Sébastien Le Prestre de Vauban to help protect border outposts from invasion. You can’t make out the geometry of the walled city from the ground level, but you can explore the city streets and get some sense of their architecture.
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