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Moselle/Rhine and Danube River Cruises via Viking River Cruises--April/May 2016
Jim and Andrea Siscel

Slide Show of Photos with captions at end of trip information

On Friday, April 15th Andrea and I flew from Seattle to Paris, France.  We arrived at our hotel around 11am and could not check-in until afternoon.  Anticipating this I had booked a Chocolate and Pastry walking tour.  We met our guide and with another couple had a most enjoyable tour and sampling.  We visited four chocolate shops and three pastry shops.  Our guide’s main job was working at the Louvre, so we gained a lot of local information as we walked along.  We visited a market where we purchased some meats and cheese and had them on our saved croissants from the tour for dinner.

The following day we had a bus tour of Paris with the main stop being Notre Dame Cathedral.  The Arche de Triomphe was several blocks from our hotel, so we walked to view it.

Leaving Paris we took a bus to Luxembourg, where we had a walking tour of the old city.  Next we stopped at the Luxembourg American Cemetery and Memorial.  The majority of those buried there died during the Battle of the Bulge in WWII.  We continued our bus ride to Trier where we boarded our ship, the Viking Vidar, one of the newest Viking Ships for our Moselle/Rhine Rivers cruise.  The next morning we had a walking tour of Trier and visited the Roman Gate.  Trier is Germany’s oldest city founded by the Romans around 16 BC.  We bused to Schweich, Germany, on the Moselle, retuned to our ship and cruised down river to Bernkastel.  Along the way we viewed the Mosel River locks, vineyards and spring blooming trees.  We took a walking tour of Bernkastel and tasted some Dr. Pauly Bergweiler wine in the late afternoon.  Back on board the ship, we had a dinner of local German favorites.  This is one of the enjoyable things, sampling the wines and foods of the areas you pass though, that happens on Viking ships.

Wednesday, April 20th, we arrived in Cochem, Germany, for a walking tour of Cochem and a visit to Reichsburg Castle via shuttle buses.  The castle is furnished with Renaissance and Baroque furniture.  In the early afternoon, we headed for Koblenz where the Moselle joins the Rhine. 

The next morning we toured Marksburg Castle, a well-preserved 700-year-old hilltop fortress at Brauback.  It was the only fortress on the Rhine River that was never conquered.  Continuing up the Rhine River, we viewed many ruined castles as well as castles that are now hotels.  Passing Loreley we then docked at Rudesheim where we took another wine tasting excursion to George Breuer winery.  The Moselle, Rhine, and Danube Rivers go through some of the best white wine, Riesling for Andrea and myself, regions in the world.  So we had to be sure by tasting four different times.  As we continued that evening toward Worms, we had a beautiful full moon rise above the Rhine.

On Friday, we took a bus from Worms to Heidelberg.  We visited the Heidelberg Castle in the morning and had free time for lunch and shopping before returning to the ship.  Lunch for us was at the Vetter brewery with wurst and sauerkraut as the main course.

Saturday morning we arrived in Kehl and to a tour of Strasbourg.  In the cathedral, we saw our first astronomical clock.  During the afternoon, we took a bus tour through the Alsatian area. We visited the Klippel Winery for a tasting and then toured one of the small towns that we passed through.

Sunday morning we arrived in Basel, our last stop on this cruise.  Today we toured the city on our own our own trolley car.  After the trolley ride we walked through the old town. 

We now had five days before the start of the Danube cruise.  Monday morning early we were taken to the airport for our flight to Berlin.  We had visited Berlin when I was stationed in Germany in 1969 when the Berlin Wall was in place.  We wanted to see how the city had changed.  We spent three nights.  We took a walking tour the second day and purchased a two-day pass for a Hop On/Hop Off bus tour.  We found that old East Berlin is now the place to live.  We visited Check Point Charlie, one of the largest sections of the Wall that is still standing, the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe, and the Topography of Terror, SS museum. 

Leaving Berlin by German rail, we traveled through old East Germany directly south to Prague, Czech Republic.  Prague is a pre or post stop on Viking cruises.  We took a Viking walking tour of the Old Town and Castle/Government area.  We saw another astronomical clock on the side of a building on the town square.  One evening we traveled out in the country to sample some Czech food and music and dancing.

On Sunday, May 1st, we were bused from Prague to Passau, German,y on the Danube River, to join our next ship, the Viking Prestige.  In the morning we had a walking tour of Passau and an organ concert at noon on the St. Stephen’s Cathedral organ.  This organ is the largest church organ in the world.  On our way to Linz, Austria, the head chef and pastry chef showed us how to make apple strudel.

From Linz we were bused to Cesky Krumlov, Austria, for an all day walking tour. Cesky Krumlov Castle was founded in the middle of the 13th century.  The castle is a UNESCO World Cultural Heritage Monument.  We had lunch on our own which was a farmer’s lunch sample.

On Wednesday we visited 900-year-old Melk Abbey.  The interior of the Abbey Church is a baroque extravaganza of gold and magnificent frescoes.  Back on the Danube and continuing on to Durnstein we saw more ruined castles above the Danube.  The castle above Durnstein is where Richard the Lion-Hearted was imprisoned for one year for insulting the Austrian ruler Leopold V on the way back to England from The Crusades.  Last wine tasting of the trip was at Winebau Morwald.  This one was the most fun as the interplay between our guide and wine maker kept us laughing.  The tour of the facility was the best as well.

The night cruise brought us to Vienna, where we had a bus and walking tour.  We saw the Lipizzaner stallions in their stalls.  In the evening we had a Heurigen Evening.  We bused to a restaurant and enjoyed food that locals would have after hiking through the nearby hills.  We had a fine selection of accordion and violin music for thirty minutes or more for just our group of four couples.  Usually they move around the restaurant.

Friday, May 6th we arrived in Bratislava, Slovakia.  We started with the usual bus tour that took us up to the castle and then dropped us for a walking tour of the town.  At noon we left for Budapest.  We had a late arrival around 10:30pm and were told that we should be on the top deck for our arrival.  WOW!  The major buildings and bridges were all brightly lit.

We had a full day in Budapest on Saturday for a bus and walking tour, with free time in the afternoon.  We walked to the nearby market, which is very similar to our Pike Place Market.  Foodstuffs were on the first floor and crafts on the second floor.

Oh my, up at 2am to get ready to head back to Seattle.  We left at 6am for Amsterdam, 2 hour lay over in Amsterdam, and arrived in Seattle at 6pm our time, 2am the next day in Budapest.

​This was our second and third cruise with Viking. We had done Russia in 2014, see 2014 under Our Trips.  Viking provides excellent service.  The food was great and the tour guides were very knowledgable.