"Romance of the Rhine & Mosel" river trip
Published date:
06.16.11
My wife, Mary, and I took the “Romance of the Rhine & Mosel” on the River Melody on May 26, 2011, as an additional look at the area after taking a Great Rivers trip last September on River Aria.
This Rhine & Mosel trip includes five sites of UNESCO significance and even more with the optional extensions and tours, I found the views in the Mosel valley more attractive than those on the Rhine. All moorings were reasonably close to the centers of interest. Basel had an unattractive walk to the tram when the shuttle wasn’t running. Strasbourg needed the shuttle bus or you might get lost in the canals. We used the shuttle in Trier, but some passengers and crew walked it. All other moorings were right near the centers of interest.
The ship has 70 double cabins and, with nine cabins as single-occupancy, we began the trip with 131 passengers (one couple left early in the trip after emergency surgery.) Our cabin was on the 100-deck level or “Prelude Deck.” When standing, I would guess that the outside water level was near my waist. One doesn’t get the more panoramic views of higher decks but upon opening the curtains in the morning it is quite enchanting to be face to face with a swan looking in.
We had considered taking the optional excursion to Augustusburg Palace, but it was closed on Monday, our Day 12.
Our cruise began in Basle, Switzerland, at a point on the Rhine called “Dreilåndereck” as it is a corner touching Germany, France and Switzerland. When we reached the ship we found a full hot-buffet luncheon. Our previous river boat trips had had only cold processed meat sandwiches upon arrival so we felt this was a treat. After lunch we were too tired from the flights to take the tram into the center of Basle.
On Day 3 we had the walking tour of the center of Basle in the morning but the ship had to sail early in the afternoon due to some lock scheduling. We had hoped to do a lot of tram riding on the full day pass provided.
Strasbourg was an absolute delight. A small sightseeing boat picked us up along side the River Melody and took us around the UNESCO World Heritage historic city center of Strasbourg. We had to pass through some wooden locks to get to and from the upstream part of the Ill River. After the boat did more than a full city circumnavigation, we had a walking tour led by our Program Directors during which I noted the entrance to the cathedral tower.
That afternoon, we went on the included Alsatian Highlights tour with a stop at the Stork Park. We were told where the rest rooms were located and that there would be an eight minute talk about the park. It took us a while to understand that there were also many exhibits in the park and that we had the time to look at them.
The second day in Strasbourg we returned on the shuttle bus to the city center and climbed the Cathedral tower. We then walked more extensively around the city center stopping for pictures at various points on both sides of the river in the Petit France district.
We awoke on Day 6 in Speyer and walked over to the Romanesque Kaiserdom Cathedral, built between 1030 and 1125, and on up the deserted town streets to the Old Gate. The Old Gate is closer to the center of the Roman settlement as the Romans didn’t take any chances with river flooding. The Cathedral was close to the river when built, but canalization of the Rhine has set it back a good way from the present river bed.
Our home-hosted afternoon was three ship couples visiting the home of a family in Dudenhofen, now a suburban development. The husband came from a family that had farmed that area in previous generations and the wife had come from East Germany. It was a pleasant conversation on difficult topics with the help of a bilingual dictionary.
The Day 7 cruise of the Rhine Gorge (called “castle alley”) was a repeat of what we had seen on the Great Rivers tour but this time we had dry and cold weather.
In Boppard, after our included walking tour, we took the chair lift up to the Vierseenblick, or “Four-Lake View.” The lift departs from near where the ship ties up. Allow about a half hour up, a half hour walking around to the various view points, and a half hour back down to the ship. At some view points you see four pieces of the Rhine, cut off by hills, looking like four lakes. It is a fun thing to do but not a world class site.
We skipped the tour of Marksburg Castle as we had gone there last September. I would recommend it to others, as it is one of the few castles that did not fall into ruin and then in the 19th C get rebuilt as a romanticized fantasy.
Our schedule got rearranged so after some scenic cruising on the Mosel we stopped at Bernkastel. In our free time we walked over the bridge to see where the old railroad station of Kues had been. We wished we had climbed up to the site of Castle Landshut as some others did.
Our next stop was Trier where our group had an excellent guide from the Netherlands who told us about the Roman history. We used the short shuttle bus to return to Trier in the afternoon.
TrabenTrarbach was a very pleasant surprise for us. Both towns had been destroyed by fire in the 19th C. The citizens were prosperous from the wine trade and rebuilt many quality buildings with Art Nouveau aspects. We asked for directions to climb up to the ruins of Grevenburg fortress, which had been built about 1350 and destroyed about 1734. It was a strenuous climb on a hot day but the views and the well explained ruins were wonderful. We came down a different route by the war memorial. Then going down very steep steps through the vineyards we found that we could have climbed more quickly if we had turned on a little passage between two houses labeled “Brandweg” and “Kriegerdenkmal Grevenburg.” Although steep, that way has good steps and good handrails.
We also had wanted to walk on the Traben side to the ruined foundations of Mount Royal Fort built by Louis XIV and designed by Vauban. We were tired at that point. (We later learned that we could have used a taxi one way to save some energy.) Instead, we went to a supermarket and bought some wonderful bottles of German wine, each for less than six euros. We later drank the wines in our cabin as the ship sells their own wines in the lounge.
The next day began with a foggy atmospheric sailing up the Mosel to Cochem. The Reichsburg Castle is an 1868 rebuild in Neo-Gothic style by a wealthy steel broker and the tour is included. Later we regretted not poking on our own around more in the town of Cochem. We didn’t understand the appeal of buying mustard in Cochem but many passengers did.
Bonn was an easy town for walking from the ship. We had more time there than needed as the optional Augustusburg tour had been replaced.
Nijimegen had been bombed extensively during World War II. The citizens have rebuilt many structures as they had previously been. There is a slide show of before and after reconstruction in a chapel of the church. We found the ruins of Charlemagne’s Palace on the highest part of town interesting. With building supplies so costly in these lowlands, the interconnecting walls were long ago taken for reuse. We found some old wall towers and a mini-zoo park at the other end of town below the church.
Kinderdijk was very pleasant as the ship was tied up close to the entrance of the preserve of 19 windmills. At the end of our guided tour we ran back to take pictures without the crowds of other passengers.
In Willemstad we walked completely around the fortifications and got beautiful pictures as the overcast lighting was very soft. Upon arrival in Antwerp, we walked from the ship to the Town SquareCathedral area and got pictures before the hustle of the city began. After our included walking tour, we walked to the far end of the Meir (main shopping street) to theTrain Station, which has been nicely restored. Beyond the station is a zoo which we did not enter.
On the whole, as we had planned, we did more walking than most of the passengers. When we got the introduction e-mail from our Program Director, Lutz Hagen, we wrote back that we were interested in more extensive walks. Lutz told Johannes and Barbara, the other Program Directors, of our interest. All three helped us find walks.
The default assumption of the Program Directors is that the passengers do not want to walk much or experience uneven terrain and loose pebbles on walkways. Speak up if you want a more active experience – GCT can accommodate, similar to the OAT level.
I found that the ship food was too accommodating to American tastes. Most GCT participants will be pleased with that, but I prefer new experiences when travelling. We found the wait staff to be excellent and they kept the wine glass filled with the quite acceptable house wines. There was unlimited water on the tables, which is one aspect of American taste that I like when travelling.
The Program Directors were always helpful and worked as a smooth team. Many of our favorite photos were taken by them when we asked for their assistance in taking a photo with both of us in the picture.
Travelling on a riverboat means that you unpack in your cabin at the embarkation and don’t have to pack again until the night before debarkation 14 days later. It also means -- should you need to -- that you may stay in your cabin if you should feel ill some day. The cabin keeps up with the tour!
With so many ports a short walk from the boat a riverboat is a great way to see sights!
I recommend your participation in the “Romance of the Rhine & Mosel”!
Traveler: Alan from New York traveled
on May 26, 2011
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