The Great Rivers of Europe - President's River Cruise (2012)

Depart the U.S. today on your flight to Vienna. Please refer to your individual air itinerary for exact departure and arrival times.

Arrive today in Vienna. A Grand Circle representative meets you at the airport and helps you transfer to the pier, where you embark your river ship.

After a light lunch, the balance of the day is free to relax after your overseas flight, or do some exploring on your own in this Austrian capital. You might take a stroll along the Ringstrasse, linger over coffee at a Viennese cafe, spend some time at St. Stephen’s Cathedral, or view the artwork and exquisite gardens of the Belvedere Gallery.

In late afternoon, we gather aboard our river ship.

Before dinner, join us for a Ship Briefing. Then you have time to get better acquainted with your Program Director and traveling companions over a Welcome Drink.

During your cruise, whenever you have leisure time at a port along your route, you’ll receive a briefing in advance about the port area and town so you can make the best use of your free time.

Enjoy your first dinner onboard this evening.

As you cruise this morning, your travel on the river takes you through the lovely landscape of the Wachau Valley—past terraced vineyards and lush flowering fields toward Melk. You are invited to join your Program Director for an Orientation Briefing about your upcoming trip, during which you will have the opportunity to purchase optional tours.

President's Cruise Special Event

Explore 900-year-old Melk Abbey, one of the world’s most renowned monastic sites during an included tour.

As you approach Melk, you can see its formidable abbey as it rises up from the surrounding countryside along the Danube. After an early lunch, you'll disembark for an excursion to the dramatic 900-year-old Baroque Melk Abbey. This magnificently ornate structure has a long and storied history. Strategically situated on a steep, cliffside perch, Melk Abbey’s earliest incarnation was as a Roman border post. Later, it served as a tenth-century Babenberg fortress. It became a Benedictine monastery in 1089 and earned a distinguished reputation for medieval scholarship. Its library includes more than 70,000 books and 2,000 manuscripts, chiefly from the ninth through the 15th centuries. Following your tour, you'll have the opportunity to meet with some of the Abbey's resident monks, followed by a organ concert.

Umberto Eco, author of the well-known book The Name of the Rose, a murder mystery of monastic intrigue, was inspired by the grandeur of Melk Abbey. Eco uses Heinrich von Melk, a Benedictine brother from Melk Abbey who wrote the ironic poem “About Priestly Life,” as one of the novel’s main characters. The novel contains a great deal of scholarly information about the Middle Ages (Eco is known primarily as a scholar) and the compelling politics of medieval religion. The book’s setting is fictional, but the story climaxes with a devastating fire that mirrors the real history of Melk Abbey, which was ravaged by fires in 1297 and 1683. The stately Baroque edifice that stands today, with its twin towers and 208-foot-high dome, dates from its reconstruction in 1736.

The abbey houses a remarkable cherub-filled library of 1,000s of books and manuscripts, and 365 windows—one for each day of the year. The interior of the abbey’s church is a kaleidoscope of red, orange, and gold—with a magnificent carved pulpit and shimmering ceiling frescoes.

Meet the ship’s crew at the Captain’s Welcome Reception and relax with your fellow travelers during the Captain’s Dinner, followed by an evening of music while you cruise the river.

Today, you’ll cruise to Linz, Austria.

President's Cruise Special Event
On this special excursion, you will visit the Mauthausen Concentration Camp Memorial. This moving tribute to the prisoners held here during World War II honors the memory of the thousands who endured one of one the harshest labor camps under Nazi control in World War II.

President's Cruise Special Event
This afternoon, travel overland to the neighboring Czech Republic to visit Cesky Krumlov. You'll tour this scenic medieval town and UNESCO World Heritage Site known for its 13th-century castle and an array of Gothic, Baroque, and Renaissance buildings. Afterwards, you'll have free time to explore at your own pace before returning to the ship.

EXCLUSIVE DISCOVERY SERIES EVENT
This morning, as you sail, you can attend an enlightening discussion about Europeans Today.

Next, you'll arrive in Regensburg, Germany’s largest medieval city, and disembark for a walking tour. Since the historic city center was undamaged during World War II, it remains beautifully preserved. Your tour features the turreted Old Town Hall and the famous Stone Bridge (Germany’s oldest bridge), constructed during the twelfth century. See soaring St. Peter’s Cathedral, a Gothic cathedral adorned with beautiful stained glass. Following your included tour, you'll have the chance to discover more of this ancient city on your own.

EXCLUSIVE DISCOVERY SERIES EVENT
Once back onboard, learn more about contemporary life in Germany during a Germany Today discussion.

President's Cruise Special Event
Following dinner, you'll enjoy a special onboard concert by the renowned Regensburger Domspatzen boys’ choir. Domspatzen means "Cathedral Sparrows," and they have been thrilling listeners since 1075, when a cathedral school was established to teach singing as part of the boys' education.

Your ship remains in Regensburg through most of the night, resuming cruising in the very early hours of tomorrow morning.

Arriving in Kelheim this morning, you can delve deeper into the Danube’s scenic splendor this morning during an optional Bavaria: Baroque & Beer excursion. Begin with a visit to the Weltenburg Monastery, a Baroque confection of stucco, polished marble, gilt, and painted ceilings. There, you’ll have the opportunity to reflect in the cool stillness of the abbey—Germany’s oldest, founded at the beginning of the seventh century by the Abbot Eustasius. Surprisingly, the compound also houses the oldest monastery brewery in the world. Here, visitors have enjoyed its famous dark brew for nearly 1,000 years. You’ll sample some yourself while relaxing after your tour, sitting in the courtyard beer garden beneath ancient chestnut trees. Later, you’ll board a ferry for a ride through the beautiful Danube Gorge, Donaudurchbruch, the river’s narrowest and deepest stretch. From your ship’s outdoor deck, you’ll enjoy up-close views of towering Jurassic-era limestone cliffs as you wend your way along this scenic passage.

Your ferry ride takes you past the scenic Danube Gorge toward to Kelheim, where you’ll discover the town’s impressive Befreiungshalle, or Liberation Hall. Built by Bavarian King Ludwig I in the mid-18th century, the tower-like structure honors the German tribes who banded together to defeat the French during the Napoleonic wars of 1813-1815. You’ll then transfer by motorcoach to Riedenburg, where the ship has cruised to meet you.

After lunch onboard, travel by bus to the village of Beilngries. Here you have a special opportunity to visit a local home for a traditional Kaffeeklatsch, where you enjoy coffee, cake, and conversation with your hosts, and get a glimpse of life in this Bavarian community.

President's Cruise Special Event

Later tonight, we start the transit of the Rhine-Main-Danube Canal, Europe’s highest canal. You'll also have the opportunity to attend a discussion with a local expert, who will outline the amazing history of the great Rhine-Main-Danube Canal. The technological workings of this canal are an engineering marvel. During the night you cross the European watershed (at 1,332 feet, the highest point of the canal). This ridge of higher land divides the areas drained by the two different rivers, the Main and Danube. Here, rain north of the watershed flows to the North Sea; rain to the south flows to the Black Sea.

Tonight, depending on river logistics, we may gather for a Champagne toast to celebrate your overnight passing of the Watershed Monument—the high point of Europe’s highest canal.

EXCLUSIVE DISCOVERY SERIES EVENT
This morning brings an opportunity to attend an exclusive Discovery Series discussion on German Life Since 1933.

You then disembark for an included tour of Nuremberg, Bavaria’s second-largest city and the most important city in Franconia. Once the unofficial capital of the Holy Roman Empire, Nuremberg evokes its exalted past with its imposing medieval Kaiserburg (Imperial Castle). Nuremberg was devastated by bombs during World War II. After the war, much of the city was rebuilt and its Old World charm was painstakingly restored. Today, the city thrives as a bustling industrial and commercial center. Nuremberg’s many celebrated craftspeople specialize in fine metalwork and toy-making, and every year the city draws hundreds of thousands of visitors to its month-long Christkindlesmarkt (Christmas Market). During your included tour here, you explore this walled 13th-century city and stroll streets lined with half-timbered houses. You visit many of its fascinating historical sites, including the massive stadium where Hitler held his notorious rallies and the buildings where the infamous trials of Nazi war criminals played out. You’ll see remnants of the old medieval city walls and you’ll pass sections of the Old Town. You’ll also browse the cobbled main market square and admire the intricately carved, 62-foot-high Schoner Brunnen fountain towering there. Before you leave, make sure you turn the fountain’s brass ring for good luck! Spend the remainder of your morning on your own.

President's Cruise Special Event
Then, explore one of the most vivid chapters of Nuremberg's history, the Nazi war trials that followed World War II, during a visit to Courtroom 600 in Nuremberg's Palace of Justice.

We return to the ship for lunch.

Later, you might join us for an optional tour of the new Documentation Center on the former Nazi Party Rally Grounds in Nuremberg. In 1998, the city of Nuremberg held an architectural competition for the Center’s design for which designers had to fit the proposed Center in the Congress Hall and deal with the site’s intimidating architecture and ominous premise. Today’s optional tour features the winning center and surrounding grounds, including the Zeppelin Field where the Nazi party held rallies for up to 100,000 spectators.

Or spend your afternoon at leisure. Dinner is served onboard the ship this evening.

This morning you go ashore at Bamberg to enjoy a walking tour showcasing one of Germany’s most beautiful cities. Bamberg dates to the year AD 902, and today is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Bamberg began to prosper in the twelfth century, and was the center of southern Germany’s Enlightenment in the late 18th century. The great German philosopher George Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel lived here, and Bamberg was the second city (after Mainz) to introduce book-printing.

Today, Bamberg boasts 2,000 buildings listed as historical monuments, and its old city center is Europe’s largest existing group of historic buildings. The city was awarded the title of “World Cultural and Natural Heritage of Mankind” by UNESCO in 1993.

Bamberg's architecture reflects more than 1,000 years of building, with styles ranging from Romanesque to Gothic, Renaissance to Baroque, up to the eclecticism of the 19th century. There are narrow cobblestone streets, ornate mansions and palaces, and impressive churches. Bamberg has a beautiful medieval inner city that was renovated and restructured during the Baroque period (the late 17th century), so you experience a charming tension between the irregular Gothic and the more precise Baroque architecture.

On your tour, you’ll see two grand former residences of the prince bishops—the imposing 16th-century Old Court and the New Residence—and many of the city’s impressive churches. You have some time on your own here to explore as you wish.

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After a shipboard lunch, you can settle in for a leisurely afternoon aboard the ship. Perhaps you’ll join your fellow passengers in the galley (kitchen) for an Apfelstrudel baking lesson by our kitchen staff (followed by samples of this sweet traditional dessert). We enjoy dinner onboard this evening.

President's Cruise Special Event
This morning, you'll visit lovely Rothenburg, which sits on the Tauber River and boasts undamaged 14th-century city walls and beautifully preserved fortifications. Admire this town’s Renaissance and Gothic architecture during a full-day included tour and free time. During your walking tour, you’ll see stately towers and imposing burghers’ houses and make an included visit to the town's Deutsches Weihnachtsmuseum ("Christmas Museum"). You'll then enjoy an included lunch before you will have the afternoon free here to make your own discoveries before returning to the ship.

In the late afternoon, we’ll arrive in Wurzburg, a city on the Main River in Bavaria. Founded in the tenth century, Wurzburg was home to several powerful prince-bishops for many centuries. We’ll enjoy an informative walk here. Perhaps you'll view the Residenz, commissioned by prince-bishop brothers Johann Philipp Franz and Friedrich Karl von Schönborn. The complex was almost completely destroyed during World War II, but has since been rebuilt to its original grandeur prior to the war.

President's Cruise Special Event
After breakfast this morning, you'll have the rare opportunity to interact with a local official when the mayor of Wertheim comes aboard to meet with you.

Following your meeting, you'll enjoy a walking tour of the charming market town of Wertheim, located at the meeting of the Main and Tauber rivers. Admire the imposing ruins of its castle set on a hill overlooking the town. The ship remains here overnight, so you have ample time to explore on your own. If you like, you may want to climb the stairs to the castle and follow the trail around the castle walls.

After a few hours of very early cruising, the ship stops for a short time in Miltenberg this morning, where we’ll go ashore and embark on a full-day tour of Heidelberg.

You begin by touring the impressive ruins of the city’s 15th-century Gothic castle (setting for the opera The Student Prince), where you’ll have a panoramic view of the surrounding area. We then ride into town for an included tour.

President's Cruise Special Event

Enjoy a classical piano recital before stopping for lunch in a traditional Gasthaus restaurant that has been part of Heidleberg’s Old Town for centuries.

After some free time to make discoveries on your own, you’ll return to your ship, which has cruised to Offenbach to meet you. You'll then set sail for Frankfurt.

President's Cruise Special Event

Tonight, join your Captain, ship's crew, and fellow travelers for a special President's Dinner in your ship's dining room.

Today’s early cruising brings you to Mainz. After breakfast, you go ashore for a walking tour of the town. On your tour, you’ll see the town’s great eleventh-century Romanesque Cathedral. The Gutenberg printing press and Bible are housed here in the new Gutenberg Museum—which recently re-opened in 2000.

The inventor Johannes Gutenberg was born here, probably in 1397. He began his career selling Bibles and sometimes supplemented his income by creating and selling indulgences—papers that could be purchased and used as “coupons” by the faithful to absolve them of some of the time they had earned in Purgatory. It was probably in an effort to absolve himself of some of his own monetary debts that he began looking for ways to produce more indulgences.

That’s when he created uniformly sized metal molds for letters that allowed him to create error-free repeatable text. This was the beginning of the creation of moveable type that transformed the world. You have some free time in town before we return to the ship for lunch.

You have the afternoon to spend as you wish. Visit a gallery, browse some shops, or just walk the lanes of Mainz and make your own discoveries.

President's Cruise Special Event
In the evening, enjoy a unique experience as you dine in a traditional German restaurant in Rudesheim for dinner accompanied by an "oom-pah band," a recipe for an evening of good cheer capped by a choo-choo train ride back to your ship.

This morning you cruise along some of the most beautiful parts of the Rhine. Pass Lorelei, the large rock rising 440 feet above the river. Since ancient Greek mythology, there have been legends of sirens, women-creatures who lure sailors to their death with sweet songs. Ancient Germanic legend places one such siren (Lorelei) here, and it is said she enticed sailors to destruction below the rock.

You arrive in mid-morning at Koblenz, set at the confluence of the Rhine and Mosel rivers, an important locale in the Rhenish wine industry.You disembark for a walking tour of the town.

Originally established as an outpost of the Roman Empire and named Castellum apud Confluentes, Koblenz became a city in the 13th century and served as the home of French refugees during the French Revolution. During your tour, you’ll see the highlights of the Old Town.

You have the balance of the day to relax or explore on your own. Spend some time sipping local vintages and watching life pass by at one of the town’s many sidewalk cafes, or just stroll the streets and browse the markets.

President's Cruise Special Event
Later this afternoon, enjoy a gondola ride to the Prussian, mountain-top fort of Ehrenbreitstein. Enjoy views of the Upper Rhine as you ascend to the 11th-century fortress whose praises have been sung by many, including Byron and Melville.

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Once you're back onboard, you can attend a silversmithing demonstration by a visiting local artisan.

After dinner onboard this evening, enjoy a spirited folklore performance aboard ship. After the show, you will set sail for Cologne, where the ship remains for the night.

President's Cruise Special Event

This morning, attend an interesting onboard discussion about Life of Jewish People in Modern Germany with a local expert.

Then, disembark in Cologne for a walking tour of the city. Cologne was a Roman settlement called Colonia Agrippina after AD 50, and came under Frankish control in the fifth century. You can still see the ruins of Roman temples scattered through the city, and the Roman Gate near the cathedral was once part of the medieval town walls. During the 15th century, the city flourished as a member of the Hanseatic League.

Following your included city tour, a local expert will take you on a guided tour of the renowned Cologne Cathedral, a masterpiece of Gothic architecture. A UNESCO World Heritage Site, the cathedral largely escaped the World War II damage that ravaged the city and the rest of Germany. There’s evidence that Allied forces had orders to avoid damaging this beautiful structure. It is the largest Gothic cathedral in northern Europe, boasting beautiful stained-glass windows, an ornate gold shrine on its elaborate altar, and the intricate detail common to 14th-century Gothic churches. You'll have free time to explore on your own before returning to the ship.

Later in the evening, you cruise into Dutch waters on the Rhine River, heading toward Amsterdam.

President's Cruise Special Event

Bring your memories and join your traveling companions for a drink toasting the end of your cruising days with this group. Then, the crew bids you goodbye at the Captain’s Farewell Drink and Dinner. There will be entertainment onboard as the ship cruises through the night toward Amsterdam.

You’ll have an early breakfast and then disembark in Amsterdam for a canal boat tour introducing you to Amsterdam’s famed canals, providing a matchless perspective on the city’s remarkable architecture and relaxed pace. Along the way, you’ll see the Mint Tower, which has retained its name even though gold and silver coins were minted here for only a few years.

President's Cruise Special Event
After lunch onboard, you’ll have the opportunity to explore one of Amsterdam's most renowned museums. Travel by bus to the lush grounds of Amsterdam’s Museum Square, where entrance will be provided to your choice of either the Rijksmuseum (State Museum) or Van Gogh Museum. Originally founded in The Hague in 1800, the impressive building housing the works of the Rijksmuseum was brought to Amsterdam in 1808 at the request of Napoleon Bonaparte’s brother, Louis. You’ll find paintings and sculptures by some of the greatest Dutch artists, as well as a fine collection of Netherlands’ historical artifacts, including period weaponry, photography, and clothing. Or, if you like, you can choose to immerse yourself in the world’s largest collection of Van Gogh paintings. Marvel at some of the troubled artist’s greatest works in a sprawling building that is itself a work of art.

Return to your ship in the late afternoon, and settle in for your final night aboard.

After breakfast, you disembark ship and are transferred to the airport for your flight home. Or begin your optional Brussels & Bruges post-trip extension.