Rhine Getaway Basel to Amsterdam

Disembark for a guided tour of Strasbourg, a city that beautifully blends French and German cultures. Visit the European Parliament and the city's famed cathedral. Enjoy some free time to explore the city's resplendent churches, medieval covered bridges, verdant parks, and handsome art nouveau and modernist architecture. You may also choose to join an optional excursion into Alsatian wine country for a winery tour and tasting, or spend the day exploring culinary Strasbourg with another optional excursion. Return to your ship for dinner and departure.

After breakfast, disembark for a tour of Heidelberg, home to Germany's oldest university. Visit the beautiful sandstone ruins of the imposing Heidelberg Castle and enjoy the scenery of the Neckar River Valley and the city's red rooftops. Afterward, take a walking tour through Old Town to Heidelberg's renowned gates. Return to your ship for lunch and afternoon cruising. Arrive in Rüdesheim in the early evening and spend free time in the pedestrian-only Drosselgasse, sampling locally produced wine at one of the restaurants or wine bars. Dine on board your ship or continue exploring the town. You may also choose to experience one of our optional dinners on shore tonight. We remain docked overnight.

This morning, sail along the most scenic stretch of the Rhine, where turreted castles and fortresses overlook the river from their hilltop posts. Arrive in Koblenz this afternoon and disembark for a tour of the 700-year-old Marksburg Castle. You may also join an optional excursion for a lively and informative tour of Ehrenbreitstein Fortress, or choose to journey into Moselle wine country on another optional excursion, stopping for a tour and tasting at a local winery. Return to your ship for lunch. Later, enjoy some time in this charming town at the confluence of the Moselle and Rhine Rivers.

Begin your day with a morning tour of Cologne, Germany's fourth-largest city. Stroll through Old Town past St. Martin's Church and visit the Dom, Germany's largest cathedral and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Spend your free time enjoying Cologne's atmospheric waterfront, or perhaps join an optional excursion on which you ascend to the Dom's roof for up-close views of the cathedral's architecture and bird's-eye vistas of Cologne. Afterward, return on board for dinner. Alternatively, you may set off on an optional excursion to explore Cologne's spirited beer culture, sampling Kölsch, a light, crisp beer brewed only in Cologne, and enjoying a brauhaus dinner. After, return to your ship for a late-evening departure.

We sail along the Rhine during the morning hours, offering you a chance to sample Dutch cheeses and jenever, a distilled juniper liquor, and enjoy a presentation on the Dutch Golden Age. In the afternoon, your ship arrives in Kinderdijk, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Disembark for a tour of this ingenious network of windmills and other flood management devices. Learn why the windmills were built and see how they work, plus enter a working windmill for a tour of its mechanisms and living quarters. Board your ship for departure and dinner. We arrive in Amsterdam around midnight.