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If there is another forum and I havent found it, please let me know.

 

My mother (late 50s) and I (late 20s) are completing our second Viking cruise this October 27th for Cities of Light Paris-Prague (last was Rhine Getaway Oct 2015).

 

We are very excited and all booked. If you have any advice for this tour, please let me know!

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I think you've found it. I know there is one other person taking that same cruise that starts in August. I'm doing the same route but going on Avalon. I might be able to answer questions about things in Paris and Prague. I've talked about my planning in my blog listed in my signature.

 

Check out the roll calls in case there's one for your sailing:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2359502

Edited by Rebel54
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If there is another forum and I havent found it, please let me know.

 

My mother (late 50s) and I (late 20s) are completing our second Viking cruise this October 27th for Cities of Light Paris-Prague (last was Rhine Getaway Oct 2015).

 

We are very excited and all booked. If you have any advice for this tour, please let me know!

 

If you're a fan of Roman history, I would highly recommend the Landesmuseum in Trier if you have any free time. It's a wonderful museum, just a few minutes walk from the Constantine basilica. Lots of Roman artifacts including the fabulous hoard of over 2,500 gold coins found in the 1990s.

 

FuelScience

Edited by FuelScience
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If there is another forum and I havent found it, please let me know.

 

My mother (late 50s) and I (late 20s) are completing our second Viking cruise this October 27th for Cities of Light Paris-Prague (last was Rhine Getaway Oct 2015).

 

We are very excited and all booked. If you have any advice for this tour, please let me know!

 

We sailed Odin on this tour two years ago and enjoyed it very much (seeing General Patton's grave was special).

 

The usual advice applies for Paris. If you wish to get to the top of the Eiffel Tower you will need to purchase your tickets in advance on their web site. A Museum pass is a very good idea if your plans include visits to the Louvre and/or Arc De Triumph etc. Their web site will give you locations of kiosks (which will be much less crowded than the museums) where you can purchase the pass which allows expedited access.

 

Prague is a very walkable city. There is an orientation tour included in your trip that will help you get your bearings and then you can enjoy the City!

 

Enjoy!

Edited by 2onboardagain
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Hello coloradonative4life,

 

as you will know the cruise portion of the "Cities of Lights" itinerary starts in Trier. In Paris I find the Louvre is a must, the Eiffel Tour is great to see even if you cannot get on it. The Musée d'Orsay is supposed to be brilliant, but I would try to get into your schedule seeing the Notre Dame. The Dome des Invalides is a somewhat "hidden gem" of French history: http://www.musee-armee.fr/en/english-version.html

 

The Luxembourg tour has been enjoyed by many past cruisers according to comments here on CC.

 

Unfortunately the coach ride from Paris to Trier is a little long, with the Luxembourg stretch I believe it is almost a full day. Past cruisers can give you more details. It is possible to take a fast train, but that would mean missing the tour along the way.

 

Trier is great for the Roman antiquities and I second FuelScience's recommendation. You can read a little about the Moselle here: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2353480

 

After Koblenz - I recommend the cable car ride up onto Ehrenbreitstein - you will see the UNESCO world heritage site with the many castles along the Rhine river banks high on the hills. Get ready to take lots of photos. :)

 

At Mainz you enter the Main river. There are some great small and large town along the Main. Those doing the Amsterdam to Budapest itineraries can give you some information on those places, as well.

 

From Nuremberg to Prague you will travel by coach again. Past cruisers have asked about transfers, etc. Again, you can find some info on that from past cruisers, also on the river cruise port pages.

 

The Viking ravel companion, accessible online, is very detailed, a nice read: http://travelcompanions.vikingcruisesdigital.com/Rhine_Guide/fc.html

 

Enjoy your cruise.

 

notamermaid

Edited by notamermaid
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  • 2 weeks later...

I am also following this thread as we will take this itinerary, just the reverse, on AMA next June.

 

Rebel, I am following your blog posts, particularly those on Paris and Prague. I've already contacted Taste if Prague about a food tour:). We will also be at the Prague Intercontinental so look forward to your comments about that hotel post your stay there.

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Roll Calls for these cruises are often only visit by a few folks. I have started one for ALL of the "Cities of Light" cruises. Click on my cruise link below and join in. Hopefully some of the links and discussions with others over the next few months will help.

 

Gary

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I am also following this thread as we will take this itinerary, just the reverse, on AMA next June.

 

Rebel, I am following your blog posts, particularly those on Paris and Prague. I've already contacted Taste if Prague about a food tour:). We will also be at the Prague Intercontinental so look forward to your comments about that hotel post your stay there.

 

Awesome! I'm glad you checked them out. That is one of the tours I'm most excited for. That and the photography tour. Keep following ... I will be sharing more as I have it.

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We choose to skip the Louvre and see d'Orsay instead. Our reason was that in order to see the highlights of the Louvre collection we would need to rush from place to place and fight the mobs. And we really like Impressionism and the artists in the d'Orsay collection. Add to that it's a nice stroll from their to Notre Dame.

 

Trier also has both a Roman coliseum and baths to wander through. Mainz has an interesting Roman Ship Museum . . . walked right into a river side Biergarten on the way back to the ship. We were "forced" to stop in. (Beer lovers, check this site and look up places you will visit - http://www.ottosrambles.co.uk)

Edited by CPT Trips
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Hello CPT Trips,

 

love the website you have linked to! It even has the Brauwiesen in Lahnstein in it. I shall copy it into the Rhine thread and add a few comments.

 

Mainz I have heard has a lovely beer garden at the river bank. I also like the setting of the Koblenz beer garden at Deutsches Eck, but the food was not too good last year, several people have told me. I tend to just have something to drink in the Irish Pub when I am in Koblenz in the evening (which is rare). I love the café Baumann on Löhrstrasse in Koblenz.

 

When in Koblenz I recommend going to the Moselle embankment. Through a small gateway you go up the steps onto a street. Directly next to there is the entrance to the Irish Pub. You can also when you turn right get onto Baldunbrücke, the bridge is a great place for taking a photo of the river cruise ships that dock there. Viking docks on the Rhine.

 

I saw the Impressionists collection when it was still housed in the Jeu de Paume building. Would be great to see the d'Orsay some time soon.

 

notamermaid

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Get it, CPT Trips. We Germans love Irish Pubs, and English ones as well. In that order.

 

And the Irish Pub in Koblenz was voted one of the ten best in the world outside of Ireland. By the Irish. Quite an achievement.

 

Beer gardens of course are for beer, beer and beer. This year will see beer gardens showing the European cup football games. Lots of drinking and cheering.

 

Remember, do not cheer for the opposing team when Germany is playing. Tolerant happy people in Germany but that is a no do in a beer garden... Under no circumstances ally with the Dutch in Germany. ;)

 

When in France while the French are playing of course cheer for the French in public.

 

The OP will not be in Europe at the time of the games, but perhaps someone else will be glad for my advice. :D

 

notamermaid

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Eiffel Tower tickets can be purchased on-line (they become available about 90 days ahead of time and tend to sell out fairly quickly) at

http://www.toureiffel.paris/preparing-your-visit/buying-your-tickets.html

 

My experience with this was that they sold out in nano-seconds. Literally. I was poised to click at the second, and it said there was only 1 ticket left [we needed 2 :(]. So I booked with Fat Tire Tours, and our experience was that it was worth the extra cost to get a guided tour.

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My experience with this was that they sold out in nano-seconds. Literally. I was poised to click at the second, and it said there was only 1 ticket left [we needed 2 :(]. So I booked with Fat Tire Tours, and our experience was that it was worth the extra cost to get a guided tour.

 

I know what you mean. I timed my purchase for exactly 90 days before we needed the tickets and after seeing what was available I had to contact another couple that we were traveling with to coordinate our purchase and in just under an hour all of the tickets for that day disappeared but 3 days later most of them "miraculously" re-appeared so we did get what we wanted but they do seem to play games. Maybe the local tour guides "snatch" them up??? Great to hear that your alternative experience was positive and thanks for sharing that info.

Edited by 2onboardagain
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Get it, CPT Trips. We Germans love Irish Pubs, and English ones as well. In that order.

 

And the Irish Pub in Koblenz was voted one of the ten best in the world outside of Ireland. By the Irish. Quite an achievement.

 

Beer gardens of course are for beer, beer and beer. This year will see beer gardens showing the European cup football games. Lots of drinking and cheering.

 

Remember, do not cheer for the opposing team when Germany is playing. Tolerant happy people in Germany but that is a no do in a beer garden... Under no circumstances ally with the Dutch in Germany. ;)

 

When in France while the French are playing of course cheer for the French in public.

 

The OP will not be in Europe at the time of the games, but perhaps someone else will be glad for my advice. :D

 

notamermaid

 

Avoid Russia . . .

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My experience with this was that they sold out in nano-seconds. Literally. I was poised to click at the second, and it said there was only 1 ticket left [we needed 2 :(]. So I booked with Fat Tire Tours, and our experience was that it was worth the extra cost to get a guided tour.

 

You rewarded the bots. :eek:

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Hello CPT Trips,

 

Avoid Russia . . .

 

And British tourists after an inch of a glass of alcohol. Referring of course to recent around-footballing events in France. Shook my head in disbelief at the disturbing footage from Marseilles. I do hope Germans fans behave themselves better in Lille today.

 

Back on topic:

 

I have seen that Viking stops in Winningen. Winningen is a delightful little place with a great wine tradition. On top of that quite literally it has a small airport called Flugplatz Winningen on the plateau above the town. Nice landscape and views from up there. You can take a taxi there, it is only six minutes. Walking is very strenuous, I have done it.

 

Winningen is the birthplace of August Horch, the famous engineer who founded the car company Horch and later Audi! Audi is latin for Horch, both meaning "listen!".

 

The museum in Winningen has got a small exhibition on Horch.

 

http://www.winningen.com/en/

 

coloradonative4life, it seems though, that you will arrive too late to enjoy the town in daylight in October. I fear the ideas mentioned on the Viking website are difficult to put into practice as cafés are not open after dinner. Those will be wine taverns and pubs. Still it is a nice town to walk through.

 

notamermaid

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Yeah, I could have punished them and refused to visit the Eiffel Tower. That would show them.

 

The tour was my backup plan. Fortunately I got tickets on-line and the driver got us from the airport to the ship in time to grab a bite to eat, get directions, and walk to the tower.

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  • 2 months later...
Hello CPT Trips,

 

 

 

And British tourists after an inch of a glass of alcohol. Referring of course to recent around-footballing events in France. Shook my head in disbelief at the disturbing footage from Marseilles. I do hope Germans fans behave themselves better in Lille today.

 

Back on topic:

 

I have seen that Viking stops in Winningen. Winningen is a delightful little place with a great wine tradition. On top of that quite literally it has a small airport called Flugplatz Winningen on the plateau above the town. Nice landscape and views from up there. You can take a taxi there, it is only six minutes. Walking is very strenuous, I have done it.

 

Winningen is the birthplace of August Horch, the famous engineer who founded the car company Horch and later Audi! Audi is latin for Horch, both meaning "listen!".

 

The museum in Winningen has got a small exhibition on Horch.

 

http://www.winningen.com/en/

 

coloradonative4life, it seems though, that you will arrive too late to enjoy the town in daylight in October. I fear the ideas mentioned on the Viking website are difficult to put into practice as cafés are not open after dinner. Those will be wine taverns and pubs. Still it is a nice town to walk through.

 

notamermaid

 

I am sorry I am so late to see this advice, notamermaid.

 

Thank you for sharing. I have seen you post on many a boards that I follow. Are you currently living in Germany? You have such good advice.

 

I am asking for specific reasons, but don't mean to impose on your knowledge. :)

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Hello coloradonativefor4life,

 

Thank you. :) I am happy to share.

 

I was born and bred in Germany but have lived elsewhere a bit. I am an avid traveller in Europe but generally now just hop over the channel to Britain when time allows. My place info to the right says Rhine and that is where I live, close by the river somewhere North of Mainz. That is why I know quite a few places in the Rhine and Moselle area. Sometimes, I admit, I tap on other locals' knowledge and share it with the people on cruise critic.

 

Just ask away in any appropriate thread, I normally look at all the threads that deal with Germany and the Rhine and Moselle, if I have not replied within a few days I have missed your post. I have seen others address a very specific topic in a separate thread, you will reach me with that, I am sure. I am convinced that is o.k. with our host.

 

notamermaid

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Winningen is the birthplace of August Horch, the famous engineer who founded the car company Horch and later Audi! Audi is latin for Horch, both meaning "listen!".

 

And as my German mechanic taught me, Audi is a Latin word so it pronounced AW-dee. Austria is a German word and so is pronounced OW-stria. Most Americans get both wrong :)

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