MOTY

We went on our first river cruise last month (ages 32 and 38) and we had a fantastic time. We met a few other 30- and 40-somethings on the ship and enjoyed going on the excursions with them, and also drinking with them in the lounge after dinner. Many of the "older" guests had their own fun there, too! :D

We sailed with AmaWaterways, and they gave us options of what kind of pace we wanted on our tours. One for "gentle walkers" and another more fast-paced tour. Either one would have been fine. If we had gone on the gentle walkers option, we would have been able to take more pictures. They also had hiking and biking tours, but most of them had to be canceled because of snow/ice on the trails in early December.

Let me know if you have more questions, I'm happy to help! I absolutely loved it!

Hello again everyone, I am back from my Rhine River cruise and wanted to thank you again for your suggestions! My favorite by far was the cathedral in Cologne, closely followed by the Heidelberg castle. I'll post more details on the ship/etc in another thread.

And xmaser - re: the security guards with semi-automatic weapons still caught me off guard, even though I knew to expect them! I found it ... a little odd ... to see them in real life!

Thanks everyone! These are great tips.

Notamermaid and xmaser: The places we'll be stopping are Basel, Breisach, Strasbourg, Speyer, Rüdesheim, Koblenz, Cologne, and Amsterdam.

Any recommendations for must-sees/must-buys at the Christmas markets on the Rhine River? I'm trying to get an idea of food, souvenirs, etc., that I don't want to miss while I'm there this December.