Rhine River Map to purchase

[canamup]

Cruising Viking from Amsterdam to Basel in August 2022.  Can anyone suggest a good detailed map to buy that we could follow as we cruise?  

[Fouremco]

Have you considered using Google maps? Not only can you follow along, but you can vary the scale, have a 3D perspective, click on points of interest for further information, and have far more detail at your finger tips than you could with a paper map.

[pontac]

Viking used to give out a full colour 145 page paperback titled The Rhine and its Tributaries which had all the info including a kilometre by kilometre listing of where you are, (there are kilometre markers on the river side). That's no help to you as they stopped handing them out, but I believe the gift shop has river maps.

 

When you do the scenic sailing along the middle Rhine where all the castles are, you'll be given a colour map with the castles marked - with their photo so there's no doubt what you are looking at. The CD will also be giving a running commentary, so you won't miss the Lorelie rock and statue.

 

Also look in the onboard library as there are guides to the sights along the river you can borrow. 

 

(we did Viking Rhine Getaway from Basel to Amsterdam last week of April this year. Yu might want to read my review-

Viking Tialfi - Rhine Getaway

 

[notamermaid]

Google maps is a great tool, I agree. The problem with the itinerary Amsterdam to Basel is that Amsterdam is not on the Rhine, so in the standard book realm this is difficult to find. The river cruise companies have the best details for that it seems, better than a bookshop. The standard edition here in Germany for tourists for the most scenic section is this folded map: https://www.rahmel-verlag.de/de/produkte/produkte_details.php?prod_id=42

, which you may be able to purchase online or in a souvenir shop in Cologne for example.

 

But the maps I have seen posted by past cruisers of what they have been handed out for the Rhine Gorge sailing look very nice.

 

Have a great cruise.

 

notamermaid

 

 

 

[Second seating]

On our recent cruise Uniworld gave us a black and white map of the Rhine, with the castles marked on our recent cruise. I might be able to find it and scan it.

 

Second seating

[YoungDubFan]

When I did this itinerary on Avalon years ago, we were able to purchase wonderful colorful maps with the castles & km marked on it from Avalon on board. Don’t know if they still sell but I’ve used it often since.

[CILCIANRQTS]

Viking used to have a wonderful castle map and commentary available for sale onboard.  On our trip a few weeks ago, all we got was a poor quality photocopy of a map that just identified the castles.

[notamermaid]

6 hours ago, CILCIANRQTS said:

On our trip a few weeks ago, all we got was a poor quality photocopy of a map that just identified the castles.

Disappointing. For the price of your river cruise, Viking should do better. No problem buying the map I linked to above as a bulk order and offer them on board in the shop. Or getting good maps from the regional tourist board.

 

No, this tourism employee is not satisfied with Viking...

 

Forgot to mention yesterday that the publishers also has a Rhine map available that covers (almost) the full length, Lake Constance to Rotterdam: https://www.rahmel-verlag.de/de/produkte/produkte_details.php?prod_id=43

 

notamermaid

 

Edited June 26, 2022 by notamermaid
added link

[3Shelaghs]

Sounds like a great item to have in hand each day. Maybe some who enjoys detailing all sites etc could post online. Maybe in blog format? A few months prior to my visit  I would read one or two books about life or life events in the area. It made my experiences pop with colour and understanding.

[TMLAalum]

IDK if river cruise cabin walls are magnetic, but on our ocean cruises i mount maps of our itinerary and follow along the route as we sail!

 

[pontac]

16 hours ago, notamermaid said:

Disappointing. For the price of your river cruise, Viking should do better. No problem buying the map I linked to above as a bulk order and offer them on board in the shop. Or getting good maps from the regional tourist board.

 

No, this tourism employee is not satisfied with Viking...

 

As I posted above, on our trip in last week of April  passengers were given a full colour map of the Middle Rhine with km markers and photo's of castles. As this map is printed with Viking's logo, and we also  got a similar  (or the same?) map when we first cruised the middle Rhine 10 years ago, I'd say it's standard Viking policy. 

[notamermaid]

38 minutes ago, pontac said:

As this map is printed with Viking's logo, and we also  got a similar  (or the same?) map when we first cruised the middle Rhine 10 years ago, I'd say it's standard Viking policy. 

Now that looks good. Okay, I take my comment back, mostly. Perhaps they had run out of them for CILCIANRQTS' sailing.

 

Thanks for posting.

 

notamermaid

 

[pontac]

The photo's of the castles on the map are useful afterwards when looking at  photo's one has taken.

[YoungDubFan]

These are the maps we were able to purchase from Avalon for our Rhine cruise all the way back in 2012. They were great to use when cruising and for afterwards to look at pics of the castles to try to remember which pic when with which castle. The shorter map had maps of the various city centers on the back side. It’s too bad if you are not being offered a map or a chance to purchase on board. 

[Canal archive]

Have just realised why these type of maps are now few and far between it’s the perceived thought that nobody wants them because of course ‘everyone’ prefers digital. No help I know but so annoying.

[notamermaid]

2 hours ago, YoungDubFan said:

These are the maps we were able to purchase from Avalon for our Rhine cruise all the way back in 2012.

Thank you for the photos, exactly the maps I linked. I love those fan-folding maps (a "Leporello" in German), they are great!

 

33 minutes ago, Canal archive said:

nobody wants them because of course ‘everyone’ prefers digital

I know we both do not. At least not all the time. The annoyance I feel at work sometimes when the young ones do the marketing via facebook etc. I join in with the old folks who still use atlases... Nothing beats the feel of a good map in paper format when you are standing in a pedestrian precinct looking for the way.

 

A mixed approach works bets I find. Like the dailies on the smartphone if you like that and the map in the reception shop for purchase.

 

notamermaid

 

[Host Jazzbeau]

3 hours ago, notamermaid said:

Thank you for the photos, exactly the maps I linked. I love those fan-folding maps (a "Leporello" in German), they are great!

 

I know we both do not. At least not all the time. The annoyance I feel at work sometimes when the young ones do the marketing via facebook etc. I join in with the old folks who still use atlases... Nothing beats the feel of a good map in paper format when you are standing in a pedestrian precinct looking for the way.

 

A mixed approach works bets I find. Like the dailies on the smartphone if you like that and the map in the reception shop for purchase.

 

notamermaid

I will be really steamed if I visit a Tourist Information office and they tell me to download the city map!  [But if they want to hand out iPads with the map loaded, I guess I could learn to cope! 🤣]

[Daisi]

3 hours ago, notamermaid said:

Thank you for the photos, exactly the maps I linked. I love those fan-folding maps (a "Leporello" in German), they are great!

 

I know we both do not. At least not all the time. The annoyance I feel at work sometimes when the young ones do the marketing via facebook etc. I join in with the old folks who still use atlases... Nothing beats the feel of a good map in paper format when you are standing in a pedestrian precinct looking for the way.

 

A mixed approach works bets I find. Like the dailies on the smartphone if you like that and the map in the reception shop for purchase.

 

notamermaid

 

 I guess I'm one of the "digital" ones, I haven't used a map for years. We do a lot of driving on our holidays, it's so much nicer to be able to actually see the scenery rather than having my head buried in a map trying to make sure we get the right turning, or if a road is closed. Of course, we don't travel highways, so it's not like saying take this exit or that, we are looking for a small street sign hidden in a tree. Loved using it in Amsterdam an Einkhuisen as well, just pinned where we had to end up, and wandered at our will. So much easier than trying to find out where you are.

 

For the dailies, I wonder how many end up in the garbage? I don't mind them on my phone, and I hear that city guides, maps etc will all be available in the app that won't require wifi, so anyone can use it. I also hear that there is a place to mark where you take pictures, so it's easier to know what was what when you get home. You can print out anything you wish once you get home as a memory, or just delete it off your phone. I like that idea.

 

[Canal archive]

All those hours I spent teaching Guides and Scouts how to map read!

[Fouremco]

1 hour ago, Daisi said:

 I guess I'm one of the "digital" ones, I haven't used a map for years. We do a lot of driving on our holidays, it's so much nicer to be able to actually see the scenery rather than having my head buried in a map trying to make sure we get the right turning, or if a road is closed. Of course, we don't travel highways, so it's not like saying take this exit or that, we are looking for a small street sign hidden in a tree. Loved using it in Amsterdam an Einkhuisen as well, just pinned where we had to end up, and wandered at our will. So much easier than trying to find out where you are.

 

For the dailies, I wonder how many end up in the garbage? I don't mind them on my phone, and I hear that city guides, maps etc will all be available in the app that won't require wifi, so anyone can use it. I also hear that there is a place to mark where you take pictures, so it's easier to know what was what when you get home. You can print out anything you wish once you get home as a memory, or just delete it off your phone. I like that idea.

 

Me too, and I'm in my mid-70's, so not one of the "young ones". 😇

 

I could spend hours poring over a topo map or a nautical chart and have done so since my mid-teens. Whether for pleasure (hiking, sea kayaking, boating, wilderness camping, geocaching, etc.) or as a search and rescue team member, maps, charts and a trusty compass have been part of my life. 

 

But as companies like Garmin started taking advantage of public access to GPS to produce handheld mapping devices in the 1990's that not only showed you a map of the area but where you were located on the map (and a whole bunch more information), I was an early convert. And with Google Maps leading the way, smart phones and tablets have put this technology in just about everyone's hands. Over time, the various devices, whether for exploring the wilderness, for navigating a river, or for getting directions to drive to grandma's, have become ubiquitous.

 

Would I like one of the maps such as the one shown by @YoungDubFan? You betcha, it would be a great souvenir in addition to being of use during the cruise. But if something like that is no longer available, I'll be quite content to use my iPad to follow along.

[Canal archive]

To think the so many times in guided us around the States using that little map provided by the hire car company.

[notamermaid]

13 hours ago, Fouremco said:

But as companies like Garmin started taking advantage of public access to GPS to produce handheld mapping devices in the 1990's that not only showed you a map of the area but where you were located on the map (and a whole bunch more information), I was an early convert.

I can imagine that it must have been amazing professionally to use all the new options. I have also been using satnavs on land trips for many years, have used google maps on holiday but you will not see me going to England without an AA atlas. I rely on both methods keeping me going or arriving at my destination.

 

15 hours ago, Daisi said:

For the dailies, I wonder how many end up in the garbage?

Funny you should mention that, I looked at one of the dailies from my river cruise in 2013 day before yesterday. I suppose it is the way to go forward that people can opt out of all the paper printing. Me, I keep dailies and I want the company to print them for me!

 

But back to the maps. The question was for purchase but I cannot think of additional ones. I had mentioned free tourist maps from organisations, here is one on the castles in the Upper Rhine valley: https://www.upperrhinevalley.com/sites/default/files/public/content/2723/urv_schloesser_und_burgen_en_web.pdf

The one on the Middle Rhine valley is currently unavailable and will be back online in a few weeks time (I phoned the tourist organisation).

 

notamermaid

 

 

 

[notamermaid]

On 6/29/2022 at 3:23 PM, notamermaid said:

The one on the Middle Rhine valley is currently unavailable and will be back online in a few weeks time (I phoned the tourist organisation).

The revised booklet is online: http://resc.deskline.net/documents/1/RPT/53feace2-f71c-46d2-8484-d32aa211649e/file.pdf

 

notamermaid

 

[CPT Trips]

On 6/28/2022 at 12:34 PM, Canal archive said:

Have just realised why these type of maps are now few and far between it’s the perceived thought that nobody wants them because of course ‘everyone’ prefers digital. No help I know but so annoying.

 There is an App for that . . . but, based on just a cursory look, it’s not the best.

 

 

On 6/28/2022 at 1:20 PM, notamermaid said:

Nothing beats the feel of a good map in paper format when you are standing in a pedestrian precinct looking for the way.

Puzzling over a real map in public often leads to getting assistance in finding the way.

 

Paper maps and digital (GPS) compliment each other very well. I find a paper roadmap or atlas far superior to digital for route planning. For a multi stop road trip,  a paper map and some pins allows me to sequence my itinerary rather quickly and easily. GPS is far superior for route execution. Get from point to point while enjoying the scenery rather than having a nose stuck in a map.

[Canal archive]

If you have time and the inclination, and here is the archivist in me, go on one of the ship finder websites find a ship on the river your interested in and follow it as in not the ship but the river, from this you can pick up points of interest. I know long winded but that’s how research works.