Trip Report - Lyon & Provence - Viking Denning 15 - 21 August 2023

[SFSing]

On 9/11/2023 at 3:59 AM, pontac said:

Day 5 - Saturday 19 August – Tournon

 

09:00 was the included excursion for a ride on the Tournon Steam Train. This is a heritage railway with a one metre gauge. 

 

I’d been tempted by the optional Vineyard Hike, but decided it was too strenuous for my current health after viewing Viking’s “Beyond the Brochure,” video featuring Jean Newman Glock.

 

 

 

It’s a short coach ride to the railway station and we are there with ample time to spare before the train is due to depart. There is a gift ship and a separate (free) museum and the steam engine itself attracts attention as the crew get the steam up.

 

 

 

Train carriages are open, more like goods wagons with roofs and have wooden benches. There are many groups on the trip. Some have their name on chalkboards, but the carriages that Viking uses have a metal holster that takes Viking’s paddle. Each of the four groups from our boat has their own carriage. Guests from Viking Heimdal that departed Lyon to go to Avignon on the same day we departed Avignon to cruise to Lyon are on the train. Capacity of the train is 500 passengers.

 

 

 

We are given a map of the route and can see where the track crosses the gorge. The best views are from the right side, but our guide asks us to swap sides coming down, so everyone gets view from both sides.

 

 

 

It’s been a dry summer and when the train sets off it is closely followed by a diesel locomotive pulling a water bowser to extinguish any trackside fires that sparks from the steam engine might cause. We are told that in flood the River Doux sometime reaches the height of the track, but on our August trip the river consists of pools separated by dry stony river bed a long way below.

 

 

 

After 35 minutes the train stopped and we can get out. Many rushed to the turntable where the de-coupled engine reverses onto and is turned so it is ready to pull the train back down. We swapped sides in the carriage as the train headed back down reaching the terminus in 26 minutes.

 

 

 

Delling departed Tournon shortly after we left so the coaches took us up-river to Andance where Delling is waiting for us to embark for lunch before setting off again. During the afternoon the wheelhouse is open for visits and there are French pastries available in the lounge and a demonstration of how to make Chocolate Fondant.

 

 

 

We enjoy a relaxing afternoon cruising and pass vineyards of Cote Rotie.

 

The boat is scheduled to moor at Vienne 16:45 for an included walking tour of this historic town, but it is delayed and arrived after dinner so the Vienne excursion is cancelled.

Did you get to bring water bottle on the trips or did Viking provide water bottles.  I am deciding whether I should bring my personal one from home. 

[Canal archive]

We did this train journey with Scenic a few years ago during a very very hot summer and a local holiday, I’ve never seen so many naked people in one day it seemed as if the total area was populated by naturists. Along the river not on the train I thought I should add!

Edited April 5 by Canal archive

[pontac]

15 hours ago, SFSing said:

Did you get to bring water bottle on the trips or did Viking provide water bottles.  I am deciding whether I should bring my personal one from home. 

 

Viking have a crew member at the ship's exit handing out bottles of water to people going on excursions. That's on all cruises, even the one I got back from today where it was cold and most of the time it rained in the morning when excursions departed.

 

I think you'll have enough to pack without adding a water flask but should you do so you can refill it from the bottled water in your cabin or the fountains next to coffee machines. But the bottles handed out when you leave the boat should suffice and you can ask for more than one should you feel the need.

[SFSing]

Thanks for the reply. On American Queen Steamboat, they distributed metal thermal bottles to be used in the rooms and tours. 

[pontac]

6 minutes ago, SFSing said:

Thanks for the reply. On American Queen Steamboat, they distributed metal thermal bottles to be used in the rooms and tours. 

 

Scenic have metal bottle in their cabins which you can fill with water. I don't know if they become yours to take when the cruise is over or whether you're supposed to leave them. 

 

 Viking  give out commercial sealed disposable plastic water bottles for excursions. There's sealed glass bottles in the room filled with drinking water which are replaced. There is a fridge in cabins in which you can keep drinks cool, and an ice-machine in corridors. Also an ice bucket in the cabins.

 

We've never taken water on excursions.

[lackcreativity]

I am so glad this thread resurfaced, as we are taking this cruise in June. I am really looking forward to it, especially since we are traveling with friends to celebrate their 45 wedding anniversary. It was supposed to be for their 40th, but then Covid and other things intervened.

 

For the first (and likely only) time, we will be enjoying the luxury version of Viking travel. Our cruise from last year was overbooked, so we accepted a very generous offer to Move Over to a future sailing. One of the perks was an upgrade to the Explorer's Suite for both couples! Future cruises will be back in our budget-luxury category, so this one should be extra special.

[KaeCoe]

Thank you for your review. I'm taking a river cruise this fall through the region. Question please: were there any opportunities to visit universities or libraries on your journey? I find these to be very interesting. I wonder if I could arrange - through Viking - for a local guide who could provide transportation and tours of educational sites? Does anyone have experience with this? 

[pontac]

None were on the included or optional tours.

 

I suggest you do your own research for universities and libraries in towns where you spend all day, I should imagine you'll find some in Lyon and probably Avignon. Then email them to ask if they'll take visitors and if so can recommend a local travel company. If in those cities you can probably walk to them - use Google Maps - so you may be bale to do it on your own.

 

Arrival times at ports on river cruises can not be precise; so much depends on the day on time spent negotiating locks, other river traffic, water levels and so on. As you'll have read on my trip report, we arrived later than planned at Vienne and the included excursion was not possible.

 

So you don't want to tie yourself down to pick-up and drop-off times in advance unless the boat over-nights at a place and remains there the following day.

 

You don't mention what direction you'll be travelling; if you're going Lyon to Avignon direction times will be different from those I had. Also the report I gave was for a 2023 cruise: timings, ports of call and excursions may be different in 2024.

 

I recall included visits to really impressive libraries at Coimbra University (Portugal) one the Lisbon - Porto Douro cruise, and Melk Abbey (Austria) on the Grand European Tour.

 

You can visit Heidelberg University (Germany) on Rhine cruises that have excursions to Heidelberg.

 

Enjoy the cruise, and the wine.....

Edited April 7 by pontac

[KaeCoe]

Just now, KaeCoe said:

 

Your information is very helpful. Thank you. I do have an excursion booked for Heidelberg University - a tour and lunch with students. I would like to reach out to other passengers on my cruise to ask if others are interested in visiting libraries and universities or colleges, unique manufacturers, agriculture research sites (other than wineries). 

I am new to this site. Thank you. 

 

[pontac]

17 minutes ago, KaeCoe said:

I would like to reach out to other passengers on my cruise to ask if others are interested in visiting libraries and universities or colleges, unique manufacturers, agriculture research sites (other than wineries). 

 

Welcome to the site,

we don't bite

so ask any questions you like.

 

The way to find other cruisers is to post in Roll Calls, but be aware that there are few people on the boat (max capacity 190 guests thus at most 95 couples but there's likely to be some singles). So the chances of one of those guests reading this site AND having your interests are not good but nothing ventured.........

 

Here's the roll call for this cruise