Viking Rhine Amsterdam to Basal excursions 7/24

[Ellen495]

Hi,

We are going on our first river cruise with our 2 daughters and their spouses. (We are 64 and they are 35 and 25). When I purchased the cruises, I was told one excursion per port was complimentary. That was misleading as it's a specific excursion (mostly walking tours) as the rest cost. But oh well.

 

So my question is what excursions are really not to miss and what ports can be done "on our  own?" We are paying for everything, so the excursions for 6 people will be a lot.

 

Here is the itinerary. I read a little on an old thread - perhaps Dine in Rudesheim and Mediaeval Village of Colmar are great. We do like wine tasting - so perhaps do that in Strasbourg, France. We're in good shape - but the girls don't like bikes. Everyone likes hiking. 

 

I would appreciate any thoughts.

Cheers,

Ellen

[sharkster77]

In 2019 we did 2 optionals:   Bruhl palaces while in Cologne, and the Medieval Colmar tour.  Both were excellent.  Those who did the Colmar WWII tour raved about that one.  None of the others appealed to us.  What we enjoyed very much was staying in Strasbourg after the walking tour, having an inexpensive lunch at a bakery, and strolling the streets while munching on macarons, looking at store windows.  We grabbed the shuttle back to the ship at 2:30.  It all felt very "French".

 

Marksburg Castle was one of our included tours--I believe it is optional for you--we enjoyed that as well.  We also had Heidelberg included instead of Speyer, though our cruise director walked us into Speyer after we got back from Heidelberg.  We had a pleasant one-hour stroll before getting back to the ship for dinner.

[Pushka]

To be honest I don't think Vikings statement is misleading. They offer one free excursion in every port.
 

It seems the GE cruise offers Marksburg castle as an included tour but it's extra on the Rhine currently. Colmar seems to be on everyone's wish list.  Dine in Rudesheim gets very mixed reviews and we are simply going to walk to a nearby restaurant and order what we like. Strasburg I'm very much looking forward to. 

[sharkster77]

1 hour ago, Pushka said:

To be honest I don't think Vikings statement is misleading. They offer one free excursion in every port.
 

It seems the GE cruise offers Marksburg castle as an included tour but it's extra on the Rhine currently. Colmar seems to be on everyone's wish list.  Dine in Rudesheim gets very mixed reviews and we are simply going to walk to a nearby restaurant and order what we like. Strasburg I'm very much looking forward to. 

Our 2019 Rhine Getaway had a different itinerary than it has today.  Yes, Marksburg and Heidelberg went from included to optional, replaced with Koblenz and Speyer.  We skipped the Rudesheim dinner because we heard it included a lot of drinking games, which is not our thing.  Additionally, the music was supposedly not traditional German music (unless Sweet Caroline, for example, is German trad music!)  Some on our cruise simply walked into Rudesheim and were able to eat at the same restaurant, without paying for the antics of the excursion.

[Next]

Did the Colmar WWII tour allow anytime in the Colmar old town?

[sharkster77]

7 hours ago, Next said:

Did the Colmar WWII tour allow anytime in the Colmar old town?

Others, please correct me if I am wrong, but I believe the Battle of Colmar Pocket took place a ways outside of town, so I do not think Colmar proper would be visited on the WWII tour.

[CPT Trips]

I really enjoyed the Speyer Technical Museum - https://speyer.technik-museum.de/en/

It was an easy walk from where we docked. I had plenty of time to visit the cathedral and wander around the town afterwards. Even time to stop at the Biergarten adjacent to our dock.

 

If you are there between July 11 and 16, you can also take in the BretzelFest - https://www.speyerer-brezelfest.de

[pontac]

I second @CPT Trips suggestion of Speyer Technical Museum. I see Viking offer it as an optional excursion. I don't know how much they charge for it, but it's dead easy to do on ones own, which is what we did earlier this year. \The place is packed with planes cars and train engines, and also has space exhibits, carousels so much. and across form the entrance is a mansion which is part of the museum, and which your museum ticket gets you entry to. The mansion has costumes, children's toys, stuffed animals.

 

What the Viking tour delivers is a human guide, but the exhibits have English language signs and the English language guide book (obtainable at the entrance) has more info. There's so much at the museum it seems too much to take in on one visit; so there's sure to be something to interest everyone in your group.

 

My take on the museum is in Day 3 of the report of the Rhine Mosel cruise I took in April this year.

 

[Next]

For the B to A trip it looks the boat stops in Speyer in morning and then leaves f or Rudesheim once the walking tour gets back. 

 

Is the scenery between Speyer and Rudesheim worth staying on the boat?

 

We were thinking of booking a local guide in Speyer to take us to Heidelberg and then meet the boat in Rudesheim. 

 

Has anyone used Henry C.  He is a local guide from that area.

 

[sharkster77]

16 minutes ago, Next said:

For the B to A trip it looks the boat stops in Speyer in morning and then leaves f or Rudesheim once the walking tour gets back. 

 

Is the scenery between Speyer and Rudesheim worth staying on the boat?

 

We were thinking of booking a local guide in Speyer to take us to Heidelberg and then meet the boat in Rudesheim. 

 

Has anyone used Henry C.  He is a local guide from that area.

 

Is the castle region of the Middle Rhine between Speyer and Rudesheim?  Not sure, but if it is, that is definitely a good reason to stay on the ship.

[Host Jazzbeau]

7 hours ago, sharkster77 said:

Is the castle region of the Middle Rhine between Speyer and Rudesheim?  Not sure, but if it is, that is definitely a good reason to stay on the ship.

No, the castles are on the other side of Rudesheim (heading to Koblenz).

[Ellen495]

This post confused me. There's a  time one should consider staying on the boat?

We booked Medieval  Colmar. We love wine tasting, but not sure if we should book the excursion or just do it on our own (must be places to do this on one's own?) 

Cologne - heard seeing the top of cologne is great - but seems no longer available for purchase as an optional tour (on myviking). Can we do this on our own?

THANKS

Ellen

[Host Jazzbeau]

5 minutes ago, Ellen495 said:

This post confused me. There's a  time one should consider staying on the boat?

OP isn't suggesting staying on the boat in lieu of taking a shore excursion [although people do that too – halfway through a river cruise sometimes you need a break from the constant activity!].  In this case there is a morning shore excursion followed by an afternoon sail.  OP is thinking of taking a private all-day tour in lieu of both.  

 

The caveat would be that this afternoon sail may be one of the few daytime sailings on this route [I haven't checked], and that would be something to consider if you want the cruise to include some cruising – but of course they should be coming up to that all-important stretch from Rudesheim to Koblenz, which will be a daytime sail with the most perfect scenery of all.  If your focus is on visiting the towns and castles, that may be enough sailing to satisfy.

[sharkster77]

4 hours ago, Ellen495 said:

This post confused me. There's a  time one should consider staying on the boat?

We booked Medieval  Colmar. We love wine tasting, but not sure if we should book the excursion or just do it on our own (must be places to do this on one's own?) 

Cologne - heard seeing the top of cologne is great - but seems no longer available for purchase as an optional tour (on myviking). Can we do this on our own?

THANKS

Ellen

Viking does a great Medieval Colmar tour---definitely don't skip it!

 

RE: Cologne, if you aren't doing an optional afternoon tour, you may have time to do the Top of Cologne on your own.  When we cruised, after the morning tour of Cologne, if you had no afternoon tour booked, you could either return to the ship for lunch (and go back by shuttle to Cologne center) or just stay in town, have lunch on your own dime, and spend more time in Cologne.

Edited December 4, 2023 by sharkster77

[Ellen495]

We aren't big lunch people. We wouldn't be likely to waste time eating in town unless there was something in particular that was very  interesting.

Should we book a tour through another company such as viator or just do it ourselves? Not sure if it's something one needs to pay for. Is it easy to get to - the cathedral - or does one Uber around in town? Thanks again.

Ellen

[sharkster77]

2 hours ago, Ellen495 said:

We aren't big lunch people. We wouldn't be likely to waste time eating in town unless there was something in particular that was very  interesting.

Should we book a tour through another company such as viator or just do it ourselves? Not sure if it's something one needs to pay for. Is it easy to get to - the cathedral - or does one Uber around in town? Thanks again.

Ellen

Our walking tour began and ended at the cathedral.  From there you can walk to many sights.  The tower tour is something available to anybody who pays for it---not a special thing exclusive to Viking passengers.  If you return to the ship for lunch, there will be shuttles in the afternoon returning you to city center--no need for an Uber.

 

Because of the pub crawl, we didn't sail from Cologne until 10 PM-ish.  Seeing the cathedral, churches and bridges lit up at night while we sailed away was a highlight

 

@Ellen495, are you new to river cruising, after many ocean cruises?  If so, river cruising is VERY different from what you  may be used to on the ocean.  Booking independent tours is difficult for many reasons--every port already has an included tours, departure times from port are fluid due to river and lock conditions (often you are dropped off at one port, and the ship moves through locks while you are gone, and you reboard the ship at a different port).

Edited December 4, 2023 by sharkster77

[Ellen495]

I've never done a river cruise - and only once ocean (Alaska). We tend to go to one country rather than cruising. 

Okay - so that sounds good - walking tour and then the cathedral. But how do we get back? Will there always be shuttles at all times of day?

 

What's the pub crawl? I assume beer (which I don't drink - only wine). 

 

If you were going to give advice to a brand new river cruiser - Amsterdam to Basal, what would you suggest? Sounds like seeing the churches while sailing you suggest - but is that going to happen for everyone or do we need to be on the ship at a certain time? I get the impression that sometimes you can get off and the ship will sail away - and you will be shuttled back to the ship in another location. So I'm confused.

 

My younger daughter (bringing 2 of them with their spouses) hates group tours. I told her I think we could start on them and always walk away....

[sharkster77]

8 hours ago, Ellen495 said:

I've never done a river cruise - and only once ocean (Alaska). We tend to go to one country rather than cruising. 

Okay - so that sounds good - walking tour and then the cathedral. But how do we get back? Will there always be shuttles at all times of day?

 

What's the pub crawl? I assume beer (which I don't drink - only wine). 

 

If you were going to give advice to a brand new river cruiser - Amsterdam to Basal, what would you suggest? Sounds like seeing the churches while sailing you suggest - but is that going to happen for everyone or do we need to be on the ship at a certain time? I get the impression that sometimes you can get off and the ship will sail away - and you will be shuttled back to the ship in another location. So I'm confused.

 

My younger daughter (bringing 2 of them with their spouses) hates group tours. I told her I think we could start on them and always walk away....

One of the optional excursions is a pub crawl in Cologne to experience drinking the local kolsch beer.  It runs after dinner.  We had no interest and skipped it.

 

If the ship is in port for a while, like Cologne or Strasbourg, for example, they will run shuttles back to the ship at given times.  If you have free time like in the aforementioned cities, you are told to be sure you are on the last shuttle back to the ship (usually late afternoon), or you could be left behind.  

 

A typical day has a morning tour, back for lunch, and then an afternoon tour which may or may not be an included one.  If you don't take the optional tour then you have the ability to wander around in town on your own.  For example we did the included Cologne tour in the AM, went back for lunch, then did the optional tour to the Bruhl palaces in the afternoon.  In Strasbourg we did the included tour, but had no afternoon tour booked (none of the optionals appealed to us) so we stayed in Strasbourg and spent the afternoon wandering around, looking in shop windows, munching on macarons, having a wonderful time.

 

There was one day that we did the optional Colmar tour in the AM, and the included tour of the Black Forest in the PM.  Another day we did Kinderdijk windmills in the AM, with scenic cruising in the afternoon.

 

Ocean cruises have set port arrivals and departures that you can depend on.  Not so on rivers.  Navigating locks can take loads of time queuing up, so why not do this while passengers are on a tour?  If you don't know about "rafting", please ask---that's a whole other thing to explain!!

Edited December 4, 2023 by sharkster77

[Ellen495]

SO helpful. Okay - what's rafting? No clue!

I do love the idea of wandering Strasbourg - very much appeals to me too. So if you wander the town, it will be clear what time to get back to the ship? 

We have Colmar and Black Forest planned - it wasn't too exhausting? 

[sharkster77]

2 hours ago, Ellen495 said:

SO helpful. Okay - what's rafting? No clue!

I do love the idea of wandering Strasbourg - very much appeals to me too. So if you wander the town, it will be clear what time to get back to the ship? 

We have Colmar and Black Forest planned - it wasn't too exhausting? 

Rafting is when river ships are docked side by side, with only inches between them.  So someone who may have a balcony could look out their window and see into a cabin in the adjacent ship--better make sure you're decent!  When ships are rafted, if your ship is on the inside, you may have to go either across the upper deck of the other ships or through their lobbies to get to yours.  There just isn't enough docking space in many ports for all the river cruise traffic.

 

It is abundantly clear what times the shuttles to the ship run---the rendezvous point will be pointed out at the end of the walking tour.  In our case the walking tour ended after our cathedral visit around 11AM, with shuttles at 2:30 and 4:30.

 

The Black Forest excursion involves  a bus ride to a couple of scenic overlooks, then a stop at a complex that demonstrates (and sells) cuckoo clock building, glass blowing, Black Forest cake construction, along with a trail through the forest to a waterfall.  On our day it was pouring, so nobody did the hike!

 

Our Colmar excursion was in the morning--it was fantastic.  Back to the ship for lunch, then off to the Black Forest.  Not exhausting, since the BF was a bus tour, mostly.

 

There is no need to worry.  Viking took very good care of us--treated us like royalty.  Cannot wait for our Tulip Cruise with Viking coming up in April!

[Ellen495]

• Thank you SO MUCH!!!

[sharkster77]

Oh, I should mention, that if someone doesn't want to stay with the walking tour, just let the local guide know that you are going on your own, and they'll tell you where and when to re-join the group to get your bus back to the ship.  As mentioned, the ship may not be where you left it!

[Ellen495]

OH! That's very important information thank you so much!

[Mike R 2018]

Hello-  We took that cruise in 2019-  Truly enjoyed it so much that we're going on the Danube in July...

 

You'll enjoy your cruise and have a lifetime of great memories.  We stayed at the Amsterdam Pulitzer prior to our cruise- it was absolutely grand!  We were met at Schiphol by a driver with a Mercedes, then driven to the hotel.  If you stay there, please consider going on the hotel's private canal boat,  the Tourist, once used by Winston Churchill and the queen of the Netherlands soon after the end of WWII.

.

The tours mentioned by others were well-worth it-  we took most of them.

 

Rather than take a small (carnival-ish) train to eat in Rudesheim, we opted to eat at a very nice restaurant in town (a 20-minute walk from the boat).  My review  of the Ratsstube is on trip advisor.  We had a wonderful and relaxed meal.  Walking back, we spotted the group from our boat at their restaurant- it was very loud with a live band and people were dancing in line or drinking mugs of beer.  We simply walked by and window shopped back to the boat, LOL.   Oh- we're both retired...

 

...Hope you have a cabin with a balcony.  We enjoyed sipping a glass of wine on ours while discussing the day's events.

 

We made a dozen friends who live from CA to NY and in-between on our cruise,  Expect to have fun- you will.

[Next]

Anyone know if the Colmar WW II tour stops at any Maginot Line artifacts?