Rhine Discovery
Date Posted: 19/10/2023
A Rhine cruise is full of enchantment from fairy-tale castles and vineyard-clad slopes to medieval towns and ancient villages.
The dramatic 40-mile stretch between Bingen, Rüdesheim, and Koblenz is known as the Middle Rhine. This UNESCO-listed site is dotted with ancient castles which stand sentry on lofty cliffs rising 400 feet above the watercourse.
The most interesting castle ruin is Burg Rheinfels, which stopped the armies of Louis XIV and was eventually blown up by Napoleon. The tableau of terraced vineyards change colour with the seasons and storybook half-timbered villages fold beautifully between white chalk cliffs.
A cruise through the Rhine Gorge takes in the mystical Lorelei Rock. This natural formation once created an eerie echoing murmur that amplified the sound of a nearby waterfall. Legend has it that a beautiful siren, Lorelei, led sailors to a watery doom with her singing from her lair amongst the rocks.
Rüdesheim leads to the cobblestone Drosselgasse full of bustling cafés and ivy-clad weinstubes and optional excursions to Siegfried’s Mechanical Musical Instrument Museum. Mannheim boasts the majestic, ruined Heidelberg Castle; the setting for Sigmund Romberg’s 'The Student Prince'.
If ever there was a manmade structure to equal the natural grandeur of the Rhine; it's Cologne’s vast Gothic Cathedral with twin spires soaring 515 feet above this city founded by the Romans in 50AD. Witness the amazing stained glass and a golden reliquary containing the remains of the Three Magi.
The beginning of Advent is a magical time on the Rhine when the Christmas markets overflow with Yuletide cheer. Explore festive markets crammed with wooden chalets bedecked with twinkling lights and selling warming Glühwein and tasty Bratwurst sausages.