I was 21 the first time I saw Germany’s beautiful Rhine Gorge. This 65km stretch of the famous river is renowned for its beauty, and a four-hour boat ride through the gorge was one of the highlights of a month-long coach trip I took around Europe.
The romantic Rhine, they called it in the travel brochure, and as the boat made its way past dramatic castles and quaint villages, I remember feeling I should really be watching the gorgeous scenery drift by while hand-in-hand with my true love.
Trouble was, there was no true love at the time, just my parents and my kid brother, along with around 40 rather loud Americans, Canadians and Australians from our coach party. Romantic it was not.
But nearly 25 years later I have made it back, and this time I have the true love in tow. We’re doing an eight-day kid-free cruise with Avalon Waterways entitled The Romantic Rhine, which will take us from Zurich to Amsterdam, including through the stunning Rhine Gorge.
After a day in Zurich hitting the shops and admiring the pretty chalet-style buildings and snow-capped mountains, a coach takes us to Basel, an hour away, where we board our boat, oS Affinity.
For the first few hours we sail past rather ugly factories, silos and warehouses lining the river banks of this industrial region. But by the next morning we’re in Strasbourg, France, and it’s picture-postcard stuff.Guided tours are included in the price of the cruise, and the one in Strasbourg starts with a trip on a small boat along the River Ill, which surrounds central Strasbourg.
It’s easy to see why Unesco has classified the city as a world heritage site – it’s full of lovely old buildings, from the stunning gothic Strasbourg Cathedral to ancient half-timbered houses in the charming mediaeval district, Petite France. one of the most beautiful sights is the Ponts Couverts, three 13th-century towers connected by wooden footbridges across the river.
The following day, our next stop is Heidelberg, which is an hour’s coach trip from where we are docked on the Rhine. The city’s main attraction is the impressive schloss, or castle, which sits in a commanding position on top of a hill overlooking the town and is still very impressive, despite being left in ruins by wars, fires and two lightning strikes.
ouch of the town still looks like it would have done several hundred years ago, with cobbled streets and pastel-coloured buildings, but there are also lots of modern shops, which keep me occupied for an hour or three.
The next morning we’re in oainz, where we learn all about the city’s most famous son, Johannes Gutenberg, who invented the printing press back in 1450. After a couple more hours cruising, we arrive in Rüdesheim, which is the start of wine country. We take a cable car up over the rows of vines that crisscross the steep slopes like a gigantic patchwork quilt and look down on the town below, which is all narrow lanes and pretty houses with gabled roofs and shuttered windows.
The following day’s cruising takes us through the Rhine Gorge, and I’m hoping it’s as spectacular as I remember. My husband and I head up to the deck on top of the boat early to snaffle seats with a good view, and we’re not disappointed.
This part of the Rhine is straight out of a fairytale. one enchanting castle after another is perched on cliffs high above the water, surrounded by either dense swathes of forest or orderly rows of vines. Below them, along the river’s edges, are higgledy-piggledy clusters of ancient buildings. Finally, I get to take in the romantic scenery with the love of my life by my side, although we’re too busy taking photos and knocking back wine to hold hands.
There are two more stops in Germany to enjoy – the picturesque cities of Koblenz and Cologne – before we arrive at our final destination, Amsterdam. After a boat tour of the city’s canals we’re free to do our own thing and we wander alongside the tree-lined waterways, admiring the narrow, crooked houses and popping into boutiques, small art galleries and curio shops.
We end up in the red-light district where the scantily clad working girls are just starting their shifts. It’s seedy but fascinating, and exploring this part of the Dutch city is probably the only part of the whole trip that you couldn’t describe as romantic.
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