xmaser

Fascinating piece of film. I've often wondered how these low river craft are managed through the North Sea. I assume they use the same system to get river ships to the Rhone going along the Atlantic coast and Mediterranean.

Going north to south:

The most scenic part of the Rhine is between Koblenz and Rudesheim. Farther south to Mannheim is interesting but has a lot of industry along the river. If you dock in Rudesheim before the Heidelberg option, you will have already seen the best of the Rhine valley. You might want to check this out on your map.

Heidelberg is a fine experience with a magnificent view from the castle terrace. The castle interiors are indifferent, the building having been burnt in the 17th century. But the exterior is very fine. You might want to check out Heidelberg on Wikipedia.

Could you give the direction you are sailing (north or south) and the name of the 'another town'?

Having done several Tulip Trips, these seem rather vague and somewhat strange descriptions of the towns to me. Have you actually been to them? In Veere, for instance, the stadthuis (town hall) is a remarkable late Gothic building and probably the most important in the town. The church on the other hand is quite empty, having been 'cleaned out' by Napoleon for use as a stable.

In Germany, do private companies wanting to build private river docks within cities require city/government permits? It seems that this could be a way to manage ship/tourist crowding.

I did the Black Forest in December. There was snow and beautiful mountain views. We stopped at the St. Peter Abbey as well as the Clock Shop - bought some great German folk and Christmas music CDs there. Don't go if you don't like riding through mountains. There are no mountains where I live so for me it was a treat.

Did the Colmar village tour (included when I took it). Beautiful traditional Alsatian architecture and the Unter dem Linden museum. It has the fabulous Isemheim altarpiece which is definitely worth a look.

Not a WWII buff so I didn't the WWII tour.

Be aware that Easter Monday following Easter is a holiday in most of Europe and many places will be closed. Have found cafes and museums open however.

While I agree with RDC1, if you look at my history of posts you will discover that I have always considered rafting a degradation of the travel experience. To me rafting is one of the symptoms of "overtourism".

I think rafting is a sign of over tourism. For me the quality of the 'experience' is important. If I'm docked where I can see the town/port with the distinguishing characteristics of the location, there is not over tourism. If my view is of other ships and tourists - the quality of the experience is diminished by over tourism. I can't imagine the negative impact of this on the local residents - excepting those who are making a lot of money out of the tourists.

Of course, there must be people who travel and look forward to seeing mobs of other tourists.

Versailles is a glorious place to visit but .... my last visit in April was shoulder to shoulder crowds. Sad.

I cannot find this itinerary on Avalon for 2018-2019. What am I doing wrong?

Thanks MagnoliaNC for posting the table of payment policies. It will be interesting to see if Viking will really adhere to its stated policy of payment. I really object to lending Viking money interest free, but there is new itinerary that is proving VERY tempting because of its uniqueness. We shall see.

Viking also provides a St. Nickolas. It is a nice touch.

Delta and KLM work well for me. I'm a great fan of KLM. Love the connections from Amsterdam.

With this abundance of ships available, it's time for some price reductions instead of price increases.

I have found them equally satisfying. Maybe itinerary should be your first concern.

AMA booked in USA in 2017 for 2018 - $ 200.00 deposit - Balance due 90 days before departure.

Booked directly with AMA.

Very civilized.

Duisburg has 7 Vikings and 3 A Rosa ships. Might this be linked to future passenger dockings there?

The Crystal link is kool. I assume it is the Am Winterhaven in Linz.

I've often wondered where the river cruise ships winter since January to March they are inactive. This morning I did a rough search on Vessel Finder for 110m+ ships. The majority are not at passenger docks.This is where I've found them:

8 in Boven-Hardinxveld, NL

2 in Rotterdam, NL

6 in Coenhaven, Amsterdam, NL (very passenger unfriendly dock :mad: - I know now is out of season)

7 in Dordrecth, NL

9 north of Cologne, DE

5 in Dusseldorf, DE

10 in Duisburg, DE - wow!

15 (all Viking) south of Vienna, AU

3 in Lyon, FR

65 in total

This list is hardly exhaustive since I don't know all the ships and some may not have their location signals functioning. Some of the above may be in transit. Some locations do not provide signals. Some known ships are not showing up on the site. Certainly the numbers should be considered fluid.

On the Rhine, they seem to flock North for the winter. On the Danube they congregate in Vienna?

Any other places they winter? What do they do with them in the winter harbors? Maybe here we can hear about any attractive changes on the ships.

I think this is a legit thread here since it is about where the European river ships go. At the very least interesting. :)

Is the ECE shopping center in Ludwigshafen the same as the Rhein-Galerie? If so, that would put it just across the Rhein from the dock AMA used in December 2016 and about a 30 minute walk to the Barockschloss.

When you go to Neuschwanstein, be sure to look at the views out of the windows, especially from the upper floors. They are spectacular and help explain why Ludwig built there. The building is a fantasy product of the 19th century inspired in part by the "legend" operas of Wagner. It was used as the Baron's castle in the film "Chitty-Chitty-Bang-Bang".

If you want an authentic castle, the Hohenschwangau is just across from Neuschwanstein. It still has Ludwig's bedroom with the 'twinkling' star ceiling. The tours however may be available only in German. Very interesting but not as spectacular as Neuschwanstein.

Linderhof is another Ludwig palace, an exquisite rococo-revival jewel. It's often on the same tour as Neuschwanstein.

To help avoid confusion of dates on the Nymphenburg Palace in Munich, it was built in the 1700s ('seventeen year hundreds' in German hence notamermaid's dating of 17th century but in English the 1700s are the 18th century). The majority of the interiors are in the early 1800s (19th century) 'Empire' style. It is definitely worth seeing, especially the pavilions in the large park - especially the "Amalienburg", a fantasy in blue walls with silver rococo decorations. It's often taught as a premier example of German Rococo in Art History classes. The palace and pavilions are clearly marked on Google maps.

The is also a small porcelain factory in part of the palace outbuildings - Nymphenburg Porcelain - that is worth a visit as well.

Excellent research notamermaid. Many thanks!

Great post notamermaid! Hard to believe that there are still people who think docking 'just happens'.

Is there any way to find out what the color coding means on the Cochem schedule, in addition to your note on the lock closings?

Thanks