Dreamin

Were you able to find a good pre-cruise place?  Just curious as I'm also looking for one in Mid March.

We are scheduled for the Danube River cruise on 11/29.  We are doing a pre-stay in Nuremberg and 3 day post stay in Vienna on our own.  Has anyone had any recent experiences that they can share regarding COVID testing prior to the cruise and after.  Seems that more and more places are not doing the testing for travel purposes any more.  

Thanks

Avalon splits its tours and offers a half day in each. Our cruise was a little off because we had to dock unexpectedly in Mannheim, so were offered a full day excursion to Heidelberg, or do a morning excursion to Speyer and an afternoon excursion to Heidelberg. We actually opted to stay on the boat in the morning and take the afternoon excursion to Heidelberg because we didn’t want to have so much time on buses. In Heidelberg, there was an included tour of the Castle but we skipped that. We took the bus with the tour group but told the guide we would be leaving before the tour started. We walked down the stairs from the bus drop-off at the Castle (the tour took the bus from the Castle down to the Old Town so you didn’t have to walk if you didn’t want to, but since we were skipping the tour, we did our own thing). We explored on our own for a few hours – this town is gorgeous and the Market was fun – before meeting the tour group & guide back at the bus to head back to the boat.

That sounds like a great idea! Thanks for the suggestion!

Thanks for so much info!

We will be docked in Speyer all day and part of the next morning - maybe we can do both Speyer and Heidelberg!

Where are the Ice Carvings in Mainz? Near the Cathedral?

Notamermaid - thanks so much for all of the info! Is it ok if I ask more specifics as I think of them? You are a wealth of knowledge!

Xmaser - yes I saw the other thread and got some great info but was hoping for more details that are port specific to my cruse. Thanks for the post though.

Christmas Markets along the Rhine- Need some suggestions of off the beaten path, special sites/food recommendations for the following stops:

Basel

Kaysersberg

Riquewihr

Strasbourg

Speyer and/or optional tour to Heidelberg (which should we do?)

Mainz or optional tour to Frankfurt (which should we do?)

Koblenz

Amsterdam

Also, we are staying in Amsterdam for an extra day. We want to enjoy some good local cuisine - any recommendations? We are staying near Amsterdam Central.

I've been on two Christmas market River cruises. The first one was miserable because I was unprepared. The second one was awesome! I also come from a warm climate. I found that three layers works great. The first layer of thin silky long underwear - such s "cuddle duds", the second layer a thicker layer - I recommend "smart wool" not ichy at all! And the final layer jeans. Make sure they are a little loose to allow for the extra layers. I also highly recommend a neck gaiter - much easier and warmer than a traditional scarf. Warm socks (again - smart wool) and warm boots with traction.

I 2nd the suggestion of a thigh length warm coat.

You will have a much better time if you come prepared!

One other suggestion - sip the warm gluhwein - this will warm you up from the inside out! Have fun!