Rhine excursion choices, looking for feedback

We are cruising on the Rhine, Basel to Amsterdam in June. We have a choice between Riquewihr or Freiburg and on another day between Speyer or Heidelberg.

Any feedback appreciated.

If you want comments based on the particular experience you are likely to get, it would be helpful to state which river cruise line you are taking.

We are travelling with Amawaterways.

We did this itinerary with AMA in 2013, and I believe the shore excursions have changed a little since then. Our choice was Colmar & Riquewihr vs Breisach & Freiburg. We enjoyed both Colmar & Riquewihr, but found the combination made the day a little rushed. Riquewihr is a one-street village that is very cute, and lined with shops offering free wine tastings plus a couple that had fresh macaroons to sample and buy. Other passengers who chose Freiburg were disappointed in their tour, but I don't have any details on why.

You dock in Speyer, and we were able to see all we wanted of the town on our own after the Heidelberg tour. Heidelberg is not on the Rhine so there is a 90 minute bus ride to get there (and a 90 minute nap on the way back...), but it is worth it. The castle is very large, and was the only one we were able to go inside so it gave us an idea of what had been going on in all the castle ruins we passed the day before in the Rhine Gorge. There was also a walking tour through the old town, and there was some free time (we used it to visit the main Lutheran church and the Jesuit Church, which were each impressive in different ways).

So based on my experience I would choose Riquewihr and Heidelberg.

I’ve been on Amawaterways and you shouldn’t worry so much about choosing in advance because at the beginning of the cruise, the Cruise Director will give a detailed slide presentation of all the options and you can even ask questions. We used another line for the Rhine, but Speyer is where the Technical Museum is located and the engineers on the cruise all elected to go there. Heidelberg you probably will go to the castle and then to Old Town. Both very worthwhile and interesting history

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Thank you for the feedback, it helps with planning.

I've been to Freiburg on my own, via a land trip. It's a nice place and there is plenty to do. But it is a much bigger place than Riquewihr, and it does lack the "cuteness" factor of the Alsatian wine villages.

In Freiburg there is a Munster which has a cool tower climb, with great views of the city and surrounding forest. There are numerous interesting buildings, as well as old towers from the original city wall. There's a market in the main square near the Munster. And the Old Town has an interesting feature called Bächle - little canals with running water at the edges of many of the streets, dating back to the Middle Ages.

It's enjoyable. Depends on whether you want a cute postage stamp village, or a bigger city.

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I know the area well, having lived for several years not far from Freiburg, and have visited it, Colmar, Riquewihr and also Heidelberg many times. I recently took a Uniworld Rhine-Moselle cruise, revisiting Riquewihr and seeing Speyer for the first time.

Freiburg is a lovely city and it would not disappoint you, but it is similar to Strasbourg though on a smaller scale. I think I would opt for the Colmar-Riquewihr tour. Colmar is a very attractive small city with picturesque canals and the mediaeval masterpiece Issenheim Altarpiece. Riquewihr is a very small and important wine-making village which has become a huge tourist attraction, for the very good reason that it has retained its fortifications and 16th century buildings.

If you haven’t visited Heidelberg before, I would choose it over Speyer. The ruined castle and the picturesque old quarter along the Neckar are worth seeing. If you have, then Speyer is certainly worth a visit as an ancient imperial city of the Holy Roman Empire. Even though I am not an engineer, I enjoyed visiting the Technical Museum which includes some very large aircraft up to a 747 mounted on a tower. You can climb up and even walk out on a wing.

I looked at the AMA site, but it gives no details of the two excursions but as Got2cruise mentioned, you should have ample opportunity to ask the cruise director before booking.

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