The Grand Rhine Festival, from Holland to the Romantic Rhine Valley - A cultural, gourmet and festive cruise (port-to-port cruise)

We'll visit the Rijksmuseum, Holland's ultimate national museum retracing the country's history from the Middle-Ages to the present day. The collection contains more than 2,000 paintings from the Dutch Golden Age, among which you'll get to admire Rembrandt's "The Night Watch" as well as Johannes Vermeer's "The Milkmaid".

PLEASE NOTE

• Headsets are included.
• The order of the excursions can change.
• Times are approximate.

Departure on foot from the Cologne landing stage* to reach the cathedral. Around this iconic monument lies a unique ensemble of twelve Romanesque churches, symbolically arranged in a circle throughout the city. Each represents one of the twelve apostles, forming a remarkable spiritual and architectural route that reflects Cologne’s religious importance during the Middle Ages.

This excursion focuses on Cologne Cathedral, a masterpiece of Gothic art listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. During the visit, you will admire its impressive architecture, magnificent stained-glass windows, and its fascinating history, closely linked to the development of the city over the centuries.

The tour continues with a visit to the Cathedral Treasury, which houses precious works of sacred art, reliquaries, and exceptional liturgical objects, bearing witness to the site’s spiritual and artistic wealth. Return on foot to the ship*.

PLEASE NOTE

• The order of the visits can change.
• Times are approximate.
• Depending on the mooring location, a transfer may be arranged.

Departure by coach towards Heidelberg, the symbolic city of German Romanticism. Meet your guides at Heidelberg Castle and discover with them the exterior of this magnificent partially ruined pink sandstone castle. Since the late 18th century, the castle ruins have inspired painters and poets, who saw in them a symbol of the grandeur and decay of human achievements. Goethe, Hölderlin, Uhland, and Eichendorff celebrated the castle’s landscape, while numerous painters chose it as their subject. Also explore the geometric terraces of the Palatinate Garden, the “Hortus Palatinus,” once considered the “eighth wonder of the world.” Then visit the Pharmacy Museum. Located within the famous Heidelberg Castle, this unique museum immerses visitors in the fascinating history of pharmacy and medicine through the centuries. It showcases an impressive collection of ancient tools, bottles, alembics, and laboratory instruments, tracing the evolution of pharmaceutical practices from the Middle Ages to the 19th century.

PLEASE NOTE

• Depending on the cruise, departure and/or return on board in Mannheim
• The access to the castle needs climbing up a 300m gradient.
• Good walking shoes are recommended.
• The order of the visits can change.
• Times are approximate.

Departure for a tour of Amsterdam by riverboat. With your guide, we'll glide further into this "Venice of the North” along the renowned Amsterdam canals, providing an ideal vantage point on the city's wonderful architecture. Our tour will take us through the four large canals surrounding the center - the Prinsengracht, Keizersgracht, Herengracht and Singel canals. The Singel river was transformed into a canal in the 14th century to become part of the city's defensive belt, while the other three were conceived at the beginning of the Golden Age as a means to expand the city. Construction started in 1560 and lasted for more than a hundred years. The historical center is now surrounded by those four canals, parallel to one another. Shaped in half-moons, they follow the sun rays making sure that each and every house gets direct sunlight at some point during the day. When looking at a city map, Amsterdam resembles a half-bicycle wheel. Enjoy some free time in the city. Return on board.

PLEASE NOTE

• Times are approximate.
• Depending on the docking location in the port of Amsterdam, the duration of the excursion may vary.