Itinerary Details
Day 1 Paris.
Travel to Paris where you will be met and transferred to Hotel du Collectionneur Arc de Triomphe hotel (or similar) for two nights.
Day 2 Paris.
Included today: Guided sightseeing.
During your included city sightseeing tour of Paris, see the magnificent Notre Dame Cathedral, the unique Louvre Museum with its contrasting modern glass pyramid and striking Renaissance architecture, the commemorative Arc de Triomphe, and the Eiffel Tower, a structural masterpiece of its age. The city is well known for its vibrant nightlife including some of the world’s most famous cabarets. (B)
Day 3 Paris – Remich, Luxembourg ( Embarkation) – Grevenmacher
Included today: High-speed TGV train journey.
This morning, board a HIGH-SPEED TRAIN for a swift and comfortable journey to Metz or Luxembourg City. Continue by coach to Remich on the Moselle, where your river cruise vessel is docked. Before dinner, meet your crew at a welcome reception, then cruise to Grevenmacher. (B, D)
Day 4 Grevenmacher. Excursion to Luxembourg City
Because of its location and natural geography, Luxembourg City has been a place of strategic military significance throughout history; the first fortifications were built as early as the 10th century. The city centre occupies a picturesque site, perched high on precipitous cliffs that drop into the narrow valleys of the Alzette and Ptrusse Rivers. A LOCAL GUIDE will acquaint you with this city whose layout is complex as it is set on two levels, straddling hills and dropping into the two river valleys. Enjoy a tranquil afternoon of cruising or join an optional excursion to the Roman city of Trier. (B, L, D)
Day 5 Bernkastel – Zell
Included today: Guided sightseeing.
In the middle of the Moselle region is the charming wine village of Bernkastel with its fascinating narrow streets and half-timbered houses that have stood since the Middle Ages. Enjoy an included GUIDED WALK that features the beautiful marketplace with its renaissance-style Town Hall and the ‘pointed house’, built in 1416. Wine growers in this area look after Germany’s largest expanse of vineyards, the most celebrated of the vintages being the Bernkasteler Doktor. Then cruise on to pretty little Zell and before dinner, enjoy a pleasant TASTING of several of the region’s varietals. (B, L, D)
Day 6 Cochem.
Included today: Guided walk, visit Reichsburg Castle.
Cochem is a charming and picturesque town with half-timbered houses and winding streets full of history and legends that will be brought to life during your included GUIDED WALK. Visit REICHSBURG CASTLE, built in 1000 AD and furnished with renaissance and baroque furniture. Sitting dramatically atop a conical hill covered in vines, this castle offers splendid views of the little town nestled down below and of the river valley. Cochem is at the heart of the Moselle wine trade and, most notably, the Riesling grape is cultivated, producing a dry to sweet, floral white wine. (B, L, D)
Day 7 Rdesheim – Rhine Gorge
Included today: Visit Siegfried’s Mechanical Musical Instrument Museum; cruise through the Rhine Gorge.
This morning arrive in pretty Rdesheim, the perfect example of a Rhine Valley wine town, and visit SIEGFRIED’S MECHANICAL MUSICAL INSTRUMENT MUSEUMa real surprise! Here you’ll see and hear a large collection of self-playing calliopes and music boxes from the 18th to the early 20th centuries. Later free time to pick up some souvenirs on the narrow, cobblestoned Drosselgasse, where colourful flowers, open-air wine gardens, and live music add to the festive atmosphere., Later cruise through the dramatic RHINE GORGE, the most beautiful stretch of river. Here, ancient castles stand sentry on lofty cliffs rising 400 feet above the waters. Cruise past the legendary rock of the Lorelei, where echoes of enchanted siren song lured unwitting sailors to their doom. (B, L, D)
Day 8 Cologne
Included today: Guided sightseeing.
One of Germanys largest cities and capital of the Rhineland, Cologne straddles the Rhine and is known for its soaring, twin-steepled gothic cathedral. Choose between a GUIDED CITY WALK or a JEWISH HERITAGE WALK. Later, during free time, perhaps check out the Romano-Germanic Museum, home to a large collection of artefacts from the Roman settlement on which modern Cologne is builta must for history buffs! The Old Town abounds with cafs, shops, and taverns. Be sure to try a Klsch pale lager, locally brewed in Cologne for over a hundred years, and shop for a bottle of 4711, the original eau de cologne (B, L, D)
Day 9 Amsterdam.
Included today: Amsterdam canal cruise. Holland’s delightful 700-year-old capital is sophisticated and modern, with a rich and fascinating history. The works of famous Dutch masters can be seen in world-renowned museums such as the Rijksmuseum or the Van Gogh Museum. There is no better way to see Amsterdam than by canal boat, cruising along elegant grachten lined by stately homes dating back to Amsterdam’s ‘Golden Age’. (B, L, D)
Day 10 Amsterdam.
Disembark and transfer to the airport or station for your journey to the UK. (B)
