Holland and the romantic Rhine valley (port-to-port cruise)

Included in tour package<ul><li>Keukenhof Gardens</li><li>Amsterdam</li><li>Volendam and Zaanse Schans</li><li>Open air Museum Arnhem</li><li>Cologne</li><li>R&uuml;desheim (tourist train, tasting and museum)</li><li>Heidelberg and its castle (outdoor)</li></ul>

Departure from Nijmegen by coach in the company of your hostess for the Dutch Open Air Museum in Arnhem, which is located in a beautiful wooded park (44 ha). Some 80 authentic farms, windmills, workshops, houses, barns, a church and a school provide an insight on the everyday life and architecture of yesteryear. 
Upon arrival, our hostess will hand you a ticket so you can visit the museum on your own. Inside every building, you&#39;ll be intrigued by the typical furniture and the displays of various trades and crafts. Some of the buildings are grouped together, such as the beautiful Limburg timber-framed buildings or the Gelderland farms, but the most charming spot is without a doubt the area dedicated to the Zaan region, with its green painted wooden houses and tastefully decorated gables. Our visit will start with the renovated entrance pavilion and its good vantage point over the park and its many windmills. There are farming implements on display in many areas, like the collections center. The lower level gives access to the spectacular panoramic theater HollandRama. In this mobile capsule, films, sounds, lights, smells and temperatures evoke different scenes, from cityscapes to the confines of houses. Return on board by coach.

PLEASE NOTE

<ul>
	<li>This is an unguided tour.</li>
	<li>Bags can be let to the left luggage office.</li>
	<li>Information in the museum (notice board) is given in Dutch, in English and in German.</li>
	<li>The order of the visits can change.</li>
	<li>Times are approximate.</li>
</ul>

Visit of the Dutch Open Air Museum of Arnhem

Departure on foot for downtown Cologne. You will discover the city in the company of your guide. Crossroads of Europe since the Middle Ages, Cologne has kept its importance as a vibrant commercial and industrial city as well as a cultural and religious center. You will be able to admire the exterior fa&ccedil;ades of the huge Gothic Cologne Cathedral which took five centuries to complete. Indeed, although construction started in 1247, it was interrupted due to a lack of financing in 1560 and only started again in 1842 upon request of Emperor Frederick Wilhelm IV, who had fallen in love with the building. Construction was finally completed in 1863 and the Gothic Cathedral was the highest building in the world from 1880 to 1884. Around the Cathedral, 12 other Romanesque style churches are set in a circle, representing the 12 holy apostles. We&#39;ll then move on to the Old Town and stop to admire the outside of the neo-Gothic building, home of the famous &quot;Eau de Cologne&quot;. Before returning on board, we will have some free time to stroll through the streets of Cologne or try the famous local beer, the K&ouml;lsch(1). You will be able to make your way back to the boat on foot at your own pace.PLEASE NOTE<ul><li>(1) not included.</li><li>Alcohol can be harmful to your health. Please drink in moderation.</li><li>Good walking shoes are recommended.</li><li>The order of the visits can change.</li><li>Times are approximate.</li><li>These excursions are not proposed for all the cruises and depend on the itinerary.</li><li>If the minimum of 25 participants is not reached, the excursion may be either cancelled or proposed at another rate, depending on the number of participants (to be paid for on board).</li><li>The excursions on the first evening and the morning following boarding are only guaranteed for the passengers who have booked the excursion before the cruise.</li></ul>

Guided walking tour of Cologne

Departure for the visit of Heidelberg. This cosmopolitan, friendly, and vibrant city is made up of 15 distinct neighborhoods and is particularly attractive to families, students, business people, and researchers. Its high quality of life comes through to visitors, who feel genuinely at home here. We&#39;ll begin with a visit to the outside of Heidelberg Castle, where you&#39;ll be able to see the Renaissance ruins and parts of its restoration. The castle has a history that is almost as old as the city itself. From either the Great Terrace or the gardens, enjoy an amazing view over Heidelberg, the Neckar River, and the valley. Don&#39;t miss seeing the Heidelberg Tun. Built in 1751 by Prince Elector Karl Theodor, it housed the wine paid as taxes by the wine growers in the region. Legend has it that the permanently intoxicated court jester who guarded the cask, Perkeo, died after mistakenly drinking a simple glass of water. You can also enjoy a stroll through the castle gardens, once considered a masterpiece of their time. Built upon several terraces, they were made up of many flower beds, mazes, sculptures, heated greenhouse with orange trees, large ponds, waterfalls, and a man-made grotto. We&#39;ll then head for the Neckarm&uuml;nzplatz, on the banks of the Necker River, and continue with a guided tour of the old city. We&#39;ll pass by the Church of the Holy Spirit, the most famous church in Heidelberg, whose steeple dominates the town. And then you can take advantage of some free time to wander through the streets and shops before returning on board.PLEASE NOTE<ul><li>Depending on the cruise, departure and/or return on board in Mannheim</li><li>The access to the castle needs climbing up a 300m gradient.</li><li>Good walking shoes are recommended.</li><li>The order of the visits can change.</li><li>Times are approximate.</li></ul>

Guided tour of Heidelberg and its castle (outdoor)

We&#39;ll leave by coach with our guide for Volendam, a charming village that has preserved its character for over six centuries thanks to the tough vitality of its fishermen. We&#39;ll then visit a cheese factory in the area to discover how the famous Gouda cheese is made. We&#39;ll enjoy tasting the different flavors and ages available of one of the most popular cheeses in the world. We&#39;ll then head for Zaanse Schans, an open air museum with wooden windmills, barns, and houses. Take a walk through the stunning buildings and the unique peat landscape or watch traditional clog making techniques. Don&#39;t miss the small but impressive clog museum that features one of the largest and most attractive collections of wooden shoes in the Netherlands: painted, carved, ice clogs with iron trimmings, horse clogs, and decorative clogs. Take advantage of some free time on this excursion to indulge in authentic Dutch traditions. We&#39;ll return to our ship in Amsterdam by coach.

PLEASE NOTE

<ul>
	<li>Good walking shoes are recommended: guided visit on foot at Volendam and Zaanse Schans.</li>
	<li>The order of the visits can change.</li>
	<li>Times are approximate.</li>
</ul>

Excursion to Volendam and Zaanse-Schans

We&#39;ll leave by coach with our guides for the city of Delft. 
We&#39;ll discover this charming city made famous by its blue and white ceramics, Delftware, as well as its connections to the Dutch Royal Family and the renowned painter Johannes Vermeer. We&#39;ll stroll through the enchanting city center&mdash;where you&#39;ll be able to experience a bit of authentic Dutch living: calm canals shaded by trees, petite bridges, and historical buildings. We&#39;ll also visit a delft pottery factory in the city (or nearby) where you&#39;ll discover the secrets of making this famous imitation porcelain. We&#39;ll then head to the Oude Kerk, Nieuwe Kerk, and the Prinsenhof - where William of Orange was assassinated in 1584. Afterwards, we&#39;ll travel by coach to Rotterdam. We&#39;ll then return on board.&nbsp;

PLEASE NOTE

<ul>
	<li>Good walking shoes are recommended.</li>
	<li>The order of the visits can change.</li>
	<li>Times are approximate.</li>
</ul>

Visiting Delft and its pottery factories

You will start the visit with a tour and commentary of the R&uuml;desheim vineyards by mini-train, during which you will discover the famous vineyards already cultivated in the Roman period. During this tour, the history of winemaking in the region will be explained and you can enjoy a breathtaking view of R&uuml;desheim and the Rhine. The train will then stop right before the historical Bassenheimer Hof cellar, a seigneurial residence from the 16th century, where we&#39;ll indulge in a wine-tasting*. A winemaker from the St&ouml;rzel family cellar will guide you through a tasting of three different wines, from the driest to the sweetest, all the while telling you about the history of the cellar and winemaking in the R&uuml;desheim region, complete with local stories. Afterwards, our visit will continue on to the Museum of Mechanical Musical Instruments located 100m away from the cellar in an old building from the 15th century. The &quot;Siegfrieds Mechanisches Musikkabinett&quot; is the first German museum dedicated to self-playing musical instruments, which holds an impressive collection of no less than 350 mechanical musical instruments dating back to the 18th century to the 20th, all spread out on more than 4000 ft&sup2;. This is a vast collection, dating back three centuries, of fascinating musical instruments that function like computers, ranging from tiny, delicate music boxes to an enormous orchestrion. Tools and machines for the production of organ pipes, cardboard sheet music, rolls of sheet music and perforated disks are also on display in the collection. Whatever their age, museum visitors always take great pleasure in discovering this special music, the techniques from the past and how these instruments work. After visiting the Museum, you will have some free time to stroll through the streets of R&uuml;desheim ambling down the famous Drosselgasse, before making your own way back to the boat.

PLEASE NOTE

<ul>
	<li>Warm clothes are recommended for the visit of the cellar.</li>
	<li>After the visits, passengers will have free time in Rudesheim until they go back to the boat on foot on their own.</li>
	<li>Good walking shoes are recommended.</li>
	<li>The order of the visits can change.</li>
	<li>Times are approximate.</li>
	<li>*Alcohol can be harmful to your health. Please drink in moderation.</li>
</ul>

R&uuml;desheim : wine tasting* and visit of the Museum of Mechanical Musical Instruments

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CLASSIC EXCURSIONS PACKAGE

Included in tour package Keukenhof Gardens Amsterdam Volendam and Zaanse Schans Open air Museum Arnhem Cologne Rüdesheim (tourist train, tasting and museum) Heidelberg and its castle (outdoor)

CLASSIC EXCURSIONS PACKAGE

Cruises

Holland and the romantic Rhine valley (port-to-port cruise)

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