Discovering The Sublime Rhine

As Pam Hoffee, managing director of Avalon Waterways, sees it: “The Rhine River delivers travellers to ‘bucket list’ countries and capital cities while sailing off-the-beaten-path to small villages that look as if they’ve been pulled from the pages of fairytales.”

And Hoffee adds: “The Rhine gifts travellers a sail through time and is the perfect river to cure a cruiser’s cabin fever while also offering a feast for travel cravings.”

According to Avalon Waterways, there are seven (7) reasons why travellers are choosing the Rhine River on their journey back to travel in 2021:

• 1. High Five – Cruising down the multinational waterway of the Rhine with Avalon, travellers can traverse five countries– Switzerland, the Netherlands, Germany, France and Austria – exploring picture-perfect towns and bucket-list destinations like Basel, Strasbourg, Cologne, Bonn, Düsseldorf, Amsterdam and Rotterdam along the way.
• 2. Connect Four – The Rhine River is a ribbon that ties together fascinating countries, cultures and history. It also flows into other legendary waterways, presenting the opportunity to combine a Rhine itinerary with three other renowned rivers – the Moselle, the Main and the Danube – for a more robust river cruise.
• 3. Castles in the Air – Between Rudesheim and Koblenz, more castles take center stage than anywhere else on the planet. This fairytale fantasy known as the Upper Middle Rhine or Rhine Gorge has earned UNESCO World Heritage Site status and the well-earned moniker, “The Romantic Rhine.”
• 4. A Pop of Colour – Surrounded by brilliant-coloured tulips, the waterways of the Netherlands feed into the Rhine River, presenting unrivaled springtime scenery including the beginning, middle and end of the rainbow.
• 5. More to Pour Over – While many people think of Germany for its “brewtiful” beer scene, the vineyard-lined Rhine River Valley paints a sweeter story with “grape” days that invite you to sniff, swirl and sip your way through everything from Rieslings and delicate Silvaners to full-bodied Spätburgunders.
• 6. Unique UNESCO – A delightfully dizzying number of UNESCO World Heritage Sites can be found along the Rhine River Valley, including the Rhine Gorge, the Cologne Cathedral, the Speyer Cathedral, the Town of Bamberg and the Old Town of Regensburg.
• 7. Merry Memories – There’s no better way to unwrap the magic of the Old World than with a journey through the tradition-rich, German Christmas markets with their mulled wines, handmade sweets and hardy holiday décor on a festive wintry river cruise.

And along with giving travellers one of the widest variety of vacations available on the Rhine River (nearly two dozen itineraries), only Avalon Waterways has created what they call “Short and Suite” getaways ranging from five- (5) and six- (6) days, providing time-starved travellers and first-time river cruisers the chance to test river cruise waters.

Avalon is also the only river cruise line that offers travellers highly customizable Active & Discovery itineraries on the Rhine River, giving them a choice of nearly 30 “Active,” “Discovery” and “Classic” excursions throughout their vacation.

Said Hoffee: “We take great pride in inviting travellers to cruise against the stream on the Rhine River. In addition to our Avalon Choice excursions and Adventure Hosts on every itinerary, our relationship with Globus, Cosmos and Monograms gives travellers exclusive access to Your Way cruising which seamlessly provides them options for immersive sightseeing access, hotel accommodations and transfers in European cities before and after each cruising vacation.”

Sail on over to https://www.avalonwaterways.ca/River-Cruise-Deals/ for more.