The biggest question I got every time I mentioned to someone we were going on a Viking River Cruise was...aren't you too young for that? Viking River Cruises are better known amongst the retired community, but we would quickly learn that that is exactly why it makes for such an extremely organized and comfortable trip for travellers of any age (except those under 18...which is another perk)!
Why Viking?
Like many, I was getting targeted at at incredibly persistent pace by Viking. So I decided to check out the website, and it just so happened that I visited it during a sale (FYI - there is always a sale). But this was no ordinary sale, it was one that included free flights with your booking on the 8-day Rhine Getaway. Typically free flights are only included on the longer trips that are more than 12 days. I also knew we wanted to travel over the week of 4th of July. We were in luck! They had a trip that exactly fit what we needed, and it was only $2499 per person including flights from Philly. Booked!
To be fair, I had done some research to see if other river cruise companies offered similar pricing and itineraries. In the end there really weren't any that compared because of the top-notch Viking reviews and all of the perks that were included like...
All Meals: Overall I'd give the food an 8/10. For me it varied by which meal was being served. Breakfast was a 9 because I'm a creature of habit and got the same delicious omelette every morning. Lunch was a 6 and not our favorite meal on the ship, though luckily we were usually docked and could eat locally instead. Dinners were an 8 because of the ever-rotating choices that changed based on the region/location we were in. Sam also couldn't stop talking about German night...
Beer/Wine: These were included in all lunch and dinner meals. You could also pay for a drinks package, which means you could have drinks all day long including liquor. It was quite easy to spot who got the drinks package because champagne was being had in the morning. We didn't opt for this because you have to purchase this package for both passengers in your room, and that didn't make sense for us.
Tour at Each Stop: This was one of the best parts because you got to learn about the area from a local. All passengers have a headset that you bring on the tours so you can hear while being spread out as a group. I loved learning about the history of the towns and cities. Plus on the walking tours you could casually wander away from the group if you wanted.
Amazing Crew: This was the ultimate perk. The crew could not have been friendlier, and they really made the trip great. I had a sore throat and they always spotted me coming during meals and proactively got me mint tea without even asking. We were thankful we purchased the tip package ahead of our cruise because they deserved every penny!
Our Trip
With the included flights we didn't have a say on which flights we would get put on (that's an extra $300pp), but we totally lucked out by landing a flight to Basel on Friday with only a 1.5 hour layover in London...or so we thought. Unfortunately our flight to London was cancelled the day before, and that left me scrambling to find a solution to get us to Basel in time for our Saturday departure. This ended up working in our favor because we got on a flight to Amsterdam a day earlier with a 5 hour layover (giving us time to explore) and a short connecting flight to Basel.
We then had a bonus overnight in a lovely hotel called Hotel Marthof Basel. This also gave us extra morning hours in Basel to explore, and it really was lovely and easy to navigate.
We took the free city transport to the Viking Tialfi, our home for the next 8 days.
And here are the stops we made and the fun adventures we had...
Day 2: Breisach, Germany
Germany's Black Forest, the region that inspired stories like Sleeping Beauty and Hansel and Gretel, was out first stop and we had a pre-booked e-bike tour. We paid extra for this tour and it was totally worth it, despite the rainy day. Our day consisted of biking, eating Black Forest Cake (duh), eating lunch in a picturesque town, and relaxing at a traditional Black Forest home.
Day 3: Strasbourg, France
This stop was our favorite because of the cute architecture and beautiful cathedral. We joined the free tour and had a wonderful local guide who told us about the new residents of Strasbourg - storks! We also tried the flammekueche, which is an Alsatian pizza that's popular throughout France. We also stopped at the Alsatian museum, which was in an old timber house.
Day 4: Speyer, Germany & Rudesheim, Germany
We had a quick morning stop in Speyer, a UNESCO site with a Romanesque imperial cathedral. It was gigantic and well worth joining the free walking tour to learn about the history. And of course we stopped at the bakery in the small town.
Rudesheim was also a small town, making it a perfect stop for the second half of the day. We hopped on the cable car and enjoyed the view from the monument overlooking the river. Later that evening we also enjoyed dinner at a German restaurant, although their live band playing American hits would leave me to believe they knew we weren't locals.
Day 5: Scenic Sailing and Koblenz, Germany
This was my favorite morning even though we didn't get off the ship. It was our scenic sailing day, which meant we just cruised along while learning the stories about the 20+ castles right along our way. It was a bit chilly so the crew brought up hot chocolate!
We had pre-booked another tour for Marksburg Castle. This one involved a quick bus ride and walk up to the top of another lovely hilltop castle. We had a tour with a local and then were on our way to meet back up with the ship.
Once we made it back to the ship, we had time to explore Koblenz. We bought cable car tickets and headed up to the Landesmuseum, which was an expansive old fortress.
Day 6: Cologne, Germany
Unfortunately this was the day where Sam did not feel well. But that didn't stop us from joining our free morning tour across the city and ending at the Gothic cathedral. We enjoyed two delicious donuts and lunch. I got a salad and a traditional Kolsch, and wow was it good! Sam then rested a bit on the ship while I paid the fee to walk up hundreds of stairs to the top of the cathedral. I wouldn't recommend that for those afraid of heights since it just goes up and up and up.
Day 7: Kinderdijk, Netherlands
This was mostly a day of sailing except for a quick stop in Kinderdijk to see the UNESCO site of the working windmills. It was wild to learn that people live inside the windmills and the one we toured housed a family of 8 at one point.
Day 8: Amsterdam, Netherlands
Our final day was really just a morning bus ride to the airport. This was again very organized and we made it to the airport with plenty of time for our direct flight back to Philadelphia.
Overall - We would set sail again!
We unfortunately had some pretty chilly and rainy weather and were a bit sick at different points (not sea sick, don't worry), but this didn't stop us from loving our river cruise. We would 100% go again if I found another fantastic deal on an alternate route - perhaps the Danube. I'll stay on the lookout and would welcome others to come along to experience a Viking River Cruise with us!
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