Switzerland, Rhine & Moselle River Cruise

Your tour begins in Zurich, where you will discover its incredible architectural contrasts before journeying to the pretty Swiss town of Lucerne, with views of the thunderous Mount Pilatus and Rigi in the background, where you will enjoy a traditional folklore show as you savour a meal of fondue. Continuing your travels over the Brunig Pass and Brienz you will arrive into Interlaken for two nights and then travel through the breathtaking Swiss Alps on board a cable car to the village of Mürren.

In Basel you will board your luxury Scenic ‘Space-Ship’ for your 14 night cruise. Before departing the northernmost part of Switzerland, you will discover the Basel Marktplatz, with its daily fresh food markets; and the striking Rathaus, Basel’s City Hall. The majestic Black Forest is your next stop where you will start the day with a baking demonstration of the famous Black Forest cake and visit the world’s largest cuckoo clock plus Germany’s highest waterfalls. In Strasbourg a taste of France awaits you as you cruise to ‘the crossroads of Europe’ and enjoy a walking tour or visit Alsace for a wine tasting. Next is the university town of Heidelberg before arriving in Rüdesheim where you will board the ‘Winzerexpress’ mini train for a visit to Siegfried’s Mechanical Musical Instrument Museum and a cable car to the Niederwald Monument.

Your cruise then takes in the spectacular Rhine Gorge, with its stunning vista of castles perched above the steep vine-covered slopes. Next is Cochem, the medieval gem resting on the banks of the Moselle River. You will also dock in Bernkastel where you will take a coach to one of Germany’s oldest cities, Trier, and stroll through history to sites dating back to the Roman times, such as St. Peter’s Cathedral. Your journey continues to the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg where you will wander through its well-preserved Old Town, and then onto The Netherlands for the lively Dutch city of Nijmegen, the country’s oldest.

The array of colours and the multitude of displays at the once-a-decade Floriade 2012 in Venlo showcase some of the world’s most exquisite and exceptional flowers, plants, trees and fruit and vegetables. You will then cruise through Belgium to Antwerp, a compact seaport city buzzing with world class shopping, fashion houses and galleries. You will disembark your Scenic ‘Space-Ship’ in Ghent before heading to the ‘Venice of the North’, Bruges. On your sightseeing tour you will be charmed by this fascinating little city with its pretty canals and intimate cobbled stone streets.

Next stop is Middleburg for an excursion to the Delta Works, an engineering feat consisting of a complex series of dams, purposely built to protect the population on the Delta plain from treacherous floods. In Amsterdam, your final destination, you can visit the wartime House of Anne Frank or take a guided bicycle tour.