Cruise Description

4 Night Cruise sailing from Cologne roundtrip aboard Rhein Symphonie.

The Rhine has many faces: the lively metropolis of Amsterdam, which you can experience on our northbound route, is situated on the Markermeer. The course of the Lower Rhine is defined by vast low plains and fields along the banks, which is quite different to the “Romantic Rhine” on our southern course. The incomparably beautiful UNESCO World Heritage Site of the Middle Rhine Valley extends out where the river breaks through the Rhenish Slate Mountains. It is world famous for its many castles on the hills both to the left and right of the river bank, as well as for the Loreley Rock. Countless songs, including the “Nibelungenlied” (Song of the Nibelungs) about Siegfried, the Dragon Slayer, are dedicated to this section of the river.

Highlights of this cruise:

Cologne
Cologne is situated on the river Rhein in North Rhine-Westphalia and is the fourth largest city in Germany. It is one of the nation's media, tourism and business hotspots.

Cologne Cathedral (German: Kolner Dom) is the city's most famous monument and the Cologne residents' most respected landmark. It is a Gothic church, started in 1248, and completed in 1880. In 1996, it was designated a World Heritage site; it houses the Shrine of the Three Kings that supposedly contains the relics of the Three Magi. Also worth seeing are the city’s twelve Romanesque churches. These buildings are outstanding examples of medieval church architecture. The origins of some of the churches go back as far as Roman times.

Cologne has several museums. The famous Roman-Germanic Museum features art and architecture from the city's distant past; the Museum Ludwig houses one of the most important collections of modern art in Europe, including a Picasso collection matched only by the museums in Barcelona and Paris. The Schnutgen Museum of religious art is housed in St. Cecilia, one of Cologne's Twelve Romanesque churches.

Koblenz
Koblenz is a German city situated on both banks of the Rhine at its confluence with the Moselle, where the Deutsches Eck (German Corner) and its monument (Emperor William I on horseback) are situated. It is a historical city with remains dating back to 1000BC.

Koblenz boasts extensive defensive works, including forts crowning the hills encircling the town to the west, and the citadel of Ehrenbreitstein on the opposite bank of the Rhine. Since 1890, the city has consisted of the Altstadt (old city) and the Neustadt (new city) or Klemenstadt. Of these, the Altstadt is closely built and has only a few fine streets and squares, while the Neustadt possesses numerous broad streets and a handsome frontage along the Rhine.

Rudesheim
Rudesheim is a town in the Rheingau-Taunus-Kreis, Hesse, Germany. It is located on the right (east) bank of the Rhine, at the southern entrance to the Loreley valley.

Rudesheim has been famous for its Drosselgasse since the end of the 19th century. Its wine bars and cafes offer non-stop music and dancing. The Castle Broemserburg houses the famous Wine Museum.

Other attractions include the Museum of Medieval Torture, and Siegfried Wendel's Mechanical Music Cabinet, which has an extensive variety of mechanical musical instruments, distributed throughout a 15th century castle.