Cruise Description

7 Night Cruise sailing from Cologne roundtrip aboard nickoSpirit.

Vast plains, water all around, warm-hearted people – immerse yourself in the culture of the Netherlands on this cruise. Enjoy the hustle and bustle of life in the metropolis of Amsterdam. Get to know Germany’s western neighbour better and explore with us the many, charming small towns between the Rhine, Waal, Ijssel and the North Sea. On our nickoSPIRIT, glide along through the vast polder landscapes, enjoying a high level of comfort. Thanks to its innovative design, our new ship is perfect for smaller ports that are not navigable by other ships. Of course, you’ll find the typical Dutch windmills on the banks, the ideal subject matter for your photo motif.

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.

Amsterdam
Amsterdam, the capital of The Netherlands is built around a concentric network of canals spanned by over 1000 bridges making canal cruises one of the most attractive ways of viewing the city. Many of the houses date back to the 17th century. These narrow-fronted merchants' houses are characterised by the traditionally Dutch ornamented gables.

The oldest part of the city is Nieuwmarkt, located near the first canals - Herengracht, Prinsengracht and Keizersgracht - built to protect the city against invasion in the 17th century. Today, Amsterdam's famous liberalism has survived in the city's 'coffee shops and thriving sex industry.

The city has also long been a centre of diamond cutting and it is still possible to see diamond cutters at work. Amsterdam has a booming cultural life, boasting 53 museums, 61 art galleries, 12 concert halls and 20 theatre. A special canal boat (the 'museum boat') links 16 of the major museums. In the local countryside it is still possible to see working windmills. There are annual events such as the Amsterdam Arts Week and the Holland Festival.

Enkhuizen
Enkhuizen is a municipality and a town in the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland and the region of West-Frisia. It boasts a strong maritime tradition and has one of the largest marinas of the Netherlands. It is also the location of the Zuiderzeemuseum, an open-air museum reflecting life in the villages around the Zuiderzee throughout history. Most of the buildings in the museum come from other locations in the Netherlands, such as Purmerend and Amsterdam.

Tourism is one of the most important businesses in Enkhuizen. Large parts of the inner city are still intact. This includes two magnificent 15th century churches, the largely intact 17th century city walls, gates and tower and the 17th century city hall.