Rhine River

Day Cruises on the Rhine River from Frankfurt

Posted by Henk Bekker on June 26, 2009
Frankfurt, Germany, Rhine River / No Comments

Travel by Train from the Hauptbahnhof and FRA Airport for Rhein Boat Trips

Day trips and boat pleasure cruises on the Rhine River (Rhein) and Loreley Valley can easily be done from Frankfurt am Main Hauptbahnhof and Airport (FRA) in Germany.

View form Loreley
Creative Commons License photo credit: randwill

Regular day pleasure boat cruises on the Rhine River (Rhein) do not depart from Frankfurt am Main but can easily be arranged. Fast trains from the Hauptbahnhof and Frankfurt International Airport (FRA) allow even passengers with a few hour stopovers to enjoy cruising Germany’s most famous river and see popular sights including castles and the Loreley Rock. It is  a short train ride from the main station or directly from the airport to Rhine towns including Rüdesheim, Bingen, and Koblenz which are ideal departure ports for Rhine river valley day pleasure cruises.

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See Top Sights in Mainz near Frankfurt, Germany

Posted by Henk Bekker on April 25, 2009
Germany, Rhine River / No Comments

Dom Cathedral, Chagall Church Windows, Roman Ships, & Gutenberg Museum

Top sights in Mainz are the Romanesque-Gothic cathedral (Dom), Chagall windows, and the Roman Ships and Gutenberg Museums. Transportation from Frankfurt Airport is easy.

Mainzer Dom (Mainz Cathedral), Germany, Photographed at Night
Creative Commons License photo credit: Luhai Wong

The historic city Mainz is a popular destination for travelers with a short stop-over at Frankfurt International Airport. Many travelers prefer Mainz to more modern Frankfurt and transportation by train is equally easy to either city. The top sights in Mainz include its large cathedral (Mainzer Dom), the Gutenberg Museum, Roman Ships, and the magnificent blue Chagall windows in the St Stephan church.

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Traveling Along the Rhine River in Europe

Posted by Henk Bekker on April 02, 2009
Germany, Rhine / Rhein River, Rhine River / No Comments

The Rhein / Rhine / Rijn in Switzerland, France, Germany, Holland

The Rhine River, Europe’s premier waterway, flows from the Swiss Alps to the North Sea through Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Austria, France, Germany, and the Netherlands.

Panoramic Rhine
Creative Commons License photo credit: jessicafm

Traveling along and on the Rhine River has long been popular. Europe’s premier waterway has been very important for commerce in the pre-industrial era and although the Rhine is now less vital for trade, the river is still very much used commercially. The Rhine is also very important for tourism. Boat cruises – from short day-trip excursions to multiple-day cruises – are very popular. The banks of the Rhine are also popular with hikes and cyclers while simply driving through parts of the Rhine Valley is most enjoyable too.

The Rhine River is 1,320 kilometer (820 miles) from its source in Alps in Switzerland to the North Sea in the Netherlands. The Rhine River is Der Rhein in German, Rhin in French, and Die Rijn in Dutch.

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Top Day Cruises from Cologne on the Rhine River

Best Rhein Riverboat Trips from Köln, Bonn, and Düsseldorf

Köln-Düsseldorfer (KD) offer cheap day trip cruises on riverboats on Rhine River (Rhein) from Cologne, Bonn, and Düsseldorf, to Remagen, Linz, and Koblenz.

Bonn: Schiff, Sonne und Ballon
Creative Commons License photo credit: el_tommo

Köln-Düsseldorfer (KD), the largest operator of day cruises on the Rhine River (Rhein), offer many roundtrip cruises in both Cologne (Köln) and Düsseldorf. However, most Rhine River day cruises on this section of the Rhein are from Bonn to Linz. Many more cruises are available in the Middle Rhine (Loreley) Valley between Koblenz and Rüdesheim / Bingen.

Rhine River day pleasure boat cruises are generally available from late March to end October. The high season is from late April to early October when more Rhein cruises are operated. Winter cruises on the Rhine is rare but sightseeing cruises in Cologne (Köln) and Düsseldorf are popular during the Christmas market Advent season.

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Top Rhine River Day Trip Cruise Lines

Posted by Henk Bekker on March 24, 2009
Germany, Rhine / Rhein River, Rhine River, River Cruises / 8 Comments

Tour the Rhein and Loreley Valley on Köln-Düsseldorfer (KD) Riverboats

Köln-Düsseldorfer (KD) is the best-known day-trip riverboat cruise line on the Rhine River. Several further boats tour the Loreley Valley between Rüdesheim, St Goar, and Koblenz.

SS Goethe Historic Rhine Steam Boat

SS Goethe Historic Rhine Steam Boat

The Rhine River is a very popular day-trip destination from cities such as Cologne (Köln) and Frankfurt am Main. Trains run on both banks of the Rhein but nothing beats a cruise on the river itself. Köln-Düsseldorfer (KD) has the largest number of boats on the Rhine River and many cruises through the lovely Loreley Valley. However, several further companies operate cruises on the Rhine and past the Lorelei.

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Loreley Valley Rhine River Day Cruises, Germany

Short Riverboat Pleasure Trips from Frankfurt on the Mittel Rhein

Cruising on riverboat on the Rhine, especially the Mittelrhein with the famous Lorelei Rock, is a popular day-trip excursion from Frankfurt am Main, Airport or Cologne (Köln).

Rhine Cruise Ruedesheim to Koblenz 0153
Creative Commons License photo credit: Daxis

A day-trip excursion including a pleasure cruise on a riverboat on the Rhine River is for many travelers a highlight of a German vacation. Few tourists can afford luxurious, multiple-day riverboat cruises on the Rhine River (Rhein) but shorter day cruises are more common and fairly cheap. The Loreley Rock (Lorelei) is the most popular spot along the romantic UNESCO-listed Mittelrhein – many riverboats cruise this section of the Rhine River. Great public transportation links bring the Rhine within easy daytrip reach from Frankfurt am Main, Frankfurt International Airport (FRA), Mainz, Wiesbaden, and Cologne (Köln).

Many cruise lines have special savings offerings for children, pensioners, birthdays, anniversaries, and even cyclists.

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Cruises on the Rhine River in Germany

Posted by Henk Bekker on February 18, 2009
Germany, Rhine / Rhein River, Rhine River, River Cruises / 1 Comment

Cruising the Rhein, Mosel, Main, and Danube (Donau) Rivers

Cruise routings of multiple-day, luxury Rhine River boat cruises can be extended by adding the Moselle, Main, and Danube Rivers in Germany.

Cathedral at sunset
Creative Commons License photo credit: matticgn

The Rhine (Rhein) River is enormously popular for both day trips and multiple-day cruises. Luxury European riverboat cruise liners such as Peter Deilmann, Amadeus, Viking, and Tauck cruise the Rhine both on the classic full Rhine route as well as by adding Rhine tributaries to form more interesting itineraries. It is even possible to cruise from the Rhine to the Danube basins by using the Main-Danube Canal.

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Travel to Christmas Markets in Cologne, Germany

Posted by Henk Bekker on November 06, 2008
Cologne / Köln, Germany, Rhine River / No Comments

The Kölner Weihnachtsmarkt, Cathedral, Churches, and Top Museums

Cheap flights and fast trains help to make the Kölner Weihnachtsmarkt (Cologne Christmas Market), Dom (Cathedral), and museums popular travel destinations in Germany.

Kölner Weihnachtsmarkt
Creative Commons License photo credit: heldr

Cologne’s Christmas market has long been popular with travelers on ferry and bus trips from London, the UK, and even Ireland. Cheap flights to Cologne-Bonn Airport / Köln/Bonn Flughafen (CGN) on low-cost airlines continue to bring tourists from Great Britain and the rest of Europe to the Rhinelands. Fast trains bring Cologne within easy reach of travelers from most of Germany as well as from neighboring countries including Belgium, the Netherlands, France and even England.

Cologne has attractive Christmas markets but visitors will also appreciate the other attractions of this mostly modern city. Cologne has some of the best shopping opportunities in Germany, an active nightlife scene, great Romanesque and Gothic churches, and top impressive museums.

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Day-Trips on Long Frankfurt Airport Stopovers

Posted by Henk Bekker on October 06, 2008
Cheap Flights, Cologne / Köln, Frankfurt, Germany, Heidelberg, Rhine River / No Comments

ICE Train Excursions from FRA to Limburg, Cologne (Köln), and Heidelberg

Inter-City-Express (ICE) trains allow transit passengers with long stopovers at Frankfurt International Airport (FRA), Germany, to visit Limburg, Cologne (Köln), and Heidelberg on day trips.

Dom / Cathedral in Limburg an der Lahn

Dom / Cathedral in Limburg an der Lahn

Transit passengers on short stop-overs at Frankfurt International Airport (FRA), usually head for Frankfurt am Main downtown, Mainz, or Wiesbaden. However, fast long-distance and Intercity-Express (ICE) trains allow passengers with longer stopovers to visit Limburg, Cologne (Köln), and Heidelberg. Many ICE trains stop directly at Frankfurt Airport making detours via the Hauptbahnhof unnecessary.

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