{"id":27533,"date":"2017-05-21T20:06:13","date_gmt":"2017-05-22T02:06:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/rivercruiseadvisor.com\/?p=27533"},"modified":"2018-02-11T12:42:19","modified_gmt":"2018-02-11T17:42:19","slug":"viking-river-cruises-rhine-getaway-excursions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rivercruiseadvisor.com\/2017\/05\/viking-river-cruises-rhine-getaway-excursions\/","title":{"rendered":"Viking River Cruises: Rhine Getaway Excursions, My Favorites"},"content":{"rendered":"
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One of my favorite tours on Viking River Cruises’ Rhine Getaway\u00a0itinerary, Top of Cologne, which took us\u00a0backstage and up high in the Cologne Cathedral. \u00a9 2017 Ralph Grizzle<\/p><\/div>\n

Following\u00a0last week’s post, What I Learned About Viking River Cruises While Cruising The Rhine<\/a>, many readers asked about excursions on Viking River Cruises eight-day Rhine Getaway. There are two things you should know. First,\u00a0there are optional excursions. For those, I’ve listed prices and my advice, based on my experiences and conversations with other guests. There are also\u00a0included excursions. Let’s begin with\u00a0a chart of\u00a0the optional excursions.<\/p>\n

Viking's Rhine Getaway Optional Excursions<\/h2>\nUpdated during my May 2017 eight-day Rhine Getaway cruise on Viking Hlin, from Basel to Amsterdam.<\/span>\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t
Destination<\/th>Optional Tour<\/th>Cost per guest<\/th>My Take<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n
Breisach<\/td>World War II: Museum & Memorial<\/td>\u20ac49<\/td>Great tour, a better choice for most than Medieval Village of Colmar<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Breisach<\/td>Medieval Village of Colmar<\/td>\u20ac49<\/td>Good tour but my preference is the World War II tour, even for those who are not history buffs<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Breisach<\/td>Black Forest & Colmar<\/td>\u20ac149<\/td>Don\u2019t bother. You can do the included Black Forest tour, come back to the ship for lunch and do the Colmar tour for \u20ac49 (or the World War II tour)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Strasbourg<\/td>Taste The Best of Alsace<\/td>\u20ac189<\/td>Great tour, always number one rated from guest surveys at the end of each cruise. Maximum 18 guests, but typically has only 10 to 12 who sign up. Do it.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Strasbourg<\/td>Alsatian Wine Tour & Tasting<\/td>\u20ac79<\/td>Do Taste the Best of Alsace instead of this one<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Strasbourg<\/td>Mercedes Factory Tour<\/td>\u20ac49<\/td>Great tour, but only offered on select sailings. See how the Mercedes CLX is made<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Rudesheim<\/td>Wine Tasting & Dinner at Johannisberg<\/td>\u20ac149<\/td>Beautiful setting, good wine tasting in a beautiful wine cellar but just so-so food (Viking has let the operators know that the food has to be improved so the food situation may change in the coming months)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Rudesheim<\/td>Rhine Wine Tasting & Dinner at Eberbach<\/td>\u20ac149<\/td>So-so setting with great food and wine. Alternates on itineraries with the Wine Tasting & Dinner at Johannisberg.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Rudesheim<\/td>Dine in Rudesheim<\/td>\u20ac79<\/td>In a restaurant on the famed Drosselgasse, okay food, okay wine and a few drinking games. A better choice for some, dine on the ship and take a long hike through the vineyards afteward.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Koblenz<\/td>Ehrenbreitstein Fortress<\/td>\u20ac49<\/td>Two-hour tour that begins with a gondola ride near where the ship docks. Good for those who want nice photos of Koblenz from high above and some history of the fortress and Koblenz.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Koblenz<\/td>Romans Along The Rhine<\/td>\u20ac59<\/td>Do only if you are really, really interested in the Roman history along the Rhine.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Koblenz<\/td>Koblenz Walking Tour & Romanticum<\/td>\u20ac59<\/td>Runs on select voyages only.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Cologne<\/td>Bruhl UNESCO Palaces<\/td>\u20ac59<\/td>Good tour for those who appreciate palaces<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Cologne<\/td>Top of Cologne<\/td>\u20ac69<\/td>Great tour with an informative guide who takes you behind the scenes and up high at the Cologne Cathedral<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Cologne<\/td>Cologne\u2019s Beer Culture Dinner Tour<\/td>\u20ac89<\/td>Great evening tour with German pub food and lots of good beer. Those who did this one raved about it.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Kinderdijk<\/td>Kinderdijk Windmills & Dutch Cheese Making<\/td>\u20ac59<\/td>Love cheese? Go for it. Otherwise, you\u2019ll see the windmills on the included tour.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n

Viking’s program directors tell me that if you sign up for an optional excursion on myvikingjourney.com<\/a> the tour will run, even if the minimum number required to operate\u00a0the tour is not met. That\u00a0is one advantage of using Viking’s online trip planner. Another advantage is that by using the online planner, you won’t have to spend time thinking about the tours once underway on your trip. You can simply sit back and enjoy the ride.<\/p>\n

The big surprise tour for me was Top of Cologne<\/strong>. On another cruise back in September, I climbed the 533 steps to a platform on the cathedral’s south tower. The views were stunning, well worth the hike up.<\/p>\n

On last week’s cruise, Viking’s Top of Cologne<\/strong> tour took us up the cathedral’s north tower via\u00a0exterior elevators used by the restoration crew. We still had some climbing to do,\u00a0a 104-step spiral staircase to climb. What made this tour extra special was the local guide, who also works with the cathedral’s restoration staff. Her knowledge gave us a behind-the-scenes look at the continuing restoration works during our\u00a0backstage tour. Top of Cologne runs for two hours at a cost of\u00a0\u20ac69 per person. Below is a short video detailing just a few seconds of the tour.<\/p>\n