Cruising on the Danube, Main, and Rhine Rivers - Part 2

This is part II of River cruising on the Rhine, Maine, and Danube Rivers. Part II covers cruising from Bamberg, Germany to Amsterdam, Netherlands. If you somehow missed Part I which covers cruising from Budapest, Hungary to Nuremberg, Germany, click here: Part I Budapest to Nuremberg.
 
 
 
 
     
 

Bamberg suffered little damage during World War II and has may interesting old buildings. The Town Hall sits in the middle of a bridge and it's walls are covered by frescos.

Bamberg's Cathedral houses the tomb of Emperor Heinrich II, as well as the Bamberg Reiter, a very early equestrian statue, created by an unknown sculptor and considered to be the embodiment of the ideal medieval king or knight.
 
 
 

Remember that all of the pictures can be enlarged by clicking on them. When you click, your browser will open the enlarged picture in a separate window. To return to this page, close the window that has the enlarged picture in it. Underlined text are links that take you to other web sites with more information on the subject.

 

 

 

 

 

Below, views along the Main-Danube Canal
 
 
In the heart of the Franconian wine district, Wurzburg is dominated by the 12th Century Marienburg Fortress. The Grand Prince-Bishop's residence is one of the largest baroque palaces in Germany and is a UNESCO world monument. It features the largest ceiling fresco in the world painted by Tiepolo. 
 
   
 
 

Below, Rothenburg. For Americans, Rothenburg is one of the most popular attractions in Germany.....And when you go there, expect to see a lot of Americans. Regardless, it is a very beautiful town, and well worth seeing. This is a picture of Rothenburg's Market Square.

There's a web cam in the building in the middle of the bottom left picture, so if you want to know what's going on in Rothenburg at this very moment, click here: Rothenburg Web Cam
 
   
 
 
  Rothenburg has a wildly successful Christmas Store, and American Tourists love Christmas Stores. The unpretentious storefront opens up into a gigantic selection of Christmas ornaments. Here's a link to the store: Kathe Wohlfahrt, although I can't say it's at the top of my list of things to do when you're in Rothenberg.
 
 
 
Rothenburg ob der Tauber is built on heights above the Tauber River which served as a natural moat beneath the town's western walls. Rothenburg is one of the best preserved towns in all of Germany.
 
 
 
Below, views along the maine river.
 
 
On the Maine River, Miltenberg (below) is a village that began as a Roman Fort. Over its early history, it grew prosperous on income from river traffic. Miltenberg has the best Medieval Square that I've seen. Its fountain is 400 years old.
 
 
   
 
   
   
 
 
  Here's a picture of our ship docked at Miltenburg.
 
Aschaffenburg is dominated by a Renaissance Palace that was completed in 1614.   
 
 

Remember that all of the pictures can be enlarged by clicking on them. When you click, your browser will open the enlarged picture in a separate window. To return to this page, close the window that has the enlarged picture in it. Underlined text are links that take you to other web sites with more information on the subject.

 

 

 

 

 

Below, Seligenstadt, a small town very close to Frankfurt.
 
   
 
Below, Frankfurt. The main square in Frankfurt is not original. The city suffered very heavy damage during World War II. The buildings you see were built after the war.
 
   
 
       
 

Depending on whether you're traveling down or up the Rhine River, Rudesheim will mark the beginning or the end of your trip through the Rhine George. Rudesheim is known for it's traditional German nightlife, so plan to spend a night there. It's a lot of fun.

Below right is the Drosselgasse, the world-famous street that's packed with restaurants and wine taverns. The pictures were taken very early in the morning. At night, the street is filled with people hopping from one tavern to the other. Near the top of the street is a museum that houses a collection of mechanical musical instruments. Take my advice...skip it, unless you're really into mechanical musical instruments.
 
 
Before we left for our trip, I had read something about the gondola ride from Rudesheim. I asked our tour guide about it when we docked there, and he said, "Why do want to do that? You just go up and look down." We decided to take the gondola anyway, and we were rewarded with a ride over vineyards and a spectacular view of the river below.
 
 
 
 
Because we were traveling from Budapest to Amsterdam, Rudesheim marked the start of the the most scenic part of the Rhine River. The Rhine Gorge seems to have a castle at every bend of the river. If you can only spend a short time on a river cruise, try one-day cruise from Cologne to Mainz. It takes you past some of the most spectacular scenery on the river. 
 
 
 
 
 
   
 
 
 
 
Above, Cologne Cathedral, and a view of the Rhine near Cologne. This is a picture taken from the Amadeus, the ship we took on our first cruise. The scenery is mostly flat pastureland from Cologne to Amsterdam. By river ship, the distance between the two cities is about 22 hours.
 
 

This is the port in Amsterdam. If you would like to see more pictures of Holland, visit my 2005 Trip to Holland at Tulip Time pages. When we took our river cruises, our ships docked very close to here. The Budapest to Amsterdam pictures you've just viewed, cover a distance of 1,127 miles, or 1,814 kilometers.

 
 
I hope you enjoyed my pictures. It's a pleasure to share them with you.
 
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