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Hebridean’s Royal Crown awaits your arrival in the German city of Cologne. Berthing overnight provides us with the opportunity to explore the city which, in the Middle Ages, was a major inland port for the transhipment of goods.
No stay in Cologne would be complete without a visit to the wonderful cathedral which, despite heavy bombing, survived World War Two.
After lunch we cruise to Konigswinter and remain overnight before our morning cruise of the UNSECO World Heritage Site of the Rhine Gorge. With its many castles, vineyards and carved walls reaching up to 200 meters, the gorge is en route to Ruedeshiem where we visit the famed Schloss Johannisberg, home of the Metternich family, for a tour of the castle and private wine tasting before our sumptuous dinner on board Hebridean’s Royal Crown.
The following day sees us take a brief detour from the Rhine along the Moselle to the pretty wine town of Cochem. Dominated by a late Gothic castle with restored timber-framed houses, we have time to discover the town on foot.
Returning along the Moselle our next port of call is the city of Koblenz situated at the confluence of the Moselle and the Rhine. From the Ehrenbreitstein Fortress, rising 118 meters above the Rhine river, opens a fantastic view over Koblenz and the confluence of the Rhine and Moselle at “Deutsches Eck” (German Corner).
Our afternoon cruise takes us to Bonn, birthplace of Beethoven and the capital of West Germany from 1949 until German re-unification in 1990. Moored for the evening, we enjoy a private recital.
A morning walking tour takes us to the former Archbishop’s Palace, now housing the university, as well as the impressive Romanesque Minster and the Beethoven Museum.
As we cruise north to Dusseldorf, the Schloss Benrath, home to three separate museums and cultivated gardens, plays host to our next morning’s visit. The construction of this late-Baroque mansion commenced in 1755 but was only completed 15 years later.
