Windmills, Vineyards & Paris (Amsterdam to Paris)

Day 1 (Sun) Amsterdam. Travel to Amsterdam where you will be met and transferred to your cruise ship for 11 nights. (D).

Day 2 (Mon) Amsterdam. There is no better way to see the city than by canal boat, cruising through the elegant grachten lined with stately homes dating back to Amsterdam’s ‘Golden Age’. There is plenty of free time to explore on your own. Your Cruise Director will have suggestions of how to make the most of your stay. (B,L,D)

Day 3 (Tue) Gouda - Dordrecht. Excursion to Kinderdijk. Gouda, located at the confluence of the Ijssel and Gouwe Rivers, is famous not only for its cheese but also for the 70 stained glass windows in St John’s Church. After visiting the town with a local expert there is free time to stroll through its lanes or to have a cup of coffee alongside one of its canals. After lunch, cruise through the busy harbour of Rotterdam. Sitting between two branches of the Rhine, charming Dordrecht inspired many painters in the 17th and 18th centuries. Nearby is Kinderdijk with its picturesque row of windmills. (B,L,D)

Day 4 (Wed) Antwerp. Antwerp is Belgium’s second largest city and one of the world’s most important ancient seaports. Included sightseeing shows you its superb architecture, the Grote Markt with its beautiful city hall, and the Church of Our Lady. (B,L,D)

Day 5 (Thu) Maastricht. Once prized for its strategic location at the confines of Belgium and Germany, Maastricht is now the bustling cosmopolitan capital of the province of Limburg. The town is quite distinct from the rest of the country with its bustling pedestrian precincts, squares with sprawling café terraces, almost Mediterranean atmosphere, Mosan-type stone houses, and its rolling hinterland. A university town since 1976, Maastricht has five faculties and boasts a student population of around 7,000. This afternoon there is an optional excursion across the border to Germany for a visit of Aachen, ancient seat of Charles the Great. (B,L,D)

Day 6 (Fri) Arnhem. One of the major tragedies of World War II was the Battle of Arnhem, featured vividly in the Airborne Museum Hartenstein and the inspiration for the film ‘A Bridge Too Far’. Tonight sail into Germany. (B,L,D)

Day 7 (Sat) Cologne. Cologne is the capital of the Rhineland and one of Germany’s largest cities. The soaring twin steeples of the magnificent gothic cathedral dominate the skyline, and the Germano-Roman Museum next to the cathedral is a must for history buffs. Alternatively, the Old Town abounds with taverns, cafés and shops. Try a Kölsch, the favourite local beer, and shop for a bottle of 4711, the original ‘eau de cologne’. (B,L,D)

Day 8 (Sun) Koblenz - Rhine Gorge - Rüdesheim. Situated at the confluence of the Rhine and Moselle Rivers, 2,000 year old Koblenz is the cultural and business centre of the Middle Rhine region. The Deutsches Eck, located on a spit of land where the two rivers converge, holds an impressive statue of Wilhelm I. The dramatic Rhine Gorge is an incredibly beautiful stretch of river. Pass the legendary Lorelei Rock, where it was thought sweet songs of local beauties lured enchanted sailors to their doom. Rüdesheim is the perfect example of a Rhine Valley wine town – enjoy a visit to Siegfried’s Mechanical Musical Instrument Museum and free time to explore the Drosselgasse. (B,L,D)

Day 9 (Mon) Cochem. Today we sail up the Moselle River, which rises in the Vosges Mountains of north-eastern France and enters Germany at Trier. Visit Cochem’s Reichsburg Castle, which sits atop a vine-clad hill. From here the views of the little town nestled below and of the river valley are splendid. Cruising the wide, peaceful curves of the river, it quickly becomes obvious that the Moselle is an important wine-growing region. Most notably, the Riesling grape is cultivated, producing a dry to sweet, floral white wine. (B,L,D)

Day 10 (Tue) Bernkastel. In the middle of the Moselle region is the charming wine village of Bernkastel with its well-preserved, half-timbered houses surrounding the beautiful market place. Wine growers in this area look after Germany’s largest expanse of vineyards, the most celebrated of the vintages being the Bernkasteler Doktor. Before dinner, visit a local wine cellar and taste several of this region’s varieties. (B,L,D)

Day 11 (Wed) Trier - Remich. The venerable Episcopal city of Trier is the oldest in Germany and some claim, even older than Rome. A house on the marketplace bears the inscription, ‘Trier was standing 1,300 years before Rome’. The famous Porta Nigra is the only surviving fortified gate from the original Roman settlement and it still gives access to the town centre. Trier’s most famous son was socialist revolutionary Karl Marx. This afternoon, cruise to Remich in the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg. (B,L,D)

Day 12 (Thu) Remich - Paris. After breakfast, disembark and transfer to Metz to board the high-speed TGV train for a swift and comfortable journey to Paris and two nights at Le Meridien Montparnasse or Hilton Arc de Triomphe hotel. (B)

Day 13 (Fri) Paris. During your included sightseeing tour of Paris, see magnificent Notre Dame Cathedral, the unique Louvre Museum with its glass pyramid as a contrast to the Renaissance style architecture, the commemorative Arc de Triomphe, Opéra, Madeleine, Champs Elysées and the Eiffel Tower, a structural miracle of its age. The city is well known for its colourful nightlife including some of the world’s most famous cabarets. (B)

Day 14 (Sat) Paris. Transfer to the airport or station for your journey to the UK. (B)