Romancing the Rhine
28/05/2020 · By Sukie Chapman
A location that is full of history is the Rhine from start to end. We offer cruises and rail tours, read more here.
Read moreSave £200pp on River Cruise 2025 holidays when you book by 31st October 2024.
2025 Tour code: GER25
About the tour
Enjoy a luxury alpine experience aboard the legendary Glacier Express - one of the world's finest rail journeys, before descending the valley for a sensational Rhine river cruise. We explore Europe in style aboard the Amadeus Star, where you can enjoy luxurious amenities and superb service.
Sail into the picturesque Rhine Gorge, visiting medieval cities, charming riverside towns and much more. Wander through traditional towns like Rüdesheim and Cochem, each with its own unique charm. Delve into the rich history of Heidelberg and Cologne before our unforgettable holiday ends in the culture-packed streets of Amsterdam.
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You might also like our similar tour Glacier Express and
The Romantic Rhine!
Unforgettable experiences
What’s included
Itinerary
Our holiday begins as we meet at London St Pancras before boarding the Eurostar to Paris, this morning. From here, we continue by rail to Basel, Switzerland. After dinner, you can enjoy a leisurely evening, strolling by the riverside, roaming the city's picturesque Old Town, and admiring its modern architecture.
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Reviews
3.9 / 5 · 68 reviews
Ian B - Surrey
Submitted 17/Sep
Tour manager Jill was absolutely brilliant from the start. The service, food and accommodation were all five star, and the rail trips and cruise were fabulous.
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WILLIAM CAMPBELL
Submitted 17/Sep
I've previously submitted a review (or at least it appeared to go through but perhaps not). The Rhine riverboat portion was a five-star tour (except for the daily quiz that was oriented towards asking UK questions that we Americans had no clue about, which lowered the fun of them; questions should be more oriented to global items and delete UK television or historical questions, for example). The Swiss rail adventure would have received five stars but deserves three mainly due to the absence of help with luggage at hotels and boarding/disembarking the trains. For 70+ year old clients of yours to have to navigate steps and cobblestone streets while moving 2-3 pieces of luggage with two weeks of clothing, etc., and backpacks with medicine and personal items, while several couples were dealing with a spouse having a cane (in one case having two canes), is grounds for not recommending this trip to friends and family. They've heard more about how the luggage situation ruined what would have been a great Alps adventure than they've heard about the great adventure. Of course, there's a fine-print statement about not providing luggage assistance in the contracts but not about being pushed on and off trains with a 2-minute timeframe to board while nearly falling on the platforms with luggage. Ian Winter was terrific in helping, but he should not have been put in that position. People would pay extra to sign-up for luggage assistance if you'd make that an option. Again, Ian was the highlight of the rail part of the trip....so kind and knowledgeable and helpful.
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Linda Benjamin
Submitted 14/Sep
Communication regarding the entirety of the trip was lacking. It took weeks for questions to be answered, and then not completely. An app was provided by Great Rail Journeys, which added no further information; a missed opportunity. The Zermat portion was very good, with the exception of the Simi hotel option whose main advantage was location. Ian Winter coordinated this part of the trip and did and excellent job. The Glacier Express, First Class, was not first class service. Our choices were chicken, or not. Everything else was extra with the exception of one cup of coffee each. This is not the 1st class experience described on the Glacier Express website. The view, is of course, beautiful; but this is not the journey we expected. The Rhine cruise was again lacking in communication with no presentations regarding the locations visited other than the time to be ready for the coach. Many of the local tour guides were just not good. The best outing was the last day to the Medemblik Steam Train in Hoorn, NL. A ridiculously long lunch buffet line was created daily based on the arbitrary decision that no one could start until exactly 1:00 with permission of the cruise director. It is not an active cruise, which we could not determine ahead of time without a complete itinerary. All service people were great and food was excellent. We do not regret going on this trip. We did see many new locations and met some great fellow travelers - we do not however, necessarily recommend it.
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Jeffrey Seitz
Submitted 13/Sep
The trip comes across as described
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Susan Eberly
Submitted 13/Sep
Train transfers were a bit frenetic moving our own luggage, but all train rides were wonderful and scenery was just beautiful. Ship, crew and food were excellent but we found the ship lacked cleanliness. Rooms weren't vacuumed, patio was full of cobwebs and spiders. Windows were dirty.
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Paul Searby
Submitted 31/Jul
The basic holiday was fine we had booked the first rail class option, however the included meals in the hotels prior to the ship were not even up to a school dinner standard. The first night was a life sustaining meal, the second night was just burnt and inedible, the third night we booked a local restaurant which cost us some £140 but the quailty was excellent. The 7 meals on the ship were excellent. If you book this trip - do not touch the included meals prior to the ship just allow in your budget £400 for some quality meals
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River Cruise Holidays 2025