Europe`s rivers and castles aboard the AmaDante
After staying the night before in Bavaria`s second largest city, Nuremberg, we boarded the AmaDante on the banks of the Main-Danube Canal on a chilly afternoon. I was immediately impressed with the service, all staff waiting to great their guests and introduce themselves and talk about the roles on the ship. We were approached and asked whether we would like to dine at the Chef`s Table for the first night which we gladly accepted.
We then headed to our stateroom which was downstairs. We were impressed with the size which was perfectly adequate for the week ahead. It had a long window which was just above the water line as we had decided on this trip not to have a balcony.
Before dinner we headed to the lounge for the mandatory safety briefing and introduction of the staff by the Captain Andreas Turk. We then headed to the back of the ship to Chef`s Table Restaurant which seated 24 guests and were introduced to our fellow guests, two delightful air stewardesses from Boston in America and a retired couple from Vancouver Island in Canada. The 6-course meal was excellent and wine to compliment the meal went down well.
During the meal, we cast off from Nuremberg and headed along the canal towards Bamberg where we would arrive in the morning.
After breakfast, we headed off on a walking tour of the city, dominated by the Cathedral of St Peter and St George which combines the late Romanesque and early French Gothic styles. We spent the morning walking the city with our local guide and ended up enjoying a complimentary glass of smoked beer. We then headed back to the ship for lunch and the ship left Bamberg and sailed towards Schweinfurt. There were various things to do during the afternoon cruise and the many stops at locks, we were to travel through 51 during our week’s cruise! We joined our new friends from the Chef Table for dinner in the main restaurant and enjoyed another excellent meal and of course wine! We made a short stop in Schweinfurt to pick the entertainment for the evening. We then carried on along the river heading towards Kitzingen.
We spent the morning in one of the oldest towns on the Main River. We had a tour of the town and ended up at a wine tasting where we sampled four different local wines with explanations about them by a wine expert. We opted to stay on board in the afternoon. With most of the guests going off on tours we decided to have a relaxing afternoon taking in the scenery.
On day four we arrived in the small quaint village of Wertheim which is called mini Heidelberg. The village has lots of small shops, famous for the local glass industry. We spent the morning in Wertheim and after lunch, headed along the Main and the Rhine towards Mainz.
On day five we decided to opt for the whole day tour to Heidelberg. We left the ship in Mainz and headed by coach for the two-hour ride to Heidelberg. When we arrived, the coach took us up the steep hill towards the castle which overlooks the romantic city. We made our way down by funicular railway and had a few hours to ourselves to look around the city and have a bite to eat. We then made the journey back to the ship which had moved the small town of Rudesheim.
It was now time for one of the highlights of the tour, the cruise through the Rhine Valley. The top deck was open and most people were sat taking in the breath-taking scenery and the 30 castles along the route.
The Amadante arrived first thing in the morning in Cochem, the most visited town on the Mosel River. We left the ship with our guide and were shown many interesting points before we were taken by minibus up to the Reichsburg Castle, of which we had a fascinating tour before making our way back to the ship. We then set sail for Zell.
After an early dinner, we arrived in Zell to be greeted by the mayor of Zell and the Wine Queen. We followed a marching band to the town centre where we tried all the different wines and enjoyed great company and listened to bands. We staggered back to the ship ready to sail overnight to Trier.
We arrived in Trier in the afternoon and left by coach on a short city tour followed by a walking tour of the many fascinating buildings mainly from the roman era. After the tour, we headed back for our last night aboard with the Captains Gala Dinner in the main restaurant. We said our goodbyes to the many friends and late that night we arrived in Wasserbillig in Luxembourg ready for our disembarkation in the morning.
We were off early after breakfast for the short taxi trip to Luxembourg airport and our flight home to London.