Day 1: Depart home gateway city to Amsterdam
Day 2: Amsterdam
Arrive at Amsterdam Airport where you'll be transferred to the ship. (D)
Day 3: Amsterdam
Springtime is the perfect time to enjoy Holland's largest city, Amsterdam. The city boasts history, art, architecture, bicycles, cobblestone streets, museums, and countless canals. Even the simplest of shops has a distinct charm, and every street tells a story. And as an added treat, you'll experience Amsterdam on a canal boat. Along the way, admire sights such as Mint Tower, Dam Square, Royal Palace, and Museum Square. Later, relive history and be prepared to be moved as you walk through the very house that served as a hiding place for the Frank family during WWII. This is also where Anne Frank wrote her diary, and the original manuscript is on display. (BB, L, Captain's Welcome Dinner)
Featured Excursion: Canal cruise and visit to Anne Frank House
Day 4: Amsterdam, Volendam
Today, all of your senses will be in for a treat as you visit the Keukenhof Gardens, a 70-acre showcase of over seven million flowers, where spring bursts out in all of its colorful majesty. This is one of the most impressive public gardens in all of the world, and it is only open for a few weeks each year. Later in the day, you'll sail to Volendam, where you'll dock in the heart of the village, making it easy for you to experience early Dutch life. You'll have an afternoon at leisure exploring this quintessentially Dutch village. (BB, D)
Featured Excursion: Keukenhof Gardens
Day 5: Arnhem
Spend the morning cruising before you reach Arnhem, your gateway to theKröller-Müller Museum, which is home to a huge collection of Van Gogh'spaintings-278 to be exact, including “Cafè Terrace at Night.” There arealso works by Picasso, Mondrian, and Rodin, as well as many modernEuropean artists. Your guide will lead you on a one-hour tour throughthe museum. After the tour, you'll have some free time to explore moreof the museum; to go back to that painting you love looking at; and toventure outside and take in the beautiful Sculpture Garden, the largestin Europe, which features works by Rodin. (BB, L, D)
Featured Excursion: Guided tour of Kröller-Müller Museum
Day 6: Cologne
Arrive in Cologne after lunch and stroll through the narrow streets of Old Town with your guide, passing by tiny squares and little churches and the awe-inspiring Cologne Cathedral, the city's most famous landmark and a designated UNESCO World Heritage Site. It took 632 years for Germany's largest cathedral to be completed, and it is one of the most important Gothic churches in Europe. You'll then tour the Roman-Germanic Museum, built on the walls of a Roman villa which was discovered in 1941 and which contained the world-famous Dionysos mosaic. Numerous finds illustrating everyday life in the Roman Empire will lead you into the heart of the Roman city of Colonia Claudia Ara Agrippinensium (the Roman name of Cologne). (BB, L, D)
Featured Excursion: Cologne walking tour and Roman-Germanic Museum
Day 7: Cruising the romantic Rhine, Mainz
Enjoy the area's natural and cultural highlights from the perfect vantage point of your ship's panoramic deck as your journey takes you along one of the most beautiful sections of the Rhine River Valley, the scenic 40 miles of the upper middle Rhine Valley towards Mainz. Designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site, this area features a stunning landscape and ancient castles that for many esteemed 19th-century poets, composers, and painters embodied a romantic spirit, later dubbed “Rhine Romanticism.” Along the way, you'll pass the famous Lorelei Rock and at the confluence of the Moselle and Rhine rivers, German Corner, with its famous monument to Emperor William II. You'll arrive in Mainz in the afternoon. This is a historically significant town because Johannes Gutenberg, the inventor of the printing press with movable type, lived and worked here. Your tour of downtown Mainz includes a visit to the Gutenberg Museum, where you can step back in time to the Middle Ages while viewing a reconstruction of Gutenberg's printing press room, which features an actual printing press that works.In addition, you'll get to see Gutenberg's first Bible on display, which is also the world's tiniest Bible. (BB, L, D)
Featured Excursion: Mainz walking tour and Gutenberg Museum
Day 8: Frankfurt
After a relaxing morning onboard, tour dynamic Frankfurt, said to be the smallest metropolis in the world. The energy of its cosmopolitan citizens and soaring skyscrapers makes for a sophisticated city that has become one of the most important hubs in Europe. You will be taken on a scenic drive around this metropolis off the Main, dubbed “Mainhattan.” The skyline of Frankfurt is defined by 50 high-rise buildings, two of which are the tallest skyscrapers in the European Union. Visit the historical area around Römer Square, Old Town, the Golden Mile, and Frankfurt's Times Square. You'll also see Goethe-Haus, the childhood home of one of Europe's greatest writers and philosophers, Johann Von Wolfgang Goethe. You'll then go to Goethe University, birthplace of the Frankfurt school of philosophy, and the beautiful Botanical Gardens. (BB, L, Captain's Farewell Dinner)
Featured Excursion: Frankfurt city tour
Day 9: Depart Frankfurt
Disembark the ship and transfer to Frankfurt airport for your flight home.
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