On Friday May 23, 2014, Mark and I boarded a plane headed for Basel, Switzerland for our week-long cruise down the Rhine River from Basel to Amsterdam on the Viking Tor. After disembarking on Saturday May 31, we spent two days exploring the Venice of the North. I hope you enjoy the trip.
From Basel to Amsterdam – an overview – posted June 7, 2014
Day 1 – Embarkation in Basel, Switzerland – posted June 10, 2014
Day 2 (morning) – A journey into the Black Forest – posted June 18, 2014
Day 2 (afternoon) – Afternoon in Alsace – posted June 23, 2014
Day 3 – Stopping by Strasbourg – posted June 30, 2014
Day 4 (morning) – The Heights of Heidelberg – posted July 12, 2014
Day 4 (afternoon) – Cruising the Rhine to Rudesheim – posted July 20, 2014
Day 5 (morning) – Castles on the Rhine – posted July 29, 2014
Day 5 (afternoon) – The knights of Marksburg Castle – posted August 10, 2014
Day 6 – Cologne Cathedral – posted August 13, 2014
Day 7 (last day) – Windmills in the Netherlands – posted August 22, 2014
Review of Viking River Cruise from Basel to Amsterdam – posted August 31, 2014
Christine M. Grote 
Beautiful pictures and wonderful storytelling. We hope you will continue to submit more items from the recent Rhine River cruise to your blog as we too are going on the same cruise in middle of September 2014. We are eager to read more of your insights and view the outstanding photography which I could never replicate myself. Thank you
Thanks Lud. I’m glad you’re enjoying the posts. I plan to complete the journey on the blog with a review at the end.
Hello Christine,
I am not sure this blog is still active as it has been 2 1/2 years, but I will try it anyway. I too am delighted to have found you and your blog. My husband and I are going to take the exact same cruise you and your husband took, this coming September (2017). We have never cruised at all before because it did not sound appealing to us. However, the European river cruises did and we have wanted to do one for some time. We have not traveled in Europe previously and thought this would be a good way to sample one area.
I was happy that you addressed the ‘expectation’ factor early on in your journal. That will definitely help us right off the bat. One question that I do have, (and I have not read your entire journal so you may address it at some point, if so, I apologize) is about how much activity we can truly expect on the week’s cruise. My Husband and I are used to a good amount of physical activity on a daily basis. What can we expect in terms of this while on the cruise?
Thank you, Jenny Ridenour
Good for you. I think you’ll enjoy the sight-seeing. They do make it easy and worry-free, especially for first time travelers.
Regarding physical activity, I think some days will have more opportunities than others. The activity will primarily be walking, although it is hilly over there. The cruises are populated with mostly older people. I don’t know how old you are. But there were opportunities on various days to strike out on our own, or linger longer in a city. Then there’s always the top deck of the boat. I enjoyed walking up there.
I have arthritis in my knees, so I was looking to minimize my steps, especially hilly ones, whenever possible.
I don’t remember if there was an exercise room on board, but I imagine you could easily find out.
I’d go back in a heartbeat. Enjoy the trip. Stop back and let me know what you thought.
I can not tell you how happy, actually overjoyed, to find your blog. My husband and I traveled in June of 2014 from Amsterdam to Basel on the Viking Gullveig. We had a wonderful, singular, expansive experience and still feel truly blessed to make the trip.
I have been laboring over the 1500 pictures I took, and recently became stymied trying to identify the beautiful castles of the Rhine.
Your blog has allowed me to actually identify most of the castles, and given me a greater confidence that I can complete my task.
Thanks so much for sharing. I truly appreciate you words and pictures.
That’s awesome. I feel fortunate to have been able to make the trip as well. I’m glad you found the blog helpful, although truthfully, the web pages I linked to were the biggest help, I imagine. I know the feeling you first experienced, though, trying to figure out what was what. I went through the same thing.
I’m glad my words and pictures were of benefit to you.
If you ever post your photos on line somewhere, drop me a note. I’d love to take a look.
HI Chritine
I really enjoyed reading you review of the Rhine river cruise. We are also doing the same cruise on Viking only in reverse May 25, 2017. We are arriving in Amsterdam two days early and are interested in your experience there… Where did you stay and what did you do? Any insights will be helpful as we are struggling to decide on a hotel.
Thanks,
Diane
We enjoyed our stay in Amsterdam very much. We visited the Anne Frank House (which was meaningful for me, but might not be if you don’t know much about the story. The Anne Frank House is very busy and I recommend getting out early to get in line if you choose to see it.We also visited two museums, the Van Gogh and the Rijksmuseum. Both were excellent. We also rented bikes one morning, but that was intimidating once the other bikers came out in force. We stayed at the Ambassade Hotel right on one of the canals. It was quite expensive, so I don’t know what your budget looks like. Have a good time.
Hi, Diane. I think we may be on the same cruise. Ours departs from Amsterdam on Sunday, May 28, and ends in Basel on June 4, 2017. We are traveling with a group – 8 of us from Georgia. We arrive in Amsterdam on the 26th and are staying at the Hotel Estherea, then staying two nights in Basel at the end. Hope to meet up with you!
Christine, your post is great! So helpful! Thank you!!
Suzanne
I hope you’ll let me know if you meet up. That would be cool.
Thank you for this summary! This was so very helpful as we prepare for our cruise. We will also be staying only a night in Amsterdam, and I am scheduling the day’s activities now. What I am wondering is what time we will be off the boat in the morning? By 9 am, perhaps? I cannot seem to find the disembarkation time anywhere…
I’m sorry. I don’t remember exactly, but I think we arrived at the port overnight and were pretty much free to go after we settled our account. It was morning, I don’t remember how early.
My wife and I plan on going in late August. Hopefully everything is open. We loved seeing the cruise through your experiences. Thank you.