Active & Discovery On The Rhine (Northbound)

Amsterdam: A good time! That’s what you’ll have in this beautiful capital of the Netherlands, which feels at once like a 17-century city and a bustling modern metropolis. Famous for its canals and extraordinary museums, Amsterdam is also an intimate city with strangely alluring streets and squares.

BONN – Beethoven’s Birthplace

Two thousand years have left their mark in Bonn, tracing its development from a Roman camp into the settlement known as “Villa Basilica,” and on through the Baroque era’s Electoral Palace, which today houses the University.

Much of its history, ancient and modern, can be read in Bonn’s cityscape. In the north, for instance, traces of the Romans can still be found, and in the south, providing a modern contrast, soars “Lean Eugene” – the high-rise Parliamentary Office Building and symbol of high politics.

As a 2000-year-old city situated in the heart of Europe, Bonn offers its guests a wealth of sights. Especially worth seeing are the Basilica in the heart of the city, the venerable Münster in which kings were crowned between 1314-46; the two-storied church of Schwarzrheindorf; and Baroque Poppelsdorf Palace.

Bonn is renowned as the city of music. Ludwig van Beethoven first saw the light of day here in 1770. Paying homage to the great composer are Bonn’s international Beethoven Festivals. His birthplace, with museum, is a must attraction. It is one of the characteristic Baroque town houses from the Electoral era.

With the National Art and Exhibition Hall and the new Art Museum, as well as numerous other collections, Bonn boasts a museum scene that is second to none.

But the City of Beethoven has even more to offer, such as the lovely Rhine riverbank promenade leading past the Beethovenhalle (concert hall), the old Customs House and Villa Hammerschmidt – all the way to Bad Godesberg, the diplomatic quarter. From here one has a splendid view of the fabled Siebengebirge with Drachenfels, Drachenburg and Petersberg. Bonn – Your destination on the Rhine.

The commercial and cultural center for the Ruhr region on the Rhine River, Duseldorff is also the site of the Felderhof Cave where Neanderthal man was found in 1856.

This former capital of Germany is located in the southwest area and is the major commercial center.

200 years ago, the stretch of the Rhine between Mainz and Bonn was discovered by artists and poets of the Romantic Movement in search of one of nature’s works of art. Mainz, the capital of Rhineland-Palatinate, has for centuries been known as the „Golden City” of Germany. Here, the Impressions and changing moods of the river landscape are reflected in the images and atmosphere of the city in a very special way. In the „Year of Romanticism of the Rhine”, Mainz offers a series of attractions which capture the particular charm of Mainz and its surrounding countryside.