The Sunday Telegraph - 01.09.2019

The Sunday Telegraph Sunday 1 September 2019^ *** 3

cal expert were available for those who

preferred more structure. I mixed it up.

A bike ride in Breisach took us deep into

the Black Forest, where I gobbled up

huge slices of the eponymous gateau

and made toasts with home-made

cherry liqueur. A stroll through Stras-

bourg delighted with its unexpectedly

beautiful old town of half-timbered me-

dieval houses, winding canals, and cas-

ual restaurants serving up boards of

comté, roquefort and saucisson.

In Heidelberg, local guide Andrea

shared interesting nuggets of history

surrounding Germany’s oldest univer-

sity town, tales of the male-dominated

fraternities housed in the grand, ba-

roque houses, the construction of the

red sandstone castle perched high up

the hill – the world’s largest wine barrel

residing inside – and the reason that

COVER STORY

‘The Upper Middle Rhine is

an area of ridiculous beauty’

there are traffic lights on the country’s

roundabouts: “The Germans don’t like

the give way rule; it slows them down.”

In Rüdesheim, in the heart of the

Rheingau, I spied the start of vineyard

country, which would stretch over the

next three days in an endless blanket of

verdant stripes. Here I was introduced

to the paper-thin Flammekueche, an

Alsatian ode to the pizza, topped with

lardons, crème fraîche and onions, and

the brandy-spiked Rüdesheim coffee.

Through the Upper Middle Rhine, an

area of ridiculous natural beauty, a con-

tinuous conveyor belt of Romantic-era

castles dazzled with fairy-tale turrets,

while I sampled home-made pistachio

ice cream and bellinis handed out by

the crew. Steep vineyards melted

into pretty ice-cream-hued vil-

lages, each with their own legend

to tell, entertainingly regaled by

Ivan, the cruise director. These are

tales of bloody battles, cannibal-

ism, unrequited love and trickery –

the most famous being that of Lore

Lay, the golden-haired maiden who

mesmerised sailors to their ship-

wrecked demise, marked by the jutting

slate Lorelei Rock, at the point where

the Rhine curves at its deepest and nar-

rowest towards Koblenz.

Viking Eir docked at the mouth of

the Moselle river at Koblenz, and its

passengers travelled deeper into the

300-mile/480km-long valley, bordered

by steep vineyards. Our guide touched

on the 2,000-year-old viticulture tradi-

tions, the legend of the wine witch, and

the protected Apollo butterfly flutter-

ing around these parts, before taking us

to Winningen, where vines grow along

and between the houses like telephone

wires – their roots helping to keep the

cellars dry. Following a fact-packed

tour of a family-run winery, we swirled

our glasses enthusiastically through a

tutored tasting of superb riesling and

pinot noir wines.

That evening, sailing towards Co-

logne, the ship laid on a Taste of

Germany-themed feast. The staff,

dressed in lederhosen and dirndls,

delivered and replenished tall

glasses of Kölsch with the deft of a

brauhaus server, while knotted

pretzels, slow-cooked pork

knuckle, veal schnitzel, brat-

wurst and apple strudel were laid

out on the buffet. A day later, after

sightseeing in Cologne fuelled by

sweet spicy trays of curry-

wurst, I was similarly won

over by the ship’s prime

views of the illuminated ca-

thedral, and an eclectic per-

formance by a pair from the

Cologne Symphony Orches-

tra, covering everything

from Mozart to Danny Boy.

After Germany, came the

Netherlands, marked by the

distinctive flat landscape

dotted with wind turbines,

riverside farms, Holstein

Friesian cows and herons,

M

useums and an-

cient sites might

float your boat,

but it’s the pros-

pect of glorious

new edible dis-

coveries that ex-

cites me the

most about travelling. The local bites

you can only get there; the ingredi-

ents you can pick up to reignite that

holiday “ahhh” through newfound

recipes back home. When that trip

runs along the river Rhine from Basel

to Amsterdam, through four coun-

tries, six cities and four towns, rich in

fine wine and Weissbier, cheese and

charcuterie, schnapps, schnitzel and

stroopwafels, the anticipation dials

up a notch.

The agenda of a Rhine cruise

means you explore a different desti-

nation daily, having docked a walka-

ble distance from the heart of the

action. Evenings are spent reliving

the highlights and tucking into an à

la carte selection of regional speciali-

ties reflecting the places you travel

through. On my low-level Viking

River Cruises longboat, Viking Eir, I

savoured cinnamon and plum

Zwetschgenwähe as we sailed away

from Basel; spinach dumplings in

Breisach; meaty bitterballen on the

approach to Amsterdam.

While not specifically touted as a

cruise for foodies, there was plenty to

dip into through onshore and on-

board activities. Each morning, maps

and bottles of water were laid out by

reception for self-guided tours; ex-

cursions with a lollipop-carrying lo- CONTINUED ON PAGE 4J

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GETTY IMAGES; ALAMY; VISIT HOLLAND

I was won

over by the

ship’s

prime

views of

Cologne’s

illuminated

cathedral

RIVER

RICHES

Castles line the

route of the river,

main; Dutch

windmills,

right; Black

Forest gateau,

below; Rüdesheim,

below left

An eight-day Rhine

Getaway cruise with

Viking River Cruises

(0800 319 6660;

vikingrivercruises.co.uk),

sailing from Basel to

Amsterdam, starts from

£1,595pp, departing on

March 31 2020. Flights

are included.

ESSENTIALS

and the appearance of stroopwafels

at the tea and coffee station. At a Dan-

ish cheese farm, we ate creamy

shards of handmade gouda – and

found out just how good it was fla-

voured with fenugreek and truffle. A

final tour took us inside the 18th-cen-

tury Kinderdijk windmills before we

disembarked in Amsterdam, to stuff

ourselves with pancakes, amble

along canalsides and dodge bicycles.

River cruises have the romance

and multi-stop joy of a rail or road

trip, with the creature comforts of a

plush hotel, and the convenience of

being carted (or, rather, smoothly

sailed) from one city’s doorstep to the

next. You arrive right in a prime spot

for getting into the thick of it, rested

and ready to tuck into a fresh selec-

tion of must-visit sights and local ed-

ible delights with equal gusto. There

are deliciously different flavours at

each port of call.

Above all, you do this in the knowl-

edge that pretty much everything is

taken care of for you. Your only re-

sponsibility is to be back on the boat

before it sets sail for the next destina-

tion – and to tuck into your next meal.

Gabrielle Sander

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