DESTINATIONS CRUISE |GERMANY
CLOCKWISE FROM LEFT: Smoked beer; Fairytale-like t 38
Rothenberg; River Princess dining room; Lobby on board River Princess PREVIOUS PAGE: Bamberg old town. PICTURES: SCStock/ Shutterstock; Francesco Carovillano; Andreas Hub/Uniworld River Cruises
hey say you should never talk about religion and politics with people you’ve just met, but it’s difficult to
avoid either as we walk around Bamberg, a historic town in Bavaria with 40 churches and cathedrals. Bamberg was once ruled by prince-bishops, who had little to do with royalty but were elected by the church. “Just like Rome, we are built on seven hills,” says our guide Stefanie, as we puff our way up one of them to the top of the town, where a grand cathedral sits opposite a vast Renaissance-cum- Baroque palace. The then prince- bishop started building the Neue Residenz palace in 1603 and his successors enhanced it over the next century by adding wings and splashing out on gold, stucco and fresco decoration inside.
No penitent sackcloth and ashes for these guys, clearly; instead, they lived the high life on medieval taxpayers’ money. “They dined in
4 APRIL 2024
33The towns and cities along the Main’s banks are steeped in enough history, culture and quirky stories to fill volumes
there on four-course lunches and 14-course dinners,” Stefanie tells us.
BEER CAPITAL You can’t visit Bamberg and not talk beer. With 14 breweries, its inhabitants quaff more of the hoppy amber nectar than other Germans do, especially their own unique- tasting smoked beer. “It’s like drinking ham,” Stefanie says. We’re in Bamberg on day three of a seven-night Uniworld cruise on the Main River (say it like ‘mine’) and Main-Danube Canal – two
waterways that meet outside town and are the unsung heroes of the world of river cruising. That’s because they not only connect the Rhine and Danube rivers, enabling cruisers to sail from the North Sea to the Black Sea, but the towns and cities along their banks are steeped in enough history, culture and quirky stories to fill volumes. Our voyage from Nuremberg to
Frankfurt on Uniworld River Cruises’ River Princess takes us through 38
locks (there are 50 in total, if you travel the full length of the river and canal) and to Bamberg, Würzburg and Wertheim. We’re also stopping off at Kitzingen for an excursion to the storybook town of Rothenburg, a 40-minute drive away. Plus, there’s time to explore Nuremberg and Frankfurt at the start and end. All the stops on this cruise have medieval old towns lined with half-timbered houses, turreted castles and thousand-year-old churches. They also have more of those profligate prince-bishops,
RIVER PRINCESS
Launched in 2001 and with room for just 128 passengers, River Princess is one of Uniworld River Cruises’ stalwart ships. The vessel’s green, black and white décor is bold and stunning, while its small size makes it intimate and friendly. Cabins have fixed windows (lower deck) or French balconies. Suite passengers get more space, a butler, free minibar and never-ending supply of complimentary spirits. There is one restaurant, open for buffet breakfast, and lunch plus a served dinner, a lounge/ bar, a ‘patio’ with a coffee/ tea station and early breakfast pastries, plus a gym and massage room.
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