Rhine and Moselle River Cruise for solo travellers

Arrival in Cologne - Welcome to Cologne, one of Germany’s oldest cities!  Board your five-star ship and meet the friendly English-speaking crew who will be looking after you for the next week. They will welcome you and help you to your cabin. After settling into your spacious and well-equipped accommodation, it’s time to familiarise yourself with this floating boutique hotel that will be your home for the next seven nights.

Koblenz & Boppard - Early this morning, we reach Koblenz, which sits at the confluence of the Rhine and Moselle rivers.  This 2,000-year-old city is a joy to wander through, pausing to window shop while trying to resist the aromas of fresh coffee and cakes drifting from the numerous traditional cafés. Explore with a knowledgeable local guide, who will show you its principal monuments and intriguing centre, taking in historic squares, highlighting painstakingly restored house frontages and revealing hidden aspects of the city that only locals know. We'll return to our ship for lunch, during which we'll sail to Boppard, also known as the ‘Pearl of the Rhine’. Here, you'll have a guided tour of this famously picturesque town located on a long, looping bend of the river. The black and white spires of the Church of Saint Severus can be seen from a distance, but as we draw closer its bustling quayside comes into view. Captivating, cobbled streets, lined by half-timbered houses, tucked-away shops selling traditional goods and characterful restaurants, lead into the town and its main square. Like many riverside settlements in the area, the Romans founded Boppard, and their legacy remains in the superbly preserved town walls, the finest in Germany. There’s time to explore or promenade along the river, gazing at views of the vineyard-covered hillsides. Or you can simply pass time on board in anticipation of more fine dining in the ship’s restaurant this evening. We're moored in Boppard overnight, so you're welcome to go ashore in the evening if you wish.

Cologne - We slip our mooring early this morning and our ship resumes its voyage downstream as you enjoy another fine breakfast with views of pretty riverside towns, backed by the rolling volcanic hills for which the area is renowned.  Passing the last vineyards and half-timbered houses around the pretty town of Linz, it’s not long before we reach the railway bridge at Remagen - it was captured intact towards the end of the Second World War, which some say shortened the war in Germany. Today we arrive back into historic Cologne, spotting the magnificent dual-spired Gothic cathedral for which the city is so famous. It’s a truly monumental building, taking over 600 years to build and featuring myriad religious and art treasures and perhaps the most intricate stained-glass windows in Europe. After lunch onboard, we join a local guide for an informative tour of the city, with time to explore its tree-lined squares and perhaps visit one of its traditional bars, many of which still brew their own beer. After our final dinner tonight, it's time to indulge in some chocolate! We'll have a presentation and Q&A session from Cologne's Lindt Chocolate Museum, topped off with the chance to sample its world-famous produce.