The guest experience is at the core of every AmaWaterways itinerary. And a valuable part of that experience is having a variety of shore excursions included. On my recent Vineyards of the Rhine and Moselle sailing, that meant I could fully immerse myself in each destination without ever worrying about planning, logistics, or surprise costs. Every morning brought a new adventure: exploring charming riverside towns, meeting local artisans in centuries-old workshops, and wandering through cobblestone streets lined with history and culture.
Ama offers excursions for every pace: gentle, regular, or active. We quickly realized that going for the active options meant smaller groups, which I absolutely loved!
Here’s a look at our itinerary and the adventures we chose.
Amsterdam
The sole option here was a canal cruise. Back in June when we visited with the teens, we had the opportunity to visit the Anne Frank House and explore on foot. It was lovely to enjoy the city center from the water.
The day before Mr. FamTrav and I visited the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam’s National Museum featuring more than 8,000 works of Dutch art and history. After the canal cruise, we headed back to enjoy the Rijksmuseum Gardens. I highly recommend doing both.
You will have sufficient time after the cruise for a museum visit. Generally timed-entry tickets are available day of for the Rijksmuseum. However, the Van Gogh Museum – much smaller than the Rijksmuseum – sells out quickly. An advance ticket purchase is required.
Cologne
One of my girlfriends who was stationed in Germany years ago told me I would love Cologne. I was happy to tell her she was right!
Here, we had the options of a walking tour, Cologne Cathedral architecture tour, and a bike tour. Mr. FamTrav and I opted for the bike tour. Even though it included a brief stop outside the cathedral, it mostly took us on city roads and through parks. So as soon as we got back to the ship and returned our bikes, we headed right back to the city center to explore on our own.
Our first stop was Hohenzollern Bridge, also known as Lock Bridge or Love Bridge. If you watch The Amazing Race, you may have seen it featured on Season 35, Episode 7 where teams had to search for marked locks. At the time I thought how hard could it be? Seriously, the locks span forever!
Then we toured the iconic Cologne Cathedral, which is a UNESCO World Heritage site. This gothic cathedral is famous for it’s size and twin towers. In fact, it is the tallest twin-spired church in the world, and second tallest church in Europe. It is also home to the Shrine of the Three Kings.
Rüdesheim
Rüdesheim is located on the Rhine’s right bank in the wine region. Odds are your favorite Riesling is from here.
The morning began with about four hours of scenic cruising with narration. Castles and vineyards as far as the eye could see. It was spectacular!
Once we docked in Rüdesheim, the excursion options included a gondola ride & wine tasting, vineyard hike, and bike tour. We originally signed up for the vineyard hike, but later switched to the gondola. We skipped the wine tasting in favor of exploring the village after.
We opted for the sole evening excursion which was a visit to Siegfried’s Mechanical Music Cabinet, and I’m so happy we did! The museum is housed in a 15th Century knight’s residence, and holds more than 400 self-playing musical instruments. It was fascinating learning about how these instruments are made, maintained, and hear them play music. This was perhaps a very technical activity, but one of the more memorable ones for us.
We capped off the night with a visit to a local pub with some of the members of our group.
Mainz & Lahnstein
Day 5 brought two stops. In Mainz, the activities included a city tour with a visit to the Gutenberg Museum, a bike tour, and another wine tasting. Guess which one we chose? 😉
Johannes Gutenberg didn’t invent the printing press. Rather, he was the first to develop a printing press with moveable type. Of course his most famous work is the Gutenberg Bible. Gutenberg’s invention transformed the way information could be replicated and distributed. This museum honors his work.
I distinctly remember learning about the Gutenberg Printing Press in primary school. And it’s still surreal that Mr. FamTrav had the opportunity to use one of the original presses to print a copy of John I. We actually just got this piece framed.
As we toured the city with our guide, there are reminders everywhere of the evil that exists in the world.
European villages are mostly closed on Sundays, a practice that remains even though very few people attend mass.
We rather enjoyed exploring in the relative peace and quiet, soaking in the simplicity, and taking a moment to reflect.
All too soon we were in Lahnstein, where the activity was a visit to Lahneck Castle. This is one of many castles along the Rhine, but is famous for haunting legends – including one about the Knights Templar, and the tragic death of Idilia Dubb, a Scottish girl who fell to her death while attempting to reach the castle’s keep.
At the end of the tour, we stayed in the city center to explore a bit more on our own. Again, with it being Sunday, we nearly had the place to ourselves.
We located part of the old wall and enjoyed the ancient architecture.
I won’t say too much about this next photo, but consider the context in this little town in Germany. It’s worth the effort to translate.
Cochem
Our next stop was Cochem, with the iconic Cochem castle towering over this fairytale town on the Moselle River. Our activities here included a castle and walking tour, castle hike, and bike tour. We opted for the castle hike and finally had some familiar faces on our tour, ha!
Listen, that castle hike was no joke. Everyone was huffing and puffing making their way up to the top! But it was so worth it!
After the tour, we went off in search of Reisling gelato (YUM!), and a mustard tasting (also YUM!). I don’t normally care for bratwurst, but I must have worked up an appetite, or the mustard was so delicious, this was gone in seconds! We even brought a jar of mustard home, it was that good.
One last view of the castle.
Bernkastel
Or more accurately Traben-Trarbach. Excursion options included a walking tour and wine tasting at Bernkastel, Landshut castle hike, or bike tour. Visiting Bernkastel sounded wonderful, but with an early wake-up call and a 45-minute bus ride, we decided to skip the rush. If this stop had been earlier in the itinerary, we absolutely would have gone. But at this stage of the trip, Mr. FamTrav and I opted for a slower morning – sleeping in and exploring charming Traben-Trarbach at our own pace.
We discovered the cutest little souvenir store, and bought some pieces to take home as gifts. We even found an Aldi to check out and bought tons of candy for the teens.
I can honestly say we enjoyed the variety of activities AmaWaterways offered. And we appreciated that there was always enough time after to do more of what we wanted. It was the best of both worlds!
From start to finish, the experience was exceptional! So much so that I want you to experience it for yourself. On November 4, 2025, at 6:30 pm/CT, I’m hosting an AmaWaterways Virtual Cruise Night. As a thank you for attending, for any bookings made within three weeks of the event, I will cover your gratuities. That’s a €400 value for a party of two! Stay tuned for more information.
My New Favorite Way to See Europe? Cruising with AmaWaterways / Beyond the Riverbanks: Immersive Cultural Excursions with AmaCerto
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