Europe's Rivers & Castles

Founded in 902, Bamberg remains a medieval-looking city known for its symphony orchestra and specialty “smoke” beer. Bamberg was also the first site in Germany of lithographic printing featuring movable type.

The city’s winding streets are filled with baroque patrician houses as well as the breathtaking 11th century cathedral of Holy Roman Emperor Heinrich II, which houses his tomb as well as that of Pope Clement II. Tour the 16th century Alt Residenz (Old Residence) and the 17th century Neue Residenz (New Residence), both of which were bishop’s houses.

A quaint medieval town along the Moselle River.

As the French capital, Paris is the commercial, financial, and industrial focus of France, a major transportation hub, and a cultural and intellectual center of international renown. A beautiful city in which tourism is the main industry, Paris is cut by the Seine River. On its stately, formal right (northern) bank are many of the most fashionable streets and shops, and such landmarks as the Arc de Triomphe, Place de la Concorde, Louvre, and Sacré Coeur.

The left bank houses governmental offices and is the site of much of the city’s intellectual life. It is known for its old Latin Quarter and for such landmarks as the Sorbonne, the Luxembourg Palace, the Panthéon, and the modern Pompidou Center (see Beaubourg). The historic core of Paris is the Île de la Cité, a small island occupied in part by the Palais de Justice and the Cathedral of Notre-Dame de Paris. Above the city rises the Eiffel Tower. Paris is divided into 20 arrondissements (boroughs) and governed by a mayor.

A fishing village when it was conquered (52 B.C.) by Caesar, it became an important Roman town. It was a Merovingian capital in the 5th cent. and became the national capital with the accession (987) of Hugh Capet, count of Paris. It flowered as the center of medieval commerce and scholasticism but suffered severely during the Hundred Years War. Paris consistently displayed a rebellious and independent spirit, as in its resistance to Henry IV (1589-93); the first Fronde (1648-49); the revolutions of 1789, 1830, and 1848; and the Commune of Paris (1871). During World War II it was occupied (1940-44) by the Germans but was relatively undamaged.

The Rhine Valley is the general name for the valley, or any section of it, of the Rhine river in Europe.

Here you’ll find dramatic landscapes with fertile vineyards clinging to steep hills, numerous imposing castles and dreamy wine villages. Every little village, it seems, has at least one wine festival per year, with the most famous being the Rhine in Flames series of festivals, when water, lighting and fireworks are combined to spectacular effect. Try to visit the Rhine Valley in early spring or late autumn when the crowds have gone. The best way to see the valley is by boat.

The Rhine Gorge, a section of the Rhine between Koblenz and Bingen, is also known as the Upper Middle Rhine Valley. Home to more than 40 castles and fortresses, it is also a UNESCO World Heritage Site and arguably the river’s most visited section.

Rüdesheim is a small, very quaint “Bavarian” village in Germany on the Rhine River. Points of interest include the Asbach Brandy Distillery, Cable-car to Niederwald Monument, Medieval Museum of Torture, a Falconry and many wine festivals throughout the year.

Germany’s oldest city and a monument to history: Trier. Founded in 16 B.C as “Augusta Treverorum”, it dramatically blossomed into “Roma Secunda”, a second Rome. Nowhere else in Germany is the Roman past as impressively visible as in this former imperial residence. The Porta Nigra, the Amphitheater, the Imperial Baths, and the Constantine Basilica – all of them UNESCO cultural heritage sites – impressively demonstrate the Roman way of life.

The city on the Mosel River also features stone witnesses to past eras including the Romanesque, Gothic, Renaissance and Baroque periods. The Cathedral, the medieval marketplace, and the palace of the Prince Electors are other historic elements of a dynamic community that lives its past in the present.

Trier is an excellent place to travel back in time – for instance with the tour “2000 Steps – 2000 Years” and the “Roman Meal” based on an original recipe from Apicius. Even back then, the Romans washed it down with a tasty wine grown on the banks of the Mosel.

A history filled town located near the Main and Tauber rivers.

Intersecting trade routes, a favorable climate, fertile soil and a primary waterway brought wealth to Würzburg from the early Middle Ages. Symbols of this wealth-and the artistry it bought-are what still attract visitors: the massive, medieval Fortress Marienberg that towers over the city; the Residenz, arguably the most ornate Baroque palace in Germany; St. Kilian’s Cathedral, with its Romanesque exterior and splendidly Rococo interior; and Neumünster Church.

Today, Würzburg, the northern terminus of the Romantic Road, is a surprisingly cosmopolitan Bavarian city filled with architectural and artistic treasures-and exquisite Franconian wine.

Those who make the trip to Würzburg are generally surprised by its warmth, charm and extensive variety of art, architecture and culture. Würzburg’s prime location on the Main makes for delightful strolls along the promenade, and riverfront cafes overflow in good weather. Sightseeing boats offer sightseeing excursions and trips to neighboring villages, and passenger ships plying the Rhine, Main and Danube make the city a prime stop.

Würzburg lies in the heart of Franconian Wine Region, and wine and wine-making are central to life in Würzburg. In autumn, the hills surrounding Würzburg and throughout Franconia are dotted with grape pickers, who fill baskets and dump them into waiting trailers.