Trip Report - Netherlands/France/Germany/Switzerland 2023

Hi. Thank you for all the prior input. We've just returned from an 18 day trip and will try to recap some of the highlights. Paying it forward!

1. Netherlands

For the first part of the trip, we based in Amsterdam and spent 5 days. Was pretty cold and rainy most of the time. Our first day we got to go on a canal cruise, which was great, but rainy as hell unfortunately. We walked around the Red Light District (pretty much unimpressed). Got to tour the Rijksmuseum. Not a museum guy really, but it was an impressive display.

Probably one of the highlights of the trip was to visit Zaandam, a city in the province of North Holland, Netherlands. It includes Zaanse Schans with all the ancient windmills. A member of our party stayed with a host family many years ago and we got to have dinner with them one night, which was special.

2. Viking Cruise: Rhine Getaway-Amsterdam to Basel

Our ship, the Viking Sigrun, was home for the next 7 days. This was our 7th Viking Cruise (1 was an ocean cruise). We've come to expect friendly, competent service on Viking. And, for the most part, this was our experience overall, but with some noticeable lapses in service this time. This boat carries up to 190 passengers, and it was near capacity at 184. So, I partly blame that on the number of passengers. Still, the food, wine, other beverages (we always get the "Silver Spirits Package" which offers unlimited drinks whenever) were top notch as usual.

Route

While I enjoyed the Rhine, we liked the Danube much better in terms of overall scenery.

The weather was cold and rainy frequently, but we were prepared and it didn't stop us. One of the MAJOR pluses this time of year was the fact that the Christmas markets were all open, that made the trip magical. Each city has it's own market set up, so you'd get a variety of food, drink and crafts. Let's just say Glühwein (hot mulled wine) quickly became our friend!

I would say we most enjoyed touring Cologne Germany The Cathedral is amazing!) and Strasbourg France.

3. Self Directed Post Cruise Trip-Colmar France

The last part of the trip was a week on our own. We rented a vehicle in Basel Switzerland, which should have been a clue of what was in store. The party we were traveling with had sizeable luggage and the car we rented would not accommodate us all. They upgraded us for an additional charge to a Mercedes van. Nice vehicle. Now, I've driven quite a bit in Europe, but it was intimidating driving that thing on roads I'm not used to. More importantly, parking that behemoth in towns where it's becoming the height of tourist crowds. Crowded parking lots. Tiny slots. UGGH. Managed, but we may have been "sideswiped" (contract had some indicated damage, and since the panel door was open when we first loaded up, not actually sure if it was there, or not). We did purchase the collision coverage. We do this even though Chase Sapphire Reserve offers some coverage, just don't want to have to "pay and pursue" in Europe compared to the risks. We'll see if we get billed ultimately or not. Lesson learned. Can't say we'd always do Train Travel and Uber it in the future as cars do offer an advantage. Just not something that large!

But enough about the van. Colmar was SPECTACULAR! Best Christmas Market we've ever seen. BUT..CROWDED (during the weekend). Ever been in a sea of humanity and flowed like the Nile. It got that crowded sometimes.

The food and the drink were equally amazing. Always interesting to see great bottles of wine consistently under 15 Euros. We did do one winery tour during a day trip to Kaysersberg, a beautiful historical town in Alsace in northeastern France.

Finished the trip with 2 nights in Basel. Old town was interesting, but frankly wasn't all that impressed with the town overall.

Bummer part besides the van was wife (no pics) got sick and later got Covid. Half our group got sick (not Covid). She's better now and tested negative, but still hasn't gotten her voice back (which might be a blessing?? ) I kid.

Anyway, that's all! Thanks again for all the input along the way. It's what makes this board so special!

Selected Photos!