Rivers came before roads and although they may not offer the fastest route, they without doubt provide themost comfortable and scenic way of travelling across Europe. On this quartet of rivers we travel through some of Continental Europe’smost picturesque landscapes, some of her greatest cities and, by way of contrast, timeless villages.

Late summer is the perfect time to seemiddle Europe at its best. The grapes are ripening on the vines, the weather is still pleasantly warm and best of all the high season crowds have dispersed.

River banks across Europe are often home to some of the best vineyards and on this journey we pass through some of the finest wine producing areas. Our journey is not designed solely for the wine enthusiast but for those with interests in allmanner of subjects. But, as we pass riverside vineyards along these great rivers we will have the opportunity to taste and learnmore about each region. The great Rieslings and contrasting Eiswein’s of theMoselle, the surprisingly good Pinot Noir produced to the south of the River Main and the fabulous wines of Austria’s Wachau region.

We begin our four river journey on theMoselle in the ancient city of Trier close to the German-Luxembourg border. Fromhere we navigate themeanderingMoselle as shemakes her way to the confluence with the Rhine.We then travel themost scenic and romantic section of the Rhine with its cliff-top castles to the city ofMainz where the Rhine meets the River Main.

The Main, perhaps less well known than the Rhine, offers endlessly eye-catching landscapes as we pass enchanting medieval hamlets and villages as well as the imposing historic cities of Bamberg, Wurzburg and Nuremberg. Shortly after Nuremberg we enter the Main/Danube Canal a marvellous piece of civil engineering that connects the two rivers. The historic gems of Regensburg, Passau and the Wachau follow as we head for the great cities of Vienna and Budapest.

This tour can be split into two shorter voyages Autumn Colours on the Danube and Castle and wine of Romantic Germany