River Boating: Bite Into the Nectar

As a native Californian, I say nothing beats a great beach, but Germany does the best it can with its major waterways. And the best way to enjoy them is with a riverboat cruise. (I hope you didn't think you were going to swim in them.)

It seems you can't walk by a river in Germany without seeing a boat cruise filled with people waving at you, and since you can't spit down at them (or at least that's what my friend Nina told me), you might as well join them. Heidelberg has its own boats that cruise locally on the Nectar, but the real action is up near Frankfurt and Mainz.

There are too many options to enumerate here, so I'll get right to the water trek you should consider first: the castle cruise. No, you don't get stoned and search for White Castles like Harold and Kumar, but you do travel along a section of the Rhine with narrow valleys, steep hillsides and nearly a castle every mile. It's no wonder this section of the river is listed as an UNESCO World Heritage site.

If you want to check out some castles, you'll want to look at departures from cities like Frankfurt, Mainz, Wiesbaden, and Cologne. Also keep in mind, if time is an issue, you will want to travel downstream as it's usually significantly quicker. In fact, if you want to keep it under two hours, start in Rheinabwärts (Mainz area) heading downstream to St Goar or St Goarhausen.

Köln-Düsseldorfer (KD) is one of the more popular cruise lines for day trips, so start with them first. They've actually been doing this since the early 1800s and even claim to have launched the Rhine's first tourist cruise. Also watch for special riverboat events, like Oktoberfest on the Rhine and Mother's/Father's Day specials. Other fun rides include trips to the Siebengebirge Mountains (right along Dragon's Cliff) and the Loreley Tours.

As long as you don't go near any Somali ships, riverboat cruises are some of the most fun you can have in Germany.

Photos by Coaster89 and Ben courtesy of Flickr.