Viking Buri August 2-16 2026 Cruise & Offers | Viking Cruises

Avignon is a walled Provençal city beside the Rhône, renowned as the fourteenth-century seat of the papacy. The vast Palais des Papes dominates its medieval center, while the surviving arches of Pont Saint-Bénézet reach into the river. Shaded squares, stone lanes, markets, and performance traditions give the historic monuments a lively setting.

Arles stands on the Rhône at the threshold of Provence and the Camargue. Its Roman arena, theater, baths, and necropolis form an exceptional ancient ensemble, complemented by medieval churches and honey-colored streets. Vincent van Gogh’s association with the city adds an artistic dimension to a place shaped equally by river trade and southern light.

Avignon is a walled Provençal city beside the Rhône, renowned as the fourteenth-century seat of the papacy. The vast Palais des Papes dominates its medieval center, while the surviving arches of Pont Saint-Bénézet reach into the river. Shaded squares, stone lanes, markets, and performance traditions give the historic monuments a lively setting.

Viviers is a compact medieval town on the Rhône in southern France. Stone lanes rise from the lower town toward the small Cathedral of Saint Vincent and the former episcopal quarter, where terraces overlook tiled roofs and the river valley. Renaissance façades and quiet squares preserve the atmosphere of its long religious importance.

Tournon-sur-Rhône sits beneath vineyard-covered hills on the west bank of the Rhône in southeastern France. An imposing riverside castle, old streets, collegiate church, and garden terraces preserve its historic character. A pedestrian bridge links Tournon with Tain-l’Hermitage, whose celebrated vineyards rise steeply across the river.

Lyon occupies the meeting of the Rhône and Saône, with historic districts climbing toward Fourvière hill. Renaissance Vieux Lyon is threaded by hidden traboules, while Roman remains and silk-weaving neighborhoods reveal older layers. Covered markets, traditional bouchons, and contemporary culinary creativity underpin the city’s celebrated gastronomic reputation.

Lyon occupies the meeting of the Rhône and Saône, with historic districts climbing toward Fourvière hill. Renaissance Vieux Lyon is threaded by hidden traboules, while Roman remains and silk-weaving neighborhoods reveal older layers. Covered markets, traditional bouchons, and contemporary culinary creativity underpin the city’s celebrated gastronomic reputation.

Burgundy is a historic region of east-central France celebrated for vineyards, Romanesque abbeys, canals, stone villages, and richly layered ducal history. Dijon and Beaune anchor a landscape where small, precisely defined plots produce renowned Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. Market towns, farm fields, and wooded hills reveal a cultural identity extending beyond wine alone.

Breisach occupies a hill above the Rhine in southwestern Germany, facing Alsace across the river. St. Stephen’s Minster crowns a reconstructed old town whose strategic location prompted centuries of conflict. The nearby Kaiserstuhl’s volcanic slopes support vineyards, while the Rhine plain provides a natural link toward Freiburg, the Black Forest, and eastern France.

Strasbourg blends French and German influences beside the Ill River in Alsace. Its immense Gothic cathedral towers over a historic center of lanes, canals, and timber-framed houses, especially around Petite France. European institutions, university life, markets, and regional food add a contemporary dimension to this long-contested border city.

Speyer is one of Germany’s oldest cities, set near the Rhine in the Upper Rhine Plain. Its immense Romanesque cathedral contains the tombs of medieval emperors and kings. The preserved Jewish ritual bath and synagogue remains, Old Gate, museums, and pedestrian Maximilianstrasse illuminate the city’s religious, civic, and imperial history.

Middle Rhine is a named scenic passage, experienced from the vessel rather than as a visit ashore. The surrounding water, coast, islands, or riverbanks provide visual context as the route unfolds. Visibility, exact course, and timing can vary with weather, water levels, traffic, and operational conditions, so no fixed viewpoint or shore activity is implied.

Cologne spans the Rhine around its immense twin-spired cathedral, a Gothic landmark completed across more than six centuries. Roman remains, medieval churches, museums, and reconstructed old-town lanes reveal the city’s long history. Contemporary art, Carnival traditions, Kölsch beer halls, and a busy riverside reflect the confident culture of Germany’s largest Rhine city.

Waal & Merwede is a named scenic passage, experienced from the vessel rather than as a visit ashore. The surrounding water, coast, islands, or riverbanks provide visual context as the route unfolds. Visibility, exact course, and timing can vary with weather, water levels, traffic, and operational conditions, so no fixed viewpoint or shore activity is implied.

Amsterdam’s concentric canals frame gabled houses, intimate bridges and neighborhoods shaped by centuries of commerce. Major art museums, historic interiors, markets and café-lined streets offer many ways to explore. Its compact core is especially walkable, while canal perspectives reveal how water, architecture and daily life remain closely connected.