Welcome to Prague or as the Europeans say Praha. I was welcomed for my Central European Experience with Avalon Waterways the minute I arrived by Avalon and whisked away to the Art Deco Imperial Hotel. Perfect historical building in new town and a 20 minute walk to Old Town Praha. We walked around for hours and then we went back to the hotel for dinner reservations which is required. 5 star Michelin restaurant. Dinner was superb.
This past December I had the pleasure of joining Avalon’s Tranquility II for its “Festive Time on the Romantic Rhine with Avalon Waterways” itinerary. This was my second Avalon Waterways vacation, and it will not be my last. My friend Akram was excited to join me for this trip (full disclosure: all the best pictures in this blog are his). What follows are my impressions and musings about the trip, although we did so much that I couldn’t possibly include everything. If you are the kind of person who (like me) likes to sit and go through photo albums with people, then you might find the read rewarding.
AmaWaterways gives you the relaxing accommodations of a five-star hotel, and easily takes you from one amazing destination to the next. These four wine river cruises with AmaWaterways will take you to four different UNESCO-designated regions that are essential to the making of authentic European wines. Not only will you learn the whole process of making wine, you will also savor them throughout your trip. Each wine cruise is hosted by knowledgeable wine experts and sommeliers that will provide the greatest wines and the best local flavors in each pairing.
When I opted to take a trip, I gravitated toward the Globus family of brands. They’ve been in the business over 90 years and, from a customer service standpoint, they’re a standout. I would be traveling with my mom and wanted the experience to be as stress-free as possible. Sailing from Basel to Amsterdam allowed us the chance to visit our German roots, cruise through the Rhine Gorge, and we would only need to unpack once – the delightful perk of a floating hotel. With that in my mind, we decided that the Romantic Rhine with Avalon, the sailing sister company of Globus, would be the perfect fit.
European Highlights with Trafalgar was a fast paced, dream vacation. This is the perfect trip for first time Europe travelers, who want to cover a lot of countries and see a little bit of everything, in a short period of time. We got to visit 5 countries, that I’ve never been to, over the course of 9 days. We had tons of included meals, experiences and free time.