Along the Main River …………..
Cruise Brochure
Arrive into Miltenberg, a picturesque village on the Main River, which creates an imitable feeling of Bavarian life in medieval times due to the Old Town being lined with well-preserved half-timbered buildings and narrow cobbled streets. Choose from a guided tour of Miltenberg or if you want to go further afield join the organised hike to Wertheim Castle, built in the 12th century and partially destroyed in The Thirty Years’ War, now a popular tourist destination.
We spent the morning on the boat as we headed toward Miltenberg – our first stop today – an expected arrival around lunchtime. The locks were becoming a fairly common sight along the way and the locks themselves varied in size as well as the actual level we rose on the river. We had heard a lot of activity on the sundeck and we were no longer able to get up there. They had dismantled all the sunshades, tables and chairs and moved anything with any height to lower levels. It was not long before we realised why as sitting in the lounge we found ourselves going under a very low bridge almost just above the window we were sitting at.
During the morning cruising also, they had arranged a glass blowing demonstration. As we got closer to Miltenberg, we had a light lunch and got ready for our walking tours. They break the walking tours up into groups, with “Active” and “Leisure” groups at either extreme of the standard groups. Gae, Greg, Steve and I decided to do the “active” tour as this included a “hike” in the second part of the tour in Wertheim.
Medieval buildings in Miltenberg
The walking guide for our group was a jolly Scotsman who had moved to this part of Germany about 5 years ago. He was resplendent in his lederhosen – though probably not the best choice on this rather cold and chilly day ! It is interesting to see from town to town what effect there has been from the bombing during World War II. Miltenberg was able to remain fairly unscathed and so there are authentic homes in the town dating back to the 1500’s at least. The mixture of architecture through the ages also adding to the mixture of building facades.
Looking downriver from above Miltenberg
The “active” part of our Miltenberg walk meant we walked up a path behind one of the town squares to the castle on the hill – the other groups didn’t do this. Whilst it wasn’t particularly strenuous, it did give us a nice perspective back down to the town and over the river. After walking back down the hill into the town, we had some free time to explore it a bit further before we were scheduled to be collected by buses and taken on to Wertheim. We took the opportunity to do one of our “challenges” – we all did in fact – heading to the town’s historic hotel for “beer and pretzels”. The beer was good – the local Faust brew – and it was nice and warm inside out of the cold ! Then it was onto the bus and off on a short ride to Wertheim.
The town of Wertheim from the castle
Arriving in Wertheim, we again split into our groups to do our walking tour in town. Again, our “active” bit was a walk up to the castle above the town. We all agreed there really wasn’t difference with the groups ! After our walks, we headed down to the riverbank where we met up with the boat which was now arriving from having dropped us at Miltenberg.
Our boat arriving to collect us at Wertheim
Leaving Wertheim and the castle above the town
Having filled the afternoon, it wasn’t long until dinner and then after dinner it was “Disco Night” ! DJ Reno put on an excellent selection of music and we danced away the evening until late. We even had some of the crew up on the dance floor and joining in the fun ! Tomorrow we head to Wurzburg where we will have an early start to our days activities.
Today’s “Tour Trivia” – Located in the historic town centre, Hotel Zum Riesen is one of Germany’s oldest inns, if not the oldest !