Rhine Cruise - Question about Strasbourg

[DisneyWishes14]

We have booked the Rhine Cruise ABD for this summer (woohoo!). I was looking through the itinerary to try to decide which excursions we would like to do and nothing in the afternoon on the second day is very appealing to us. For those who have done this cruise, I was wondering, is it possible to do the canal boat cruise and visit to the Cathedral in the morning and then just stay in Strasbourg on our own for lunch and touring? I know we would then have to make our own way back to the boat. Any thoughts on how we would do that? My other thought is just to forego all ABD excursions that day and, perhaps, find a private guide to take us back and forth from the boat into the town of Strasbourg? It doesn't sound like we can walk into town from the boat, is that correct? Thanks for your help!

 

[disneyphx]

I had planned on staying in town until it poured rain....had planned on a cab back to the boat. Several people did that, staying in town for lunch after the excursion (both of which are ‘in town’)
I think it was a 20-30 minute bus ride when we went in 2018
The wine tasting is in town - not sure if you could coordinate to catch that bus even if you didn’t do the excursion- that might be better asked once you are on board
Not sure I would pay for a private guide - I would do the morning one of interest And then wander in town. Of all the places we visited on the trip, Strasbourg is the one I want to return to!

 

[DisneyWishes14]

I had planned on staying in town until it poured rain....had planned on a cab back to the boat. Several people did that, staying in town for lunch after the excursion (both of which are ‘in town’)
I think it was a 20-30 minute bus ride when we went in 2018
The wine tasting is in town - not sure if you could coordinate to catch that bus even if you didn’t do the excursion- that might be better asked once you are on board
Not sure I would pay for a private guide - I would do the morning one of interest And then wander in town. Of all the places we visited on the trip, Strasbourg is the one I want to return to!

Thank you so much for your reply! Ok, I think we will do the morning canal boat and cathedral, stay in town for lunch and wandering and then I'll figure out how to get back to the boat (I'll figure it out before we go!).

Another question - did you do one of the Black Forest tours or the Riquewihr tour with horseback riding? I'd like to do the Riquewihr tour, but I am going to be hard pressed convincing DH and DS to go horseback riding! I'm wondering if we can just go to the stable, but not ride?

 

[OhanaCuz]

You can do whatever you want! On the Danube cruise during one the of the excursions we said "peace!" and did our own thing for the second half the of the day. We just took an Uber back to the ship. If that's not an option the Adventure Guides and/or the concierge can help you arrange transportation.

 

[disneyphx]

We did the toboggan run one....it was a hard choice!
I am not recalling if Riquewihr included riding when we went - perhaps you could ask if you could skip it? Depends on where it is as to wha you could do instead. I have skipped activities on regular ABDs and other trips and sometimes just had to wait....

 

[sayhello]

Thank you so much for your reply! Ok, I think we will do the morning canal boat and cathedral, stay in town for lunch and wandering and then I'll figure out how to get back to the boat (I'll figure it out before we go!).

Another question - did you do one of the Black Forest tours or the Riquewihr tour with horseback riding? I'd like to do the Riquewihr tour, but I am going to be hard pressed convincing DH and DS to go horseback riding! I'm wondering if we can just go to the stable, but not ride?

Maybe for this one tour, you could go to Riquewihr, and DH and DS could do something else? It's one of the beauties of the river cruises that there are so many options.

Sayhello

 

[DisneyWishes14]

Maybe for this one tour, you could go to Riquewihr, and DH and DS could do something else? It's one of the beauties of the river cruises that there are so many options.

Sayhello

That's definitely a possibility! I was also thinking DS might like grooming the horses. He would actually be ok riding - DH, not so much! It's such a hard choice though as I want to do the Black Forest AND Riquewihr!

 

[sayhello]

That's definitely a possibility! I was also thinking DS might like grooming the horses. He would actually be ok riding - DH, not so much! It's such a hard choice though as I want to do the Black Forest AND Riquewihr!

Well, that's the only *downside*! You have to make a choice!

Sayhello

 

[Eastridge]

As I recall, the buses drop off and pick up at the "Plaza of the Toilets" (not making that up). I also remember there was a separate afternoon wine tasting event in Strasbourg after the canal boats in the morning.

So it might be possible to stay in Strasbourg after the boat tour and then return to the plaza at the correct time and catch the bus back to the ship that picks up the afternoon wine tasting group. The ABD guides can give you the details if that is possible.

 

[DisneyWishes14]

As I recall, the buses drop off and pick up at the "Plaza of the Toilets" (not making that up). I also remember there was a separate afternoon wine tasting event in Strasbourg after the canal boats in the morning.

So it might be possible to stay in Strasbourg after the boat tour and then return to the plaza at the correct time and catch the bus back to the ship that picks up the afternoon wine tasting group. The ABD guides can give you the details if that is possible.

LOL! Well, I will probably need to make a stop there anyway, so good to know it's easily accessible near the bus!

That's a great idea - I will ask them if it's possible to get the bus back with the wine tasting group. We will figure something out! Thanks!

 

[lpm23]

In terms of Riequwir, the town visit was great. Tons of shops and restaurants. We loved it. The horseback riding was a bust when we went in 2018. Way too many people, not enough guides and there was no view at all. The grooming part was about 2 mins. The horseback riding was in the middle of nowhere so your husband would basically just have to stand around for an hour. My husband took my other daughter to the black forest and they had an amazing time. I would probably recommend either splitting up or doing the Black Forest. For reluctant horseback riders they are not going to enjoy this ride. We love horseback riding and were not very impressed.
This was in 2018, so maybe they improved it because I know a lot of people complained. But that's my 2 cents!

 

[DisneyWishes14]

In terms of Riequwir, the town visit was great. Tons of shops and restaurants. We loved it. The horseback riding was a bust when we went in 2018. Way too many people, not enough guides and there was no view at all. The grooming part was about 2 mins. The horseback riding was in the middle of nowhere so your husband would basically just have to stand around for an hour. My husband took my other daughter to the black forest and they had an amazing time. I would probably recommend either splitting up or doing the Black Forest. For reluctant horseback riders they are not going to enjoy this ride. We love horseback riding and were not very impressed.
This was in 2018, so maybe they improved it because I know a lot of people complained. But that's my 2 cents!

Thank you so much! Yes, I'm reading multiple reports of the horseback riding not being such a great component of that trip, so I think we will opt for the Black Forest. One question - do you know exactly where the Black Forest excursion went? We would probably opt for the toboggan excursion. The description is so vague - I just can't tell what town they go to or which museum they go to attend the workshop. Any info would be greatly appreciated!

 

[lpm23]

I don’t. But I know they loved it and made the coolest whistles.

 

[DisneyWishes14]

I don’t. But I know they loved it and made the coolest whistles.

Thats great! Thank you! I think we will do that adventure!

 

[Eastridge]

The toboggan ride is at Sommerrodelbahn Gutach.

That tour goes to the toboggan ride first. You get two rides. Then it goes to the Black Forest Open Air Museum which is nearby. There is lunch and photo ops with a person in historic clothes, a tour of a few of the historic buildings, an opportunity to make a cuckoo pipe, taste butter you churned yourself, and some time to tour the buildings on your own.

 

[DisneyWishes14]

The toboggan ride is at Sommerrodelbahn Gutach.

That tour goes to the toboggan ride first. You get two rides. Then it goes to the Black Forest Open Air Museum which is nearby. There is lunch and photo ops with a person in historic clothes, a tour of a few of the historic buildings, an opportunity to make a cuckoo pipe, taste butter you churned yourself, and some time to tour the buildings on your own.

This is great info! Thank you SO much!!

Edited to add: I just googled the toboggan ride and the open air museum and these are perfect activities for my family - thank you for the great info!!!

 

[Donalyn]

Interesting. This explanation of the Toboggan ride sounds much better than how it is described on the ABD site.

We are looking at this cruise for summer 2022, for DD's graduation trip. It is possible that our family will be splitting up a lot on this trip. That is totally fine for us, as long as it isn't all of the time.

 

[Sakura1017]

So if you can't do the toboggan run, zip lining, or horseback, is it best to just do the excursion to riquewihr without horseback? Or is the woodworking museum really cool and you can just skip the toboggan run?

 

[lpm23]

I would do toboggan excursion. Toboggan doesn’t take that long and everything is close together. It’s over an hour drive to the horse one from the town and there is nothing to do there while you are waiting. It would be several wasted hours.

 

[DisneyWishes14]

I would do toboggan excursion. Toboggan doesn’t take that long and everything is close together. It’s over an hour drive to the horse one from the town and there is nothing to do there while you are waiting. It would be several wasted hours.

Thanks so much for your reply! We will definitely sign up for the toboggan excursion. My DH and DS12 have zero interest in riding horses, so waiting at the stable would not go over well with them!