We chose to sail with Avalon has we have done so twice previously and really enjoyed the ship and service. We like having an included tour in each port, but also having the choice to go off and do our own thing in the afternoons.We do not want to do all the optional tours and would rather pay for what we want to do. Free time is important to us and Avalon gives us that option.

We took the train from Zurich airport directly to Lucerne in about an hour and really enjoyed the lake cruise to Weggis that we took. We stayed at the Radisson which is located very close to the train station in Lucerne. The train station was a good place for moderate food costs( for Switzerland). There is an entire mall under the station with all kinds of options for very good take away food( both hot and cold).After 2 nights, we took the direct train to Basel and left our luggage at the station in lockers while we explored Basel for the day. We caught a taxi to the river boat very easily from there.

We particularly enjoyed the Moselle section of the cruise as it is by far the prettier River . The Rhine does have lovely sections including the Gorge and castles, but other parts are also very industrial.There were a few places where we would have preferred to dock in the main town in the afternoons rather than moving to a smaller place with less to do. Trier was an example of this. Due to the distances travelled, there is more day time cruising in the afternoons than on other rivers such as the Danube and the Rhone. Read more