Rhine Cruise Day 7: Breisach & Black Forest, Germany - July 9, 2025
We took the Viking Rhine Getaway cruise from Amsterdam in the Netherlands to Basel in Switzerland. This post covers Day 7, as we stopped to tour the town of Breisach and the Black Forest in Germany.
Wednesday, we were docked in Breisach. In the morning, we strolled around the town on our own. Breisach is a small, quiet village. There is a cathedral and modern city hall (Rathaus) up on a hill. We walked up to the cathedral, but decided not to go inside. We had seen our share of cathedrals by this point.
We wandered through the Klostergarten (monastery gardens) and over to the Radbrunnenturm. The Radbrunnenturm is a former water pump station for a 41 meter deep well (134 feet), which supplied the water for the town. There have been several pump station buildings on the site, starting in 1198, with the last reconstruction in 1826. The pump was originally operated by a wooden treadmill, which was replaced by a mechanical pump in 1847. The pump was decommissioned in 1902.
Outside the Radbrunnenturm is a piece of artwork, called the Wheel Stage (Radbühne), that was installed in 2013. While we were there, there was a man describing the artwork (in German) and he put the artwork in motion. A pendulum swings back and forth, with two figures at the end of the pendulum who roll a ball or globe to each other. It was a nice little gem to stumble across.
After strolling up and down a couple of shopping streets in town, we had lunch back on the ship. Then we went on a Blackforest tour in the afternoon. This was the included tour.
It was about an hour and a half bus ride to reach our destination, but it was a scenic drive through the Black Forest. Along the way, we passed by traditional farmhouses, cows, storks, church steeples, farm fields of asparagus and corn, and beautiful tree-covered mountainsides. Our guide gave us lots of interesting commentary during the trip.
White storks traditionally lived in the Alsace region of Germany and France. They became endangered during the 19th and early 20th centuries. Thanks to conservation efforts, their numbers are recovering.
Our destination was the Hofgut Sternen Hotel in Breitnau. Hofgut Sternen Hotel is where Marie Antoinette stopped for the night on her way to Paris to marry King Louis XVI in 1770. When we arrived, we had a choice of watching a cuckoo clock demonstration, go on a hike, or wander around on your own. There was a glass blower whom you could watch work. We chose the hike.
The hike was about a half mile up a trail alongside a stream called Ravenna. It was a rather steep and rocky trail that passed under a tall train viaduct and passed by quite a few waterfalls. It was just our style. We turned around at the Großjockenmühle, an old water mill. It was built in 1883 as a grinding mill for the Großjockenhof Breitnau farm.
Then we all gathered inside for a Black Forest Cake demonstration. It was interesting how much whipped cream and cherry schnapps go into the cake. Then we had an hour bus ride back to the ship through the city of Freiburg.
We arrived back at the ship in time for the captains toast before dinner. Then we had our last dinner on board. We went with the local specialty menu again. The main course was a Swiss rösti, covered with a layer of cheese and topped with a fried egg. Rösti is a fried potato dish, similar to hash browns. For dessert we had Black Forest Cake. It was our least favorite meal on the cruise for some reason.
After one last night sleeping on board the ship, we disembarked the following day after lunch in Basel, Switzerland. Our Rhine River cruise was over, but there was still more European adventures ahead.
Overall, we really enjoyed the Rhine River cruise. We didn’t really consider ourselves the cruising type, but it was a nice change of pace from the rest of our European trip. Everything was arranged for us and we didn’t have to research anything ahead of time. The ship was small enough that you got to know quite a few fellow passengers, making the experience pretty sociable. After traveling for three months, it was nice to see familiar faces day after day on board. Who knows? Perhaps more cruises will be in our future.
Check out our related video: Rhine Cruise Day 7: Breisach & Black Forest, Germany
(Ann)