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e-bikes to get a taste of the Black Forest and the eponymous gateaux. e next day, the French city of Strasbourg delighted with its picturesque old town of colourful, half-timbered medieval houses, winding canals, and waterside restaurants serving up boards of delicious mountain cheese and crisp Alsatian Rieslings. In Heidelberg, Germany's oldest university town, the inclusive tour taught us interesting nuggets of local history, tales of the male-dominated fraternities housed in the grand baroque houses, and the story behind the red sandstone castle perched 330 feet at the top – the world's largest wine barrel residing inside. Some free time at the end allowed for souvenir shopping, people- watching at one of the cafés lining the main square, and a hefeweizen at micro- brewery, Kulturbrauerei. Rüdesheim, in the heart of the Rheingau, marked the start of vineyard country, which stretched over the next three days in an endless patchwork of verdant stripes. Here we were introduced to the paper-thin flammkuchen, an Alsatian ode to the pizza, topped with lardons, crème fraiche and onions, and the brandy- spiked Rüdesheim coffee, first via generous samples handed out during the onboard cookery demonstration, then at a restaurant in town, where we dined that evening. rough the Upper Middle Rhine, we congregated on the top deck for a dazzling display of fairy tale, Romantic era castles, accompanied by homemade ice-cream and peach bellinis handed out by the crew. Steep vineyards melted into pretty sugared almond villages each with their own legend to tell, entertainingly regaled by cruise director, Ivan. e most famous was Lore Lay, the golden-haired maiden who mesmerised sailors to their shipwrecked demise, marked by the jutting Lorelei Rock, at the point where the Rhine curves at its deepest and narrowest towards Koblenz. At Koblenz, we docked at the mouth of the Moselle river and joined an optional excursion into the 480km long valley, bordered by some of the world's steepest vineyards. Our guide spoke of the 2,000-year-old viticulture traditions, the legend of the wine witch and the protected Apollo butterfly fluttering around these parts, before taking us to Winningen, a village where vines grow along and between the houses like telephone wires – their roots helping to keep the cellars dry. Following a tour of a family-run winery and tutored tasting of superb Riesling and Pinot Noir wines, we made our tipsy way back to the ship. Clockwise, from top right: Viking Eir sailing along the Rhine; half-timbered houses in La Petite France, Strasbourg; traditional French saucisson; the view through the gate from Hagenbach tower in Breisach viking.com 51