Drift along the Rhine, a wonderland of castles and vineyards steeped in Brothers Grimm fairy tales and rich with timeless folklore.

If every river holds story, the Rhine would be an entire library, its shelves lined with sagas of folklore and legend. Winding through Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Austria, Germany, France and the Netherlands before emptying into the North Sea, the Rhine, like a travelling storyteller, has been gathering tales for centuries from each country along its course.

Where Fables Take Root

Your story begins in Basel, where three nations meet and the streets seem crafted from gingerbread. Aboard one of Travelmarvel’s state-of-the-art riverships, each day brings a new destination. Drift towards the Black Forest, a realm that once fired the imagination of the Brothers Grimm, where Hansel and Gretel wandered among the pines and Little Red Riding Hood veered from the path. Further north, discover Strasbourg, a city whose cobblestone streets and half-timber buildings offer the same Alsatian charmas Belle’s village in Beauty and the Beast.

Legends in the Gorge

Continue through the World Heritage-listed Rhine Gorge, where swift waters cut between slopes guarded by some 40 castles and fortresses. Legends cling to these gorge walls, most famously at the Lorelei rock, where a beautiful maiden of the same name is said to have lured sailors off-course with her song. At Sooneck Castle, there’s the blind archer who, according to folklore, once outwitted a cruel baron with a single sound-guided arrow. Vintners in the area even claim their grapes flourish under the watchful eyes of the playful giants from the Siebengebirge, whose spirits are said to wander the hillsides.

Final Chapters

Step inside Augustusburg Palace in Brühl, where grand halls and Balthasar Neumann’s sweeping staircase make it easy to imagine the high life in the 18th century. Nearby, Cologne Cathedral rises like a forest of stone spires — a Gothic triumph that took six centuries to build. Within rests the gilded Shrine of the Three Kings, a relic that drew medieval pilgrims from across Europe, many arriving by way of the Rhine. By the time your rivership glides into Amsterdam, the sightof gabled houses and arched bridges reflected in the canals feels like a scene from the pages of your favourite fairy tale.