Viking Rinda Rhine 8day cruise July 2013 Basel to Amsterdam

My husband and I are taking the Rhine Getaway 8 day cruise in July 2013 from Basel to Amsterdam. We would appreciate tips from anyone who has travelled the river cruises at this time of the year, re the type of clothing required. I imagine the weather is quite warm at that time of year. Also any advice on onshore tours. We like to do our own thing most of the time but if there was a really worthwhile tour we would book it. Also we are spending some time in Italy and Switzerland before commencing the cruise and are wondering if anyone has done the Jungfraujoch mountain trip and is it really as cold as I've read. If we have summer clothes what will we need to keep warm for that small part of the trip. Heading to Norway and Sweden after cruise and wondering if warm clothes are needed there. Any info would be appreciated. Thanks :)

We were in Norway in late June a few years ago and there were days that we wore every layer we had! Cold, windy and damp! I would certainly take a waterproof wind breaker and a sweater or fleece to layer under it. We traveled south from there to Germany, Austria and Switzerland and were fine in capris and short sleeve shirts during the day, but adding a sweater or jacket in the evenings.

Our trip up to the North Face on the train was nice. We wore light jackets and were fine, but it was a beautiful sunny day. The views are spectacular on the train trip up. It was an amazing trip!

We were in Switzerland in June, and the weather was mild. The biggest problem was cloud cover. Many TV's in hotels have a channel with webcams on various sites including Jungfrauhoch.

I would recommend you buy a book called Castles Along the Rhine to get the history of the castles you will see.

We did a Rhine Cruise in 2010, and both trips are on our website.

We will be happy to answer any questions

Thanks Jan for your good advice. Hope you enjoy your next two cruises. Cheers from Oz. Hope to get your way someday.

Thanks Steve and Kathy. Enjoyed your website and took notes of hotels and things to do. I'll be referring to it again closer to going. Cheers from Oz

We were in Switzerland in June, and the weather was mild. The biggest problem was cloud cover. Many TV's in hotels have a channel with webcams on various sites including Jungfrauhoch.

I would recommend you buy a book called Castles Along the Rhine to get the history of the castles you will see.

We did a Rhine Cruise in 2010, and both trips are on our website.

We will be happy to answer any questions

Wow, Steve and Kathy,

I loved reading your travel stories and seeing your pictures!

Thank You! :D

My husband and I are taking the Rhine Getaway 8 day cruise in July 2013 from Basel to Amsterdam. We would appreciate tips from anyone who has travelled the river cruises at this time of the year, re the type of clothing required. I imagine the weather is quite warm at that time of year. Also any advice on onshore tours. We like to do our own thing most of the time but if there was a really worthwhile tour we would book it. Also we are spending some time in Italy and Switzerland before commencing the cruise and are wondering if anyone has done the Jungfraujoch mountain trip and is it really as cold as I've read. If we have summer clothes what will we need to keep warm for that small part of the trip. Heading to Norway and Sweden after cruise and wondering if warm clothes are needed there. Any info would be appreciated. Thanks :)

We did the Jungfraujoch trip about 15 years ago with our 3 boys, ages 6 to 13. I have pictures of the boys on top with a very light windbreaker on and shorts. Yes, they were freezing but we totally enjoyed it. So, I would suggest just putting on as many clothes as you can for that particular day.

Sounds like a fun vacation for you!!

Karen