Is Colmar only seen on optional excursion or is it a stop on included Black Forest tour on Viking Rhine Getaway?

[GoGAdawgsWin]

Traveling in October on Viking Rhine Getaway.  Is Colmar a stop after the Black Forest included excursion or do you have to go back to boat and take the optional excursion to be able to visit Colmar at all?

If not a stop is Breisach interesting for an afternoon walk around?

Thanks to all who share their knowledge!

[Haqdeluxe]

1 hour ago, GoGAdawgsWin said:

Traveling in October on Viking Rhine Getaway.  Is Colmar a stop after the Black Forest included excursion or do you have to go back to boat and take the optional excursion to be able to visit Colmar at all?

If not a stop is Breisach interesting for an afternoon walk around?

Thanks to all who share their knowledge!

Separate excursion. Colmar is actually on the other side of the Rhine and in the opposite direction than the Black Forest excursion. I personally would not miss a chance to visit Colmar and likely would pick the Colmar excursion over the Black Forest excursion if forced to. 

[GoGAdawgsWin]

Thanks. Exactly info I needed

[sharkster77]

In 2019 we sailed A to B. Colmar tours were the optional AM tours and Black Forest was the included PM tour.  I would imagine the order reverses for B to A.

[TMLAalum]

If a visit to Riquewihr or Ribeauville is offered, I would choose that over Colmar any day. Despite Rick Steve's waxing rhapsodic about Colmar, the two villages above are far more charming IMHO.

[Haqdeluxe]

I would not disagree that if either was offered as an alternative to Colmar that which of the three to choose to visit wouldn't be a tough decision. I suspect however that ease of accessibility from Breisach for the coaches is a large reason Colmar is the popular destination. Does any of the cruise lines offer an organized excursion to either Riquewihr or Ribeauville? I'm sure there are private tour options but timing tends to always be a issue in my experience. 

Edited September 15, 2022 by Haqdeluxe

[Host Jazzbeau]

1 hour ago, Haqdeluxe said:

I would not disagree that if either was offered as an alternative to Colmar that which of the three to choose to visit wouldn't be a tough decision. I suspect however that ease of accessibility from Breisach for the coaches is a large reason Colmar is the popular destination. Does any of the cruise lines offer an organized excursion to either Riquewihr or Ribeauville? I'm sure there are private tour options but timing tends to always be a issue in my experience. 

AMA ports in Breisach and their main excursion is to Riquewihr.

[Wings55]

On 9/15/2022 at 12:15 PM, Haqdeluxe said:

I would not disagree that if either was offered as an alternative to Colmar that which of the three to choose to visit wouldn't be a tough decision. I suspect however that ease of accessibility from Breisach for the coaches is a large reason Colmar is the popular destination. Does any of the cruise lines offer an organized excursion to either Riquewihr or Ribeauville? I'm sure there are private tour options but timing tends to always be a issue in my experience. 

Several years ago, we toured both Colmar and Riquewihr during a Uniworld cruise on the River Queen. I have no idea about current offerings.

Paul

[TakingFlight]

We did the Rhine Getaway in 2017. At that time the optional Colmar excursion was led by a man originally from Australia (I don’t remember his name). This was by far the best excursion I have ever had due in no small part to the guide’s ability to bring the WW2 history of the area alive for us. We went to the museum in town and also to several other sites such as where Audie Murphy took his stand. Very moving.

[Haqdeluxe]

14 minutes ago, TakingFlight said:

We did the Rhine Getaway in 2017. At that time the optional Colmar excursion was led by a man originally from Australia (I don’t remember his name). This was by far the best excursion I have ever had due in no small part to the guide’s ability to bring the WW2 history of the area alive for us. We went to the museum in town and also to several other sites such as where Audie Murphy took his stand. Very moving.

Without looking... Viking offers 2 excursions as I recall. One focused on the WWII  museum. The other just on the town of Colmar. 

[TakingFlight]

The brief description on the website doesn’t really describe the excursion we took. Yes, we went to the museum for a brief stop, we drove through town and then spent  quite a bit of time in the pocket going to several different places. I don’t think I would do an excursion that just focused on the town of Colmar, although it is quite charming. 

[Host Jazzbeau]

When we did the Rhine cruise AMA was offering a combination excursion to Colmar and Riquewihr.  I think we had enough time in Riquewihr, since it's a one-street town – but I wish we had had more time in Colmar to visit the Bartholdi museum.

[Daisi]

Our guide with Avalon offered an extra tour after the general one in Colmar, where we viewed the Isenheim Altarpiece. Since we had just seen a TV show on it, we went. It was really good, and so glad we saw it.

[Ktwofish]

I am also taking the Rhine cruise in October.  I did the same cruise 3 years ago, so I would like to skip the morning bus ride to the Black Forest.  Any suggestions for getting transport from Breisach to Colmar and back?

[wandb]

On 9/17/2022 at 3:47 PM, TakingFlight said:

We did the Rhine Getaway in 2017. At that time the optional Colmar excursion was led by a man originally from Australia (I don’t remember his name). This was by far the best excursion I have ever had due in no small part to the guide’s ability to bring the WW2 history of the area alive for us. We went to the museum in town and also to several other sites such as where Audie Murphy took his stand. Very moving.

I have to agree with you about the WWII Colmar tour. We have done many tours on many cruises, but this was the BEST tour we have ever been on. I think you had the same guide we had on our 2016 cruise. His name was Malcom, and he was from Australia. I’ve never seen anyone so passionate about his subject. He believes that the young American soldiers who fought there changed the course of the war, and he said that as long as he could, he was going to make sure that no one ever forgot. He was amazing and inspiring. It really put all of us Americans to shame, that we did not have the knowledge, understanding, or passion about this event in history. 
 

We enjoyed the Black Forest tour in the morning (18 inches of snow the night before, so it looked like a beautiful Christmas card! ), but I would even skip that if necessary in order to see the WWII Colmar tour. 
 

Barb

[TakingFlight]

That’s a perfect description of the tour! A once in a lifetime experience. 

[GoGAdawgsWin]

19 hours ago, wandb said:

I have to agree with you about the WWII Colmar tour. We have done many tours on many cruises, but this was the BEST tour we have ever been on. I think you had the same guide we had on our 2016 cruise. His name was Malcom, and he was from Australia. I’ve never seen anyone so passionate about his subject. He believes that the young American soldiers who fought there changed the course of the war, and he said that as long as he could, he was going to make sure that no one ever forgot. He was amazing and inspiring. It really put all of us Americans to shame, that we did not have the knowledge, understanding, or passion about this event in history. 
 

We enjoyed the Black Forest tour in the morning (18 inches of snow the night before, so it looked like a beautiful Christmas card! ), but I would even skip that if necessary in order to see the WWII Colmar tour. 
 

Barb

Thanks.  Do you get much time to wander Colmar on the WW2 tour v/s the Village tour?

[wandb]

10 hours ago, GoGAdawgsWin said:

Thanks.  Do you get much time to wander Colmar on the WW2 tour v/s the Village tour?

I wish I could remember the specific timing of that afternoon. It was a nasty cold and windy day, but we were so enthralled by Malcom’s presentation that we would not have hurried that for anything. I do remember that afterwards we got the best hot chocolate in a cafe in the village, and we took lots of pictures of the town stork on her nest. 

Maybe someone who has done this more recently will remember the timing. 

[Nanagranny]

We are doing A to B this month with 2 days in Amsterdam first.  I know walking is easy, but has anyone used any of the transport apps, like citymapper, MyStop, or the Amsterdam specific GVB?  I’m looking for opinions on which is best.