Viking - Walking Tours

[19cruiser59]

I see on the tours available they list the activity level as easy, moderate or demanding.

Most, if not all, the "Included" tours are listed as moderate.

Are these tours broken down further into groups of activity level or pace?  or is it one size fits all?

 

Exactly how much walking or standing is involved in a moderate level tour.

[AnhaltER1960]

Viking usually offer a "gentle walking group" (might depend on a minimum of participants) as an alternative to the included tours. They do a bit more bussing, different route, whatever, depending on the local situation. 
How much walking/standing/uphill is involved, of course, also depends on the destination, as well as opportunities to sit. This may also depend on how many (or if any) museum/church/... inside visits are part of the tour. There is no one fits all answer.

[Planning to cruise]

I have found Viking walking tours generally to be on the slow side, depending on the participants.  They are often too slow for us and we leave the group to see more on our own.   

[CDNPolar]

Viking do list the demands of the tours on the main website and also on MyVikingJourney at the bottom of the description of the excursion.  Here is an example:

 

What you will find however is these are often too vague.  They do give the walking / standing time, but they don't tell you that for 3 hours total you will be walking on cobblestones.  They don't tell you that eh steps don't have railings...  There is a lot to be desired in the way that Viking portray their excursions in the descriptions.

 

Moderate - Walking portions may be long and somewhat challenging with occasional step-ups, stairs and inclines. Total time walking or standing normally ranges from 1.5 to 3 hours.

 

What you will find however is these are often too vague.  They do give the walking / standing time, but they don't tell you that for 3 hours total you will be walking on cobblestones.  They don't tell you that eh steps don't have railings...  There is a lot to be desired in the way that Viking portray their excursions in the descriptions.

 

Viking have implemented some slower pace excursions for those with mobility concerns and you can sign up for those separately.

 

We have found the included to be all over the map.  Some have been so painfully slow we have left the group (only after telling the guide we were breaking from the group) and some have moved at a really quick pace.

 

 

[pontac]

14 hours ago, 19cruiser59 said:

Are these tours broken down further into groups of activity level or pace?  or is it one size fits all?

 

Exactly how much walking or standing is involved in a moderate level tour

 

The only correct answer is 'it depends'. It depends where the excursion is, it depends on the guide. The guide chooses the route and  is there to tell you about what you are seeing, so one cannot give 'exactly' how much walking/standing there is. Depends on the route, how many questions people ask. If there are many sights in close proximity then there will be less walking then if they are far apart. If the excursion includes a castle/church at the top of a hill the it'll either involve walking up a steep road/path or a longer walk up a gentler incline. If the excursion includes a church/cathedral (as they often do) then the group sits down while the guide tells you about the lace.

 

The listening device (Quietvox) mean you can hear the guide from a distance, you don't need to be right next to them. In the previous night's port talk the cruise director should highlight any difficulties.

 

If an excursion includes a difficult element then there's likely to be an 'easy' group that avoids the bit that's difficult.

 

If you have a particular cruise in mind, post it because we should be able to give you more accurate info

[19cruiser59]

Thanks Everyone for your responses..... "Exactly" was a poor choice of words.

I guess i was looking more for your experiences with the tours.

 

I am considering the "Rhine Getaway" cruise. AS this is our 1st river cruise not sure what to expect.

[pontac]

1 hour ago, 19cruiser59 said:

I am considering the "Rhine Getaway"

 

Germany has a law for which I am grateful. Any flight of step greater than 3 steps must have handrails.

 

It's a long time since I've been on the Rhine Getaway cruise, but I've often cruised the Rhine.

 

So included tours on Rhine Getaway

- Breisach - mostly coach trip with a stop at place that makes & sells cuckoo clocks and demonstrates making Black Forest Gateaux (and most importantly  has loos)

- Strasbourg Highlights - coach ride to and around Strasbourg. Walk into centre, visit Cathedral

- Speyer Walking Tour, compact old town very close to mooring. I've been twice recently and the tours were quite different. As per my post earlier, the guide chooses what to show.

-Historic Koblenz - you'll moor in town, interesting easy walking tour.

- Cologne  - you'll moor in town, lot of time in Cathedral - we returned to the boat instead.

-  Kinderdijk Windmills - You'll moor next to them and have the opportunity to go inside one.

I reckon the best direction is Amsterdam to Basel but for you that will depend on flights and timings.

 

Note: one of the optional excursions is dinner out in Rudesheim. If you're tempted I reckon you could do it cheaper and more authentically yourself. Its on the river and the street is packed with restaurants

 

 

 

[19cruiser59]

1 hour ago, pontac said:

 

Germany has a law for which I am grateful. Any flight of step greater than 3 steps must have handrails.

 

It's a long time since I've been on the Rhine Getaway cruise, but I've often cruised the Rhine.

 

So included tours on Rhine Getaway

- Breisach - mostly coach trip with a stop at place that makes & sells cuckoo clocks and demonstrates making Black Forest Gateaux (and most importantly  has loos)

- Strasbourg Highlights - coach ride to and around Strasbourg. Walk into centre, visit Cathedral

- Speyer Walking Tour, compact old town very close to mooring. I've been twice recently and the tours were quite different. As per my post earlier, the guide chooses what to show.

-Historic Koblenz - you'll moor in town, interesting easy walking tour.

- Cologne  - you'll moor in town, lot of time in Cathedral - we returned to the boat instead.

-  Kinderdijk Windmills - You'll moor next to them and have the opportunity to go inside one.

I reckon the best direction is Amsterdam to Basel but for you that will depend on flights and timings.

 

Note: one of the optional excursions is dinner out in Rudesheim. If you're tempted I reckon you could do it cheaper and more authentically yourself. Its on the river and the street is packed with restaurants

 

 

 

  Excellent!  Thanks so much!  🙂

 

[Planning to cruise]

1 hour ago, pontac said:

So included tours on Rhine Getaway

- Breisach - mostly coach trip with a stop at place that makes & sells cuckoo clocks and demonstrates making Black Forest Gateaux (and most importantly  has loos)

- Strasbourg Highlights - coach ride to and around Strasbourg. Walk into centre, visit Cathedral

- Speyer Walking Tour, compact old town very close to mooring. I've been twice recently and the tours were quite different. As per my post earlier, the guide chooses what to show.

-Historic Koblenz - you'll moor in town, interesting easy walking tour.

- Cologne  - you'll moor in town, lot of time in Cathedral - we returned to the boat instead.

-  Kinderdijk Windmills - You'll moor next to them and have the opportunity to go inside one.

I reckon the best direction is Amsterdam to Basel but for you that will depend on flights and timings.

 

Note: one of the optional excursions is dinner out in Rudesheim. If you're tempted I reckon you could do it cheaper and more authentically yourself. Its on the river and the street is packed with restaurants

As we did this one last year (starting at Amsterdam) I ll add some views. 

 

Breisach as described had almost no walking.  We are at this port again this year and I notice that this excursion is now a paid optional one. 

 

Strasbourg, the walk part was way too slow.  We left the walk after the coach ride to go it alone and cover more ground returning to the ship by shuttle bus.  

 

Speyer we did our own walking tour.

 

Koblenz walking tour was a decent speed, not slow but not a race, all on the flat.   

 

Cologne we walked the city on our own.  

 

Kinderdjik was painfully slow.  So much so that the guide had not even reached the actual windmills but spent time closer to the entrance and in the first building. We left the group to walk to the mills and to see as much as possible in the limited time.  I noticed that other groups had moved further and faster, a classic case of pace varying with the specific guide.  The groups were not organised by ability, it was the luck of the draw.  It is worth signing up for and starting off with the included tour even if you wander away later as this gives free (ie already paid) entrance to the site. 

 

Rudesheim we looked around briefly on our own, we had been there before.  I agree that there are plenty of eating places if one wants a meal. 

[sharkster77]

When we did the Rhine Getaway in 2019, our local walking tour guide gave us TEN MINUTES to view the interior of the cathedral in Cologne!!!  Luckily we did our homework and sought out the main "attractions", for lack of a better word.

 

We've done 2 Viking river cruises, and he was the only local guide, of all the ones we had, that I would rank as 'fair' (he liked to hear the sound of his own voice pontificating)--all the others were very good to excellent.

Edited 2 hours ago by sharkster77

[Ryan208]

We were on the Paris to the Swiss Alps cruise last month. There was a “leisurely“ group with every included tour. I don’t know how it was handled on the optional tours. 
 

An FYI about Speyer…we docked in Germersheim and were bussed the 20 minutes or so to Speyer, so we couldn’t just stroll off the ship into town. We were disappointed. They ran shuttle buses back to the ship, but it wasn’t as convenient. When we were on the Rhine cruise a few years ago we docked in town.