Sometimes when we’re up on the sun deck, we notice how intensely our passengers enjoy the natural panorama of the riverbank. After all our years in the business, this still gives us enormous pleasure. Some people react with rapt silence, some with excited shouts, while others stare in amazement, point, explain and take photos. If we have a second to spare, we like to take a look at the view as well.

The wonderful thing about travelling by river is that you see the natural world in all its authentic beauty. In contrast to roads, railway tracks or airports, rivers are part of nature. In fact, to some extent rivers have created the natural world around them by forging a path through it and depositing its water’s fertile sediment over the course of millions of years. What better place is there to gaze up at the towering cliffs of the Iron Gates than from a ship? Or to take in the sight of the picturesque Wachau valley, a UNESCO World Heritage Site? And if you weren’t travelling on the Rhine, would it be possible to experience so closely the swashbuckling castles in the Middle Rhine Valley and the legends that surround Lorelei?