Overview
This tour continues the highly popular format developed several years ago for The Danube Music Festival and inaugurated in 2014 for The Rhine Valley Music Festival. While most of the participants on these festivals eat and sleep on board a river cruiser, a small group stays in hotels and undertakes walks on most days through some of the most attractive stretches of the countryside in the vicinity of the river and the concert venues.
Further details of the concerts can be found here.
Day 1
Bonn. Fly at c. 11.30am (British Airways) from London Heathrow to Düsseldorf. Drive onwards to Bonn, where the first of two nights are spent.
Day 2
Bonn, Petersberg. A morning walk rises steadily passing wood-timbered houses, fields and then through woods before reaching Kloster Heisterbach. Continue on woodland paths, zigzagging up a waymarked route to Petersberg (c. 5km). Lunch is included, then return to Bonn for some free time before dinner and an evening recital in the Beethovenhaus with Isabelle Faust (violin), Alexander Melnikov (piano): Brahms & Schumann sonatas. Second and final night in Bonn.
Day 3
Rebhang, Schloss Vollrads, Mannheim. Drive south into the picturesque Rheingau. Lunch here before a moderate afternoon walk on the so-called ‘Riesling Route’ from Schloss Vollrads to Am Rebhang: 10km, c. 2hours. This walk traverses vineyards and follows marked woodland paths above the Rhine, where the vines of prestigious wine producers cover broad, south-facing slopes. Late afternoon Lieder recital with Sophie Bevan (soprano) and Ryan Wigglesworth (piano) in Schloss Johannisberg: Strauss & Schumann songs. Overnight in Mannheim.
Day 4
Speyer, Ribeauvillé. Drive to Speyer for a morning concert in the Dreifaltigkeitskirche with the Barocksolisten München, Dorothea Seel (director, flute) & Marie-Sophie Pollak (soprano): ‘Und meine Seele spricht’ (‘And my soul speaks’), includes arias by Bach and Handel. The afternoon is spent walking along part of the Alsace wine route, beginning in Bergheim and ending in Ribeauvillé. The path here is mostly level (c. 5km). Drive to Colmar (France) for the first of three nights here.
Day 5
Breisach, St. Peter. Drive from Colmar to Breisach, where starting from the Minster there is a moderate circular walk down to the riverside and along on woodland paths. (c. 5km). Lunch here before travelling to St Peter for an afternoon concert with the Consone Quartet & Kristian Bezuidenhout (harpsichord): Mozart, Piano Concerto No.13 in C, K.415; Mozart Wind Quintet in E-flat, K.452 (arr. Naumann). Overnight in Colmar.
Day 6
Colmar, Basel. A challenging walk in the foothills of the Vosges. Beginning with a steep climb from Munster Haut-Rhin, this is a circular route on country lanes, farm tracks and woodland paths, which passes through picturesque villages and farms: c. 9.5km, c. 3 hours. Drive to Basel for an afternoon concert in the Don Bosco Hall with the Basel Chamber Orchestra: Strauss, Serenade in E-flat, Op.7; Brahms, Symphony No.3 in F, Op.90. Final night in Colmar.
Day 7
Homeward journey. Fly from Basel, arriving at London Heathrow at c. 1.00pm.
Richard Wigmore
Music writer, lecturer and broadcaster for BBC Radio 3. He writes for BBC Music Magazine and Gramophone and has taught classes in Lieder history and interpretation at the Guildhall, Trinity College of Music and Birkbeck College. He read French and German at Cambridge and later studied Music at the Guildhall. His publications include Schubert: The Complete Song Texts and Pocket Guide to Haydn. Twitter: @wigmoresworld | Website: wigmoresworld.co.uk
Price, per person
Two sharing: £3,740 or £3,590 without flights. Single occupancy: £4,280 or £4,130 without flights.
Included
Flights (Euro Traveller) with British Airways (aircraft: Airbus A319); hotel accommodation as described below; travel by private coach; breakfasts, 3 picnic lunches and 4 dinners with wine; tips for waiters, drivers and local guides; the services of the lecturer and tour manager.
Accommodation
Königshof, Bonn: 4-star with modern rooms and a restaurant with views of the Rhine. Radisson Blu, Mannheim: a smart 4-star hotel, located within walking distance of the concert venue. Maison des Têtes, Colmar: a charming, independent 5-star hotel located in the historic centre of Colmar with an exceptional restaurant. All single rooms are doubles for single occupancy.
How strenuous?
This is a walking tour, graded ‘moderate’. It is essential for participants to have appropriate walking footwear, be in good physical condition and to be used to country walking with uphill and downhill content. There are a few moderately steep climbs, but no walk is more than 6 miles or 3 hours. There is not always the opportunity to return to the hotel to freshen up before every concert or dinner. We have tried to limit driving time, but by necessity there are a few long drives. Average distance by coach per day: 67 miles.
Read more about our walking tour grading system.
Are you fit enough to join the tour?
Group size
Between 12 and 22 participants.
Travel advice
Before booking, please refer to the FCDO website to ensure you are happy with the travel advice for the destination(s) you are visiting.
Combine with
Classical Turkey, 25 April-4 May
Pompeii and Herculaneum, 28 April–3 May
Medieval Saxony, 28 April–7 May
Samarkand & Silk Road Cities, 15–27 May
Art in Scotland, 16–23 May
Arts & Crafts in the Lake District, 19–23 May
The Venetian Land Empire, 19–28 May
Moldavia & Transylvania, 22 May–1 June
'Richard Wigmore was delightful company, an encyclopaedic source of music history and an engaging lecturer.'
'This is our fifth Martin Randall tour and we have been satisfied with each one and particularly the quality of the lecturers.'
'Great variety of styles, periods and performances.'