With the famous Strauss waltz planted firmly in my head, like an ear worm, I close my eyes for a second and say a small prayer to the rain gods regarding a week-long drift down the beautiful blue Danube River. But guess what? The Danube is kind of a greeny-brown. Maybe it was blue back in the 1860s when the song first hit the charts, I don’t know. Climbing aboard the Scenic Jasper in Budapest, big smile on everybody’s face, we head for Vienna, then to Dürnstein, Melk and Linz in Austria, then on to Passau, Regensburg and eventually Nuremburg, Germany.

The variety of extracurricular activity is one of the changes the cruise industry has been floating through in recent years, as it aims to offer something for everyone—no small feat. And it was only a matter of time before somebody like Scenic turned river cruising from codgery to cool. What was once the realm of retirees, is now a multiage, often multigenerational holiday, offering a wider variety of things to do than in the past, as guests skew younger and itineraries get more active.

Make fast friends. Within the first hour of being onboard, one suave guy, Monte, starts making friends immediately, pumping hands with a smile. He makes so many friends the first day, he can relax for the rest of the week with a few “I knew I’d find you at the bar, David” and “Staying in the shade today, Deborah?” Everyone loves him. Connect early, then coast.

Have a pool party. On the Scenic Jasper, there is an actual pool scene, even though the pool only holds about a dozen people. The rest of us just pull up chairs for moral support, leaning in to the conversation. But here’s the tip: This is also where the server hovers doling out Aperol Spritzers by the trayful. So, if the texture of your cocktail has a tendency toward sad face, stick with the pool people.

Hike it off. Exercise to balance out the indulgences of the night before. While moored at the small medieval town of Dürnstein, I glom onto the plans of fit fellow passengers heading up the hillside to the ruins of Dürnstein Castle. This was where King Richard the Lionheart (Richard I) was supposedly imprisoned in 1192 during the Crusades, so we are able to work in both exercise and a history lesson. The view is insane, a little moment in time that so many travel brochures promise but few deliver.

Pop into the palace. An evening of Strauss and Mozart at the opulent Palais Liechtenstein in Vienna is totally enchanting and yes, I will say all that with a lisp. Vienna is just so beautiful you don’t really have to do anything there other than gawk at the art and architecture.

Take the side trip. Skip the crowds of Sound of Music fans in Salzburg and head instead to Bratislava, the capital city of Slovakia, and the medieval town of Cesky Krumlov, Czechia. I wander the 600-year-old streets thick with Gothic, Renaissance and Baroque style buildings, stunned by the preservation. The castle here dates back to 1240 and its now-dry moat is home to a brown bear.

Off-road it. One morning we climb on e-bikes for a three-hour guided cycling trip along the riverside path from Dürnstein to Melk, more or less racing the ship along the Danube. Highly recommended.

CRUISE: THE RHONE

Look the part. As such, pack for cycling, hiking, walking, dinner with the captain, cocktail parties, dry summer heat, air conditioning and rain. Scenic ships have an excellent and affordable laundry service. Keep in mind that summers in Europe can get blisteringly hot.

Pick a different river. As well as the Danube, Scenic also sails down the Douro in Spain and Portugal, the Rhine in Germany, the Rhone and Seine in France, the Volga in Russia, the Mekong in Cambodia and Vietnam, and the Irrawaddy in Myanmar.

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Vibe: This region has been welcoming all kinds of visitors since the 1860s when the rail lines were established and not much has changed. The crowd is mostly middle-aged couples and younger families enjoying quiet time in the country. There are a few campgrounds nearby. Business people book in during the week, giving the castle a slight conference-y edge.

Rooms: Lübbenau Castle sports six room sizes, from single to family size, plus two grander suites, with each room featuring a different configuration. Guest-home-style furnishings are traditional and fairly mumsy in a comforting way, with sturdy, pale-wood tables and chairs, gold-based lamps, lots of rusts and greens, and chintz-patterned pillows and curtains. In the stables, 20 family-sized holiday apartments, five of them barrier free, carry on the same traditional, colorful style. Main floor rooms have use of a garden.

F&B: Your standard buffet breakfast is included—and it is hearty. The Castle Restaurant Linari is cozy and quaint, done up in pastels, doing the classic German dishes so very well. “Nature writes our menu” is the chef’s motto, signifying local produce, herbs, meat, poultry and fish. The manly Rocco’s Linari Bar sports striking red walls, tufted leather sofas, comfy chairs, a pool table and a giant cocktail list filled with all the classics.

Extras: Use of the sauna and steam bath at the spa in the castle vaults is included in the price of your room.

Off-Site: The surrounding area, known as the Spreewald, is a UNESCO bio reserve made up of more than 300 natural, ice age-created canals weaving through forest and farmland, with inhabitants getting to and from their homes by hand-paddled, flat-bottomed pine river boats—i.e. there are no roads. The castle is a 10-minute walk to both the boat rental facilities and the old town high street, complete with centuries-old buildings, quaint shops and restaurants, and the fabulous Spreewald Museum. An incredible open-air museum down the road is set up like a farm village and mirrors life in the 1800s. There is also a Pickle Museum—not kidding—which celebrates the region’s history of growing almost nothing but cucumbers.

THINGS TO DO: IN SPREEWALD

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I could barely pronounce Spreewald, but I knew I was going to like it here. And this wasn’t just any canal. It was one of the 300 natural, ice age-created canals weaving through forest and farmland in this UNESCO-designated bio reserve just one hour south of Berlin.

Centred around the towns of Lübben, Lübbenau and Burg, the Spreewald is a tourist-friendly farming-community and summer-home kind of place, complete with quaint inns, lush parkland, camp grounds, ancient castles, engrossing museums—and a giant quirk: There are almost no roads. People get to and from their homes by hand-paddled, flat-bottomed, pine river boats called “punts.” The kids go to school by punt; even the postman delivers mail on a punt.

The first tourists arrived in the 1850s along with artists who came to paint the landscape, allegedly before the tourists ruined it. This created a considerable melting pot, the fancy Berliners and their bohemian friends rubbing shoulders with local farmers. Happily, this mix continues today to the benefit of all involved.

Explore. More than 300 km of waterways thread through the more than 475 square km of meadows, islands, trees and forests in the Spreewald—which translates to “Spree woods” in connection with the Spree River—with 44 locks keeping it level. Tourists take boat rides from the marina in Lübbenau through the woods or find a cycling route to the adjacent villages.

Step back in time. The Spreewald Museum highlights what life was like 100 years ago, with dioramas depicting the general store, various workshops such as the bakery and cobbler, even the pub. Tours conducted by staff in period dress are part of the weekly event schedule. Steam locomotive the Spreewaldbahn takes up an entire adjacent building, surrounded by railroad artifacts.

WHERE TO STAY: IN THE SPREEWALD

Eat a pickle. This is the land of the Spreewald gherkin, a pickle so famous it is actually trademarked. More than 500 hectares of land are dedicated to cucumbers, which favour the warm and humid climate, or so it says in the nearby pickle museum, which is more interesting than it sounds. With 150 different pickle recipes, the Spreewald clearly has this market cornered.

Try the sauce. At Quappenschanke in nearby Lehde, I fell in love with the simply named Frankfurt green sauce, a traditional cold concoction of sour cream, boiled eggs, spices and herbs, among them chives, chervil, parsley and sorrel.

Milk a plastic cow. Lehde’s noted Freilandmuseum brings together buildings from various Spreewald forest farms into one open-air walkabout space. Visitors meander through typical turn-of-the-century farmhouses and outbuildings, including workshops and barns. At least the fibreglass cow doesn’t kick.

SPREEWALD.DE

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Step back in time. While Berlin itself is very in tune with its past, Museum Island is really steeped in history. Much of this five-museum complex has been cleverly restored since World War II, and now houses centuries of priceless art and cultural artifacts. The New Museum holds Early History collections and Egyptian treasures, including the famous 3,300-year-old bust of Nefertiti, while the Pergamonmuseum features reconstructions of massive archaeological structures. SMB.museum

Get some retail therapy. For shopping, head to the Kurfürstendamm, one of the most elegant boulevards in the city, lined with all the big-name shops. Rounding the corner onto Tauentzien Street, you’ll soon hit the Kaufhaus des Westens (KaDeWe), the largest department store in Europe. Find time to also visit both the Friedrichstrasse and the Hackesche Höfe, a series of interconnected courtyards north of the River Spree that date back to the early 1900s. Kurfuerstendamm.de, Friedrichstrasse.de, Hackesche-Hoefe.com

Head to the beach. Almost one-third of Berlin is either parkland or water, so it would be a shame not to take advantage of it. Rent a bike and head southwest over to the Strandbad Wannsee on the eastern shore of Wannsee Lake, the largest inland beach in Europe at 1,000+ metres long. Find waterslides, boat rentals, volleyball, soccer, trampolines and private cabanas. This Cultural Heritage site has been packing them in for more than 100 years—including the nude bathing section.

Hit a beer garden. The stereotyping is real: Beer-drinking on picnic tables is a national pastime. What’s great about this tradition is both the simplicity and the inclusivity, with everyone from university kids to retirees hunkering down to plates of hearty fare, mugs in hand. Nowhere is that more evident that at Café am Neuen See in the heart of the Tiergarten Park, a romantic lake-side retreat in the middle of town—and one of the best spots to people-watch. CafeAmNeuenSee.de

Stay up late. Hip Berliners step out around midnight. The Kreuzberg area’s Watergate nightclub, at the south end of the Oberbaum Bridge, has both inside and outside dance floors with an amazing view of the River Spree. Be sure to do both sides of the river, crossing north into the Friedrichshain district to Revaler Street, which is teeming with clubs and bars. An outdoor concert at Arena Berlin in front the Badeschiff beach bar makes for a perfect summer night.

VISITBERLIN.DE

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