Gardening and cruising for summer 2011

This summer gardening enthusiasts can indulge in their hobby while enjoying a 5* luxury European river cruise that take in one of the world’s most spectacular flower shows, the `Bundesgartenschau’ Germany’s famous Federal Horticultural Show.

Award-winning river cruise line AmaWaterways is offering complimentary entry to the show on seven of its luxury Rhine river cruises during summer 2011 as part of a range of complimentary shore excursions.

The Bundesgartenschau (`BUGA’) is a major event in Europe’s horticultural calendar and takes place every two years in different cities in Germany.  This year’s venue, Koblenz, is one of the most popular cultural centres on the Rhine, and the show runs from April 15 to October 16. The venue allows guests on seven of AmaWaterways’ luxury river cruises to spend a day wandering around hundreds of stunning landscape and floral garden displays which take over the whole town, normally better known for its wood-timbered houses and many wine taverns.

Dazzling displays of exotic gardens will be created at the Kurfürstliches Schloss (Electoral Palace) and the Blumenhof (Flower Garden) at Deutsches Eck in Koblenz itself, but the most dramatic exhibits will be at the Ehrenbreitstein Castle, perched high on a hilltop on the opposite bank, with sweeping views down over the Rhine and Moselle. Lavish exhibitions and romantic gardens will turn the castle’s plateau into a floral paradise, with themes including nature and the environment and even wine-growing.  As an added bonus, large parts of the Prussian fortress have been opened to the public for the first time.

The seven-night `Enchanting Rhine’ cruise from Amsterdam to Basel costs from £1,763pp, for the excluding flights.

For more information, visit: amawaterways.co.uk