Viking Idi: 159 departures between Bamberg and Trier, Germany's oldest city
Measured on 25 August 2026: 76 departures from Bamberg to Trier and 74 from Trier to Bamberg, out of 159 in total. The balance between the two directions is almost perfect, which leaves the choice open.
Trier, founded before the Empire
Augusta Treverorum was founded around 16 BC. By the third century it had become one of the Roman imperial residences and held, by most estimates, some 80,000 inhabitants — making it the largest city north of the Alps.
What remains of it is still standing, which is rare. The Porta Nigra, a city gate of blackened sandstone laid without mortar around 170, owes its survival to a Greek monk who settled there as a hermit in the eleventh century: it was turned into a church rather than quarried for stone. The Basilica of Constantine, a throne hall built around 310, holds the largest pillarless room surviving from antiquity. The imperial baths, never completed, leave their service galleries open to the sky.
Karl Marx was born in this city in 1818, a few streets from the Roman ruins. His birthplace can be visited.
The other end: Bamberg
Built on seven hills and spared by the war, it is a World Heritage site in its entirety. Its town hall stands on an artificial island in the middle of the river, because the bishop refused to grant the burghers any land: so they made some.
The hull, in figures
Length 135 metres, capacity 190 guests, crew 53, 95 staterooms split into 25 Standard, 22 French Balcony, 39 Veranda, 7 Veranda Suites and 2 Explorer Suites. The length is not a choice: it is what the locks accept.
The crew ratio, 3.58 guests per crew member, belongs to this class alone. On the Nile, the same company falls to 1.71.
Viking Alsvin runs the same route with 157 departures, and Viking Herja reaches Trier from Basel with 125.
Iði, the giant brother
Iði is one of the three sons of the giant Ölvaldi, with Þjazi and Gangr. At their father's death they divided his gold by each taking as many mouthfuls as it took to exhaust it. From that comes one of the strangest kennings in the corpus: to speak of gold, among the skalds, is to speak the language of giants.
Getting there from Montreal
No direct flight to Nuremberg or Luxembourg, the two airports nearest the ends of the route: plan on one connection, usually through Frankfurt, Munich, Paris or Amsterdam. Viking Hild offers another way onto the Moselle, from Basel, with 125 departures.
What happens when you book with us
First a fact you can verify in 30 seconds: from a Quebec address, Viking's reservations site does not answer and sends you to a page inviting you to contact an agent. The agency is not an added intermediary, it is the only route open.
Then a method. A Viking River Cruises advisor confirms in writing the exact fare, what the package covers and what it does not, before any deposit. That is what Quebec consumer protection rules require, and we participate in the compensation fund for travel agency customers.
