Venlo (Netherlands Limburg)

Venlo is a Meuse River (Rur-Roer River) cruise port and city in southeastern Holland (Netherlands' Limburg Province) with population around 100,000. Meuse/Maas River originates in France and flows through Belgium and Holland, and (via Rhine-Meuse-Scheldt delta) drains into North Sea.

The settlement (as Sablones) was found by the Romans on a road linking Maastricht (Holland) with Xanten (Germany). In the 9th century, Venlo was first mentioned (as a trading post) and soon developed into an important town. It received city rights in the mid-14th-century (1343) and joined the Hanseatic League (Deutsche Hanse/Hansa - commercial and defensive confederation of market towns) in 1375. In 1713, the city became part of the Netherlands.

Venlo is very close to the Holland-Germany border and is connected by two highways/Autobahns (A-40 and A-61) directly to Dusseldorf, Duisburg and Cologne. A railway provides regularly scheduled train connections to Eindhoven, Roermond and Nijmegen and also to Germany (North Rhine-Westphalia state) via Kaldenkirchen to Dusseldorf and Hamm.

As cruise port, Venlo is included in the schedule of Phoenix Reisen with the riverboat Rhein Prinzessin. Next table shows the ship's 7-day "The Rhine with Rhein Prinzessin" cruisetour itinerary roundtrip from Germany.

Prices start from ~EUR 800/ ~USD 980 per person with double occupancy.