WILTON, CT — Tauck has announced its European river cruising plans for 2018 and it looks like it’s going to be a busy year for the 92-year-old company.

New for 2018 are itineraries on the Danube and Rhine; the 14-day ‘Royal Danube, Berlin & Krakow’ and the 11-day ‘Rhine Enchantment, Milan to Amsterdam’. Tauck has also merged two of its itineraries on the Rhone, ‘French Waterways’ and ‘A Taste of France’ to form the 10-day ‘Savoring France: Paris, Lyon & Provence’, which includes two nights in Paris and a seven-night Rhone River cruise aboard the company’s ms Emerald riverboat.

The ‘Royal Danube’ itinerary (from $5,990 per person plus airfare) begins with an included three-night hotel stay in Berlin at the Hotel Adlon Kempinski, complete with two full days of guided Tauck sightseeing. Guests then travel by high-speed train to Nürnberg, where they’ll embark Tauck’s ms Savor riverboat to begin a seven-night cruise along the Danube that visits Bayreuth, Kelheim, Straubing, Linz, Krems and the Wachau Valley before arriving in Vienna.

‘Rhine Enchantment, Milan to Amsterdam’ (from $5,290 plus airfare) likewise begins with a three-night hotel stay, at the Hotel Principe di Savoia in Milan, where guided Tauck sightseeing in the city includes a viewing of Leonardo da Vinci’s “The Last Supper.” Other highlights include a day-long excursion to Lake Como, a high-speed train to Basel, transiting the 35-mile-long Gotthard Base Tunnel (the longest railway tunnel in the world), and a seven-night Rhine River cruise that visits Breisach, Germersheim, Heidelberg, Rudesheim and Dusseldorf.

For the coming year, Tauck is also ramping up its shore excursions, adding a second option in many locations to give its guests a choice of experiences to better match their interests. For example, guests on day five of the company’s ‘The Blue Danube’ itinerary will be able to choose from full-day excursions to two different countries; Salzburg, Austria or Cesky Krumlov in the Czech Republic. And on the new ‘Rhine Enchantment’ itinerary, guests have their choice of a visit and wine tasting in Riquewihr or a guided bicycle ride in the Black Forest.

The excursion in the Black Forest is one of several organized cycling opportunities that Tauck has added to various cruises, along with new hiking opportunities and onboard yoga-inspired stretching classes, for more active guests. Other enhancements to Tauck itineraries include exclusive pre-opening visits to Versailles and after-hours tours of the Louvre (both piloted on selected departures in 2017 and expanded for next year), a private Tauck dinner inside the German Parliament building, and an included lunch at Alain Ducasse’s newest restaurant, Ore.