A GRAPE ESCAPE ON THE RHINE; TRAVEL: The wine was free-flowing for reporter Jane Stirland as she sampled the best of German culture on a cruise for the over-50s on the Rhine.

WE flew into Frankfurt Airport and were met by a German driver to travel the 200 kilometres to join our ship at Trier.

As our chauffeur took to the autobahns at speed, with scant regard for any bends in the road, the leader of our party, five months pregnant and travelling backwards, started to look pale.

The gentler pace of our ship, the Rex Rheni, was a welcome conclusion to our journey.

We were on a trip with Saga Holidays and were joining the vessel on day six of its 10-day cruise of the Middle Rhine, a UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation) World Heritage site, famous for its fairy-tale castles and steep sloping vineyards.

We began our journey on the Moselle river, the longest tributary of the Rhine, at Trier, the principal city of the Moselle valley and one of the oldest in Germany.

Built in 16BC by Emperor Augustus, it boasts the biggest collection of Roman ruins north of the Alps and is a magnet for tourists.

We vied for space to take a picture of its most well-known landmark, the Porta Nigra (Black Gate), the sandstone wall, blackened over the centuries, that was one of the main gateways into the Roman city and is con sidered the best-preserved city gate from the Classical period anywhere in the world.

But just so you don't get too overawed... a McDonalds and a Subway now sit incongruously just a matter of metres away.

At No 10 Bruckenstrasse you can see the house where, in 1831, Karl Marx was born. It is now a museum of his life and times.

The next day it was on to Traben-Trarbach, an important wine town also known for its Jugenstil (Art Nouveau) architecture, where in the evening, we visited the weingut (wine estate) of Karl Caspari.

Our tour began in the cellars which we were told should have joined up with the nearby vineyard but had had to stop short when the tunnelling was found to be shaking the foundations of the church above. The grapes were left to travel by road.

During a generous tasting of fine Rieslings, in a room at a nearby bar belonging to the estate, one of our party asked our host: "Do any of you have an alcohol problem working with wine all day?"

"The only problem we have is if there is no alcohol," replied the genial German.

"Do you drink beer?" inquired another. "I drink beer - I make wine," he said.

Our next stop took us on to the Rhine itself and to Boppard, another historical wine town, where we took a chairlift up the hills behind the town for magnificent views over the valley.

Back on the ground we found a bar and sampled the delights of the local federweisser, a partially-fermented, very young, German wine available in the autumn.

A highlight of the trip came for me in the evening when we stopped at Rudesheim, yet another charming wine town, where we visited Siegfried's Music Museum, housed in a 16th-century mansion with original painted frescos, where we were shown one of Europe's biggest private collections of mechanical music machines.

We stood and listened as the sound of a rare and elaborate fairground organ filled the room; we heard a scratchy 1950s Doris Day recording of When I grow Up played on a horn gramophone made 40 or more years before.

We also saw - and heard - music from a variety of old and ornate barrel organs, pianolas, phonographs and music boxes. If you are ever in the area, it is an experience not to be missed.

Our next stop was Mainz, situated at the junction of the Rhine and the Main, where we visited the museum to Johannes Gutenberg, inventor of the printing press, who was born in the town in 1400.

Then it was on to Andernach where we moored for the evening and the next day, Koningswater, where we took a ride on Germany's oldest railway, which has wooden tracks, up the Drachenfels mountain, one of the Siebengebirge range of volcanic peaks, immortalised in Wagner's Ring saga.

Legend has it that the Nibelungs hero Siegfried fought and slayed the dragon that haunted the Drachenfels rock, bathing in his blood to make himself invincible.

From this legend comes the name of the local wine - Drachensblut or Dragon's Blood.

Disappointingly little remains of the castle that once stood at the top of the mountain, but there is an enchanting dragon puppet in a glass case which, for a coin, tells the story of the legend in German and a magnificent view of the Rhineland, celebrated by Lord Byron in the poem Child Harold's Pilgrimage.

Our last stop was Cologne where the city centre, like Coventry, was largely destroyed during the Second World War and replaced by a pedestrianised shopping precinct. Its most famous landmark is its spectacular Gothic cathedral, which took almost 6 1/2 centuries to complete and miraculously survived the bombing.

Never leave Cologne without visiting Papa Joe's biersalon. Situated in the Alter Markt in the heart of the old town, it is an amazing roaring 20s-style jazz bar, its walls papered with old photographs and other memorabilia from the early part of the last century and the building crammed with mechanical musical instruments, film projectors and end-of-the-pier-type illusion and game machines.

A pair of mechanised accordion and tuba players pop up outrageously from behind the bar at intervals and while we were there, a pianist was bashing out some of my favourite early American jazz and ragtime, without a line of music, on one of the bar's old pianos.

Bigger than most river cruise ships, the 90-metre long Rex Rheni is Dutch-owned and chartered to Saga. The week we travelled, she was captained by her owner.

The food was plentiful and of a high standard. A buffet-style breakfast, with a choice of English or continental, German-style cooked meats, cereals, yogurts and fruit was followed at midday with a three-course buffet lunch of soup, a choice of a main dish or salad and dessert or fresh fruit.

Dinner in the evening consisted of a starter, soup, a choice of two main-course dishes and dessert or fresh fruit or cheese.

On one day, we even managed to cram in high tea with delicatelycut sandwiches and a variety of cakes, and tea or coffee and biscuits seemed to flow at all times.

Then there were the captain's cocktail party and dinner.

The service, from mostly Dutch staff, was first class, with fine attention to detail. Even our linen napkins were folded, origami like, into different shapes for each meal.

There was entertainment in the lounge each evening, with live music, and sometimes quizzes and games. There were also games on the partially-covered deck.

Or you could just sit and watch the scenery, with all its natural beauty, pass by, knowing you were seeing the same dramatic landscape, with all its associations with history and legend, that has been the inspiration for painters and poets, writers and composers for centuries.

The Facts

SAGA HOLIDAYS MAJESTY OF THE MIDDLE RHINE CRUISE

11 NIGHTS from pounds 1069* per person (based on May 24, 2008, departure, travelling by return coach and ferry. Regional flights are available from Birmingham and Manchester for an extra charge, subject to availability.

CRUISE through the middle Rhine and the Moselle aboard Rex Rheni. Highlights include the Roman ruins of Trier, sightseeing in cultural Mainz, the chance to visit Cochem Castle and to experience the charming town of Rudesheim.

PRICE INCLUDES

FULL BOARD accommodation during the cruise.

ENTERTAINMENT arranged by a Saga entertainment organiser.

WELCOME reception and dinner.

SAGA cocktail party.

STANDARD class return rail or coach travel within the UK mainland to London, your departure point or car.

PARKING nearby.

INSURANCE and cancellation cover.

NO single room supplement, subject to availability.

CONTACT Saga Holidays on freephone 0800 056 5880 or visit www.saga.co.uk/travelshop

PLEASE NOTE:

* SAGA holidays are exclusively for people aged 50 and over.

A travelling companion may be aged 40 or over.

All overseas and cruise holidays include return travel as specified, insurance and cancellation cover.

All prices quoted are subject to availability.

CAPTION(S):

MAGNIFICENT... Saga's cruise ship the Rex Rheni which took passengers on a wonderful journey through the Rhine and Moselle areas and (left) Papa Joe's jazz biersalon on Cologne.; PICTURE PERFECT... Germany's Rhine and Moselle areas are famous for the stunning fairy-tale castles (left) and steeping vineyards; a map of the route the cruise took (below) and (bottom) reporter Jane Stirland taking the chairlift down to the wine town of Boppard.