The Neckar is a river which flows for pleasure. After passing the "Swabian Gateway" by many-towered Rottenburg, the Neckar leaves behind its narrow bed and saunters from this point through wide riverside meadows interspersed with a few hills. A little later we are greeted by the young university city of Tübingen with its lovingly restored old town and easy-going Swabian way of life. In Esslingen your gaze will be captivated by the oldest row of half timbered buildings in Germany, before Stuttgart (see picture) moves into centre stage.

The setting of the Baden-Württemberg capital on a series of terraces surrounded by verdant vine-covered slopes provides a charming contrast to Stuttgart's role as a centre for commerce and the arts, with its opera, state gallery and world-class musicals.

In the baroque town of Ludwigsburg you are invited to the Ludwigsburg Festival in the famous palace with its fairytale park. Heilbronn, a major wine centre - known as Käthchen city - comes into its own when it stages its traditional popular festivals such as the wine village centred on the historic town hall. A little further on the skyline of the former Free Imperial Town of Bad Wimpfen stands majestically on the top of a hill the biggest imperial palace north of the alps. By joining a walking tour with a guide in historical dress you can enjoy the wonderful view from the top of the Blue Tower. If you visit one of the historical festivals, you will feel the past and have a great time in the present. And once Neckargemünd, Hirschhorn, Neckarsteinach and Eberach - the "Romantic Four on the German Castle Road" - have really got you in the mood, the Neckar shows you its great romantic finale, Heidelberg, before it joins the Rhine at Mannheim.

From Bad Friedrichshall, where the Kocher and the Jagst flow into the Neckar, it is worth making an excursion into a natural paradise which bears the influence of both these small rivers. Rare animals and plants still live here, with ash trees, birches and willows lining what were the original courses of the rivers. The cleanness of the water makes it ideal for bathing and canoeing, or for cycling on the Kocher-Jagst cycle route.