JUST a few years ago quaint-looking river cruise boats were so likely to leave you shaken and stirred by vibrations and noise from the engine that wise travel agents would, with a knowing smile, recommend you spend as many nights of your holiday on dry land as on board. Now it's more a question of 'Have we left yet?' than 'Are we there yet?'

On modern twin-cruisers such nuisances are no more. When I boarded the new TUI Sonata and was busy unpacking in my delightfully pristine cabin, the first time I noticed that we had left Dusseldorf and were sailing up the Rhine was when I looked out of the window.

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Floor-to-ceiling windows and doors opening onto a French balcony gave me a widescreen picture of an ever-changing riverscape; a multitude of craft on the water to neat vineyards climbing up to castles.

The 188-passenger Sonata has an elegant interior, an impressive cabaretstyle lounge area including a stage and many quiet nooks to sit and read in. The larger cabins have double beds while the smaller ones have folding beds to convert into spacious lounges by day. All have stylish dark wood furnishings.

This new ship has been built to explore rivers where the bridges may be too low or the locks too tight for older craft. I opted to discover the lesserknown Mosel, home to some of the best German white wine, after we'd explored some of the middle Rhine, itself an excellent wine-producing area.

Our first stop was the medieval walled city of Andernach, where you will find the world's highest cold-water geyser gushing 200ft in the air.

An impressive new exhibition centre boasts interactive attractions - one of which invites you to pump your own geyser by hand. Nothing in comparison though to the effect of the naturally carbonated water of this region which powers the real thing. The geyser is spectacular. Just yards from the river it erupts every 100 minutes, spouting for about 10 minutes then fizzing sullenly.

We left the Rhine at Koblenz to join the quieter reaches of the Mosel. In rural spots where swimmers join waterfowl, the towns are a mix of skew-whiff, half-timbered medieval houses, baroque churches with rococo gables and 19th-century villas topped with decorative roofs.

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We stopped at interesting towns such as Cochem where you can visit the many halls in the 10th-century Reichsburg castle or enjoy your own wine tasting tour among the vintners, in the old quarter's alleyways.

On another tour we explored the vineyards high above the town of Bernkastel-Kues, which is overlooked by the ruins of the 13th-century Landshut castle.

We were shown the whole process of wine making from vine planting to fermentation before being offered Rieslings and dessert wines until I realised I'd overindulged a tad and headed back to the ship's "wellness area", with its sauna and whirlpool, to recuperate.

One of my favourite spots on board was the restaurant. The food is excellent, serving such light starters as sun-dried tomato terrine and main courses of lightly-steamed fish and delicately pink meats. All were followed by tasty berry and chocolate desserts and coffee.

I became quite addicted to observing every episode in the unfolding drama on the riverbank between the five or six courses and developed a bit of a stiff neck from peering at every last twist. So as we headed back through the narrow gorges of the Mosel towards the Rhine, I signed up to morning yoga classes on the sundeck.

Upside down I admired the dramatic Lorelei rock, made famous by the story of the Rhine maiden whose song lured many sailors to their death on this most treacherous river bend. I also had a glance at the quaint village of Rudesheim, with its many wine bars of the Drosselgasse.

This is the landscape that fascinated poets such as Mary Shelley as well as the painter William Turner. Inspired, I tried my hand at the art classes on offer. I won't give up my day job but maybe I shared something with Turner in that I fell in love with the riverscapes.

In just a few days I'd settled into the tranquil pace and genteel spirit of life on board this most relaxing form of travel but just like the tide on these two fast-moving rivers, time flows on in one direction only and my trip sadly came to an end.

THE KNOWLEDGE:

TUI Flussgenuss (dialling from the UK: 0049 511 567 8903/ www.tui-flussgenuss.de) offers an 11-day Mosel dream roundtrip from Dusseldorf on Sonata from £1,145pp (two sharing), full board. Departures Sept 18 and 25, 2011, June 30, July 10, Sept 6 and 16 and Oct 7, 2012. airberlin (0871 500 0737/ www.airberlin.com) offers return flights from Stansted to Dusseldorf from £82. Packages on board Sonata are also available through Great Rail Journeys (01904 521980/www.greatrail.com)