Europe's inland waterways are attracting, a growing number of devotees, and although routes through France are justly popular, less well known are more than 7000 kilometres of navigation penetrating almost every corner of reunified Germany. Some, like the Rhine and the Mittelland Canal teem with freight traffic, while others are tranquil backwaters, such as the beautiful River Lahn and the complicated time-warp Mecklenburg Lakes in the east. In this travelogue, inland cruising expert Hugh McKnight demonstrates that the German network is a fascinating web of watery highways awaiting discovery. His sturdy little ship Avonbay is believed to be the first British pleasure boat to reach East Germany and Berlin on her own keel since the 1930s, to become the first motor cruiser ever to pass through the new Rhine-Main-Danube canal, gateway to the Black Sea. This book tells of his cruises and includes many of the country's most appealing and interesting navigations. It contains all the fact and planning detail necessary to follow in Avonbay's wake. The author's previous books include Cruising French Waterways , winner of the Thomas Cook Guide Book Award and Slow Boat Through France.