THE 25 BEST River Cruises to Europe with Prices on Cruise Critic
Table Of Content
Passengers can indulge in free-flowing drinks and market-fresh cuisine, while suite guests are assigned white-gloved butlers, each one trained at the prestigious Ivor Spencer Butler School in England to ensure royal standards are met. European Waterways isn't the most widely known European river cruise line, but for travelers craving something truly intimate and unlike any other sailing, it's the best. Upscale river line Tauck is the best for solo river cruises in Europe, even though Grand Circle gives the line a run for its money. Tauck waives single supplement charges on all of its Category 1 lower-deck cabins on every ship in its European fleet. Perks include a roommate matching service for solo cruisers, competitively priced single supplements and group discounts, plus price match guarantees.
The 10 Best River Cruises in Europe
Guests on board can enjoy a heated pool that transforms into a cinema, spacious suites and a dedicated wellness area. If you like to stay fit and healthy on vacation, Avalon Waterways is the best line for get-up-and-go European river cruises. In addition to regular itineraries, Avalon offers Active & Discovery sailings on the Rhine, Danube, Rhone, Moselle, Seine and Dutch waterways.
Teeming River Cruises
You'll also find a high number of inclusions, such as all drinks from the bar and with meals, to create a stress-free sailing with no hidden extras. Fancy associations aside, these credentials translate into some truly awesome dining experiences. European ships have the cozy Chef's Table restaurant where all guests get to dine for free once every cruise. Paris is the point of embarkation (and also disembarkation) for most round-trip sailings here, affording time to enjoy a small taste of the city (where at least one overnight stay is commonplace).
Best Budget-Friendly European River Cruise: Grand Circle Travel
Travel Insurance for River Cruises: Coverage, Benefits and Tips (2024) - MarketWatch
Travel Insurance for River Cruises: Coverage, Benefits and Tips ( .
Posted: Fri, 26 Jan 2024 08:00:00 GMT [source]
Flowing through France, Luxembourg and Germany, the Moselle River is known for its medieval architecture and excellent white wines. The climate, soil and topography along the Moselle create an ideal environment for the cultivation of grapes. The seven-night river cruise takes you through Hungary, Croatia, Serbia, Bulgaria and Romania.
The 10 Best River Cruise Lines in 2022
Instead of pre-programmed group activities, guests create their own unique experiences with a complimentary city tour app for each destination. Started as a New England motor coach tour company, Tauck is a family-owned global travel firm offering tours and cruises to a wide range of destinations around the world. Their award-winning European river cruises are praised for their personalized service, exclusive destination experiences, luxurious cabins and suites, fine dining, and professional, caring staff. The stellar 2022-built Viking Egdir, carrying 190 passengers, offers a ringside seat of bucolic vineyards and medieval castles on the Rhine, Main and Danube.
Sparkling new Europe-based ships seemingly debut every year, all with innovative features and itineraries that showcase art, history, food and more. The best European river cruises make it easy to enjoy the continent’s marvelous scenery to its fullest, with thoughtful amenities, intimate ship sizes and a slower pace to soak it all in. In addition to the main dining room, ships have smaller venues where every passenger can have a meal. There's also the exclusive Table La Rive fine dining experience for Diamond Deck suite guests. Daily activities feature a wide choice of included shore tours so you can personalize your cruise experience.
While virtually all river cruises in Europe operate in the warmer months, the one exception is Christmas market cruises, which most river cruise lines offer. Christmas markets are a centuries-old tradition in European cities and cruising is a novel way to enjoy more than one. Sailing through Provence and Burgundy along the Rhone River is one of the best European cruises for food lovers and oenophiles, as every river cruise highlights the region’s rich wine heritage with plenty of tastings and visits to vineyards. This German company offers 30 years of experience on Europe's rivers, and has a fleet of 26 river ships in addition to the expedition ship World Voyager and oceangoing Vasco Da Gama.
Bordeaux waterways
These are the major companies offering the best European river cruises along with examples of their itineraries. The 196-passenger, Danube-based AmaMagna is a standout among the cruise line’s well-equipped offerings. Passengers can work out solo at the Zen Wellness Studio or join an open-air spin class, while drinking in scenic river views. The ship's ample deck space also offers passengers the chance to unwind in the heated pool and indulge in a nap-inducing massage in one of two treatment rooms. For true indulgence, book a table at the fleetwide reservation-only Vintage Room, set up for private dining, with an extravagant seven-course wine-pairing menu.
Romantic Rhine & Moselle - Nijmegen (Start Amsterdam, End Basel)
Stops at Montmerle, Mâcon, and Tournus offer opportunities for wine tasting and exploring a Benedictine abbey. There's a walking tour of Chalon-Sur-Sâone and time to browse through St. Jean de Losne. With a number of cruise companies and rivers to choose from, planning a river cruise can take some time. Consulting with a travel advisor is always a good idea, and there's plenty of information available online as well.
Established in 1976, Croisi offers cruises on rivers, canals, and seas with a fleet of oceangoing ships, canal barges, and river cruise ships. The company's innovative approach allowed them to be pioneers on several rivers in Europe including the Gironde, Loire, Po, and Elbe, basing their ships' design on the characteristics of the waterways. Scenic offers both ocean and river cruises, all with emphasis on its fleet of "Space-Ships" and their meticulous design and spacious quarters. Ships offer a wellness area, massage services, gym, e-bikes, and onboard entertainment. Avalon features wall-to-wall, floor-to-ceiling windows with beds facing the views for ultimate enjoyment from their suites and staterooms. Their deluxe beds and luxurious linens provide comfort in spacious, quiet quarters with ample closet space.
If you plan your cruise for September or October, you'll be able to admire the grape harvest. Your visit there and to the Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial, as well as other memorials and monuments to the fallen, is a poignant experience (one that requires a two-hour bus ride from your ship, however). Avalon Waterways brings a World War II expert on board to add insight on select sailings. Their cruise in northern Italy along the Po River, "From the Canals of Venice to Renaissance-infused Mantua," is a seven-day excursion starting in Venice where guests can discover St. Mark's Square and Doge's Palace. In partnership with CroisiEurope aboard the MS Michelangelo, the ship heads west to Vicenza and then on to Chioggia.
The ship passes the Mosel vineyards and docks in the medieval town of Cochem for a guided walking tour. The next day, guests can tour the town of Bernkastel-Kues and enjoy a wine tasting or hike to the ruins of a castle for a stunning view. After a morning tour of Saarburg, the ship cruises along the Saar River with panoramic views of its massive loop.
Billed as "the world's only authentic boutique cruise line," Uniworld offers in-suite butler service, world-class cuisine, and all-inclusive rates that cover premium spirits and wines as well as gratuities. Perhaps the best known of the river cruise companies, Viking promotes their "longships," which include large suites and inviting verandas for outdoor dining. Guests enjoy Viking's destination-focused dining as well as the variety of staterooms and itineraries with a wide range of prices. A jaunty kids' club with a climbing wall and secret nooks is positioned next to 12 family cabins, each sleeping up to five, featuring nautical-themed bunk beds.
Work up an appetite with action-packed kayaking, hiking and cycling tours before returning to a well-earned meal. Onboard cuisine features a variety of menus including Avalon Fresh which showcases mainly vegetarian dishes. The itinerary for most cruise lines is the same, sailing from Paris between Rouen or Caudebec. In Rouen, the capital of the Normandy region, tours to its historic cathedral, built between the 13th and 16th centuries and landmarks relating to Joan of Arc, are a must. All Seine cruises offer full-day excursions to the Normandy Landing Beaches, including Omaha Beach, plus visits to the Point du Hoc monument and the American Cemetery. Founded in 2017 with the goal of making European river cruises more economical and personalized, family-owned American company Teeming River Cruises developed a different river cruise model.
There are a lot of variations, of course, with different starting points and stops, which offers cruisers plenty of interesting options. Find the full list of the best river cruise lines — and more on what sets Viking apart — below. Viking River Cruises is one of the few lines that visits (another is the French line CroisiEurope), offering 10-day itineraries that combine hotel stays in the cities of Berlin and Prague with a stretch of river between Prague and Wittenburg, Germany. When it comes to top cruising rivers in Europe, the Rhine wins for natural beauty and fairytale landscapes. A cruise on the river between Amsterdam in The Netherlands, and Basel, Switzerland — a typical one-week route — takes you past expanses of slope-side vineyards, forests and mountains, historic cities and medieval half-timbered villages. Along the route, between Melk and Krems in Austria, you cruise through the Wachau Valley, a key wine-growing region producing rieslings and gruner veltliners, with sipping opportunities available.
Returning to Bordeaux, guests will explore this UNESCO World Heritage Site and capital of the wine world. Palate-pleasing gastronomy and epicurean shore excursions make new arrival Riverside Luxury Cruises a standout for foodies. The cruise line, which cruises on several ships that once belonged to luxury cruise line Crystal, offers a sublime culinary program, particularly on the 110-passenger Riverside Ravel, which taps into the Rhône’s extraordinary bounty. All menus onboard reflect the region, with vintage wines, dishes featuring truffle, escargot and foie gras and a gout-inducing selection of premium cheeses.
Comments
Post a Comment