Waterways, ships, itineraries & decisions

Travelling round Europe without the actual travel bit?

Sound good? Someone just magically moving the hotel from city to village, sight to experience? Meals laid on, and you don’t need to fork out extra euro for them?

Well, that’s pretty much what river cruising is — and that’s why it is so very, very popular.

No waiting in a queue for hotel check-ins. No hanging around for transfers. Not even any railway stations.

Just your own, same room to return to every night (or for that afternoon siesta), and Europe passing by your full-length windows.

The days pass with a morning guided walk, perhaps a bigger booked sightseeing trip, or an amble alone around a village. There can be some quiet time in the room or on the top deck, or in a quiet nook on the air-conditioned ship. Then cocktails, a port talk and a good meal.

It’s an easy way to travel — and usually guests will have one paid up-front price.

So, having decided it is an interesting proposition for the European summer of 2024, the next questions are which rivers, which regions, and which company should we consider river cruising with.

The trip between Amsterdam and Budapest is the classic, and for good reason. It’s full of great cities, great sights and lots of variety on the Danube. As a benchmark, consider that Travelmarvel’s European Gems is a 15-day trip between Amsterdam and Budapest from $4495 per person, twin share, in 2024.

Then, on the Rhine, ships pass through the Rhine Gorge and plenty of castles and pretty villages. In the south of France, the rivers are generally smaller rivers with less distance between the stops. I like the river between Arles and Lyon, and combining the Saone and Rhone gives a nice, longer trip.

FIRST THE BACKGROUND

Let’s begin at the beginning, with Rudi Schreiner, then president of AmaWaterways, who in 1992 saw that the newly finished Main-Danube Canal opened up a 4820km network of waterways between the North Sea and the Black Sea. Rudi dreamt up the 14-night cruise between Amsterdam and Budapest.

Very soon other companies were formed and joined in, though the first ships were pretty cramped — more reflective of barge holidays than today’s river cruise ships.

Things began to change in the late 1990s. River cruise operators learnt from ocean cruise ship design, and began designing vessels with more space, better amenities — and improved food. Early pioneers include Uniworld and Viking River Cruises, which bought its first ships in 1997.

River cruise ships today are just over 110m-long and 11.4m-wide — those dimensions dictated by locks, bridges and regulations.

THE BIG OPTIONS

+ Amsterdam to Budapest. Usually about 15 days following the Danube, Main and Rhine journey through vineyards and past castles, passing or calling at Cologne, Nuremberg, Passau, Melk, Durnstein and Vienna.

+ The Rhine is also very popular, and cruises often offer visits to vineyards castles, and will sail through the Rhine Gorge in Germany. There are interesting old cities like Koblenz and Strasbourg, with guided tours.

+ While the previous two suggestions are probably where “first timers” will (and should) start, those looking for more river cruising would do well to consider the Netherlands and Belgium. Look for itineraries that include Rotterdam, Antwerp and Ghent.

+ There are more and more options heading north-west on the River Seine from Paris. Many include Giverny, Rouen, Honfleur and the Normandy beaches.

+ The Rhone and Saone in France offer, perhaps, a more intimate experience. Itineraries are usually over about 11 days, and I have come to like it best from south to north — usually from Nice (or preferably Monaco) on from the Mediterranean. Guests will be transferred by coach to Arles to join a ship. From there, the ships head to Avignon and Lyon, and on to the Saone and into Burgundy before a road and then rail connection through Dijon to Paris.

+ The Duoro River in Portugal is, once again, I think for those who are looking for “more river cruising”. Itineraries of about 10 days will include time in Porto and monument and monastery visits.

CHOOSING YOUR COMPANY

Most river cruises call at the same or similar places. So let’s add something else into the mix — and that is the mood of the ship. Travellers who like to travel mostly with Australians might look to Aussie companies like Scenic, APT and Evergreen.

Lots of Viking and Avalon voyages will have a strong Australian presence, too. Though they are based in Europe, they have teams in Australia.

Uniworld and Tauck are based in the US. Their voyages are English speaking, but with an “international feel”.

A company like aRosa, which is German, has designated English-speaking voyages, but will have a lot of European (and, in my experience, German-speaking, travellers on board).

Top of our list are Viking River Cruises, Scenic, APT, Avalon, Tauck, Uniworld, U by Uniworld, Evergreen, aRosa and Crystal River Cruises.

Then there are AMA Waterways, CroisiEurope, TravelMarvel and Emerald Waterways.

Most ships carry between 100 and (as an extreme) 200 passengers. My sweet spot is between 110 and 140.

LAYOUT & INCLUSIONS

+ Take some time to look at the ship layout, and to watch walk-through videos and 360-degree views on the river cruise companies’ websites. Some ships (like those of Avalon and Tauck) have beds “crosswise”. Guests can lie on the bed and watch Europe go by. Think about the balcony. Some are so small that you probably won’t (or can’t) comfortably sit out there. Would you rather have the space included in the cabin? Ships with floor-to-ceiling glass slide doors can give the whole room an outdoor feel.

+ Lots of packages mean that, once you’ve paid for a “flight and cruise package”, there’s pretty much nothing else to spend. Meals, drinks with meals, activities, tips and gratuities may all be included. But just be sure this is what you want. Don’t pay for inclusions that you won’t use and don’t want.

TRAVELLING IN COMPANY

Ships usually have a main restaurant where most meals are served. For breakfast, often there is an early snack breakfast on the ship, then the later main breakfast sitting. There may be a buffet lunch, with a la carte items. Then dinner, which is a full, social affair, of course.

Between those meal times, there are often snacks in a small lounge or a cafe-style area. There may be room service, with a simple meal brought to your cabin.

LOW WATER LEVELS

As we have written previously in these pages, low water levels can be an issue.

And, as the climate dries and weather events become more erratic, this may become more of an issue.

In July 2023, the Rhine had very low water levels. The level dropped 1.6m in one week alone as record heatwaves scorched Europe. It is not an issue for river cruise ships on big rivers, but it is on some smaller rivers.

In 2022, as the continent faced a drought, river cruise companies had to use buses to move passengers along some parts of the rivers Rhine and Danube, as the water level was too low for river ships to sail. Some passengers were driven around the Netherlands and Germany and taken to local restaurants.

WRAPPING IT UP

I’ve river-cruised around Europe on many rivers, on many ships, and with lots of different companies. I have never been disappointed.

Travelling round Europe without the actually travel bit? It’s great, I reckon.