Which European river sections have the most interesting cruise scenery to view; old buildings, villages, rolling hills, scenic mountain vistas. And which cruise lines travel the scenic sections when you can see the scenery? A mixture of languages and cultures aboard is preferred. We prefer Sept or early October, 8 day, and a very good standard but not “luxury”.
Thanks
We went on Uniworld cruise Moscow to St. Petersburg and it was a wonderful week long cruise. We spent a couple days in Moscow on the ship before sailing to St. Pete. We stopped each day in different town or village and had local guides to take us around. It was wonderful !!!
We did a Viking river cruise, Rhine Getaway, Oct 12-19, 2017. This was our first cruise and we enjoyed it very much. Beautiful ship, exceptional customer service, good food, and great views. We had a veranda and loved being able to step out to take photos or just relax for a few minutes. We left from Basel and traveled to Amsterdam. Check it out!
In addition to any replies you get here, look at Cruise Critic. Here's their River Cruises Forum: https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=191
I think the Mosel River has some of the most amazing scenery I've ever seen. We took the regular public transportation boats, but there are also cruises that cover the area.
Hello cr18tb4. I did not see all of the rivers at Europe and Russia. I liked the Mossel river in western Germany. It is peaceful, with interesting old towns. I think riding on a regular transportation boat on the Mossel river would be satisfactory. Have overnight accomodation at Cochem and one other town. . If you want a long cruise on a river, I think the Danube river, from Germany, ending at Vienna, would be good.
Thanks all. Two votes for the Mossel- I'll check it out.
My post title wasn't clear. Speaking with 3 major cruise lines on the Rhine and Danube, I found that most of the river travel was after dark- when you can't see anything. I'm trying to learn the specific river stretches ( from which city to city) are really worth seeing. Then I can ask cruise lines if they are passed mostly during daytime or during darkness.
Thanks
My wife and I did a Budapest to Nuremberg river cruise in 2014. You will have a lot better luck seeing scenery on the river while cruising if you go in the spring when days are longer. Evenings tend to be taken up by dinner with your fellow passengers but can look out the window. Most days the ship was docked, but we had some day time cruising on our trip. Over cruising tends to be more upscale and expensive than traveling on land or by ocean cruise. I found the Danube to be fairly scenic when we cruised by day, but having visited the Rhineland on land during out 2006 Germany trip, think that's worth a look too.
I think riding on a regular transportation boat on the Mossel river would be satisfactory. Have overnight accomodation at Cochem and one other town.
That's exactly what we did. We took the boat from Trier, stopped overnight on the way, then eventually wound up in Cochem for a couple of nights, taking a boat to another Mosel village for a stop for a couple of hours, then back to Cochem. A great way to do it.
My wife and I are 65 & 69. We enjoy traveling, and have talked about cruises. We've decided that when we are unable to move on our own, that's the time for river cruises. Until then, we probably won't do them.
But if I did do them, I'd do
1) Danube from Beograd to the Black Sea
2) Russian rivers
3) The rhine near Frankfurt
We have done four river cruises, they were all great.
Russia, with Vantage, they were great, but they don't do Russia anymore
China, with Vantage, wonderful, their 21 day tour was significantly cheaper than Viking and ours was longer.
The Rhone Valley (Burgundy and Provence) is very scenic and highly recommended.
The Douro Valley in Northern Portugal is magnificent, we loved it. It may be the most scenic of all. Vantage was great.
We lived in Germany and did short Rhine River cruises from Rudesheim. Also, visited the Mosel Valley. Those areas a very scenic. The Danube including Budapest is great.
