EUROPE
Europe carries the crown as the undisputed queen of river cruising thanks to the majesty of its two most famous, and popular, waterways – the Rhine and the Danube.
Stretching from Switzerland through Germany and Holland to the North Sea, the Rhine’s appeal is rooted in the castles and vineyards strung along its route past notable German cities like Cologne, Koblenz and Heidelberg.
But it’s the Danube that brings alive the history of the Austro-Hungarian Empire as it flows from Germany’s Black Forest to Romania and the Black Sea, passing through some of the Continent’s most beautiful and celebrated spots, namely Vienna, Budapest and Bratislava.
The Elbe is a river that showcases the beauty and history of the likes of Berlin, Dresden and Prague, while the Main and Moselle rivers link the Danube and the Rhine, flowing past Nuremberg (Main) and Trier (Moselle), said to be Germany’s oldest city.
But France’s popularity as a river cruising destination is becoming ever more diverse.
Wine-lovers should head to Bordeaux where cruises along the Gironde, Garonne and Dordogne rivers combine beautiful scenery, grand chateaux and tasting tours to vineyards and wineries.
It’s a similar story for sailings along the Saone and Rhone through Burgundy and Provence where visitors enjoy picture-postcard scenery, medieval towns and bountiful vineyards.
In northern France, the wartime history of the Normandy beaches combines with pretty scenery that inspired Monet in his famous garden at Giverny. These are featured on Seine cruises
that start and end in Paris,
injecting the glitz and razzmatazz of the French capital.
Portugal’s Douro River, which cuts through the heart of the country’s port-producing region in the Douro Valley, lends itself to sailings between the fascinating coastal city of Porto and the Spanish border.
On the fringes of Europe lie the Russian waterways, including the Volga, that link the cultural gems of Moscow and St Petersburg. Another option that highlights the rich history of the region is the Dnieper which flows from Russia through Belarus and the Ukraine to the Black Sea.
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