River Cruise Travel Wish List

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I love being on the water and I’ve always had a bit of a affinity with anywhere close to a body of water. I find it incredibly relaxing and comforting. I’ve always enjoyed boat trips, visits to the beach or just a nice walk around a lake on a warm day. The sea doesn’t scare me – I think it’s the most beautiful thing on this planet (Elen Mai from Welsh Wanderer has a lot of fab advice on being more eco-friendly to help save our beautiful oceans too!)

Photo by Colton Jones on Unsplash

A couple of years ago, my boyfriend and I started taking boating holidays along the Norfolk Broad in river cruisers. His family used to own a river cruiser and his Grandparents owned a barge when he was younger, so he’s had a lot of experience on the river and the canals and thought I might enjoy that sort of slow paced holiday too. Which I did!

Although I absolutely love my river cruiser holidays along the beautiful Norfolk Broads, I’d also love to expand my cruising experience, as there’s so many places around the world I’d love to see and I think seeing them via the river would be incredible. I check out River Voyages for some inspiration and here’s what I found!

Rhine

Probably one of the most well known rivers and one you’d expect river cruises to journey along, the River Rhine would definitely be on my list of river cruises I’d love to do. Following the boarder of France, then through Germany and into the Netherlands, the Rhine River is certainly one of Europe’s most famous rivers.

I’ve been to France a number of times and I love it. And both Germany and the Netherlands are very high up on my wish list of places I’d love to visit. The Rhine River cruise itinerary includes visits to a number of historical cities such as Cologne and Strasbourg and they also offer a 7 night Christmas market cruise, which would be so magical!

Danube

This isn’t a river I’m particularly familiar with but after doing a bit of research about it and where the Danube River cruises go, I’ve discovered that I’d absolutely love to do a cruise on the Danube River. If you’re looking for something a bit different and more extensive than the above cruise, then this one would be a great option.

Vienna and Budapest are two of the most common cities that feature in Danube River cruises (two places I’d also love to see) but there are over 400 different itineraries to choose from for this river as it spans across Germany, Slovakia, Hungary, Croatia, Ukraine, Romania and more!

Douro

The Douro River cruises are a bit different from the above as the Douro River flows through Spain and Portugal, so you can more or less guarantee a warm, sun-soaked cruise if you went for this one. A completely different atmosphere from the above two.

With lots of rural countryside, vineyards, fishing villages and stops in Oporto in Poortugal, Lisbon and Salamanca this would definitely be a relaxing and stress-free river cruise. I think a cruise such as this one would suit perhaps an older couple or a certainly a couple without children.

Photo by wonsung jang on Unsplash

Obviously a holiday on the Norfolk Broads wouldn’t compare to a river cruise such as the ones listed above. They’d both be special in their own way but if you’re looking for a more unique way of seeing the world, a river cruise might be a great option. I love the slow pace of life on the river and with a lot of these cruises lasting 7 nights, the same would apply to a more extensive river cruise.

I think the thing I’d love the most about a river cruise is how you get to see so many places without really doing much of the leg work. The luxurious, spacious cruisers are a great place to be relaxing and chill when you’re not exploring somewhere along the way – a perfect holiday, in my opinion!

Have you ever been on a river cruise? Which type of river cruise would you enjoy the most? Do you like these slow paced type of holidays?