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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?

47 Comments

  1. That’s so cool that you went to Mokra Gora! I have a friend from Serbia, and her father was part of the project to refurbish the Šargan Eight and get it running again. I went there with her back in 2004, when the Nostalgia Express was still quite new. It looks like I missed some other attractions in the area, though. I’ll have to go back one day!Pegasus uçak bileti

  2. Such a lovely place to visit!. I was there a few years ago and I would recommend the Conbo Tour: Alcatraz Island and City Tour. Also, if you like wines… visit Napa Valley and check out the different vineyards.Car Hire

  3. Not sure if it went through… hope you got it! Have a lovely evening, dear. Thanks for stopping by my blog. I really appreciate the support:)Car Hire

  4. I’ve never been on a river cruise. Taking some of the trains in Germany takes you right along the Rhein though and it’s beautiful. Likewise I’ve been to some of the cities that sit on the Danube and I can confirm that it’s beautiful (the sunsets in Budapest were amazing!).
    The Douro wasn’t somewhere I was aware you can do a cruise but with the better weather I’m sure it’d be lovely. Great choices 🙂

  5. I’ve genuinely not heard of any of these places but they all look absolutely amazing and so stunning x

  6. I think I may have mentioned before that I hate/ kinda have a fear of water so a river cruise is definitely not my idea of a good time. But these locations look beautiful, and I hope you can manage to tick a few off the list x

    Sophie

  7. I’ve been on quite a few cruises – most of them were short ones that didn’t take more than a couple of hours though. The longest one I’ve ever been on was a cruise from Gdynia, Poland to Karlskrona, Sweden – I had a wonderful time and I would gladly do it again! I would love to give the cruises you mentioned a try, especially considering that most of these places are already on my bucket list.

    Dominika | Into the Bloom

  8. I have never been on a river cruise but, ever since reading a murder set on a riverboat, I have held onto the idea.
    There are some lovely rivers in the world, and I have always loved water. 🙂 If I were to go on a cruise, though, I would want to go on a less-known river.

  9. This is such a great list!! As much as I adore & am enamoured with the sea, I don’t think I would have the guts to take a cruise and be stuck out on the ocean for so long :’) A river cruise sounds a lot more up my alley. The Rhine would totally be my #1!!

  10. That is so cool and all those rivers have cool small villages with markets to visit. Unfortunatly I’m a really bad Viking and get terrible seasick just sitting in a boat tied in a harbor. Which is kind of stupid since I live on an island. Thankfully I can enjoy the beach and sea just find from land ❤️

  11. Sadly I don’t have sea legs at all, even the thames will leave me unsteady on my feet for several days.

    But a lot on your list I’d like to visit the surrounding dry land, maybe I can give you a wave as you sail past me!

  12. I just went to Vienna and Budapest last month and honestly, I wish we’d done a river cruise so much! The scenery and architecture is so beautiful that seeing it from a boat would’ve been amazing. I’ve also stayed in the Rhine Valley and there are some amazing boats doing the cruises there – I saw one painted to look like a shark which was hilarious!

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