Your Guide to River Cruising
Where To Start
Picture waking up in a new town every morning, right in the center of it, without ever having to repack a bag. That’s the magic of river cruising. The ships are small, usually under 200 people, so it feels more like traveling with new friends than boarding a floating resort. Our writers have sailed the Danube in early spring, floated the Mekong through Cambodia and spent a week on a 12-passenger barge in the Loire Valley, and they’ll tell you: once you try river cruising, it’s hard to go back.
Ship size
What’s Included
Trip Length
Planning Your First River Cruise
Never cruised a river before? Start here. These pieces cover the basics, from picking your first itinerary to why river cruises are great for solo travelers.
The Rivers of Europe Are Calling: A First-Timer’s Guide to River Cruising
Don’t Miss These Four Bucket List River Cruises
Why More Solo Travelers Are Choosing River Cruises
Europe’s Rivers & Canals
This is where river cruising started and it’s still the deepest well of options. The Danube, the Rhine, the Rhône, and the Seine: each one runs through a different version of Europe, and a handful of writers have taken the slower route on a private barge instead of a big ship.
River Cruising
Danube castles, Rhine vineyards, Rhône wine country, all reachable without repacking a single bag.
AmaMagna’s Early-Spring Danube Cruise from Budapest to Vienna
From Resort to River: How Riverside is Elevating River Cruising in Europe
Savor the Rhone on a Food and Wine River Cruise from Avignon to Lyon
Slow Travel on the Seine: Exploring Normandy in Style on the Scenic Gem
Barge Cruising: A Different Pace
Same idea, much smaller boat. These carry a dozen people or fewer, so the pace slows down and the crew starts feeling like family by day three.
Floating Through France: A Week Aboard a Luxury Barge in the Upper Loire
A Luxury Barge Cruise on England’s River Thames Is a Regal Anniversary Escape
Egypt & the Nile
A Nile cruise is the best way to see Egypt’s temples in the order they were built to be seen. Below, a mother and daughter cover the same nine-day trip from two angles: Janna on the Nile cruise that took them from the Pyramids to the Red Sea rather affordably, and Keri on the days spent exploring Luxor’s temples once they arrived.
From Climbing Inside the Great Pyramid to a Nile Cruise: Our Epic Egypt Experience
Waking Up With the Pharaohs: A Mother-Daughter Journey Through Luxor and Beyond
Southeast Asia: The Mekong
The Mekong moves slower than Europe’s rivers and passes through a totally different part of the world. From the floating markets of the Vietnamese delta to a quiet stretch of Laos few travelers ever reach, these two trips show just how different a Mekong cruise can be from one country to the next.
