travelbug7

My friend and I want to take a river cruise in Europe next year in either April or October. This is my first trip to Europe. I like the idea of unpacking once and visiting cities from a home base. I just don't know which river cruise has the most historic and prettiest scenery...the Rhine or the Danube. I love castles, museums, beautiful scenery, and good food. I plan on being gone for two weeks but don't necessarily need to spend all two weeks on the river cruise. I'd also like to know which river cruise company has the nicest ships and best food. Also are April or October good months to cruise? Thanks for your suggestions.

iris1745

Hi; For two weeks you could probably start in Amsterdam and end up in Budapest. Check river cruises with these companies that give discounts for many different companies. Richard http://rivers.affordabletours.com and www.cheapertravel.com/rivercruise

lilla

We have done river cruises on both the Danube and the Rhine - you can't go wrong with either of them. Except for the one day along the Rhine in the area with the castles, I thought the Danube was more beautiful. The Rhine has a lot of industry and many working boats.

But the other part of your decision is what cities and towns you would like to see. Check out both itineraries and determine your interest in the stops.

We have traveled with Uniworld, Viking, and Grand Circle. Our preference is Grand Circle based on itineraries, price, tour directors, cabins, and food.

kfusto

I suggest you visit cruisecritic.com, then "Specialty Cruising" then "River and Canal Cruises" It is a very active forum with loads of good info.

We have done a Main River cruise on Avalon and the overall quality was very good. Cabins were spacious and well appointed, nice bathrooms, good to very good food, great staff, thoughtful touches throughout.

beenaroundalot

Lilla - thanks for your comment on the Danube -- I had the same question as Iris. Am considering the Tulips and Windmills cruise but emphasis will be on the flowers and I think the cruise itself doesn't cover a lot of miles. I've heard good about Grand Circle also and Uniworld.

gailw

Beenaround: have you found out any more about the Tulips and Windmills cruise? We just started looking into a river cruise and that sounded interesting. I've never been on any kind of a cruise before (intentionally) so I'm looking for people's experiences. Will check out website mentioned above, also.
thanks,
gailw

Aramis

Rhine = Ugly except for a very brief portion when you can "overlook" it's industrial and transportation activities.

The Danube is more attractive and offers more variety in the cities you can visit as it crosses more cultural areas..