tburke

Which European river sections have the most interesting cruise scenery to view; historic buildings, villages, rolling hills, scenic mountain vistas. And which cruise lines travel the scenic sections when you can see the scenery? A mixture of languages and cultures aboard is preferred. We prefer Sept or early October, 8 day, and very good standard but not “luxury”.

Thanks

RoamsAround

They pretty much all have "interesting cruise scenery to view; historic buildings, villages, rolling hills, scenic mountain vistas" - that's the beauty of River cruising in Europe. Pick a cruise line that fits your budget and has an itinerary that interests you and don't worry. You can choose a different itinerary for your next river cruise and then the one after that. We've never been on a River Cruise we didn't thoroughly enjoy.

tburke

Thanks. I don't know these rivers well but I did go west of Vienna one town and saw nothing except a shoreline forest.

My post title wasn't clear. Speaking with 3 major cruise lines on the Rhine and Danube, I found that most of the river travel was after dark- when you can't see anything. So I'm trying to learn the specific river stretches ( from which city to city) are really worth seeing. Then I can ask cruise lines if they are passed mostly during daytime or during darkness.
Thanks

RoamsAround

Well, we did a river cruise with Truck (may be to high end for you) along the Rhine and Mosel from Basel to Amsterdam (they also do the reverse). About half our cruising was during daylight hours including the so called castle run through what is known as "The Middle Rhine" (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Middle_Rhine) which was really spectacular. All the major River Cruise companies have similar itineraries.

RoamsAround

Instead of a River Cruise you might want to consider doing a 'barge canal" trip along one of the rivers in France. We did a one week barge trip through Burgundy (6 couples) which was fabulous. The barges are tastefully furnished, very comfortable, seve amazing foods and wines and the barges travel only during the day through vineyards, rolling hills, tiny villages, woodlands, countryside, etc. You get to tour small villages, wineries, stately manors & chateaux, go hiking, biking or just plain relaxing. The barges move slowly along canals and you can hop on of off at the various locks and/or villages. You can often walk or bike to the next village/lock and arrive before the barge. We did our trip with French Country waterways (French Country Waterways LTD - The Finest Tradition in Luxury Canal Cruising) but there are several different companies in various price ranges.

Check it out, it may be exactly what you are looking for.

Nonconformist

The Douro in Portugal - gorgeous scenery and they actually aren't allowed to sail at night. All the lines there basically do the same itinerary.

ira

Hi tb,

We have very much liked Avalonwaterways dot com.

We've done the Danube from Amsterdam to Bucharest, the Moselle and the Rhine up to Basel.

They all very, very nice in the Spring and the Autumn.

The folks who run these trips have been doing it for a very long time. They travel through the best parts during the day.

Enjoy your cruise

Ira