If you were going to take only one river cruise, what is the premier river?
 

We are a group of Texas friends that get together for European vacations. We will be in Tuscany/Positano this coming May. I have been requested to research river cruises but have a basic question.

If we were looking for the "number one river" with the "best start and end cities" ~ what would that be?

What is "number one"? I would think would include the most beautiful/cleanest river with the best castles, quaint river towns, etc. The Peter Deilmann cruises look very nice but the "number one" would not need to be one of their itineraries. I would think that Holland would probably be nicest in the Spring and the Danute would be better in the Fall (beautiful leaves).

I want to thank you in advance for your opinion. Some people like vanilla and some people prefer chocolate. This should be fun to see the different opinions. I posted a similar question in Cruise Critic.

What is the quintessential outstanding European river cruise?

None of the rivers would be particularly clean, but for castles I would think that a Rhine cruise might be the best. Holland might be considered less picturesque since it is essentially flat.

In Holland most trips will be on canals. No castles or stunning scenery, but interesting villages and big skies. Maybe tulips in spring, depending on where you go.
The Mosel is a nicer valley than the Rhine, lots of castles, villages scenery. The Rhine I always find a bit disappointing, with it's busy roads and railway.
I haven't been to the Danube but I have friends who did a cycle/cruise holiday which they loved. If they didn't want to bike one day they stayed on the boat, otherdays they rode and met the boat at an agreed point.

We preferred the Russian river cruise from St. Petersburg to Moscow over the Danube River cruise. It was so much more interesting and other Danube cruisers agreed with us.

Depends on the time of the year...the Danube is wonderful in December, with stops at the Christmas markets. In spring/summer/fall (and probably winter, too) the Rhône or the Seine cruise through Normandy from Paris.

Phil et al:

Suggest you may want to consider a canal barge trip in Alsace-Lorraine. We did it last year and loved it...slow-traveling at it's best...only 20 passengers, all meals included. Check out this site:

Stu T.

http://www.circatours.com/Tours-Rive...e-Lorraine.htm

My pix:(two sets)
http://picasaweb.google.com/stuartto...ISelectedPhoto

http://picasaweb.google.com/stuartto...AndParis2006II

Phil:

Don't know how the sad face above got in...
Stu

Avalon Waterways (and several others) run the ultimate Euro river cruises, if you have the time.

A typical one, covering the Rhein, Main & Danube: Amsterdam-Cologne-Rudesheim-Wurzburg-(side trip by land to Rothenburg)-Bamberg-Nurnberg-Regensberg-Linz-Passau-Melke-Durnstein-Vienna-Bratislava-Budapest. This one takes 15 days. There are shorter options (Mosel & Rhein for example) and longer options (extending to the Black Sea).

In Dec 2007 a friend and I took a Christmas Markets cruise on the Danube from Nuremberg to Vienna. It was a Collette Vacations tour and the ship was the Avalon Princess. It was completely delightful!! The tour actually started with one night in a hotel in Wurzburg and then a stop in Rothenberg on the way to meet the ship in Nuremberg. We also visited Regensburg, Deggendorf, Passau. and Melk before ending in Vienna.

Topping.
I am thinking of taking Art on a winter vacation and the river cruises sound like a nice idea.

how much walking is involved?

Anyone take a croisi cruise?

SuQue - What season did you go?

You might try posting in the cruise forum too. I'm glad Art is feeling well enough to travel.

Here's another recommendation for Russia. We booked Moscow to St. Petersburg because we wanted to spend the extra time in St. Petersburg.

We went on Viking's Russian River Cruise in mid-July and the weather was perfect. Make sure you stay a couple of extra days on your own in both St. Petersburg and Moscow.I also recommend booking the higher priced cabins.

We've done two river cruises: Amsterdam to Vienna with Grand Circle. Enjoyed it. Second was Rouen to Paris with Deilmann. Loved it. With a group of friends I think you might find Deilmann provides a more convivial atmosphere. (And... a bigger bill -:)

Whoops.. I didn't realize the origina post was so old.
But I still recommend the Deilmann Rouen to Paris.

kybourbon -
Thanks for the good wishes. I figure a cruise would be easy on his body. I do have a big birthday so I want to plan something.