Did any one take a river boat trip in Europe and if so, which destination and boat company and type do you recommend?

I've been on the Grand Circle Tours Christmas market cruise from Vienna to Nuremberg and had a wonderful time.

We took a Grand Circle tour that started with a few days in Prague, and then a Danube cruise from Budapest to Constanta, Romania. We were very impressed with the company and the trip. Particularly impressive were the young tour guides who accompanied us all the way. It was a very comfortable, interesting trip, and we have recommended GCT to all our friends. I know some people have reported being unhappy with GCT travels, but we had zero complaints.

Just returned from taking two river cruises. First with Amadeus Waterways and second with Viking River Cruises. Amadeus Waterways is my recommendation - www.amadeuswaterways.com. Superior in every sense, without being more expensive.

My wife and I went with Uniworld from St. Petersburg to Moscow by lakes and the Volga, "Riverways of the Czars" was the name of the trip, as I recall.

Also, we went with Grand Circle from Budapest down the Danube to the Black Sea with the add-on into Romania's province of Transylvania and to Bucharest.

We cannot say enough good things about both trips -- excellent in all respects.

Be sure to look at the itineraries very carefully. Some of the river cruises make ludicrously short stops at many of the cities they "visit."

river boat is a bit open.

If you mean renting a boat and traveling on rivers or canals then lots to do We like the waters north of Berlin and the Canal du midi.

If you mean cruising with staff and such. We liked the Rhine cruise but timed it to coincide with the wine harvest to ensure that every afternoon was a happy afternoon

We had a wonderful experience on Peter Deilmann...Rouen to Paris. Expensive, but worth it.
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Several years ago we did a Grand Circle from Amsterdam to Vienna. That was also a lovely trip. Not as luxurious as Deilmann but good value.

On both lines you'll find "older" people. And on Deilmann there may be private groups...like university sponsored tours. But since they make their own arrangements that often means individual travelers have very personal attention from the Deilmann staff.

We just returned from the Rhine river cruise from Basel to Amsterdam on the Avalon Tapestry. The boat was lovely, only 2 years old. I found that we didn't have enough time in each city to be able to explore on our own. Maybe it was because of so many miles to travel to the next city but once the guided tour was done, we would have maybe 2 hours at the most to explore on our own. Most tours started at 8:15 to 8:30 each morning so you never got to sleep in; just found it too rushed. I also found the Rhine very boring from Basel to around Coblenz. Very industrial countryside scenery. I am comparing this to the Danube trip we took a couple of years ago from Passau, Germany to Budapest and back to Passau. That was with Viking and although it was an older ship, I would choose Viking over Avalon. The Danube has wonderful scenery, vineyards, castles, and lots of small villages to see while cruising. Also the staff were way friendlier and the cruise director, Julia, could not be beat. The food was less artsy fartsy than Avalon but only had 1 meal that I had to pass and then they made me a special meal. Avalon was more casual in dress for dinner but fancier in their food choices, which I didn't enjoy. We tried to book with Viking for this tulip time cruise but they were all booked up for this time frame so that is why we chose Avalon instead. Would go Avalon again but also would look at Viking first. More 60+ and European on Viking and a more younger, English speaking crowd on Avalon.