The great rivers: the back story

About The great rivers: the back story

By the ULTIMATE the world’s cruise lines Editorial Team

Editor-in-Chief: Jai Michael

Rivers were the first highways of Europe, Egypt and Southeast Asia, and the towns along them still face the water. A river cruise moors in the middle of town, sails while you dine, and lets the landscape unroll at walking pace.

The Danube

The classic river voyage runs down the Danube from Passau, the German “city of three rivers”, into Austria. The Wachau, between Melk and Krems, is a UNESCO World Heritage landscape of terraced vineyards and apricot orchards, and Melk Abbey, where Benedictine monks have lived and worked since 1089, rises above the river at its western end. Vienna follows, with Schönbrunn, a World Heritage Site for thirty years this year, then Bratislava, whose castle stands 80 metres above the water, and Budapest, where the Parliament fills the Pest bank.

The Lower Danube

Below Budapest the river runs on through Serbia, past the Belgrade Fortress at Kalemegdan where the Sava joins the Danube, and towards Romania and the Black Sea. These longer voyages suit travellers who have already seen Vienna and want the quieter reaches beyond.

On a river, the town comes to the ship.

The Rhine and the Seine

The Rhine links Basel with Amsterdam by way of the castles of the Middle Rhine and Cologne, whose cathedral has required a ticket for visitors since 1 July 2026. On the Seine, ships sail from Paris into Normandy, and Paris itself repays a night before or after: the Louvre, and lunch at Le Train Bleu at the Gare de Lyon.

The Douro

In Portugal, the Douro rises from Porto through the terraced vineyards of the port-wine country. Cruises begin in Porto and Vila Nova de Gaia, where the port lodges line the riverbank across from the old city; The Yeatman, a wine hotel in Gaia, looks back over it all.

The Nile and the Mekong

Between Luxor and Aswan the Nile has carried travellers since antiquity. Egypt’s Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities describes Karnak’s Great Hypostyle Hall as a forest of 134 columns, and the Valley of the Kings, across the river from ancient Thebes, as holding over sixty tombs. At Aswan a boat takes you to the temples of Philae, moved to the island of Agilkia during the UNESCO Nubia Campaign of the 1960s. Tickets for the antiquities sites are sold by the Ministry. In Southeast Asia, small ships sail the Mekong between Vietnam and Cambodia, through the Delta’s floating villages.

Our advice: choose the river for the season. The Danube and the Rhine shine in spring, early autumn and at Christmas-market time; the Nile is best in the cooler months; the Douro at harvest. Book the riverside suites early, and on the Nile, buy any special tomb tickets only on the Ministry’s official terms.

Opening hours, prices and seasonal openings change, so please check with The great rivers: the back story before you go.