It’s Easy To Travel Across Europe By River
For most tourists the phrase "cruise vacation" conjures images of indolent time spent on deck chairs sipping tropical drinks while being transported across warm seas to the next sun-drenched tropical islet. But there is a different sort of cruise, which can bring an entirely new experience to the excitement of cruising: European river travel.
Regardless of whether you are new to cruising on ships or if it is an activity you have indulged in often, one advantage of European river travel is that it's an activity that you can enjoy in every season, unlike tropical cruises.
With European river travel, you will avoid the constant hassles of car gridlocks, changing accommodation every other day, and having to take lots of flights. And you will see wonderful places that are inaccessible to a seagoing cruise across Europe's coasts.
Most European river travel will involve visiting beautiful cities such as Vienna, Regensburg or Strasbourg, but you will also have a chance to sample nature's delights in beautiful protected parks, and if you like mountains, the Alps and the Carpathians could only be a day trip away from your cruise boat!
An Internet search will guide you to some first-rate reductions on European river cruises, especially if you are able to wait until the last moment before reserving your trip.
European river travel is achievable along some of Europe's oldest and most romantic watercourses. A two week cruise of the Danube River, for instance, will take you from Amsterdam to Budapest, through Holland, Germany, Austria, and Slovakia. You'll in fact be cruising on three waterways, the Main and Rhine Rivers as well as the Danube.
You'll visit Vienna, the origin of the waltz, and the thirteenth-century cathedral at Cologne. You'll visit the overwhelming Danube Gorge and the Stone Bridge at Regensburg, which has been bearing traffic safely over the Danube for more than a thousand years.
The vessels used for European river travel are far smaller than their ocean-cruising counterparts, usually having space for less than two hundred travelers. So you will be treated with a far more bespoke service, and you will see sights that you couldn't glimpse at from the decks of the ocean ship giants.
The region truly has a lot to offer to the discerning traveler who likes to enjoy refined culture, entertainment, and cuisine at a pleasant pace. And in fact, maybe after such a momentous trip you may even decide to come back for more European river travel on the continent's other rivers.
April 09 2009 | cruise | No Comments »