Cruise control
European river cruises popular with Cape Breton travellers
More people are skipping the sun and sand for sightseeing along the Seine.
While winter-weary Cape Bretoners are still heading south to Cuba, the Dominican Republic and Mexico, local travel agencies report that cruises along European rivers like the Danube, Rhine and Seine are the latest travel trend.
“Tons of river cruises — I find a lot of people are turning to river cruises,” said Melanie MacLeod, owner of MacLeod Travel and Cruise Centre on Kings Road in Sydney.
“It’s like ‘We’ve done the all-inclusive, we did Cuba, we did Dominican, we’ve done Cancun, now let’s go overseas.’ I find a lot more people are doing more European cruises and European tours.”
Beryl Clements, senior travel consultant at Carlson Wagonlit Travel on Prince Street in Sydney, said river cruises let travellers experience European culture and history in multiple cities and countries in one trip. That means more on-shore excursions than traditional cruises on the open seas.
“You can go down the Danube, or the Rhine, so it’s a lot more intimate,” she said. “Excursions are included, so, you’re pulling into the village or even the cites, right there — not like a regular cruise, say in Rome where you pull into Civitavecchia an hour and a half away. I’ve even heard it heard it described as you can hear the kids playing on the bank on the side of the river, it’s so close.”
MacLeod said river cruise passengers can settle in on their ship and then let the medieval towns and vineyards of Europe come to them.
“When you’re on the river cruises, you’re coming right into cities and right into the centre of the city. You just hop off and grab a bike, or hop off and walk into town. A lot of people like to tour and be close to town. You’re taking your hotel with you. You unpack once and travel through the rivers, so it’s perfect.”