8 OF THE WORLD’S GREATEST RIVER CRUISES
America’s Wild West THe spectacular Columbia river is a like a cowboy-film fantasy of sandy bluffs and sheer drops into gorges carved by lava flows and ice sheets. its banks are cloaked in a temperate forest that turns to gold in autumn before the snow. Primeval scenery such as the Dalles rapids and 600ft Multnomah Falls that crash through Columbia Gorge are truly inspiring.
The river divides Washington state and oregon in the shadow of snow-capped Mount Hood, as seen from an authentic paddlewheeler. Laze on deck in a rocking chair as you meander from Clarkston to Portland, reaching the sea at Astoria, where sea lions colonise the estuary. BEST FOR: Cowboys and cowgirls. DON’T MISS: The views from Vista House, an Art Deco landmark 733ft up on old scenic Highway. HOW TO DO IT: American empress sails until november with a nine-night trip, including pre-cruise hotel night and flights, from £3,395
(lightbluetravel.co.uk, 01223 568904). Crossing the Balkans Lose yourself in the northern Balkans on a river that starts in the slovenian mountains, crosses Croatia and heads into serbia. The River sava is little known and passes through towns and villages where time has virtually stood still.
You’ll see ottoman citadels, slavic villages, Byzantine monasteries and the contrasting cities of Zagreb, Croatia’s AustroHungarian capital, and Belgrade, serbia’s capital, with its Communist-era architecture. BEST FOR: Middle europe’s unknown territory. DON’T MISS: The promenade outside the vast Austro-Hungarian fortress in slavonski Brod. HOW TO DO IT: Ms Victor Hugo sails an 11-day trip from sisak to Belgrade and Budapest on April 28, 2020, including a night at Hungary’s Lake Balaton, from £1,521 (croisieurope.co.uk, 020 8328 1281). Going Down Under MounTAins and outback, deserts and red gum tree forests; the River Murray passes the lot, starting in Victoria’s Australian Alps, then cutting across the plains to form a border with new south Wales before dipping down to the sea in south Australia, where pelicans swoop and cockatoos roost in trees.
Captain Cook Cruises operates a paddlewheeler between Murray Bridge and Blanchetown, an hour from Adelaide. There’s a birdlife tour and Barossa wine and heritage tour (Jacob’s Creek and another winery) and a good chance of seeing kangaroos. BEST FOR: Wildlife lovers. DON’T MISS: The sweeping cliffs at Big Bend. HOW TO DO IT: Ps Murray Princess sails a seven-night Murraylands & Wildlife cruise between Murray Bridge and Blanchetown, all year, including transfer from Adelaide, from £980pp (murrayprincess.
com.au, 0061 8 8202 8698). From Russia with love THe gorgeous city of Kiev sits astride the River Dnieper, a major waterway hardly heard of in Britain, yet it’s europe’s third longest and runs 1,300 miles from Russia through Belarus and ukraine into the Black sea.
sail from the ukrainian capital to the small city of Kherson at the river’s mouth, where Catherine the Great’s lover Prince Grigory Potemkin is buried, then into the Black sea, past the fabulous 1911 lattice steel Adziogol lighthouse to odessa. BEST FOR: ukraine up close. DON’T MISS: A horsemanship show at Zaporozhian Cossack Museum on Khortytsia island. HOW TO DO IT: Viking sineus sails regular 11-day trips until september, including flights and wine with meals from £3,895 pp (vikingrivercruises.
co.uk, 0800 319 6660). Amazon adventure PeRHAPs the most aweinspiring river system in the world, the Amazon cuts through
the heart of South America. It’s a wetland ecosystem of jungles, lakes and wildlife and, at its mouth, is 125 miles wide. Sail from Cayenne in French Guiana along the Brazilian coast, then upriver to Santarém, where the muddy Amazon flows beside the clear waters of the Tapajos, to see stilt villages, rainforest and pink river dolphins. BEST FOR: The sights and sounds of the rainforest. DON’T MISS: Chilling out on a jungle beach. HOW TO DO IT: Le DumontD’Urville sails a 13-day Discover The Amazon cruise on March 19, 2021, from £5,264 pp (ponant.com, 0808 2343 802).
Unknown Vietnam
TyphoonS and torrential summer rain are partly to thank for the terracotta tones of Vietnam’s Red River. not as well known as the Mekong, it runs from China through Vietnam and its capital hanoi into the sea near magical halong Bay, with its hundreds of limestone rocks and islands.
pandaw cruise line sails the Red River and its tributaries Lo and Da, with a day in hanoi, stopping at villages and with two days at halong Bay. BEST FOR: Vietnam at its most colourful. DON’T MISS: Swimming in halong Bay. HOW TO DO IT: Angkor pandaw sails year-round, including flights, from £3,095pp (coxand kings.co.uk, 020 3811 0642).
Europe meets Asia
FRoM Moscow to Astrakhan on the Caspian Sea, the Volga flows through a landscape barely changed in centuries, yet it is possible to cruise a 600-mile stretch east from Moscow to Volgograd (previously Stalingrad).
onion-domed churches give way to mosques, with Russia’s Tatar culture evident in Kazan, capital of Tatarstan. The river loops around the Zhiguli mountains near Samara, where you can see Stalin’s wartime bunker, and there’s a call at cosmonaut yuri Gagarin’s home town, Saratov. BEST FOR: Russia off the tourist trail. DON’T MISS: The 16th-century Kremlin, ringed by 13 towers, in nizhny novgorod (once Gorky). HOW TO DO IT: Volga Dream sails an 11-night Grand Volga cruise on September 26, including flights from £2,965pp (fredriver
cruises.co.uk, 0808 271 7417).
Island hopping in Italy
FLAMInGoS and herons flock to the salt marshes of the po delta, where Italy’s longest river flows into the Adriatic. It slips under the radar for many cruise fans, despite the attraction of Venice and islands including Burano, with fishermen’s houses painted as bright as the Riviera’s Cinque Terre ports. you can also visit Taglio di po, a pretty holiday town on the river, and have lunch in Bologna. BEST FOR: A different view of Venice. DON’T MISS: A waterside walk in po Delta Regional park. HOW TO DO IT: River Countess sails eight-day cruises weekly until november, all-inclusive with flights from £2,599 pp
(uniworld.com, 0808 302 6368).