European River Travel: Don’t Leave Home Before Having Read This

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European River Travel: Don’t Leave Home Before Having Read This

Saturday, May 2nd, 2009 Subscribe To Our Feed

Have you been thinking about traveling in Europe? Don’t’ forget to include river travel in the various options that you should look at. Not doing so would be a shame as you would be missing out on one of the most pleasant and surprising ways to discover the continent.

There are probably few ways to visit a country which are as cool and pleasant as river travel, and whether you will be travelling alone, with friends, or together with your spouse and kinds, it will probably be a trip to remember.

On a river trip you have access to inland areas of countries that big ships just can’t get to, and you get to sail along serene waterways, rather than to drive along congested highways. Your comfortable hotel travels with you and you usually moor very centrally in most towns that you will visit.

Even though a European river cruise ship is smaller than an ocean going ship the facilities on board are no less numerous with most ships boasting a ball room, plentiful bars and restaurants, possibly a cinema as well as numerous viewing decks from which you will be able to admire the scenery and the architecture of many of the most beautiful European countries and cities.

For the preparation, before looking at the specific trip, you should determine the length of the voyage, the area you want to see and also the general level of comfort that you would expect.

As for the length, you can find anything from three day cruised to break up a longer holiday to leisurely four week trips down major rivers such as the Danube. One or two weeks are pretty standard lengths.

There are several great locations that you can choose from. Major countries for European river travel are Austria-Hungary-Romania (Danube river), Germany (Rhine, Elbe, and their tributaries), Holland (Rhine delta), France (Seine and Rhone), Spain-Portugal (Douro), Italy (Po and the Venice laguna) and Russia (Volga and the lakes around Petrograd)

You will see wonderful floral displays as you cruise through Holland in the spring or sail through the South of France along the Rhone and Saone in the summer. There you could see the vistas that inspired Van Gogh.

Trips in Germany are great in the winter months, especially if you like a traditional Christmas atmosphere and homely cooking and baking.

Concerning the level of comfort, you will find that there are a great number of alternatives, from Spartan drive-your-own houseboat hires to luxury cruse ships that have a lot in common with high-end hotels, but that retain an individual character.

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