Here are the best river cruises in Europe.

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1. Explore the Venetian Lagoon

Best for romance
With big cruise ships now banned from the heart of Venice, an unobtrusive luxury river cruise boat is the best way to explore the city and the islands of the misty lagoon. You’ll dock at San Basilio on the Giudecca Canaland usually spend three or four nights here, with plenty of time to lose yourself among Venice’s greeny-blue waters, marble palaces and sunlit squares.

There’ll be forays into the lagoon and, water levels permitting, along the River Po. Here you can take in islands including Burano, famed for its brightly painted houses, Murano, the centre of Venice’s glassblowing industry, and sleepy Torcello. Most cruise lines offer a day trip to Bologna, including a pasta-making demonstration, while others treat you to the unforgettable experience of a private, after-hours view of St Mark’s Basilica, guided by an art historian.

• Discover our full guide to Venice

2. Mosey along the Moselle

Best for longer sailings
The narrow Moselle River flows into the Rhine at Koblenz and is often featured as part of a longer European river cruise. The Moselle valley is especially scenic, with terraced vineyards clinging to almost sheer slopes guarded by craggy castles, and the banks dotted with water meadows and quiet villages. The river loops around a series of curves as you head upstream to the historic villages of Cochem and Bernkastel-Kues, both renowned for their wine production, and on towards Trier. The city has some of the best-preserved Roman structures in the whole of Germany, including the original Porta Nigra town gate and an amphitheatre built for 20,000 spectators.

• Best cities to visit in Germany

3. Uncover history along the Eastern Danube

Best for going back in time
Beyond Budapest, the Danube cuts its way through the southern Carpathian Mountains, continuing under the vast skies of the steppes and finally reaching its marshy delta in Romania. Along the way are cool cities such as Novi Sad and Belgrade, standing in stark contrast to swathes of forested countryside in Bulgaria and Serbia. There’s ancient history in Veliko Tarnovo, the former capital of Bulgaria, at the medieval fortress of Baba Vida; and in the wind-sculpted rock formations at Belogradchik. But this is also an opportunity to learn about the tragedies of the much more recent Balkans conflict, which kept this stretch of the river off limits for decades.

Several lines have now added the eastern Danube to their river cruise collections, some of them providing an extension to Bucharest, a city of grand boulevards and brutalist architecture, and to mysterious Transylvania, a region of jagged mountains where vampires are still very much part of the local psyche.

4. Admire windmills and art on the Dutch and Belgian waterways

Best for culture
Spring is the most popular time to cruise the network of waterways criss-crossing the flat countryside where the multiple arms of the Rhine flow into the North Sea. The fields in spring are dazzling with stripes of scarlet, orange and yellow tulips, while a day at the award-winning Keukenhof garden, brilliant with blooms, is a winner of an excursion. But this historic region is worth exploring by water at any time of year. Cruises may start in Amsterdam, where you’ll need a couple of days to take in the Rijksmuseum, the Van Gogh Museum, the Anne Frank House and the canals. Stops on the voyage might include the medieval harbour town of Veere, and the Unesco world heritage site of Kinderdijk, its canals lined with 18th-century windmills. Across the border in Belgium, you can shop for diamonds in Antwerp and handmade chocolate in Bruges, or join a beer-tasting tour in Brussels.

• Read our full guide to Amsterdam

5. Sample fine wines on the Garonne and Dordogne

Best for oenophiles
Sailing through the rolling countryside of one of the world’s greatest wine-growing areas, a cruise from Bordeaux is, naturally, all about wine. The inclusive experience of a cruise here will feature visits to Saint-Émilion, Cadillac and Sauternes, with tours of honey-coloured châteaux slumbering amid lush vineyards. Pedal between the vines on guided cycling excursions, drool over the cheeses in the market at Libourne and gaze from the sun deck at the passing countryside, with salty sea breezes from the nearby Atlantic hanging in the air.

You’ll sail three waterways: the Gironde estuary, and the Dordogne and Garonne rivers, with the city of Bordeaux sprawling elegantly along the banks of the latter. Bordeaux is one of the few ports in Europe where ships on ocean cruises dock alongside smaller riverboats. Here, check out the grand 18th-century architecture, the classy shops and the cleverly designed Cité du Vin wine museum.

6. Soak in the scenery along the Seine

Best for countryside
There are many reasons to cruise the Seine, not least the glorious countryside of Normandy, with apple orchards, weeping willows and thatched cottages lining the banks. You’ll call at historic Rouen and have a chance to visit the poignant D-Day landing beaches and cemeteries. Cruises also take in the Palace of Versailles and, in season, Monet’s house and garden at Giverny.

Best of all, though, you’re usually docked close to the centre of Paris at the beginning and the end of the cruise, with all its magnificent sights a stroll away, from the Champs-Élysées and Montmartre to the Louvre, the Musée d’Orsay and the Eiffel Tower. Add this all together and a voyage on the Seine has to be one of the loveliest cruises in Europe in terms of scenery and history — and the most effortless way to enjoy Paris and the surrounding countryside.

• The best of Paris

7. Enjoy culture on the Elbe

Best for dramatic scenery
The Elbe is tricky for most river cruise ships to navigate but a generation of shallow-draft boats and paddle-wheelers is able to take you from edgy Berlin to medieval Prague. A typical cruise visits Wittenberg, including a look at Martin Luther’s house, Meissen, of pottery fame, and elegant Dresden. The landscape is especially spectacular as you head south from here, cruising through “Saxon Switzerland”, where the river slices through dramatic sandstone mountain ranges. Some river cruises end in Melnik in the Czech Republic, while others join the Vltava River and sail into the heart of historic Prague. Either way, you can easily bolt on a stay in Prague as an extension to your trip.

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8. Discover medieval villages on the Main

Best for a Christmas cruise
While many European cruises sail from Amsterdam to Basel along the Rhine, others leave the river near Mainz and sail the navigable stretch of the Main. This takes you as far as Bamberg, where the Main-Danube canal begins, to continue your journey to Nuremberg. The river flows through forested hills and past lush water meadows. Between Frankfurt and Würzburg, you’ll visit a typical village along the way for a guided walking tour past half-timbered houses straight out ofGrimms’ fairy tales. A cruise in winter is particularly scenic, the banks cloaked in snow and the Christmas markets in full swing.

Frankfurt, Germany’s financial centre (its nickname is “Mainhattan”), is a largely modern city with a sensitively restored medieval heart and lively pubs lining the riverbank. In the elegant university town of Würzburg, meanwhile, you’ll visit the Residence, one of Europe’s most opulent baroque palaces.

• Best Christmas market cruises

9. Fall for the romantic Rhine

Best for seeing the Black Forest
One of Europe’s longest and most important waterways begins its journey high in the Swiss Alps and finds its way to the North Sea in the Netherlands. The Rhine is yours to discover on a romantic river cruise — a voyage that can cover the Netherlands, Germany and Austria all on one sailing, on a trip that can last up to 23 days. Whichever direction you choose to head in, and whichever cruise ship you choose, you’ll pass lush vineyards, medieval towns and dramatic rocky gorges with stops to explore the cities of Strasbourg, Koblenz and Cologne. It’s also possible to go beyond the typical Black Forest routes and wind along the Moselle.

• Best Rhine river cruises

10. Cruise the Rhône to Provence

Best for sun-soaked French landscapes
If you’d like to experience France in microcosm, a cruise along the Rhône is going to tick all the boxes. Sailing one of Europe’s finest rivers will take you to the vineyards of Burgundy and charming Avignon, showcasing some of the country’s finest landscapes on the way. Highlights include winding through Burgundy and the sun-soaked countryside of Provence. You’ll explore Lyons, with its grand boulevards and quaint old town, the medieval streets of Avignon and its opulent papal palace, and the stupendous Roman amphitheatre in Arles — and much more.

11. Find the treasures of the Douro

Best for food and drink
Wine tasting, gourmet cuisine, beautiful landscapes … the treasures of the Douro River are easy to discover on a luxurious river cruise, usually from Porto or Lisbon in Portugal to the Spanish city of Madrid. Enjoy the medieval architecture and bountiful local tastes of Porto’s wine regions, and drift through the peaceful Iberian countryside. Possible shore inclusions allow you to discover the most beautiful towns and monasteries in Portugal along the way, including the ceramic-laden Lamego and Barca d’Alva, with its 13th-century castle. Some cruises also visit Salamanca in Spain, where you could try a flamenco show and tour the city — a historic beauty with a fascinating past.

• The best of Portugal

12. Explore the Blue Danube

Best for variety
The Danube River has been the lifeblood of central Europe for centuries and there’s no better way to experience it than on a river cruise. Wake up each morning in a new destination — such as the charming cities of Vienna and Bratislava, home to some of Europe’s most stunning Christmas markets — and spend your days admiring the ever-changing countryside of Austria, Slovakia and Hungary. You’ll soon see how Budapest, the “Pearl of the Danube”, earned its nickname: on the western bank of the Danube you’ll find the medieval city of Buda, and on the opposite bank is Pest, with its fabulous neo-gothic architecture and fistful of Unesco world heritage sites.

• Best Danube river cruises

13. See Bohemia on the Vltava

Best for unique sailings
The Vltava is shallow enough in places to wade across, so it’s understandably not an option for the ships of most river cruise lines. But the lightest vessels can sail here, heading deep into the countryside of the Czech Republic. A voyage on the Vltava is certainly an unusual experience, offering an intriguing insight into forested Bohemia as you head south from Prague to Stechovice, known for its gold mines and pottery, and the former Habsburg hunting lodge, Konopiste Castle, once the home of Archduke Franz Ferdinand. There’s time in Prague itself too, to see the Charles Bridge, the castle and the atmospheric old town.

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• Read our full guide to Prague

14. Cruise the Caledonian Canal

Best for hunting for the Loch Ness Monster
The Caledonian Canal follows the natural fault line of the Great Glen, which slices through northern Scotland. A cruise along it means sailing over silent lochs, framed by brooding mountains, forest and heather-clad hillsides, on a voyage that takes you between Oban, on Scotland’s west coast, and Inverness in the northeast. You’ll explore the sea lochs of the west, stopping at Loch Leven and the Highlands village of Glencoe, before sailing the length of Loch Linnhe and into the canal itself. One of the highlights here is Neptune’s Staircase, an extraordinary flight of eight locks. You’ll also sail the length of narrow Loch Ness, sheer-sided mountains plunging into the deep, dark, peaty waters that conceal the secret of “Nessie”.

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• Discover our full guide to Scotland

15. Discover the heart of southern Spain

Best for impressive architecture
The very name Andalusia conjures up images of flamenco and sherry, of narrow winding streets through historic old towns. It’s not normally associated with cruising, but it is possible to experience the charms of southern Spain and see some of its greatest classical cities on a river cruise. You’ll typically wander the elaborate Alcazar and beautiful gardens of Seville, discover the sherry bodegas of Jerez, spend time in the coastal city of Cadiz, and discover Cordoba’s celebrated mosque-cathedral.

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• Discover our full guide to Andalusia

16. Live the Italian dream on the Po River

Best for la dolce vita
There’s no better way to explore the world’s most famous city on water than from a cruise between Venice and Mantua, or vice versa, on the Po River. You’ll glide to some of Italy’s prettiest towns including Chioggia, with its winding canals and gelato-coloured buildings, and Adria, an Etruscan town known for its archaeological museum. Excursions included along the way will see you snooping around the gothic Doge’s Palace in Venice, enjoying a private wine tasting in the cellars of the Bagnoli Estate and dining ashore at the 17th-century villa Ca’Zen, where Byron wrote some of his best poetry.

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17. Sail back in time on the Thames

Best for history lovers

Flowing through nine counties, the Thames is England’s longest river and passes some of the country’s most fascinating historical sites. After meeting fellow guests over (what else?) a traditional afternoon tea in central London, you’ll transfer to an eight-passenger barge and sail to Hampton Court Palace to tour Henry VIII’s apartments, cruising onwards through Runnymede to Windsor Castle. Other history-heavy highlights include the 11th-century village of Hurley, the Tudor manor house of Dorney Court and the impressive Cliveden estate, as well as an optional trip to the Olde Belle, one of the oldest hotels in the world.

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Additional reporting by Richard Mellor and and Siobhan Grogan

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