We commonly receive requests from you about wine-themed river cruises, or at the very least where you can visit wineries on your non-themed river cruise adventures. In reality, just about all river cruises in Europe make at least one visit to a winery, so let’s talk about those ones first.
Most people are well aware that France and Spain are amongst the world’s largest wine producers. Some are more surprised to hear that Portugal, Germany, Hungary, Austria, and Croatia all have wineries that can easily visited when making port stops on many river cruises. In some cases, the wineries are visited on the cruise lines’ included excursions, and in other circumstances you will either have to take the optional excursion or make you own arrangements.
Here’s a quick reference guide of which ports of call have wineries nearby:
- Rhine River Cruises between Amsterdam and Basel: Strasbourg, Speyer, Mannheim Rudesheim, all have wineries. The Alsatian region in France near the German and Swiss borders is a well well-known wine region (particular for crisp white wines).
- Provence River Cruises between Lyon and Avignon (or Marseilles): The Beaujolais region south of Burgundy near Lyon is full of wineries. There are also other small wineries in this agricultural region of France.
- Danube River Cruises between Bavaria (Nuremburg, Regensburg, or Passau) and Budapest: The Wachau Valley in Austria has some incredible estate wineries, and believe it not, there wineries you can visit just outside of Budapest.
- Bordeaux River Cruises: It’s probably not a surprise that every port of call on these cruises has easy access to wine – particularly Libourne, Saint Emilion, and Chateau.
- Douro River Cruises in Portugal: Many of these cruises start or finish in Porto that is famous for Port (as the name would imply). Vila Nova de Gaia is the place to ask about when in Porto.
- Moselle or Mainz River Cruises between Trier (or Luxembourg City) and Nuremburg: We are seeing more river cruises in the Moselle valley, and Koblenz, Mainz, Frankfurt, Schloss Volrads all boast wineries.
- Lower Danube Cruises between Budapest and Bucharest: The former Yugoslavian states have wineries as well. Most notably Ilok in Croatia (near the Serbian border).
That list will help if you want a bit of wine on your non-themed river cruise. If you’re looking for an actual wine cruise, then I have a different list.
What’s the difference?
On a wine-themed cruise, there will be a host on board the ship with some expertise either as a sommelier, or perhaps a winery owner, with lectures and other enrichment activities related to wine. There is usually wine pairings with dinner, and off-ship shore excursions related to wine included in the fare as well.
AMA Waterways does this really well, and they have a whole list of wine themed cruises on their website.
If you don’t feel like flying all the way to Europe, then the Columbia/Snake River cruises between Portland, OR, and Spokane WA can fit the bill for you – particularly if you go during the harvest in October. Wines from Oregon and Washington are one of the best kept secrets out there – some varietals of grape do much better with the long daylight hours experienced the further north they grow.
Today’s Travel Opportunities
Following on the wine theme, here are some cruises that caught my eye:
American Empress between Spokane, Washington, and Portland, Oregon:
- Visit Clarkston, Richland, The Dalles, Stevenson, and Astoria
- Departs on October 30, 2022 for 8-nights (inquire about other dates):
- Window: $2799 per person
- Veranda: $2899 pp
- Suite: $5199 pp
- Includes pre-cruise hotel night, transfers to ship, open bar, unlimited shore excursions, Wi-Fi on the ship.
- A private wine reception the night before boarding.
- Tastings, wine-pairings, and educational series
Ama Waterways Wine Cruise between Amsterdam and Basel, Switzerland
- Cologne, Rhine Gorge, Rudesheim, Ludwigshafen, & Strasbourg
- Departs November 7, 2022 for 7-nights
- Window: $2749 per person
- Balcony: $3548 pp
- Suite: $6348 pp
- Pre/post package for 2-nights in Amsterdam, and 3-nights at Lake Como for an additional $2250 per person
Here are a couple of NON-wine related cruise deals from a Viking Flash Sale (must book by March 6th). Round trip flights are INCLUDED in the prices below.
Pacific Coastal (7 nights between LA and Vancouver):
Visit San Diego, Santa Barbara, San Francisco, Portland, and Victoria, BC.
Depart April 9, 17, or 25, 2022
Fares start at $1999 for a Veranda INCLUDING return air
This is a great way to try out small-ship luxury on Viking Ocean
Panama Canal Full Transit (11 nights from Ft. Lauderdale to Panama City):
- Visit Colon (Panama), Costa Rica, Roatan, Belize City, Cozumel, and Key West.
- Depart October, November or December 2022
- Fares start at $3399 for a veranda INCLUDING return air
- This trip is great for those that want to do a full transit of the canal, but don’t want to be away for the length of time required to go all the way between Florida and California.
Remember, this Flash Sale ends in just a couple of days on Mar. 6th so please get in touch immediately if you’re interested in one of these Viking cruises.
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If you’re planning a trip, I’d love to help! Click here or call 800-876-0168 to get in touch today.
I look forward to hearing from you.
Sue Bradley
Sue Bradley
