River cruising. My favorite way to see Europe

Where to next? Who cares, it's all epic

I first noticed a river cruise ship back in 1990's when crossing the Rhine on the epic Hohenzollern bridge in Cologne. I didn't know about river cruising back then, but I thought how cool it would be if that ship was a hotel on water.

After entering the travel business in 2010 it did not take me long to discover all about river cruising and I was sold at first sight.

Sailing through the heart of Europe into the center of charming villages, towns and cities, an array of included excursions and activities, delicious authentic to your location cuisine, wine, beer, a daily happy hour, charming local entertainers coming onboard, internet all included on a beautifully appointed ship with a welcoming informal atmosphere. Unpack and pack once, pre and post river cruise tours available. How does it get better?

I work with all the major river cruise lines, but just like all of my specialties I tend to gravitate to the one I like best, which for river cruises is AmaWaterways. I think they have found the sweet spot in luxury and value and as with my other favorite suppliers, I get excellent reviews from happy customers every time.

I just love their Rhine river cruise with a couple of days in Amsterdam and a four night tour of Switzerland either side of the cruise, or Danube river cruise combined with a few days in Prague. What has really caught my attention and is on my very want to do list is a Portuguese wine river cruise along the Douro packaged with a few days in Lisbon. France offers more wonderful options and there are also river cruises in Asia, African safari river cruises, USA and Amazon.