Ten surprising rivers you can cruise down

Done the Danube and revisited the Rhine? No worries: you can sail dozens of other rivers around the world. Here are 10 top choices.

Tisza River, Hungary/Serbia

The Millennium Fountain in the heart of Szeged.Credit: iStock

This major Eastern European waterway rises in Ukraine, creates a border between Slovakia and Hungary, then cuts across the Great Hungarian Plain before joining the Danube in Serbia. Cruise itineraries start in Tokaj, which produces the famous Hungarian sweet wine Tokay, and continue through the Hortobagy grasslands and wetlands. The highlight is university town Szeged, a delight thanks to its art nouveau architecture, youthful buzz and lovely riverside location. See croisieurope.travel

Red River, Vietnam

Busy day in Halong Bay.Credit: iStock

The Red River ought to be more recognised: it runs through Hanoi and empties into the Gulf of Tonkin just south of Halong Bay. Boutique company Pandaw sails on several interesting Asian rivers but this one is a corker, starting among Halong’s magnificent limestone outcrops and penetrating inland (via several tributaries) into landscapes of lush mountains and rice paddies. Ba Vi National Park, the hydroelectric dam at Hoa Binh, and UNESCO-listed village Duong Lam are among varied attractions. See pandaw.com

Gambia River, Gambia

This significant river splits mainland Africa’s smallest nation in two and connects its most historical sites, including capital Banjul (where cruises start and end), one-time hub of the Atlantic slave trade Kunta Kinteh, and Janjangbureh old town. Wassu’s stone circles are UNESCO-listed. The river also flows through a wildlife-rich delta and wetlands where you can spot crocodiles, hippos, chimpanzees and monkeys. Bao Bolong Reserve shelters 550 bird species. See peregrineadventures.com

Intracoastal Waterway, US

This series of interlinked canals and rivers – plus occasional sheltered Atlantic bays – runs from Florida to Rhode Island along America’s east coast, with a variety of itineraries taking in interesting destinations such as Yorktown in Virginia (associated with the War of Independence) and wonderful college town Annapolis in Maryland. Southern cities such as Charleston in South Carolina and Savannah in Georgia have gracious historical architecture and languid atmospheres.
See americancruiselines.com

Elbe River, Germany/Czechia

This compact and at times too-shallow little river – avoid the late summer season – winds through northern Czechia and eastern Germany, where its sandstone cliffs provide stunning scenery in a region nicknamed Saxon Switzerland. Cultural highlights are baroque city Dresden and its fabulous Green Vault treasure museum, the porcelain factory and whopping Castle Hill at Meissen, and historic Wittenberg. Cruises often begin and end at Prague or Berlin, reached on land transfers. See vikingrivercruises.com

Ohio River, US

The Ohio, cutting diagonally from Pennsylvania into the Mississippi River in southern Illinois, divides the Midwest from the American South. Cruises often run between Pittsburgh and either music-rich Memphis or Louisville, which is associated with bourbon and horse racing. Madison is an historic steamboat port, and Cincinnati has the raucous appeal of a city at the crossroads of river and rail routes. Meanwhile Marietta in Ohio is a charming centre of culture. See aqvoyages.com

Chobe River, Botswana

Itineraries of just a few days on very small ships and along a short stretch of river make this more a putter around than a cruise. The reward? A congregation of stunning wildlife in Chobe National Park, with its flat but beautiful floodplains. You’ll see lurching giraffes feeding on acacia trees, kingfishers flitting between clumps of papyrus, and hippos snorting in pleasure. The highlight might be an elephant herd drinking at the water’s edge. See zqcollection.com

Loire River, France

A chateau on the Loire.Credit: iStock

The Loire is France’s longest river and, where it runs west of Paris, is famous for its associations with royal history and particularly its wealth of chateaus. Yet perplexingly, it remains little cruised, and only CroisiEurope operates there. Itineraries take in some of the choicest chateaus, including those at Azay-le-Rideau, Villandry and Chenonceau, but ships sail downriver as far as the cities of Angers, Nantes and ship-building town Saint-Nazaire on the Atlantic coast. See croisieurope.travel

Amazon River, Peru

The Amazon Rainforest from above.Credit: iStock

Some cruises sail the Brazilian Amazon, but most depart from ramshackle, former rubber-producing port town Iquitos in Peru, which has the distinction of being the largest city (population: half a million) without road connections to the outside world, though it does have an airport. The muddy river and its lagoons and tributaries are surrounded in immense rainforest inhabited by wildlife such as monkeys, toucans, sloths and scintillating butterflies. Occasional villages add human interest. See expeditions.com

Brahmaputra River, India

This mighty river, one of the world’s biggest, changes names several times between Tibet and the Bay of Bengal. Some cruises sail between Jorhat and Guwahati before joining the Ganges-Hooghly to finish in Kolkata, others operate round-trip from Guwahati. You won’t only see the Himalayas on the horizon, but can visit national parks that protect rhinos, elephants and tigers. Hindu temples, Buddhist monasteries, tea plantations and silk-weaving villages are other attractions. See pandaw.com

The writer has travelled as a guest of numerous river cruise companies.