Australia’s longest river to get its first luxury cruise ship

The Murray River has always fascinated explorers, traders and travellers. Now a new luxury riverboat is set to lure river-cruise fans as well.

Few holidays could be more languid than floating down a river, past river gums and wetlands teeming with pelicans and herons. Lazy days drift by like fat fish, and every bend supplies another pleasant panorama. And when that river is the Murray, you also get Indigenous, explorer and settler history thrown in for good measure.

An artist’s impression of a suite onboard the luxury paddlesteamer Australian Star.

Yet despite that, the Murray has long had a modest reputation as a cruise river. That may well change, however, when the river gets its first luxury river ship in 2025 with the launch of PS Australian Star, which aims to attract a new range of customers.

What’s more, operator Murray River Paddlesteamers has announced a partnership with Australian travel company APT that aims to boost the Murray’s profile both domestically and internationally.

The alliance has already resulted in one-third of all Australia Star’s first-season sailings filling. APT has bagged 16 of the Australia Star’s seven-night sailings on the Murray between June 2025 and early 2026, which it will sell as part of its Murray River tour packages.

The paddlesteamer Emmylou cruising the Murray River near Echuca-Moama.

It isn’t hard to see why cruise lovers are jumping at the chance of travelling this river in style. The Murray provides a distinctively Aussie experience. Indigenous Australians have lived along its banks for 40,000 years, leaving behind artworks and ancient burial sites.

European explorers used the river as a handy transport route to the outback. Charles Sturt named the river in 1830, and it quickly became critical to opening up inland Australia and the transportation of the wheat and wool that first made the country rich.

The $6.75-million Australian Star is under construction in Mildura and will replace the ageing, 16-guest PS Emmylou. It will be the country’s largest paddlesteamer, and the world’s only wood-fired paddlesteamer with accommodation.

The ship will carry 38 guests and comprise a lounge, fine-dining restaurant, outdoor public decks and 19 staterooms, each with an ensuite and private deck. Builders promise to celebrate the Murray region’s heritage in the ship’s decor.

The Australian Star will launch in 2025.

Year-round cruises of three, four or seven nights will sail from Echuca in Victoria. The town is lined with heritage buildings from its heyday as a major river port, among them the notorious Star Hotel, a formerly illegal drinking venue with a secret underground bar and escape tunnel.

One-third of Echuca’s 1860s triple-tiered wharf remains, its impressive size testament to the importance of wool to this port’s early trade.

Murray River Paddlesteamers isn’t the only operator on our longest river. The 36-passenger Proud Mary has cruises from Murray Bridge in South Australia, and the 120-guest Murray Princess operates itineraries between Mannum, Murray Bridge and Salter’s Station, all in South Australia.

Among the highlights of the Lower Murray, in South Australia, are visits to the Swan Reach Museum, Sunnydale Woolshed for a sheep-shearing show, and Ngaut Ngaut Aboriginal Conservation Reserve, where landscapes, rock carvings and archaeological sites are significant to the Nganguraku people.