Okay guys, tell me your favourite river cruise itineraries. And boats.

Ngaire mentioned the Antoinette, which is Uniworld's brand-new, ultra-luxurious ship. I'm very attracted to this. It's doing the Basel-Amsterdam route, which wouldn't be my first choice, but I might be convinced partly because of the boat, but also because we love Amsterdam, and David's never been to Switzerland.

I first started looking at itineraries in France, either Paris to Normandy, or Lyon to Provence, but then begun exploring the Danube. What's everyone's favourites there? Passau or Nuremberg to Budapest, with a pre-stay in Prague, so far is my favourite.

We'd probably travel in September or early October, in 2013.

I'm looking at AMA, Uniworld, Tauck, and will consider Avalon. I feel like Tauck is too pricey for me.

Wendy: Last year, we sailed on the AMA Armacello from Budapest to Amsterdam. Although the reverse itinerary seemed to be the most popular, the sail out from Budapest at night was spectacular and from our experience, couldn't have been better. It is completely different from ocean cruising but we loved it. They had three different groupings for tours which worked well for us as there was quite a bit of walking involved. If it had been up to me, I probably would have chosen Scenic as they had newer ships with a small balcony (as do Uniworld now), but the 'French' balcony was OK. I would definitely not choose a 'porthole' cabin but nor do I think the top level is necessary - we were fine in the middle but do try to avoid the cabins too near the rear as they can be a bit noisy.

With the space in which they had to work, it was incredible how they managed to serve the meals they did. Of course you had to turn up on time for meals, which is never a problem for me!

I have friends who have been on Avalon and Scenic and neither have any complaints but Scenic probably was more popular. I'm sure you'll enjoy whatever you choose.

Lee

Thanks Lee, that's good information. We'll probably do a shorter itinerary--probably we will start with a 7-8 day cruise with extensions. I'm considering Budapest-Passau or the reverse, although I might go for the Amsterdam to Basel.

Marcia and I will let you know of Tauck after our Tulip trip next month

The only river cruise we have done was AMA Prague to Budapest. Totally different from ocean cruising but really enjoyed it. The only thing that really we didn't like ( and my husband hated) was the dining room, which was very noisy and crowded, since it had exactly the number of seats as the number of passengers.