Moselle Doppelgänger?

[Gourmet Gal]

My husband and I agree that our favorite river so far is the Moselle.  We love the mixture of vineyards, charming towns and the winding, lazy nature of cruising along this very scenic river.  We’re considering a cruise next year and as we really don’t like to repeat ourselves we’re wondering what other rivers would give us a similar experience.  Any suggestions?

[notamermaid]

That is an interesting question. Spontaneously, I would go with the Douro as people both "on the ground" and in advertising liken the Douro with its vineyards to the Moselle. I cannot judge as I have not been to the Douro. As regards meandering the Seine is similar to the Moselle but the landscape is not matching from what I have seen in photos. Vineyards and slightly less meandering you will find on the Main, around Würzburg I can say that it matches the Rhine valley and gets close to Moselle landscape. The climate is also closer to the Moselle.

 

The only problem on the Main is the sun deck being closed due to the low bridges, but you can avoid that when you choose a split-level or two-level ship.

 

The Rhone is spectacular but I would not say it is similar to the Moselle. I will let others comment on that.

 

notamermaid

 

[Host Jazzbeau]

The Douro is not only lined with vineyards, but it has a ban on sailing in the dark so the passengers get to enjoy all the scenery.  Most cruises are 7 days but some go one-way (with a land transfer to/from Madrid at the inland end) and others are round trip from Porto – the latter will have even more sailing time.

[Canal archive]

I would give a vote for the Douro, okay maybe not quite so much wine but more than made up by the excellent Port tasting. We discovered Pink Port on our cruise super chilled slightly on a hot day. The Portuguese are very friendly and proud to show case their country. I didn’t realise that Port could be used in so many recipes. Beautiful country. CA

[Host Jazzbeau]

4 hours ago, Canal archive said:

I would give a vote for the Douro, okay maybe not quite so much wine but more than made up by the excellent Port tasting. We discovered Pink Port on our cruise super chilled slightly on a hot day. The Portuguese are very friendly and proud to show case their country. I didn’t realise that Port could be used in so many recipes. Beautiful country. CA

And if you are worried that all Port all the time might be too much of a muchness, Scenic's Douro itineraries have lots of non-wine-tasting excursion options.

[Canal archive]

Precisely, but back to the Port, only joking. One of the highlights was at the top of the navigable part of the river the excursion to Salamanca. History, architecture you name it in one superb package. To just sit in the square with a glass or cup of something really Spanish, people watching was a privilege. On the way there we were held up as at one particular narrow section of the river you definitely have to book a time slot for the lock well we had to hang around as the boat coming towards us was late (luckily an Emerald boat so the same company) a passenger had somehow wondered off and didn’t return to the boat in time. Quite a bit of banter as we passed each other. 
Here is a little taste.

[Gourmet Gal]

Thanks for all the quick responses!  This is so interesting because we’re considering adding a river cruise after an ocean cruise that terminates in Lisbon and have been considering the Douro or possibly the Rhône. We’ve done Rhine, Moselle, Danube, Main already but we’ve also been to France many times including Arles and Avignon so Portugal would be all new.  The only itin. that works with the ocean cruise date is a Tauck rt. that doesn’t include Salamanca.  Sounds like that’s a highlight but the Tauck cruise would be on a new ship built for the Douro.  The only other negative I’ve discovered is that most of the ports include bus trips.  Does anyone know if the bus trips are lengthy or just quick transfers?

[CPT Trips]

If you are looking for an opportunity to enjoy wine, definitely consider cruising the Rhône.