Rhône River Cruises

[WisRiver]

We hope that we can travel to Europe this fall.  We are thinking of doing a Rhône River cruise.  We recognize that people's travel experiences are 18 to 24 months old.  Nevertheless, what experiences can you share.  There appears to be a number of cruise lines, Scenic, Viking, Avalon, offering basically the same itinerary, Lyon to Avignon or the Marseilles area or vice versa.   We have cruised the Danube from Bucharest to Amsterdam, so we have a good idea about what river cruising is like.  Thanks for any suggestions.

[Canal archive]

I’ve done this cruise twice, 2015 & 2019 with Scenic it’s wonderful, so what are you interested in? History, wine, food, nature? Just ask. CA

[notamermaid]

I would say that you cannot really go wrong with any of the companies you have mentioned. You may want to look at ship size and passenger count, there is a bit of difference there. On the Rhone the big theme is Roman history. As regards the architecture of the time Arles is a great example. For me the Pont du Gard was a highlight of my land trip. I highly recommend trying to find an itinerary that includes an excursion there.

 

Another difference may be in the pre-cruise and transfer to the ship. Flying into Paris? TGV train? Coach? Stop on the way in Beaune (recommended)?

 

notamermaid

 

[texasstar]

We cruised the Rhone with AmaWaterways several years ago.  Check them out also.  We did a pre-trip on our own that we really enjoyed.  We flew in to Nice, stayed a few days, then rented a car and spent the week  touring the Gordes, Rousselon and the Gigondas area.

[jpalbny]

We did a really nice Rhone cruise on Uniworld, back in 2015. We flew into Paris the day prior and caught the TGV to Lyon on embarkation day. Back then the ships were docking within walking distance of the train station so embarkation was a snap.

 

They may have moved the docking areas since then, however. I had heard that they were further south on the peninsula, closer to the Rhone/Saone confluence. If they still use Quad Claude Bernard, that's the one you can walk to from the Perrache train station.

 

Trip report: 

 

 

This is a great area to visit for Roman ruins, as notamermaid said. And I agree, the Pont du Gard was spectacular and a must-see. We are toying with the idea of a week in this area in September, on our own. Fly into Paris, make our way south, leave from Nice or something like that. 

 

[TrulyBlonde]

Don't forget about the great wines in the Rhone region.

🙂

My favorite place was Beaune with it's historical town and this is the region where the fabulous Montrachet wines come from.

I loved our trip up the Rhone.

Edited May 22, 2021 by TrulyBlonde
addition

[Canal archive]

A must in Lyon is the ‘Paul Bacchus Institute’ and the silk atelier talk on board with the scarves I managed to spend, hmm quite a bit. CA

 

 

 

[Host Jazzbeau]

3 hours ago, Canal archive said:

A must in Lyon is the ‘Paul Bacchus Institute’ and the silk atelier talk on board with the scarves I managed to spend, hmm quite a bit. CA

Several silk ateliers still active in Lyon.  You could spend even more the next time!

[gnome12]

4 hours ago, Canal archive said:

A must in Lyon is the ‘Paul Bacchus Institute’ and the silk atelier talk on board with the scarves I managed to spend, hmm quite a bit. CA

 

In case you are googling it, it is actually called Institut Paul Bocuse.

[Canal archive]

Thank you for correcting my spelling gnome 12 I’ve just realised it’s another attack of the predictive text, or me not checking or me changing the institute from focusing on cooking to wine. CA

[gnome12]

4 hours ago, Canal archive said:

Thank you for correcting my spelling gnome 12 I’ve just realised it’s another attack of the predictive text, or me not checking or me changing the institute from focusing on cooking to wine. CA

It was the cooking to wine that I noticed particularly.

[CPT Trips]

We enjoyed grazing through Les Halles de Lyon Paul Bocuse. It is quite accessible.

[Jeff in Torrance]

We did the Grand Circle cruise a few years ago, from Nice to Macon, plus Paris.  Marvelous trip, as always with GCT.  More days per trip than most other companies, excellent tour directors, much less cost.  https://www.gct.com/trips/river-cruises/europe/cruising-burgundy-and-provence-to-the-cote-d-azur/2021/itineraries?ds=true&icid=glbsbx%3Asugclk%3Ar_c_t%3At%3Acruisingburgundyprovencetothecotedazur

[CPT Trips]

On 5/27/2021 at 9:55 PM, Jeff in Torrance said:

We did the Grand Circle cruise a few years ago, from Nice to Macon, plus Paris.  Marvelous trip, as always with GCT.  More days per trip than most other companies, excellent tour directors, much less cost.  https://www.gct.com/trips/river-cruises/europe/cruising-burgundy-and-provence-to-the-cote-d-azur/2021/itineraries?ds=true&icid=glbsbx%3Asugclk%3Ar_c_t%3At%3Acruisingburgundyprovencetothecotedazur

We also enjoyed that trip.  Always good to see another GCT/OAT traveler.