5 Most Luxurious River Cruise Lines
Luxury indoor pool on River Ship
Which Is The Best Luxury River Cruise Line?
When only the best will do, you will want to know which are the most luxurious river cruise lines available. When luxury and comfort is more important to you than cost, then consider one of these exceptional river cruise lines, all of which offer the level of indulgence you deserve. I have not listed them in any particular order as each offer something special for their discerning guests.
1) Tauck Cruises
Tauck River Ship Exterior. Image Credit: Tauck Cruises
Whilst not perhaps as well known in the UK as elsewhere, Tauck Cruises is a luxury travel cruise brand known for providing all-inclusive, high-end river cruising experiences. It is part of luxury land tour operator, Tauck.
Key Features:
All-Inclusive Pricing: Tauck’s pricing includes almost everything—shore excursions, gratuities, premium drinks, Wi-Fi, and meals.
Exclusive Experiences: Tauck often offers VIP access to landmarks, private tours, and exclusive cultural events not available to the general public.
Small Ship Atmosphere: Tauck ships typically carry fewer passengers (80–130), even on vessels of similar size to competitors, creating a more spacious and intimate experience.
Cultural Focus: Tauck partners with local experts and guides for deeper cultural immersion.
Premium Service: Known for their attentive staff-to-guest ratio and personalised service.
Destinations: Primarily focuses on European rivers like the Danube, Rhine, Rhône, and Seine, as well as the Douro and Main.
Who is Tauck Cruises Best For?
Tauck is ideal for travellers seeking an intimate, all-inclusive luxury experience with VIP perks, cultural depth, and outstanding service.
2) Scenic
Scenic Space-Ship Royal Owners Suite Image Credit: Scenic River Cruises.
Scenic offer luxury ultra-all-inclusive river cruises. The Scenic itineraries include Europe, France and Portugal, Southeast Asia and Russia. Cruising popular rivers of the world, including The Rhine, The Danube, Douro and the Mekong, Scenic River Cruises also offer speciality cruises, and a way to ensure your cruise is tailor-made to meet your needs.
What is the accommodation like on a Scenic River Cruise?
The aptly named Scenic Space Ships boast some of the largest balcony suites in the sector with butler service and the ability to transform your balcony into your own personal sun deck at the push of a button. The largest suites available are the opulent collection of Royal Suites featuring wrap-around views. With up to six different on-board cabin grades, all luxuriously appointed and equipped with lavish amenities including slumber beds, Apple TVs, complimentary L’Occitane toiletries, there is bound to be a Scenic River Cruise Cabin to suit you.
Dining on a Scenic River Cruise
Dining options range from casual to fine dining, with complimentary beverages all day plus a complimentary mini-bar, restocked daily.
Scenic Enrich offers access to a range of cultural hotspots and events allowing you to immerse yourself in the countries you are visiting. Whilst Scenic Freechoice offers a daily choice of fascinating visitor excursions — and all at no additional cost.
3) Viking River Cruises
Viking River Cruises has been voted the #1 River Cruise Line by Condé Nast Traveler and is considered by many to be the world’s leading small ship cruise line. Destination focussed and culturally enriching, Viking boasts the most extensive fleet of river cruises vessels in the industry, providing unprecedented levels of comfort, including spacious staterooms with full-size verandas.
The award-winning Viking Longships® showcase innovative engineering, streamlined Scandinavian design and understated elegance, to provide a luxurious environment to enjoy your river cruise.
As a Norwegian company, you can expect flawless, scandinavian design with pale wood and floor-to-ceiling windows to maximise light and enhance the fabulous views.
Dining on board a Viking River Cruise
Luxury River Cruising - Viking Longship Aquavit Terrace. Image Credit: Viking River Cruises
Guests have the choice of the Restaurant for elegant dining and the Aquavit Terrace al-fresco casual restaurant. The Restaurant provides gracious service, with wine and beer included, and classic dishes produced with locally sourced ingredients, whilst Aquavit is an elegant outdoor buffet style eatery.
Accommodation onboard a Viking River Cruise
Luxury River Cruising Accommodation - Viking Longship Veranda Suite Living Room. Image Credit: Viking River Cruises.
Viking provide a variety of stateroom choices, from the deluxe comfort of spacious Veranda and French Balcony Staterooms to Veranda and Explorer Suites. Viking Longships suites are true suites, each with two full-size rooms. These spaces are among the largest suites on Europe’s rivers.
Are Viking River Cruises All Inclusive?
Whilst not ttotally all-inclusive, Viking River Cruises include flights, gratuities, full board, specialty tea and coffee any time and quality wine, beer and soft drinks with lunch and dinner. Also, Viking do not charge corkage so you can enjoy the wines you pick up ashore.
4) AmaWaterways
AmaWaterways AmaMagna River Cruise Ship. Image Credit: AmaWaterways
Award-winning AmaWaterways offers an unforgettable travel experience and is renowned for its professional and caring onboard staff, exquisite cuisine, enriching themed cruises and deluxe onboard amenities.
AmaWaterways ships have consistently outranked the competition based on accommodations, dining, service and other onboard features. In fact, Berlitz: “River Cruising in Europe” travel guide awarded AmaWaterways the highest rating for three consecutive years, and this year their ship AmaKristina secured the number one spot.
AnaWaterways’ Owners Suite Bathroom onboard AmaMagna. Image Credit: AmaWaterways
With 26 custom-designed luxury ships, AmaWaterways operate one of the largest river cruise fleets in the industry. The ships are inspired by luxury yachts and designed to maximise guests comfort in refined surroundings. You can expect a floating boutique hotel experience with spacious staterooms and award-winning cuisine in multiple dining venues, including the exclusive Chef’s Table specialty restaurant. Also included are hand-selected complimentary unlimited wine chosen daily by acclaimed European sommeliers; beer and soft drinks during lunch and dinner and specialty coffee and tea stations (European fleet).
There are a range of deluxe wellness and fitness facilities plus a wide choice of enrichment and included shore excursions and optional pre- and post-cruise land extension for every cruise.
Pool Deck on AmaWaterways River Cruise Ship, AmaMagna. Image Credit: AmaWaterways
AmaMagna , is the newest and most luxurious ship on the Danube and is the AmaWaterways flagship. AmaMagna is twice the width of traditional river cruise ships, yet welcomes only 20 percent more guests, allowing generous personal space and enhanced facilities. In fact it would make an ideal choice for a first river cruise - read Cruiselifestyle’s related post to find out why.
Looking forward to 2026, AmaWaterways have announced two new ships joining the fleet, AmaSofia and AmaMaya.
We had the pleasure of being invited to explore the beautiful AmaKristina whilst in Amsterdam recently, and was impressed by the stylish interiors enhanced by the personally curated art by Austrian artist Gustav Klimt which can be found in public spaces and staterooms.
For choice of luxury ships and destinations, AmaWaterways is a hard act to follow.
5) Uniworld
Uniworld Boutique River Cruise, Budapest. Image Credit: Uniworld Boutique Cruises
Uniworld are known for their boutique style river cruise experiences. Each of their ships, (and there are many to choose from), are modeled on boutique hotels around the world, with destination-inspired interior décor, gracious service and carefully selected amenities—all of which provide an intimate, elegant and relaxed experience.
When you stay in a spacious Uniworld suite, it is a unique experience as no two suites are the same - not just on your particular ship, but across the fleet. Each has been decorated in its own style, with bespoke fabrics and interiors. Suite guests enjoy outstanding butler service, large all-marble bathrooms with a double vanity, Hermès bath and body products, handcrafted Savoir® Beds of England, a fully-stocked bar, fresh cookies and fruit delivered daily, and much more.
A Uniworld Stateroom.
A Uniworld Boutique River cruise is truly all inclusive - which means unlimited premium drinks, airport transfers, five star cuisine, gratuities, a choice of specially curated excursions, onboard fitness and wellness classes, free internet/wifi, entertainment and enrichment activities. There are even bicycles and nordic walking poles for your use.
Delicious food served on Uniworld ships.
As you would expect, the food is superb and that is true whether you indulge yourself in the rich, luxurious, dishes or opt for healthier options. Uniworld have a Traveling Lite menu featuring all of the flavour of their traditional menu, but with fewer calories. They also offer a variety of vegetarian and vegan options, and chefs are happy to cater for individual preferences or dietary requirements.
Postscript: New Kid on the Block
Last year a new luxury river cruise brand arrived. Riverside Luxury Cruises, launched in 2023, operates a fleet of former Crystal luxury ships, offering high-end river cruising equivalent to the worlds most elite hotel brands. In 2024, its three ships—Riverside Mozart (Danube), Riverside Ravel (Rhône), and Riverside Debussy (Rhine)—offered a range of upscale amenities, including Japanese toilets, specialty restaurants, and exceptional dining with open seating and local wine selections. The line provides two pricing options: an all-inclusive package for North Americans (covering transfers, gratuities, beverages, excursions, butler service, and Wi-Fi) and a Full Board option for Europeans with more à la carte pricing. Unique features include the larger-than-usual spa and fitness facilities on Riverside Mozart, with a focus on personalized service and culinary excellence across all ships. I will be writing a separate post on Riverside Luxury Cruises in the near future.
Conclusion
With this selection of luxury cruise lines offering elevated river cruising, along with so so many cruise destinations to choose from, you will find it difficult to decide - so why not do all of them? Now there’s a bucket list for you!