One of the best ways to travel Europe to see and experience the magnificent and historic sites are the river cruises aboard the luxurious cruise boats. Fly to your departure destination and board the boat. Unpack once, then relax and enjoy!

Virtually all of the major rivers in Europe have luxury cruise vacation packages available on them. These magnificent boats cruise the mighty rivers through the indescribable scenery that is steeped in history. Each day you can visit another town, city, village or point of interest – all without travel in uncomfortable surroundings and the packing and unpacking required by other means of European travel.

Many of the cruise itineraries have special cruises available depending on the time of year. Art and music cruises are available. Wine tasting cruises are available taking you to some of the vineyards and wineries in Europe’s wine country. See the fall colours or watch as spring “bursts forth”. Many of the “shore excursions” provided by the river cruise lines are included in your ticket price. Now that’s value added!

These cruise boats offer luxurious surroundings. Many offer common areas with the likes of cherry wood, burnished brass and exquisite fabrics. All have comfortable deck areas for viewing the passing scenery.

Some staterooms offer floor to ceiling viewing windows. Some have separate bath and showers. Most of the stateroom amenities you would expect in the magnificent ocean cruise ships are provided on these luxurious river cruise boats. The cuisine aboard river cruise boats is exquisite as well. The chefs often make use of local fresh ingredients to provide mouth watering fare. The dining room is set for dinner in elegance.

The pampering service one would expect on any luxury cruise is met and exceeded on these cruises. Luxury travel vacations would simply be travel without the marvelous service bestowed upon the river cruise passengers. The cruise staff are friendly and personable and are definitely there to please!

Gone are the days where you have to make a hundred phone calls to book your hotels and Bed & Breakfast accommodation, it can all be done on the internet. However if you are arranging accommodation for 7 nights in a row in different locations, it starts to look like a job in itself. This is where the walking tour operator comes in.

For little more than you would pay yourself, walking tour companies can make all the arrangements for you. That is not all though, they often make sure your rucksack is transferred from one over night stay to the next, leaving you to only carry a light daypack. They provide maps, list of things to see along the way, packing lists, and how to get to the start of your walk and home from the end.

Some of the most popular walking destinations are in Spain, Scotland, and England. In Spain the two most popular walking areas are the Camino de Santiago in northern Spain from St Jean Pied de Port to Santiago, and the area around Andalucía in southern Spain. The Camino far outstrips any other destination with more than 100,000 people walking along the most popular of these routes each year. Spain’s big advantage over many other destinations is that you can walk here almost all year round.

In Scotland the two most walked routes are the West Highland Way and the Great Glen Way. The West Highland Way is the most popular and the longest walking trail in Scotland at 132 miles. The route starts just outside of Glasgow and leads the hiker into the highland of Scotland finished in Fort William at the foot of Ben Nevis. During the winter much of this route is impassable and without using a walking company it can be almost impossible to find good accommodation during May and June, the busiest months.

The Coast to Coast and Hadrian’s Wall path are two of the most popular English walking routes. Hadrian’s Wall is just that a wall built 2000 years ago by the Romans and still in existence today. It is an incredible thought to walk along with the Romans on paths they built to defend their empire against the Scots so long ago.