Cruises along the Danube often stop in Budapest, Hungary; Vienna, Austria; and Nuremberg, Germany. Travelers often visit the 900-year-old baroque abbey in Melk, Austria, as well as Europe's largest pipe organ in Passau, Germany. Danube cruises also often go through the Main-Danube Canal, a 116-mile long canal with a series of locks that raise the water level more than 1,000 feet.
French cruises take advantage of the Seine, Rhône and Saône Rivers. In southern France, cruises often stop at Avignon and Lyon or Nice, traveling through the wine districts of Burgundy and Provence. Northern France cruises travel from Paris to the beaches of Normandy in Rouen and back to Paris.
Christmas cruises on the Danube include stops at the Christmas markets in Linz and Nuremberg, as well as the standard Danube cruise itineraries. Along the Rhine, cruises stop at the Christmas markets of Basel, Switzerland and Strasbourg, France, as well as at medieval villages and the city of Cologne.
