Portugal or France?

[travelling fools]

We have been on 4 previous river cruises on the Rhine ,Dniper and Danube and would definitely love to do them again but right now we are looking at Portugal and France river cruises and are having a hard time deciding.

So we are asking for your thoughts on both on towns,ships and your preference for those who have done both.

[alexandra cruiser]

Try Portugal.We loved it.A little different than the ones you ve taken so far.

Very scenic,great small towns,enjoyed a few days pre in Lisbon.

Now, I also loved Southern France one too.Do that NEXT.haha

So much so doing northern France next yr.(after June Budapest to Bucharest).

Then hope to do the new Bordeaux one after.So much to explore,right?:)

[travelling fools]

Try Portugal.We loved it.A little different than the ones you ve taken so far.

Very scenic,great small towns,enjoyed a few days pre in Lisbon.

Now, I also loved Southern France one too.Do that NEXT.haha

So much so doing northern France next yr.(after June Budapest to Bucharest).

Then hope to do the new Bordeaux one after.So much to explore,right?:)

 

Thanks for your thoughts on this.Maybe I can talk hubby into doing both while over in Europe.He really does not like the long flights so when we do go to Europe I like to do as much as possible .So many choices.Next one which company to go with this time?

[Talisker92]

Thanks for your thoughts on this.Maybe I can talk hubby into doing both while over in Europe.He really does not like the long flights so when we do go to Europe I like to do as much as possible .So many choices.Next one which company to go with this time?

 

We are also on the West Coast, and hate those long flights.We try to put 2 things together as it saves airfare, etc. One year we did a river cruise followed by a Baltic cruise. We also did a Med cruise ending in London and then did 6 days in Cornwall. Our last time we spent a week in Switzerland then did a Burgundy cruise.

I am admittedly a Vantage cheerleader, as I think they give you the most bang for the buck.

Vantage does both a Burgundy cruise and a Portugal cruise.

[alexandra cruiser]

I took Uniworld for Portugal one.Avalon for S.France.and have Scenic booked for next one.Also, a hold on N.France one with Scenic.

I now prefer the upper end cruiselines with all the perks(can finally afford it).

But started off just happy to be ON THE boat,and in Europe.

So look at which ones do the itinerary you want,do research,and pick which is best for you.

If not the BEST, always NEXT TIME>right??:)

[cbb]

I have only cruised on the Douro on a day trip but have been throughout Portugal and Spain on a land tour and loved it. That said, if you all hate to fly as much as we do, here is what we did. (We always try to do b2b when we sail)

 

We sailed Paris to Normandy and back to Paris, then Paris to the Provence. This was called Grand France with Avalon, but feel sure there are other cruise lines that do the same thing. We loved, loved this trip. History from all different eras, wine, food, great little towns, Lyon, and of course, the Provence.

 

We want to do the Douro, but are having difficulty finding a 2nd one in the area to do. May end up flying within the continent to do the 2nd cruise.

[Riversanddale]

We just got back from Viking's Portraits of Southern France and did their Douro river cruise over Christmas. We've done six cruises in Europe - all with Viking. The Portraits of Southern France was our least favorite and the Douro one of our most favorite. I just put up a review of the France cruise. It won't let me put up one for our Douro cruise because the boat stopped at the end of the year and has been replaced by Viking's own boats.

We loved the stops on the Douro cruise (do not go in July or August unless you want to turn into overdone toast). On the Douro you have a few days in Lisbon and we did more pre-cruise on our own and even went back on our own ahead of our Southern France cruise. We had two lunches and two dinners off the boat with entertainment which added greatly to the local experience. It's a winner on our list and we'd probably enjoy it a second time.

We thought the itinerary in Southern France was really weak on the south to north direction and way too much time was spent getting to and from the boat both from airports and from docking locations. It has lots of locks and lots of low bridges so the upper deck is rarely open. Tours are rushed to get you back to the boat for lunch or dinner with little free time some days. If you decide on it, take it north to south and look at staying longer in town when you can. Many days don't offer that option.

Enjoy whatever you do. We loved our Paris to Normandy cruise if you haven't done that and we've spent extra time in France on our own and enjoyed it. It was the cruise itinerary not the country's offering that was weak this time.

[cbb]

Riversanddale-

 

I wonder if it was the construction of the ship you were on? We did the north to south Paris to Provence and the upper deck was never closed.

 

I only remember a bus trip to an optional--Pont du Gard--but I enjoyed the ride as I saw some countryside that I wouldn't have seen otherwise.

 

Some of the folks who took optional tours to vineyards did have bus trips but didn't discuss a long bus ride.

 

That's what's so cool about river cruising--everyone has a different opinion of what they enjoyed!

[cole]

We just got back from Viking's Portraits of Southern France and did their Douro river cruise over Christmas. We've done six cruises in Europe - all with Viking. The Portraits of Southern France was our least favorite and the Douro one of our most favorite. I just put up a review of the France cruise. It won't let me put up one for our Douro cruise because the boat stopped at the end of the year and has been replaced by Viking's own boats.

We loved the stops on the Douro cruise (do not go in July or August unless you want to turn into overdone toast). On the Douro you have a few days in Lisbon and we did more pre-cruise on our own and even went back on our own ahead of our Southern France cruise. We had two lunches and two dinners off the boat with entertainment which added greatly to the local experience. It's a winner on our list and we'd probably enjoy it a second time.

We thought the itinerary in Southern France was really weak on the south to north direction and way too much time was spent getting to and from the boat both from airports and from docking locations. It has lots of locks and lots of low bridges so the upper deck is rarely open. Tours are rushed to get you back to the boat for lunch or dinner with little free time some days. If you decide on it, take it north to south and look at staying longer in town when you can. Many days don't offer that option.

Enjoy whatever you do. We loved our Paris to Normandy cruise if you haven't done that and we've spent extra time in France on our own and enjoyed it. It was the cruise itinerary not the country's offering that was weak this time.

 

We have done both on Uniworld and definitely favored the Douro. Beautiful scenery and the excursions were outstanding. Do the Douro before the word gets out and it becomes one of the most popular and hard to book. ;)

Cole

[cbb]

Cole-

we want to do the Douro; what time of year did you go? We traveled throughout Spain and Portugal and went in September.

 

It was beautiful but have done ocean cruises around the Iberian Peninsula in May and it was beautiful then, too.

 

I knew I'd love Spain, but found I loved Portugal even more. Loved, loved Lisbon and we did a DIY to Sintra which was amazing.

[cole]

Cole-

we want to do the Douro; what time of year did you go? We traveled throughout Spain and Portugal and went in September.

 

It was beautiful but have done ocean cruises around the Iberian Peninsula in May and it was beautiful then, too.

 

I knew I'd love Spain, but found I loved Portugal even more. Loved, loved Lisbon and we did a DIY to Sintra which was amazing.

 

We were gone from April 9 - 21st. We extended our stay with 2 nights in Madrid and also thought that city was beautiful. They warned us that summer can be extremely hot, but said fall would be beautiful with the grapevines' leaves changing color.

Cole

[4774Papa]

We have planned to do the Douro with Vantage, probably in 2016, since we are already book up for 2015. I have been to Portugal and loved the country. The people are very friendly.

 

We did the Southern France (Rhone and Saone rivers) in 2012 with AMA, since the timing of the Vantage cruise was not good.

 

Here is my review of that cruise. If you like wine, the Southern France cruise is super.

 

http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=103733

[cbb]

I, too, loved the Portuguese people! Charming and sweet. We ate at a Lisbon restaurant every night for 3 nights and the owner sat with us and discussed current events.

 

He told us that most of his country was bi-lingual because American/British TV was not dubbed so that everyone grew up hearing English on their tvs but that the Spanish dubbed. (He did not like Spain ...a political/economic thing)