Douro vs. Rhine on Viking?

[stlrod]

We are 64 and 63 and have been on Tauck on the Danube and loved it.  We had been set to go on the Douro at the beginning of the pandemic but had to cancel it.  Now, we have a free trip on Viking for giving up a cabin and have narrowed our choices to the Douro or the Rhine.  We have heard good things about the Rhine and it looks interesting, especially the Black Forest.  We would love to visit Lisbon/Porto but are afraid we would be bored on the cruise portion.  It would be a Verandah Suite on the Douro and an Explorer Suite on the Rhine.  Anybody care to compare both or offer any suggestions to help us make a decision?

[Host Jazzbeau]

I have done both these rivers (not on Viking) and was not bored on either!  The Rhine is interesting (assuming you go Amsterdam to Basel or vv) in that you go through three distinctly different countries.  The Douro is interesting in that you get really immersed in one lovely country, with great food/wine and friendly people.  You can't go wrong with either itinerary.

 

The Explorer Suite on the full-size Longships is very impressive, but that itinerary doesn't involve much daytime cruising to enjoy the views.  The Veranda Suite on the (smaller) Douro ships is smaller and not an aft view (and I couldn't find a floorplan); all sailing on the Douro is during the day, and the sights are on both sides of the ship so you will want to be on the top deck or the forward lounge.

 

My suggestion would be the check the prices and take the more expensive one for 'free' – as you will surely enjoy it and want to go back another time to take the other on your own dime...

[Gourmet Gal]

The Douro is pretty boring and unless you love port the wineries are nothing special. Lisbon and Porto are fantastic.  Visit them on your own as it’s an easy and scenic drive between the two or hire a driver.  The Rhine has interesting pre and post cruise possibilities.  

[Nippy Sweetie]

I agree with @Gourmet Gal. The Douro goes through very steep sided areas. Every day it was back on the bus to take us to the next visit. I had to take travel sick pills to cope with the bus tours as they zigzagged up the steep slopes.

We liked that it was possible to just step off the boat on the Rhine and wander into lovely little villages and towns. It's a busier waterway but even so we're going back again in September.

[Canal archive]

Oh wow I’m surprised We loved the Douro it maybe not a cruise I would repeat I thought but they’ve added some different attractions I notice, we had an excellent tour guide, and were lucky ours traveled with us on the ship, met some of the friendliest people. Discovered Pink Port, excellent. The architecture inside and out the beautiful gardens and countryside superb. Don’t forget the Portuguese superbly outstanding tiles. Altogether maybe a little quaint but never a waste of time. Also we have the oldest alliance between two countries ever now that’s something to be proud about.

[CDNPolar]

We loved both the Rhine and the Douro, but found the Douro to be one of our all time favourites that we have cruised so far.  Now at about 14 Viking cruises (river and ocean) the Douro comes in at 3rd place for us with Antarctica and The Nile being in spots 1 and 2.  Cannot compare these two with any other destination, so really that makes the Douro our favourite river cruise.

 

Now for the Douro, we went in early October when the colours of the fall were covering the river banks of the vineyards.  This was fantastic to say the least.  Of the river cruises we have done so far, we love the river banks of the Douro the most.  They were the most scenic.  

 

The Rhine can be good too for scenery, but it depends on what part of the Rhine.  The Eastern Europe cruise we were on had zero scenery compared to the Douro.  The Treasures of the Rhine did not compare to the Douro in scenery - in our opinion.

 

The Viking River Ships for the Douro are smaller purpose built ships for the locks that you must pass on this river.  They are half the size of a typical long ship, so the journey is much more intimate.

 

If you look to my signature, there is a link to our YouTube channel and you will find our various river cruises on the Rhine and the Douro.  These are not "commercial" videos, these are just documenting our journeys with music and scenery.  This is not a monetized site, and I am not trying to drive traffic, just sharing some insights to help you to make your decision.

[Gourmet Gal]

A Rhine and Moselle itinerary is actually very nice.  The Moselle is my favorite river, winding with steep hillsides like the Douro but much more interesting wineries and towns.

[pontac]

If there is one thing you can rely on when asking for advice on CruiseCritic is that the replies will disagree with each other.

 

I can see three basic things in your questions, whether to have a Douro or Rhine Cruise, which cabin type to have – which determines the cruise taken, and your concern that you’d be bored cruising the Douro.

 

I’m first going to consider the last of your concerns. Why should you be bored when cruising the Douro and yet not bored on the Rhine? The Douro has spectacular scenery, and as @Host Jazzbeau says, the boat moors over night and cruises only in the day so you can really enjoy the views. It cruises inland from Porto along an ever narrowing river in with sides covered with trees, or steep terraces with rows of vines. It passes through some of the deepest locks anywhere and close to the Spanish border the narrow river passes through steep granite gorges that you feel you can touch from either side of the boat. The boat stops at the border, the following day there’s a full day tour of the historic city of Salamanca in Spain  about a two hour coach ride away. Then the boat returns to Porto. The big towns on the trip are Lisbon, Porto and Salamanca. Places you are taken to along the Douro are small villages, some ruined and abandoned, wineries, palaces and monasteries.

 

The Douro is renowned for Port (sold as Porto in the USA) but increasingly table wine is made which is excellent.

 

The  boat Viking uses on the Douro is a smaller version of their Longships, built to fit in the locks and to navigate the river. You can get floor plans and a 360 degree view of the Veranda suite by selecting Ships/Europe/Douro. The Veranda Suite has a bedroom with en-suite bathroom and French balcony and separate room with a desk, settee and veranda with table and chairs.

 

There are many Rhine cruises on offer. There was mention of the Rhine-Moselle cruise. I went on that last year, it travel between Trier on the Mosel and Basel on the Rhine and passes the many castles of the Middle Rhine and the vineyards of the Moselle.

I suspect the one on offer is the one between Basel and Amsterdam. Both that and the Douro have as many nights in the cabin but the Rhine covers a greater distance, so a lot of cruising is done at night. It’s not clear if visiting sights is more important to you than watching the scenery pass from a boat.

 

The Black Forest, which you mention, is visited on a coach tour.

 

Lastly, the cabin type. The Explorer Suite is the largest. Again it has a French balcony bedroom and en-suite and a much larger separate living room with wrap round veranda. To see a 360 degree view of this on the Viking website select Ships/Longships/Viking Longships 360 degree tour/upperdeck.

 

You don’t give what your wants are from a river cruise, so I agree with @Host Jazzbeau to take the Rhine cruise to enjoy the Explorer Suite and its perks and use your own money for the Douro. If it was the same cabin I’d suggest the Douro.

 

(You’ll notice from my signature that I’ve cruised once on the Douro, one Basel>Trier and twice Basel>Amsterdam all with Viking and we’ve got an upcoming Amsterdam>Basel cruise with Scenic. So you might wonder, since I do liked it, why I haven’t done the Douro again. Both of us have worked many times in Lisbon and so we didn’t want to go there again. Also we’ve been to Porto and the Douro with our wine club visiting wineries. But now Viking are offering just the Porto>Porto cruise we’ll be booking it.)

 

My report on Basel>Amsterdam

Viking Tialfi Cruise Ship: Review, Photos & Departure Ports on Cruise Critic

 

And Basel>Trier

 

 

A few pix taken on Douro cruise

 

 

 

 

[notamermaid]

4 minutes ago, pontac said:

The Black Forest, which you mention, is visited on a coach tour.

From what people have reported here on CC over the years, this is the least favourite excursion on a Viking Rhine river cruise. The coach tour seems not to do the Black Forest justice. Good that you mention this.

 

15 hours ago, stlrod said:

We had been set to go on the Douro at the beginning of the pandemic but had to cancel it.

You appear to have put the Rhine into your considerations because you may be bored on the Douro sailing. The Douro scenery is more spectacular all in all compared to a Rhine river cruise but judging from the Douro photos I would say that "my" river is more varied. As regards how the two rivers "work" I would say you have two almost opposing ways of cruising/excursion/sailing time and distance set-up. But the others have explained that in more detail already.

 

It really depends on what you are looking for. Also remember that you have two quite different areas of Europe; life in the countries, that is Portugal vs. Switzerland/France/Germany/Netherlands, that you will visit is not the same. Especially in summer heat. The Douro villages looked a bit sleepy in the documentary I saw.

 

I will go with Gourmet Gal and suggest that you look at a Rhine/Moselle itinerary instead of the Basel to Amsterdam Rhine Getaway by Viking. Unless you would like to see Cologne Cathedral. But if you enjoy travelling by train the options in Europe are almost endless anyway, so you could go to Cologne by yourself. The Rhine is a busy waterway, the Moselle is a bit like the Douro apparently but with different wine... The Moselle does have barge traffic. Both are lock-controlled by the way, i.e. the Douro and the Moselle. The Rhine partially where river cruise ships sail.

 

notamermaid

 

 

 

 

 

[stlrod]

Thanks to everyone for the very helpful comments.  The pictures and videos have been great.  We are limited to 10 day cruises so our only Rhine option is the Rhine Getaway.  From a value perspective (meaning the one that would be the most expensive), Douro easily wins. We are leaning towards Douro simply for the immersive uniqueness.  When I watched the Rhine videos, it seemed a bit “been there done that” after the Danube and visiting other parts of Germany (villages and towns with cathedrals, etc.) with the exception of the Black Forest so it was helpful to hear people have not enjoyed that excursion.  It did seem like the Douro reviews mention as negatives the bus rides and being moored to other ships at night smelling their exhaust.  Is either of those factors really that bad?

[Gourmet Gal]

I never noticed exhaust from other ships.  Anyway, this will be a very relaxing cruise.

[CDNPolar]

Also never noticed exhaust from other ships.

 

The Douro however does only sail in daylight hours.  The ship does not move very far in total from the start to the finish of the cruise and the busses follow you the entire trip.

[Canal archive]

Regardless of only daylight cruising on the Douro for our total 11day cruise we never once breasted up overnight with another vessel. Come to think of it never encountered an exhaust problem.

[beanpittsburgh]

I have sailed on both cruises with Viking.  The Rhine is more port intensive with chances to enjoy the day in town on your own and explore.  The Douro is more spectacular scenery wise and if you are a Port wine drinker the logical choice.  Overall, I enjoyed the Douro the most.  We did the pre- trip extension in Madrid too.  Madrid was easy to get around by metro.  We had an early flight from Madrid to Lisbon so we were also able to explore on our own before meeting the group.  I think if you get a chance - do both cruises.  

[Host Jazzbeau]

8 hours ago, Canal archive said:

Regardless of only daylight cruising on the Douro for our total 11day cruise we never once breasted up overnight with another vessel. Come to think of it never encountered an exhaust problem.

We both had this lovely experience, but it is unique to Scenic's 11-day itinerary.  Everybody else follows pretty much the same 7-night schedule and multiple ships end up in the same ports every night.  [Scenic is also unique in owning a dock on the Porto side; it seemed that everybody else was across the river in Vila Nova de Gaia] 

[Canal archive]

I must admit I forgot that point.

 

Everyone else moored across the Douro, taken from the top deck of Scenic Azure.

[Bill Y]

On 3/9/2024 at 11:26 PM, stlrod said:

Thanks to everyone for the very helpful comments.  The pictures and videos have been great.  We are limited to 10 day cruises so our only Rhine option is the Rhine Getaway.  From a value perspective (meaning the one that would be the most expensive), Douro easily wins. We are leaning towards Douro simply for the immersive uniqueness.  When I watched the Rhine videos, it seemed a bit “been there done that” after the Danube and visiting other parts of Germany (villages and towns with cathedrals, etc.) with the exception of the Black Forest so it was helpful to hear people have not enjoyed that excursion.  It did seem like the Douro reviews mention as negatives the bus rides and being moored to other ships at night smelling their exhaust.  Is either of those factors really that bad?

Different people want different things from a cruise. You were attracted to the Douro as you originally booked a cruise on it. You mentioned a previous cruise on the Danube, I don’t know where on the river but if it was yesterday was Vienna, today is Bratislava and tomorrow must be Budapest then a Douro cruise is like chalk and cheese a far more relaxing less full on experience.

 

Coach rides have been mentioned but they all are of short duration apart from the visit to Salamanca in Spain which everyone agreed was worth the journey.  We too have not noticed fumes, when the ships are moored the engine/s will only be ticking over to generate electricity.

 

I initially thought the advice to go for the most expensive cruise was a good idea, but if you wish to see more in Germany that can be done in ten days then rather than have to return for take two to tick off all your places of interest then maybe the Douro is the more cost effective?

 

Having done the Douro cruise (not with Viking) two years ago and spent ten weeks working in Lisbon twenty years ago I can confirm that the Portuguese are lovely people.

[AnhaltER1960]

On 3/9/2024 at 4:10 AM, stlrod said:

We have heard good things about the Rhine and it looks interesting, especially the Black Forest. 

Be aware that the Black Forest hills are 10 miles away from the river and you might just see some shadowy hills on the horizon even on a relatively clear day. So you can see it only on a bus tour and theses tours just scratch the surface. To see the Black Forest a land tour is the better option.

 

In fact, as far as scenery is concerned, there is the stretch of the Rhine between Cologne/Bonn and Mainz, which is interesting/spectacular. That is one day of sailing out of ? The other parts are flat territory with sometimes a village or a city behind the dyke or hills in the distance, but a lot of interesting cities. Douro has landscape all the way, but no big cities apart from Porto and Salamanca.

[Canal archive]

Salamanca is not exactly on the Douro but navigable rivers are few and far between on the Iberian peninsula. Think about sailing through southern Portugal or central and southern Spain, in our dreams.

[stlrod]

Thanks again to all for your advice.  We went with the Douro May 2025.  Not a bad deal, a $28k value for under $8k ($5k if you include the $3k we were refunded for giving up our cabin.)  And to top it off, we got the Italian vacation in 2023 we wanted (land Rome-Venice-Milan.) 

Edited March 15 by stlrod

[dolphinlover98]

On 3/15/2024 at 2:36 PM, stlrod said:

Thanks again to all for your advice.  We went with the Douro May 2025.  Not a bad deal, a $28k value for under $8k ($5k if you include the $3k we were refunded for giving up our cabin.)  And to top it off, we got the Italian vacation in 2023 we wanted (land Rome-Venice-Milan.) 

We have done both the Rhine and Danube and are looking forward to the Douro this August with both pre in Lisbon and post in Barcelona. I think it will be a fantastic trip with beautiful scenery.

[Canal archive]

dolphinlover98 I envy you Sagrada Familia looks to have at last shed most of it’s scaffolding and it’s nearly finished, you’ll be able to go up the hill Montjuic and stroll La Rambla. Enjoy, I will be with you in spirit.

Edited March 26 by Canal archive