There is nothing quite like watching the world glide by at walking pace from the top of your river cruise vessel. Tying up right in the centre of iconic cities or tiny villages, your home from home delivers you to the heart of the places you want to explore, enabling you to set forth from your floating hotel to sightsee on foot, by bicycle or by bus. And if you are travelling off the beaten track, you have the comfort of taking your new home with you.

A great choice for culture lovers and fans of city breaks, a river cruise is like the most relaxed of Grand Tours, with no need to constantly pack and unpack, nor to worry about how expensive everything is, or search out a good place to eat. Everything is taken care of, but you can be as independent as you like.

And nowadays there are so many rivers across the world which are served by excellent river cruises; whether you are exploring Europe, or travelling further afield to Cambodia, Burma, India, Africa, or maybe along the Nile, river cruising can turn any great holiday into a Grand Tour.