The Rhine and the Danube are the two workhorses of European river cruising, and they price almost identically - which is why the first real decision is not which river but which line. A seven-night sailing costs $1,500 per person at the budget end and past $7,000 at the luxury end, on water that looks much the same out the window. Here is the honest map of that range, at 2026 prices.
The fare, by line and season
Per person for a seven- or eight-night sailing - Amsterdam to Basel on the Rhine, Budapest to Passau or Vienna on the Danube - two sharing:
| Tier | Typical fare | What it means | |---|---|---| | Budget (CroisiEurope, A-ROSA) | $1,500–2,500 | Drinks and tips partly extra | | Premium (Viking, Avalon, AmaWaterways) | $2,400–4,000 | One excursion per port included; wine and beer with meals | | Luxury (Uniworld, Scenic, Tauck, Riverside) | $4,500–7,000+ | Nearly everything included |
Real 2026 markers: seven-night Danube sailings start around $2,399 per person, and peak-July Rhine dates average $2,699–3,299 across the premium lines. Across 2026 departures, a rule of thumb of $350–700 per person per day covers nearly every mainstream sailing. Moving from a fixed-window cabin to a French balcony adds $600–1,000 for the week - and in cabins of 150–205 square feet, that decision matters more than it does on an ocean ship.
Season by season: April–May for tulips and mild prices; June–August at the peak; September–October for harvest on the Rhine and mellow weather on both; and the late-November to December Christmas-market sailings, the cheapest per-diem dates of the year - and the first to sell out, with prime December cabins on the two big lines gone 12–18 months ahead. One honest caveat: in hot, dry late summers the Rhine can run low, and a low-water week can mean bus bridges between stretches. It is rare and handled gracefully, but worth knowing before booking August.
What is included - and what is not
The mainstream pattern: one guided excursion per port included (worth about $40–70 each), wine and beer with lunch and dinner, Wi-Fi. Extra: premium excursions at $79–189, gratuities on the lines that do not include them, all-day drinks, laundry. The luxury lines fold nearly all of it in. The choice between the two rivers is covered in the Rhine or the Danube; the classic weeks are laid out day by day in our route guides for the Rhine and the Danube.
Flights
These itineraries are one-way, so the flights are open-jaw: into Amsterdam and home from Zurich or Basel on the Rhine, into Budapest and home from Munich or Vienna on the Danube. From most of the US that runs $600–1,200 per person - usually within $100 of a plain round trip - and it is worth pricing the trip in both directions before committing to one.
Tips
On the lines that leave gratuities to you, the convention is $15–20 per person per day - $105–160 for the week. A-ROSA, Uniworld, Scenic and Tauck include them; Viking and AmaWaterways suggest daily amounts on board. A fare that is $300 lower with tips excluded is not $300 lower.
The cost nobody tells you about
The ends of the trip. A one-way river itinerary assumes hotel nights at both ends, and Amsterdam, Basel and Zurich are three of the most expensive hotel cities in Europe - $180–300 a night for something decent in season. Two extra nights can add $400–600 to the trip, which is why the cruise lines' own pre- and post-cruise packages, expensive as they look, deserve a price check before being dismissed.
The second quiet cost is the premium-excursion upsell. The included tour covers the city walk, but the concert in Vienna, the castle visit above the Rhine Gorge and the full-day Salzburg run from the Danube all cost $79–189 each. One or two are usually worth it. Five are not.
The all-in picture
Per person for the week, flights included, from most of the US:
- Careful budget: about $3,200 - budget line, Christmas-market or early-spring date, one hotel night.
- Comfortable mid-range: $4,500–6,500 - premium line, French balcony, May or October, a premium excursion or two.
- Luxury: $8,000–12,000 and up.
River pricing is a different discipline from ocean pricing; river or ocean cruise explains the trade-offs, and the regional medians are in what a cruise costs, region by region. Rhine and Danube sailings are tracked in our fare database.
The short version
- Fare: $1,500–2,500 budget, $2,400–4,000 premium, $4,500–7,000+ luxury, per person for seven nights.
- The French balcony upgrade runs $600–1,000 for the week.
- Christmas-market dates are the cheapest per diem - and sell out first, 12–18 months ahead.
- Flights: $600–1,200 open-jaw; price both directions.
- Tips: $15–20 a day where not included; several lines include them.
- The quiet costs: hotel nights at both ends ($180–300) and premium excursions ($79–189).
- All in: $3,200 careful, $4,500–6,500 comfortable, per person.