Home > Compare River Cruise Companies > Avalon River Cruises vs Viking River Cruises
Avalon River Cruises vs Viking River Cruises
Compare the travel styles, pricing, destinations and popularity of Avalon River Cruises and Viking River Cruises.The Low Down
Not as well known locally as APT or Scenic, Avalon Waterways have nevertheless been cruising the rivers of Europe and Asia since 2004. Featuring modern luxury ships, with floor-to-ceiling sliding glass doors, our clients love Avalon, and some of their river itineraries are our biggest sellers. Avalon don't usually include Fly Offers, so you'll need to book flights separately, but consequently their cruise prices are cheaper than the other luxury Operators and they offer some great Earlybird discounts. Part of the Globus Family group of Brands, means you can secure further discounts the next time you decide to travel by coach with either Globus or Cosmos. 
Cruising down the rivers of Europe you are sure to pass a Viking Longship on your travels. Viking boasts the most extensive fleet of river cruises vessels in Europe, and while their core market is the US, there are many clients from Australia that choose to cruise with them each year. In 2017 Viking launched their range of mid-sized ocean cruises - with just 930 guests this gives their ships greater maneuverability, allowing them to dock where the mega-liners cannot. Viking do not offer NZD pricing, so if you're a Kiwi wanting jump onboard then you'll need to pay in AUD or USD.Stats
No. of Trips
144
No. of Departures
1,577
Avg. Trip Length
11 Days
Avg. Price Per Day
$521
Fleet Size
18 Ships
Known For
Panorama Suites
Ship Styles River Cruises
No. of Trips
54
No. of Departures
4,576
Avg. Trip Length
11 Days
Avg. Price Per Day
$440
Fleet Size
75 Ships
Known For
Scandinavian Design
Ship Styles River Cruises
In Their Own Words We asked the travel companies themselves why you should travel with them
One of our favourite sayings that describes Avalon Waterways is ‘the possibilities are as wide open as the views’. From Europe to the Galapagos and Asia, you can cruise in relaxed luxury with Avalon Waterways, with choices as unique as you. Avalon offers you a range of choices from excursions, dining options, activities that help you tailor your experience.
Just imagine gliding away down the world’s most spectacular rivers, all while enjoying a unique vantage point from your own private oasis. Our floor-to-ceiling panoramic windows in our suites blur the line between where the world ends, and your suite begins; allowing you to experience the world less seen from the comfort of your bed. This is river cruising from a unique point of view.
A Viking river cruise is the discerning traveller’s dream. Whether you choose to visit Egypt, Asia, Europe or the Mississippi, our itineraries are designed to immerse you in the history and culture of each destination. With us, you could be exploring a local food market with our head chef one day and experiencing an exclusive behind-the-scenes tour of a world-famous museum the next.
Our state-of-the-art ships take you right into the heart of each destination, and you won’t find any kids or ‘nickel and diming’ on board. In fact, our fares include everything you need - from meals, beverages and Wi-Fi to a culturally enriching shore excursion at every port of call. This unique combination of features has become affectionately known as ‘the Viking difference’.
Viking has 70 award-winning river ships sailing all over the world, and we can’t wait to welcome you on board to discover the Viking difference for yourself.
Recent Reviews
4.7
Our first river cruise experience was nothing but AMAZING! 0 Zyra & Ryrenn Joseph, WA, Australia, Dec 2022
We would like to thank Toni our travel advisor at Global Journeys & the rest of the Avalon Tranquility 2 crew for making our holiday cruise getaway a memorable and relaxing experience. From getting in touch with yourself to enquire at first, to sorting out our trip, I couldn’t believe how easy everything was.
Onboard the cruise, EVERY crew member ...read more made sure we are ALWAYS looked after and they even made time decorating our room & making a cake to celebrate my birthday. Every place we went throughout the cruise was remarkable and we also loved the part where we were given ample time to be able to roam around & explore each town/place on our own without having to rush. Overall the experience was delightful and we can hand on heart say it will not be our first & last as we will definitely book with you again in the future.
Onboard the cruise, EVERY crew member ...read more made sure we are ALWAYS looked after and they even made time decorating our room & making a cake to celebrate my birthday. Every place we went throughout the cruise was remarkable and we also loved the part where we were given ample time to be able to roam around & explore each town/place on our own without having to rush. Overall the experience was delightful and we can hand on heart say it will not be our first & last as we will definitely book with you again in the future.
Had snow in Heidelberg which was nice to see. Trip went well, my only issue was that it was actually 3 cruises in one which I was unaware of. First leg to Nuremberg, got to know everyone on board but then 90% of passengers and the tour director disembarked and another lot of people came on board. This meant we were docked in Nuremberg for 3 days which ...read more was really too long. Then a few days later, more people disembarked at Frankfurt and a new lot of people boarded. Did not really give you a chance to get to know everyone on board as people were coming and going, there were only about 17 of the original group who went through to Basel. Would much prefer to have the whole 16 days with the one group of people. Life on board the ship was good, staff were excellent, food & rooms were also excellent. Would have liked to have had some night excursions to see the Christmas Markets in full festive light. Felt some of the excursions were too long and others too short but that could be just a personal thing.
We had a really great time from the very beginning with excellent service from Rachael in organizing our trip at relatively short notice. The boat looked new and was very clean, the crew were all fabulous and Daniella the Cruise Director was outstanding and always available to give advice and or support the passengers. The only downside was of course ...read more the low water levels in the upper parts of the Danube which prevented us from completing the journey in Nuremburg. This impacted every cruise company. Having said this, Avalon did an outstanding job adjusting the cruise by adding a few more stops along the way and through offering free excursions to compensate for the inconvenience - which in my view was minimal.
The food was excellent and we really enjoyed just sitting on the deck or in the cabin, and taking in the beautiful sites as we sailed along the Danube. We are not cruise junkies, but this exceeded our expectations and if we do take another trip, it will certainly be with Avalon.
The food was excellent and we really enjoyed just sitting on the deck or in the cabin, and taking in the beautiful sites as we sailed along the Danube. We are not cruise junkies, but this exceeded our expectations and if we do take another trip, it will certainly be with Avalon.
We went on this river cruise last month and it was amazing. We had previously booked a shorter Basel-Amsterdam cruise with Hannah for May 2020, but alas it was cancelled along with everyone else's! She was so helpful at that time we decided to re-book this longer cruise with her as well, now that covid restrictions had eased. Although we had to have ...read more some itinerary variations and a ship change due low river levels, the whole trip didn’t disappoint.
Avalon were fantastic in the circumstances, especially due to the hard work of our awesome Cruise Director Tony Jenkins. He showed such care and concern for the guests and even danced and sang in Welsh for us! A true treasure. Seeing the castles along the Rhine Gorge and our tours of Rudesheim, Rothenburg and Regensburg were highlights for us. We have done a lot of ocean cruises, but this was our first river cruise. After this experience it won't be our last!
Avalon were fantastic in the circumstances, especially due to the hard work of our awesome Cruise Director Tony Jenkins. He showed such care and concern for the guests and even danced and sang in Welsh for us! A true treasure. Seeing the castles along the Rhine Gorge and our tours of Rudesheim, Rothenburg and Regensburg were highlights for us. We have done a lot of ocean cruises, but this was our first river cruise. After this experience it won't be our last!
Thanks Georgie. You guided me through the booking process, and we ended up with a wonderful trip. Saw lots of beautiful places and met great people on the ship. The Crew went absolutely out on their way to ensure we were satisfied all the way. Hopefully we'll soon be able to book with go with Global Journeys again. Thanks again.
We recently completed a wonderful Amsterdam to Budapest cruise with Avalon along the Rhine, Maine and Danube rivers. Like many, this trip had been deferred, with credit, for two or more years. We soon began to realise how much we were again enjoying our experience of travel. A sense of normality returned and we gained a renewed love of such scenic and ...read more historic beauty as the castles along the Rhine and later in the Wachau Valley on the Danube.
The cities in Germany, Austria, Slovakia and Hungary were alive and well with tourists beginning to return in numbers. A bubble of joy and happiness radiated on the faces of travellers and locals from the various cultures seemed delighted to welcome us to their environs. Covid precautions were sensibly in place but did not hamper the joie-de-vivre in our hearts. It felt so good to be ‘travel-alive‘ again.
The cities in Germany, Austria, Slovakia and Hungary were alive and well with tourists beginning to return in numbers. A bubble of joy and happiness radiated on the faces of travellers and locals from the various cultures seemed delighted to welcome us to their environs. Covid precautions were sensibly in place but did not hamper the joie-de-vivre in our hearts. It felt so good to be ‘travel-alive‘ again.
4.6
This was a really wonderful cruise with Viking from Budapest to Amsterdam. We went in December to see the Christmas Markets, which we saw in every town or city we visited. They were absolutely magical! It also snowed a few times, which made it even more special.
The shore tours that we did were great and the local guides very knowledgeable. We couldn’t f ...read moreault anything on the cruise. The food at breakfast, lunch and dinner was always delicious, with plenty of choice. All of the staff on board were very friendly and always ready to help. Our room was very comfortable, with plenty of wardrobe and drawer space, which is very important.
Thank you Tracey, from Global Journeys, for your help with our booking. Global Journeys have always been great to deal with and will definitely book with them again in the future. We loved absolutely everything about our cruise and can highly recommend Viking (which we have already done) to anyone wanting to do a river cruise.
The shore tours that we did were great and the local guides very knowledgeable. We couldn’t f ...read moreault anything on the cruise. The food at breakfast, lunch and dinner was always delicious, with plenty of choice. All of the staff on board were very friendly and always ready to help. Our room was very comfortable, with plenty of wardrobe and drawer space, which is very important.
Thank you Tracey, from Global Journeys, for your help with our booking. Global Journeys have always been great to deal with and will definitely book with them again in the future. We loved absolutely everything about our cruise and can highly recommend Viking (which we have already done) to anyone wanting to do a river cruise.
Absolutely fantastic from start to finish. The couple of years delay we had due to Covid was well worth the wait. We have nothing but praise for Viking and their staff and also Georgie from Global Journeys who we booked through. Everyone was so friendly, courteous and helpful. Nothing was too much trouble. We booked our flights with Viking Air which ...read more included pickup at the airport and transport to the ship.
Our cabin with a French Balcony was a good choice as it was quieter and the weather in November was mostly overcast with single digit temperatures which was not conducive to utilising an outside balcony. While the weather was cool we were comfortable wearing appropriate clothing on the tours. Dining was top class with plenty of choices. We were very impressed with everything and are already planning our next Viking River Cruise which we will book with Georgie through Global Journeys.
Our cabin with a French Balcony was a good choice as it was quieter and the weather in November was mostly overcast with single digit temperatures which was not conducive to utilising an outside balcony. While the weather was cool we were comfortable wearing appropriate clothing on the tours. Dining was top class with plenty of choices. We were very impressed with everything and are already planning our next Viking River Cruise which we will book with Georgie through Global Journeys.
Viking provided a very professional magical experience and we enjoyed every moment. David Wander, our program leaders expertise in organising and generally caring for each and every guest aboard was beyond outstanding. The majority of travellers were from America which we at times felt excluded by non Viking excursion leaders who directed all there ...read more commentary to and about Americans. We had to change ships half way as the river level was low, this was handled in the least disruptive way by all the wonderful Viking crew aboard the Bragi and Skadi.
Georgie handled our reservations at Global Journeys and was easy to communicate with. Our Viking travel tags did not arrive in time which caused a delay in our boarding the ship and an error on our flight arrival time receipt back into Melbourne meant we had the extra cost of a nights accommodation, this we did not realise until checking in to fly home. Our arrangements had been made and could not be changed but if we had known the correct flight time we could have travelled the next part of our journey home with ease.
Georgie handled our reservations at Global Journeys and was easy to communicate with. Our Viking travel tags did not arrive in time which caused a delay in our boarding the ship and an error on our flight arrival time receipt back into Melbourne meant we had the extra cost of a nights accommodation, this we did not realise until checking in to fly home. Our arrangements had been made and could not be changed but if we had known the correct flight time we could have travelled the next part of our journey home with ease.
Our Viking river cruise met all our expectations and above. Unfortunately we missed the first five days because of COVID but Viking rang us every day to check we were ok and we were able to join the cruise on day 5. On arrival they upgraded us to a French verandah which was unexpected but greatly appreciated. The staff were so friendly and helpful ...read more and we could not fault the food, good variety and quality. The shore tours were excellent and the tour guides very knowledgeable. When we returned and contacted Viking about our missed days on the cruise, they were also very prompt in issuing credit vouchers to put towards another Viking cruise. We would highly recommend Viking.
Fantastic trip - Viking have obviously spent years perfecting their on-board service and features, as well as daily excursions and experiences. Staff were all very polite, expert at their role, and always willing to help. Food and drink was high quality, and in abundance. Recommend taking the drinks package - left us with zero to pay at end of cruise. ...read more No need to travel with friends - the boat provides ample opportunity to meet new people.
A wonderful journey on the very picturesque Danube, Main and Rhine rivers with no packing up each day 1 Rhonda & Trevor, VIC, Australia, Sep 2022
Viking gave great service, especially the food - it was amazing. We went in early September and it was a little cool-would have liked it to be warmer but you can't control the weather. Another great life time experience. Thank you to Global Journeys and Georgie - once again.
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