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River cruising in America: How to unlock spectacular scenery and historic towns

By Brian Johnston

July 28, 2017 — 9.00am

River cruising takes you into some spectacular country in the US, such as along the Hudson River.Credit: Alamy

While most of us could name a river or three in Europe and many might have cruised the Rhine, Rhone or Danube, America remains something of an unknown land when it comes to river cruising.

School-day forays into the novels of Mark Twain have alerted us to the Mississippi, and river-cruise enthusiasts might name the Columbia River, yet few people outside the US have heard of the Cumberland, Ohio or Detroit rivers, or realise they can sail a network of waterways into the heart of some of the US's most spectacular scenery and historic towns.

America offers abundant river-cruise options. You could hop aboard a paddle-wheeler straight from Scarlett O'Hara days and sail through the alligator-haunted waterways of the Deep South, or follow the trails of explorers such as Henry Hudson or Meriwether Lewis and discover fabulous tales of native encounters and survival in the wild. You might also discover some of America's best cities, from skyscraper-draped, jazz-tapping Chicago to steamy, seductive New Orleans, where voodoo shops clank with bones, music bellows from nightclubs and Cajun aromas lure you into restaurants.

American Queen Steamboat Company's American Empress docked at Richland on the Snake River.

One of the reasons American river cruising has gone largely unrecognised among Australians is that itineraries are operated by companies with no overseas presence. US laws require river-cruise ships to be built in America and owned and crewed by American citizens, which has hampered international companies such as Viking River Cruises – despite its eagerness to launch Mississippi cruises – from entering the market. A lack of shipbuilding expertise in America also means a reliance on refurbished older ships: the continent lacks the impressive, contemporary river vessels seen in Europe.

Still, while American-based cruise lines fly under the international radar, they supply an impressive range of river cruises. Among them are American Cruise Lines (ACL), American Queen Steamboat Company, Blount Small Ship Adventures and Un-Cruise Adventures, plus newcomer French America Line with just a single ship, Louisiane.

AMERICAN HEARTLAND

The Nashville, Tennessee skyline, on the Cumberland River. Credit: iStock

Louisiane is built in the style of an old Southern paddle-wheeler, and cruises have a quirky focus on the history, culture and cuisine of France's former American colonies. A Grand Mississippi River route, for example, starts in New Orleans, visits Southern plantation towns and explores the music of Memphis, while a Classic Ohio River cruise operates between Louisville and Pittsburgh in an area first settled by the French.

The company also operates on the seldom-cruised Arkansas and Red rivers, and has cruises from Chicago on the Illinois River, which links to the Mississippi at St Louis. A journey on the Mississippi and Tennessee rivers between Memphis and Chattanooga explores some of the battlefields of the Civil War.

This whole region is crisscrossed by large rivers linked together by 19th-century, industrial-era canals that allow cruises across America's heartland. Blount has cruises that sail east from Chicago on the Great Lakes and along the Detroit and Hudson rivers, finishing at New York on the east coast; another cruise from Chicago heads south to New Orleans on the Illinois and Mississippi rivers, linked by the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway.

Another attractive cruise connects New York with Quebec City on an interesting route via the Hudson River, Eerie Canal, St Lawrence Seaway and Saguenay River.

Several companies offer cruises on the Ohio River too, generally starting in St Louis and sailing eastwards to finish in Cincinnati. The mighty Ohio played a crucial role in opening up the west to exploration and settlement, and its history is supplemented by some gorgeous scenery, particularly in Kentucky.

MIGHTY MISSISSIPPI

Downtown New Orleans, Louisiana.Credit: iStock

The Mississippi River is America's most famous waterway, linked in the imagination to the history, literature and music of America's Deep South. The classic cruise takes you between New Orleans and Memphis, where sluggish breezes off the river stir the heat, Martin Luther King was assassinated, and catfish and pulled pork are the comfort foods of choice. There are a number of variations, however. ACL, for one, has a 22-day cruise that finishes in St Paul, exploring almost the whole navigable river.

This is arguably American's most interesting region, with a culture deeply influenced by Europe, the Caribbean and Africa and its history recounting the story of native Americans, famous explorers, civil-rights activists and musicians. Along the way you sail through bayou country and cotton fields as the rich black Mississippi soil steams in the heat like plum pudding.

Among shore-excursions highlights might be a visit to Louisiana plantation house – which will make you feel like an extra in Gone with the Wind – Civil War settlement Vicksburg and Memphis, whose rock-and-roll history must include a visit to Elvis Presley's home, Graceland. The restored, historic town of Natchez, which sits on a crumbling bluff above the Mississippi River, has a perfectly wonderful downtown clogged with almost 700 antebellum buildings and bars.

From St Louis on the Upper Mississippi you can veer off along the Cumberland River to another notable music town, Nashville. Its riverside districts such as historic Germantown and East Nashville are undergoing a renaissance, and the city also has a booming gourmet food scene and increasing number of hipster hangouts. Museums and other music-related venues highlight Nashville's reputation for country and rock music.

While many cruises are music-oriented, American Queen's Music of America cruise from Nashville to Memphis has an especial focus on the jazz, Dixieland, blues and soul that have so influenced world pop culture. ACL also operates music-themed cruises.

EAST COAST

A Mark Twain impersonator on a Mississippi cruise with American Cruise Lines. Credit: Alamy

Another notable cruise region is the east coast, where cruises combine ocean and river through a series of interlinked rivers, canals and sounds, loosely termed the Intercoastal Waterway. A journey between Savannah and Baltimore with Blount, for example, will have you afloat on eight rivers, a few sections of coastline and the Alligator-Pungo Canal. It takes you to some of America's most historic towns, including Charleston and Georgetown in South Carolina, Yorktown in Virginia and Annapolis in Maryland.

Alternatively, head south and you can meander along the Florida coastline via the likes of the St John and St Mary rivers and several bays, finishing at West Palm Beach. ACL adds the Tolomato River to the mix on cruises between Charleston and Jacksonville. Savannah, with its decaying baroque mansions, giant oak and magnolia trees and slow Georgian pace, is a highlight along the way.

In the opposite direction, the company's autumnal New York to Charleston cruise – which dodges inland to visit Philadelphia and Baltimore – highlights the region's fabled fall foliage. Autumn cruises also sail the Hudson River north of New York.

The Columbia River in Oregon viewed from Washington.Credit: Alamy

PACIFIC NORTHWEST

Second only to the Mississippi when it comes to US river cruising is the Columbia and Snake river system in America's northwest. This too is a water system that proved vital to the opening up of America to white settlement, and many cruises focus on the fascinating story of explorers Meriwether Lewis and William Clark, who broke through to the Pacific Coast in the early 19th century in an incredible feat of endurance.

Cruises sail between Clarkston in Washington State – where the landscape is arid and the Snake River winds between crumbling basalt cliffs – to Astoria in Oregon, a fur-trading post turned genteel Victorian town that sits on the Columbia River just before it empties into the Pacific Ocean. Ships backtrack upriver again to finish cruises in arty, beer-brewing, eco-friendly Portland, one of the West's most appealing cities.

Admiring views of the Columbia River near The Dalles from the deck of American Queen Steamboat Company's American Empress.

Settlement history apart, this journey has the most dramatic scenery on any American river cruise, culminating in a series of gorges through the Cascade Mountains, backed by the cones of snowy volcanoes. A shore excursion usually leads passengers to Chanticleer Point and Crown Point atop the gorge for a different outlook on what must be one of the best views on any river in the world.

Among companies that cruise here are Lindblad Expeditions and Un-Cruise Adventures. The latter also has shorter, round-trip wine cruises from Portland that visit cellar doors, with an on-board sommelier and wine expert to lead wine tastings and present Washington and Oregon's wines, which are as overlooked – yet as rewarding – as America's rivers.