Taking in Van Gogh’s landscapes, white horses and wine on a riverboat down the Rhone

Vincent van Gogh painted one of his masterpieces, Starry Night Over the Rhone (1888), on the banks of this mighty river. Not far from where Van Gogh set up his easel in the late 1800s, the new Lumiere riverboat docked during its recent maiden voyage to Arles, France. Lumiere, appropriately enough, means “light” in French. The light in Provence served as a muse for the Dutch post-Impressionist. Van Gogh captured the luminance on canvas in everything from sun-soaked landscapes to inky, star-filled skies with the glow of gas lamps reflecting in the Rhone’s indigo water. An increasing number of cruise passengers are plying one of the oldest inland trade routes in Europe. “Demand has been enormous, especially after the [2024 Summer] Olympics [in France],” says Jennifer Tombaugh, CEO of US tour operator Tauck, which launched two new custom-built riverboats in Europe this spring – both in France. The 130-passenger Lumiere is deployed to the Rhone, while the slightly smaller Serene is stationed farther north on the Seine, where Tauck will debut another ship in 2027. Viking, a powerhouse in the river cruise market, is also rolling out a new 168-passenger ship on the Seine this summer. Tauck plans to put a sister ship to Lumiere on the Rhone in 2028. The 505-mile (812km) river starts high in the Swiss Alps before marching through southeastern France on its way to the Mediterranean Sea. The most popular section for cruises stretches from Lyon to Arles. That is where the river splits into two branches forming the Camargue delta, a massive wedge of wetlands famous for its white horses, black bulls and pink flamingos. The Rhone route is stocked with Roman ruins, medieval towns, dreamy gastronomy and world-class wine regions – the kind of stuff that makes river cruising in France so appealing. The appeal of travelling in a floating hotel is not limited to France. River cruising throughout Europe keeps pulling in more customers. Annual river cruise passenger numbers in Europe totalled 1.49 million in 2025. That is nearly an 8 per cent increase over 2024 and a 22 per cent jump over 2023, according to a market report by the trade group IG RiverCruise. Sixteen brand new vessels are slated to hit Europe’s rivers in 2026. Another 19 are in the works for 2027. Tauck is a higher-end travel company; its eight-day cruises on Lumiere start at US$5,350 a person. That all-inclusive price covers just about everything, from gratuities and airport transfers to multi-course meals, alcohol and shore excursions. Lumiere’s tour offerings make the most of the ship’s proximity to prime wine territory – the Rhone Valley is the birthplace of the syrah (shiraz) grape. We docked in prestigious Chateauneuf-du-Pape and had a private tasting at a nearby winery. In Lyon, a bus took us deep into the countryside to sample Beaujolais at a family-owned vineyard. We did not need to disembark the ship for fine French wine. A representative from southern Rhone’s Chene Bleu came aboard one afternoon to guide us through flights of the esteemed winery’s reds, whites and rosés. Local offerings are well represented on the dining room’s wine list. We also did not need to get off the ship to experience a Rhone cruise highlight: passing through the Bollene Lock, one of the deepest in Europe. Passengers gathered on deck for an up-close view as Lumiere squeezed into this snug concrete chamber built on a side canal of the main river. Staff passed out champagne while the ship made its slow, somewhat eerie descent on this water elevator. It took several minutes to drop 75 feet (22.9 metres) before the lock gate opened, setting us free. Back on dry land, activities included dinner and a concert at a duke’s castle in Uzes, and going to the French version of cowboy country in the Camargue to watch gardians on horses herding bulls. Some of the more active outings involved hiking through a vineyard or walking the cobblestone streets of Arles, where we visited Roman ruins and scenes painted by Van Gogh. Only a handful of us opted for the cycling tour in Avignon. It called for biking around the medieval walled city while being buffeted by 50mph (80km/h) wind gusts. The Rhone Valley’s mistral can whip through the region any time of the year, but the notoriously strong wind is most common in winter and spring. It hung around for nearly the entire voyage. On the last day, the wind finally eased up enough for passengers to venture onto the sun deck as we cruised from the charming wine-and-Valrhona chocolate town of Tain-l’Hermitage back to Lyon. I took a seat on one of the daybeds to indulge in my favourite part of river cruising: watching the scenery slowly unfold. Terraced vineyards. The occasional church steeple. Elegant suspension bridges. The gentle curves of a river that boats have travelled for millennia, with many more to come.

Taking in Van Gogh’s landscapes, white horses and wine on a riverboat down the Rhone

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}An all-inclusive cruise down the Rhone passes vineyards, Roman ruins and medieval towns, while enjoying the best food and wine

An all-inclusive cruise down the Rhone passes vineyards, Roman ruins and medieval towns, while enjoying the best food and wine