Picture this: you’re standing on the sun deck, a soft breeze in your hair, as the church bells of a centuries-old town echo across the river. The scenery unfolds like a living postcard — vineyards climbing the hillsides, castles perched dramatically above.This is river cruising at its most magical. But the question that almost every first-time traveler asks me is the same: “Should I cruise the Rhine or the Danube?”

Here are some notable UNESCO sites you can visit on river cruises: