Here's What It's Like Inside the Nile's Most Luxurious River Cruise

I love visiting kitschy or unique tourist landmarks on a road trip or weekend getaway. In fact, after visiting all 50 states solo, I've enjoyed my short visits to nearly all the major tourist attractions in the United States.

Low-cost carrier Frontier Airlines is the most likely to bump passengers, far surpassing other major airlines in the United States. 

When the Van Cortlandt family acquired their sprawling Hudson Valley estate in the late 1600s, they couldn't have imagined that it would one day host a jack-o'-lantern festival with pumpkin sculptures including a Kraken, moving windmill, and Statue of Liberty.

Landlocked Armenia occupies a special spot in the South Caucasus, one half of a larger region that’s known for being straddled by the Black and Caspian Seas. Geographically, it belongs to Asia. Geopolitically, it’s considered European. And as European destinations go, it most certainly qualifies as a hidden gem.

Amsterdam, like many other European cities, is facing an overtourism problem. The numbers don’t lie. In the year 2000, the Dutch capital broke a record when it welcomed over 4 million visitors. In 2019, the city’s enthusiasm for unbridled tourism had curbed: 10.2 million visitors came to Amsterdam, which has a population of about 820,000, that year and spent 21.8 million nights in the city.

Mount Yoshino in the Nara Prefecture is one of Japan’s most popular spots for cherry blossom (sakura) viewing. There’s a wide range of varieties and approximately 30,000 cherry trees and according to Japan Travel, they were planted over 1300 years ago. In spring, the area gets extremely busy with people traveling to see the light pink to white flowers with a backdrop of the region’s stunning natural landscape peppered with historic temples, hillside towns, and must-visit cities. This other-worldly natural phenomenon is so famous that people plan bucket-list vacations to Japan during the season in order to see the trees in full glory. But if you don’t like the idea of walking through crowds of people on cramped paths, you might want to consider a more luxurious way to enjoy the sakura and book a helicopter flight with AIROS Skyview. Matador Network reached out to AIROS Skyview to chat about the various routes they offer and how you can tailor-make your own cherry blossom voyage to take in the collage of colors from the sky.

Japan’s train travel opportunities are not limited to the bullet trains, AKA the Shinkansen. While the country is at the forefront of high-speed train technology (Japan holds the Guinness World Record for the fastest Maglev train in the world, which can reach a top speed of 374.68 mph), it also knows how to create extremely luxurious rail travel experiences.

While the Maharajas’ Express is often considered as India’s most luxurious train, it’s certainly not the only high-end option for rail travel in the country. The lesser-known Palace on Wheels, operating since 1982, is a train that runs seven-night, eight-day trips in the state of Rajasthan in very opulent fashion.

If you’re looking for a cruise but don’t like the sound of a mega-ship, river cruises offer more intimate, handcrafted experiences, taking guests to parts of the world inaccessible to larger vessels. There’s a bunch of luxury river cruise companies providing five-star service, dining, and accommodation. One of the better in Europe is Scenic Luxury Cruises and Tours. With nearly 40 years of experience, Scenic’s routes range from an architectural journey through the Douro Valley in Portugal to the French vineyards and romantic towns in Budapest. They offer a range of routes, but one of the most popular is the 15-day Romantic Rhine and Moselle itinerary. It explores two of Europe’s most enchanting river valleys, lesser-known historical sites, and includes a classical concert in a UNESCO-listed church in Trier, Germany.

I think of myself as a well-traveled individual with a very solid knowledge of geography and tourist sights. Most of the people at Matador Network see themselves in the same way. After all, we live and breathe travel day in, day out. Yet, apparently, none of us know much about Germany.

Sep 24, 2024 • 6 min read

Twelve hours is a long time for anyone to be on a plane.