European river cruise 10 days

maybe just fly to Paris and take the TGV around Europe?

Everything is included on the river cruises. At least with the good companies. Fantastic food. Great wine. Top shelf drinks and excursions included.

We're thinking of doing a river cruise through the French wine country with a group of friends.

What all does the $8000 include? Airfare also? I haven't gotten anywhere close to booking so I don't know about fees and taxes, but it seems like I've seen rates a lot less than that.

Are you looking to do 10 days total? Could also do a shorter cruise and add some days to the beginning and end in cities outside of the cruise to possibly cut some costs?

So doing rough math:
$1200x2 for airfare
$200/ night accommodations
$125/ day food x 2

= $6,900

So that doesn't include excursions. I'm assuming the cabins are pretty nice so $200/ night hotel may be low end for comparison? Could beat that airfare deal but I don't know how that works?

So that's what I was saying, so you'd be looking at around $10,000 for 10 days of top shelf lodging, travel, and food. Really that's more like 12 day trip if 10 are on the cruise.

I wasn't saying it was compared to a $200/ night place I was simply adding up expenses.

So let's do this:
$4000 - 10 nights at $400
$2500 - 10 days of food and drinks for 2
$2400 flights
$1500 - excursions and activities
=$10,400

I'm not saying a river cruise is worth the price, but I'm simply trying to justify the price. If you want to eat well and stay well, its certainly not an absurd price.

River cruises are too slow paced for many.....you're gonna be dining with the same ppl, same crew, same chef for all those nights. If you're traveling with older family members (say, grandma and great aunt Gertrude), the river cruise can be a wonderful thing, as everything is taken care of, the boats are accessible/elderly friendly, and the whole experience requires little planning on the traveler's part. It also gives you enforced contact with your group--so great to catch up w/people you really like.

But, if it's just you and your wife, why not travel more independently and experience a far more diverse trip? Cruises do not appeal to me, as food/dining/markets/local specialties are a major point of enjoyment for me. The cruise ship's dining room isn't offering the serendipity of meeting new interesting ppl each night, or the local color you'd find in restaurants frequented by locals. Do a little research, plan your own itinerary, it's part of the fun of travel. Anticipation.

Plus, you can spend far less than $8K, have a great time, and use the savings to go back on a second or third trip to see all the things you missed on the first one.

I don't know the details, but some friends of mine went on a river cruise/ bike trip last summer. There's a name for them that's escaping me right now. The river cruise was basically the sleeping quarters and where they had dinner and breakfast I think, but during the day you got off and biked roughly 20 miles down/up river where you'd get back on the cruise at night. They said you could get motorized bikes if you wanted, and you had like 10 hours to cover 15-20 miles so it was pretty easy. They aren't ballers so I don't think it was overly expensive.

I'm not s huge cruise person but it seemed like an interesting way to travel and cover new ground.

It will run as much or as little as you want to spend. Start with a budget---if $8k is too much, what is your budget? Also, there are other, less swanky river cruise options from companies that don't advertise as much as Viking.

Well you could use credit card sign up bonuses to get free flights, that would offset cost

We ended going with Viking - I asked her to negotiate a little with me on date etc. we are going in December instead and basically got a Viking river cruise for about half of what we were going to spend instead of $8000 we got for about $4670 including excursions and air fare. I'd prefer to travel thru Europe via train or automobile but she really wants to do it this - maybe she doesn't want to be in a car with me for 8 days.
I feel better about $4500 instead of $8000.

Where will the cruise take you? December in Germany can be fantastic, thanks to all of the Christmas markets held in practically every town big enough to have a town square. Everyone goes out, esp in the evenings after work, and drinks spiced wine, eats sausages, and does a little bit of shopping and hanging out. Dress for the weather and you should have a great time.

I am a big fan of off-season Europe. Smaller to no crowds, lots of cultural/musical indoor stuff going on, and cooler weather gives me a bigger appetite for wine & hearty foods.