World's Best World's Best Awards 2024 Cruises Travel + Leisure Readers' 10 Favorite River Cruise Lines of 2024 Explore the world's coolest rivers via these 10 spectacular river cruise lines, voted the best by T+L readers in the “World’s Best Awards” survey for 2024. By Be a Travel Writer, an online course for the next generation of travel journalists. Her photos, videos, and words have appeared in print or online for Travel + Leisure, Time, Los Angeles Times, Glamour, and many more. You'll usually find her in an airport. If you do see her there, please say hello." tabindex="0" data-inline-tooltip="true"> Stacey Leasca Stacey Leasca Stacey Leasca is an award-winning journalist and co-founder of Be a Travel Writer, an online course for the next generation of travel journalists. Her photos, videos, and words have appeared in print or online for Travel + Leisure, Time, Los Angeles Times, Glamour, and many more. You'll usually find her in an airport. If you do see her there, please say hello. Travel + Leisure Editorial Guidelines Updated on July 9, 2024 In This Article View All In This Article How Voting Works What Readers Loved The Winner The Full List Taking a beat, a breath, and a moment to unwind is what travel is all about. And while this can be achieved on every vacation you take, it's always easier on a slow vacation, like the one you'd experience on a magical river cruise. This level of relaxation can really be found in riverways just about anywhere in the world — as long as you choose a winning cruise line like those on this year's World's Best Awards list. Our reader favorites service the waterways of Europe, South America, Asia, and beyond. How Voting Works Every year for our World's Best Awards survey, T+L asks readers to weigh in on travel experiences around the globe — to share their opinions on the top hotels, resorts, cities, islands, cruise ships, spas, airlines, and more. Over 186,000 T+L readers completed the 2024 survey. A total of more than 700,000 votes were cast across over 8,700 properties (hotels, cities, cruise lines, etc.). For the cruise category, respondents were asked to rate individual ships; the results were combined to generate scores for cruise lines in different categories based on number of cabins. Ships were specifically rated on the criteria below: Cabins/facilitiesFoodServiceItineraries/destinationsExcursions/activitiesValue For each characteristic, respondents could choose a rating of excellent, above average, average, below average, or poor. The final scores are averages of these responses. Courtesy of Aqua Expeditions What Readers Loved Indeed, slow travel has become all the rage, with Travel + Leisure readers looking to river cruising to help them explore every inch of their destination at a leisurely 8.6 knots per hour. "Our first river cruise was on Avalon Vista, and that experience turned us on to do more river cruising," one reader wrote about this year's No. 2 river cruise line, Avalon Waterways. "The trip was immediately a hit when we checked into our suite, and there was a bottle of Champagne and a box of chocolates for my birthday. Such a nice touch." The reader also noted how spectacular the staff, food, and amenities were on board, but particularly called out the unbelievable excursion options, which on Avalon include wine tastings through France, kayaking the canals in Amsterdam, and learning something new with a cooking class through Austria. But still, there was one river cruise line that captured the hearts of readers even more — their No. 1 pick, Aqua Expeditions. Read on to see what T+L travelers loved most about this line and all the rest who made this year's World's Best list. This Is Part Of The World's Best Awards See All Winners The Winner Aqua Expeditions Courtesy of Aqua Expeditions Service. Service. Service. That's what T+L readers praised most about their experience on board Aqua Expeditions. "Exceptional service and staff. Unique excursions and experiences that you could not get anywhere else," one reader said. "It's hard to describe the casual luxury, the detail-oriented staff, the spacious cabins, and the general feeling of total relaxation that Aqua Mekong exudes," another added. "I can't stress how warm, welcoming, and ready to serve the entire staff is." The cruise line took home the No. 1 spot for the second year in a row thanks to this and more, including its distinct staterooms like those on its Aqua Mekong ship, which feature deep wood accents and emerald green pops of color, and its fantastic dining options on Aqua Nera, which serves local Peruvian cuisine using the freshest ingredients possible. "It was amazing," one more reader noted of their experience. "Beautiful areas, excellent service!" T+L Reader It's hard to describe the casual luxury, the detail-oriented staff, the spacious cabins, and the general feeling of total relaxation that Aqua Mekong exudes. — T+L Reader The Full List 1. Aqua Expeditions Reader Score: 98.85 2. Avalon Waterways Reader Score: 95.91 3. The Oberoi Cruisers Reader Score: 95.75 4. Tauck Reader Score: 95.71 5. Grand Circle Cruise Line Reader Score: 95.61 6. Uniworld Boutique River Cruises Reader Score: 94.83 7. Viking Reader Score: 94.73 8. Riverside Luxury Cruises Reader Score: 94.62 9. Scenic Reader Score: 91.00 10. AmaWaterways Reader Score: 90.09