When someone says river cruise, you probably imagine sailing through French wine country. But river cruising is actually the fastest-growing segment of the cruise industry–and that means you have more options than you think.

One of the most unexpected new cruise destinations is Burma, or Myanmar. Viking River Cruises will start sailing the Irawaddy River in January.

This is one of those up-and-coming destinations—meaning they have great infrastructure, but not all the tourist traps. And chances are, you’ll be the first on your block to go.

Of course, almost all the major river cruise lines sail in Europe, but it’s not just France and Italy.

Tauck has a very cool excursion from Budapest all the way to the Black Sea. You’ll sail into countries like Serbia, Belgrade and Romania.

OK, so there are cruises that go to unexpected places. But what about river cruises that have unusual activities on board?

Amawaterways has themed cruises, including a Jewish heritage tour of Central Europe, and—get this—a knitting cruise along the Danube.

Sometimes you can’t make this stuff up.

For more information, visit our cruise archives.

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