I’m sitting on the 360-degree promenade deck aboard a Viking river cruise, with a glass of wine and a paperback, taking in the silver maples in the high afternoon sun on a bright August day. The water, blue-green and more beautiful than I had expected, hums with steamboats and pontoons. Staff members flit about, delivering cocktails and greeting guests like old friends. With its plentiful blond woods, the stylish ship has the kind of opulence you’d expect on the world’s great waterways, from the Nile to the Seine. But I’m on board the 386-passenger Viking Mississippi, custom-built to traverse America’s most famous river. Interest in sailing along it has been on the rise since the pandemic, but Viking is the first major luxury liner to offer a trip.
I’m a Midwesterner who grew up mostly in Ohio. As such, I’d long thought of towns like Hannibal, Missouri, or Burlington, Iowa—if I’d thought about them at all—as ordinary places, hardly worth a schlep. But both are ports on this Viking sailing, one of a series of itineraries along the 2,300-mile waterway that aim to let guests walk in the footsteps of some of the region’s greatest historical figures, like Mark Twain. On other routes the vessel takes passengers into the music scene of New Orleans and the southern estates of Natchez, Mississippi. Most of my fellow cruisers were Americans who, like me, had yet to explore this corner of their own backyard; they lit up while admiring the elegant Victorian-style homes in Burlington and the majesty of Taliesin, Frank Lloyd Wright‘s legendary house and studio in Spring Green, Wisconsin.
Taking in the sheer scale of the Gateway Arch in St. Louis, Eero Saarinen’s homage to Lewis and Clark, I realized that monument is every bit as impressive as the great attractions cruise ships visit in Europe and Asia. In Hannibal I felt glee when I encountered Mark Twain’s childhood home and the whitewashed fence made famous in The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. American treasures, right there for all to see.
More new river cruises
Celebrity Cruises: Bookings open this year for the cruise line’s brand-new fleet of river ships, which begin sailing Europe’s waterways in 2027. With 360 degrees of views, the premium vessels will reflect the sophisticated design of Celebrity’s Edge Series ocean cruises. Book here
Ama Waterways: In March the 60-passenger AmaMagdalena will become the first luxury ship to access the rich biodiversity and native villages of Colombia’s Magdalena River. Book here
Sanctuary Retreats: Pure Amazon, the latest ship from this Abercrombie & Kent subsidiary, will sail the Peruvian Amazon starting in mid-2025; depending on the season, guests can go on guided rainforest treks. Book here
Windstar: In September the Star Pride will begin sailings from Reykjavik to Montreal, partly following Canada’s St. Lawrence River. Book here
