How a European river cruise can save you almost $13,000

It’s the ultimate river cruise route: a 15-day Amsterdam to Budapest sailing in peak or shoulder season is where many river cruisers start their love affair with the world’s most relaxing holiday.

But many may not realise sailing this route costs almost half that of a 1400 km self-drive road trip with equivalent accommodation, luxury car hire, fuel, insurances and meal costs.

River Cruise Passenger investigated the savings side by side – a journey by river and one by car, for a couple, and now the national press has picked it up with our comparison appearing in The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age today.

A comparison of current 2024 European river cruise season offerings shows prices from as low as $7705 pp on Avalon for a 14 night cruise in October, or a similar itinerary on  AmaWaterways in 2025 for $8563 pp, in a standard room.

Dare to compare

So, let’s examine what you get.

First, the accommodation. Given the luxury of staying on an Avalon or AmaWaterways’ ship, you’d need an equivalent high end hotel room to compare like for like. Somewhere lovely to stay for at least six nights in Europe can set you back an average €250 – €500 per night, that’s €7,500 at the top end for your trip ($12,129).

Road-tripping takes its toll

Now let’s talk about transport. You have to hire a car, as opposed to walking across a gangplank. A 1400 km road trip from Amsterdam to Budapest would take about 15 hours on the autobahn non-stop. However, a road trip parallel to the destinations encountered on a river cruise, would of course be a much longer, more pleasant journey. But if we were to strip back to the basics, a Hertz hire car would amount to $3138 for a 15 day car hire of a Volvo XC90.

Fuel costs in Europe vary between €1.5 – €2, per litre depending on the country. Hiring a Volvo XC90 with a fuel efficiency of 6.7L/100km, the estimated fuel cost would be €1846 (AU$3849) with the potential for tolls and additional fuel costs with side trips. Add car rental insurance €50- €100 per day or €1,500 ($2438) for the whole journey. Take in parking fees, tolls, souvenir snow globes and you’re out of pocket by a further estimated €200 (about $330).

Adding up the estimated driving times, the total trip from Amsterdam to Budapest with the same stops of Cologne, Koblenz, Miltenberg, Würzburg, Bamberg, Nuremberg, Regensburg, Passau, Melk, Krems and Vienna would be about 20 to 26 hours. That’s not including time spent at each stop for sightseeing, meals, rest breaks and overnight stays.

Add two to four coffees a day between a couple, say €3- €6 each as you top up fuel then there is another cost to add – $150 in liquid energy!

Fine wining and dining

While a luxury river cruise usually includes breakfast, a two-course lunch and a three-course dinner, both with wine, you’d be up for a bit more on the road. Look to pay a minimum of €50 for a two-course lunch in a restaurant, while a decent dinner, and maybe even a Michelin-star splurge dinner for two would set you back even more. 

Take for example, Cologne’s Phaedra restaurant and its 4-course degustation at €82pp, or $270 a couple – minus wine, let’s round that up to say $300. Add a few of those special dinners on your road trip and you wouldn’t get much change from $4,500. Want more Michelin starred meals, or dine a la carte, that would increase the cost quite a bit more. Add the occasional breakfast outside of your hotel buffet, lunch and some mid-level restaurant experiences, including at your hotel, and your F&B bill would be grazing the €7,200 ($11,703) mark.

Splurge on a high tea at a hotel would range from €30-€50 per person, let’s say you fork out for two occasions during your 15 day trip and that’s upwards of $300.

Meanwhile, back on the water

Avalon’s Magnificent Europe covers four countries over 15 days starting with an overnight docking in the Dutch capital with dinner to welcome you aboard Avalon Impression, Avalon Imagery II or Avalon Illumination.

The following day passengers cruise to Cologne in the Rhineland before heading to the Rhine Gorge, a UNESCO World Heritage site, en route to Rudesheim. 

Passengers then take in the breathtaking views of ancient castles perched on cliffs high above the water, and pass the legendary Rock of the Lorelei where the mythological siren’s songs lured ill-fated sailors. 

By Day 5 you are in Miltenberg on the Main River before an overnight cruise to Wurzburg, having had your fill with breakfast, lunch and dinner included.

Sightseeing at 130kmh

Alternatively, on the road trip you’d be zooming down the A3 Motorway, sightseeing at 130kmh past Dusseldorf, Cologne and then on to Frankfurt. 

Meanwhile, cruisers would be taking in the wonders of Wyurzburg’s Old Main Bridge, towering fortress and baroque Bishop’s Residenz with the largest known ceiling fresco. By Day 7, Avalon guests would be in the storybook settings of Volkach where they would bike along the Main Danube Canal or join a walking tour of the quaint town with its half-timbered houses and cobblestoned streets.

Other cruise stops along the way include the City of Seven Hills, the Wonders of Bamberg and its more than 2400 historic buildings, plus a walk in Roth’s Lauter Valley, including the Historical Forge and Ratibor Castle.

Then it’s off to Bavaria’s oldest abbey, 7th-century Weltenburg Abbey, then on to Salzburg, the city of Mozart before heading to Vienna and seeing Danube Island by bike.

With a little white line fever, after a long drive with stops at Regensburg and Passau, road travellers would eventually hit Vienna.

Those onboard Avalon, meanwhile, would be considering a tram ride to Vienna’s Prater amusement park or to one of the many museums nearby. Later, they would be enjoying live entertainment as they sail to Budapest. River passengers can expect to enjoy a guided sightseeing tour of the Hungarian capital, including the iconic Heroes’ Square before returning to the dock for an overnight stay.

Many of the guided tours are included in your fare onboard a river cruise, but if you were to hit the road, each tour would set you back about €50-€100pp, so around $2,438.

By our calculations, if you were to do a similar itinerary from Amsterdam to Budapest over 15 days, the road trip would cost over $28,000.

Here’s how the road trip costs pan out:

Accomodation: $12,129
Car hire: $3138
Fuel: $304
Insurance: $2438
Food: $7314
Total: $28,391

Oh, and car hire companies will charge between €100 – €300 ($165 – $300) as a surcharge to drop the car back on a one-way trip, unless you want to do it all over again and drive back to Amsterdam. 

There you have it, a side-by-side on what you get on a river cruise versus trying to do the same trip yourself – you decide what’s better value.

• Prices correct at time of publishing.