- Headquarters
- Basel, Switzerland
- Founded
- 1997
- Fleet
- 80+ Longships plus regional and exotic vessels
- Loyalty
- Viking Explorer Society
Viking River Cruises is the brand that industrialised river cruising. Rather than building bespoke vessels for each waterway, Viking standardised on the Longship platform and repeated it more than eighty times, which is why the onboard experience barely changes between the Rhine, the Danube and the Rhône.
About Viking River Cruises
Viking operates the largest river fleet in the world. More than eighty Longships work the Rhine, Main, Danube, Moselle, Seine, Rhône, Douro and Elbe, alongside a small number of regional and exotic vessels built to different dimensions for the Douro, the Nile, the Mekong and the Mississippi.
Because the Longships are near-identical, they are covered here as a class rather than hull by hull: the deck plan, cabin ladder, dining venues and Aquavit Terrace are the same whichever name is on the bow. That standardisation is the product, not a shortcut — it is what lets Viking guarantee the same experience across dozens of simultaneous departures.
The brand is adults-only (18+), carries no casino, no photographers and no upselling on board of any consequence, and prices one guided excursion into every port call. Wi-Fi, beer and wine with lunch and dinner, and port charges are also included.
The trade-offs are real. Ships carry only 190 guests, there is one main restaurant and one alternative venue, entertainment is a resident musician rather than a show band, and the demographic skews older than AmaWaterways or Avalon. Travellers who want a pool, a spa or a gym should look at Emerald or AmaWaterways instead.
Fleet
10 published ship profiles — more coverage rolling out.
Launched 2013
Viking Var
A Rhine and Danube Longship — the standard 190-guest platform with two Explorer Suites and the Aquavit Terrace forward.
Launched 2013
Viking Skadi
One of the original 2013 Longships, working the Rhine, Main and Danube corridor between Amsterdam and Budapest.
Launched 2019
Viking Radgrid
A later-build Longship with updated interiors and improved cabin technology on the same proven platform.
Launched 2009
Viking Legend
A pre-Longship Danube ship with the older centre-corridor layout and a single forward lounge.
Launched 2011
Viking Prestige
The first river vessel to run on liquefied natural gas — still one of the cleanest hulls in the Viking fleet.
Launched 2014
Viking Torgil
A purpose-built Douro ship — 106 guests, a sun-deck plunge pool and dimensions sized to Portugal's locks.
Launched 2019
Viking Helgrim
The later Douro vessel — the same Portuguese platform with updated interiors and an enlarged sun deck.
Launched 2022
Viking Osiris
The Nile ship — 82 guests, a sun-deck pool and Egyptologist-led access to Karnak, the Valley of the Kings and Abu Simbel.
Launched 2023
Viking Saigon
The Mekong ship — 80 guests in a French-Indochinese idiom, working Vietnam and Cambodia with village and market calls.
Launched 2022
Viking Mississippi
The largest ship in the river fleet — US-flagged, US-crewed and five decks tall, running New Orleans to St Paul.
Ship Classes
Compare the Viking River Cruises fleet at a glance — classes, ship highlights, and who each is best suited to.
Showing 4 of 4 classes
| Class | Introduced | Tonnage | Capacity | Ships | Highlight | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Viking Exotics Class | 2015 | Varies by river | 56–386 guests | Viking Osiris, Viking Saigon, Viking Mississippi | The non-European vessels — Nile, Mekong and Mississippi ships built to local dimensions and regulations. | — |
| Viking Douro Class | 2014 | ~2,300 GT | 106 guests | Viking Torgil, Viking Helgrim | Purpose-built Portuguese vessels sized to the Douro's locks — 106 guests, a plunge pool and a shaded sun deck. | — |
| Viking Longship Class | 2012 | ~2,850 GT | 190 guests | Viking Var, Viking Skadi, Viking Radgrid | The standardised 190-guest platform repeated more than eighty times — the single most-produced river ship design in the world. | — |
| Viking Legend Class | 2009 | ~2,700 GT | 189 guests | Viking Legend, Viking Prestige | The pre-Longship Danube generation — traditional layouts still working itineraries where Longship dimensions do not fit. | — |
Ship class · 2012
Viking Longship Class
The standardised 190-guest platform repeated more than eighty times — the single most-produced river ship design in the world.
View classShip class · 2009
Viking Legend Class
The pre-Longship Danube generation — traditional layouts still working itineraries where Longship dimensions do not fit.
View classShip class · 2014
Viking Douro Class
Purpose-built Portuguese vessels sized to the Douro's locks — 106 guests, a plunge pool and a shaded sun deck.
View classShip class · 2015
Viking Exotics Class
The non-European vessels — Nile, Mekong and Mississippi ships built to local dimensions and regulations.
View classOnboard Experiences
Suite enclaves, fare tiers, and signature onboard products.
Loyalty Programme — Viking Explorer Society
The Viking Explorer Society enrols every guest automatically after a first voyage. Benefits are modest but genuinely useful: a fixed onboard credit toward a future booking, a members' magazine with pre-release itinerary access, and a reduced deposit.
There are no tiers, no points and no status ladder — the programme is deliberately flat, consistent with Viking's refusal to run a two-speed onboard product.
Destinations
Europe is the core: Rhine and Main between Amsterdam and Basel, the Danube from Passau to Budapest and Bucharest, the Seine from Paris, the Rhône from Lyon and the Douro from Porto.
Beyond Europe, Viking works the Nile between Luxor and Aswan, the Mekong through Vietnam and Cambodia, and the Mississippi between New Orleans and St Paul on a purpose-built US-flagged vessel.
Book direct
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