Rolling on the Rivers

Explore America’s inner shores by paddle wheeler or riverboat.

- J.D. BROWN AND MARGARET BACKENHEIMER

Far from the Rhine, the Nile, the Amazon and the Yangtze, the great rivers of America have also served boat passengers for centuries, and such cruises continue to be popular, primarily on the Mississippi and Columbia river systems. Replicas of 19thcentury paddle wheelers still hold sway. Small-town ports masquerade as pages from an American storybook. Shorelines are all aglitter with the romance of history, reflecting the lives and times of Lewis and Clark and Mark Twain.

The premier river for extended passenger cruising in America is the Mississippi, where the American Queen Steamboat Co. sets the tone. The largest steamboat ever built, American Queen headlines the fleet, featuring staterooms for 436 guests, multiple restaurants, a theater, gym and spa, as well as a paddlewheel at the stern powered by an actual steam plant. A calliope and steam whistle complete the picture. No river operator offers more luxury or more nostalgia in a single vessel. Here Mark Twain finds an afterlife on the Mississippi in the form of an onboard impersonator who regales guests with tall tales and river lore.