APT's European fleet is at the cutting edge of river cruising.

The river cruising season is from early April to late October.

Intrepid Travellers (www.intrepidtravel.com) A huge range of tours, from sightseeing to cycling, river cruising, festivals, wildlife and cooking tours.

Beyond that, the differences are considerable, and even within the realm of river cruising, there is a wide variety of vessels, waterways, scenery, seasons and activities.

Diane Mayfield, 68, and her husband, Joe, 68, from northern California, were recently converted to the appeal of river cruising.

Tauck's entry into European river cruising in recent years has also been well received.

This was river cruising in style.

First-class river cruising for 27 hours will cost US$15.

In the 1970s we had about 500,000 passengers worldwide, last year we had 21.8 million and that doesn't include river cruising.

Jane Archer picks this year's top ten cruise destinations, including river and ocean cruising, from Burma to Belfast.