Yangtze river cruises

The Yangtze River is one of the world's longest rivers, bisecting China as it flows thousands of miles from Tibetan plateau to the sea near Shanghai. Wreathed in romantic legend, it is also a vital waterway and communication route for China through centuries. For visitors the dramatic scenery of the Three Gorges between Yichang and Chongqing is one of the highlights of China.

Which cruise boats do we use?

Throughout the years, we have carefully selected some top 5-star and some good 4-star cruise ships to suit the different tastes and budgets of our clients. We usually recommend our customers to join cruise ships with cabins with private balconies. Please note that some 4-star cruise ships also have balconies and some 5-star ships don't have balconies. For more detailed information, please check the following list of ships. Please note we cannot list here all the ships we use as tour and departure dates vary, but we always name the cruise ship we use for your particular tour when you contact us.

• Victoria Cruises (5 star) (8 boats) - Yichang-Chongqing and vice versa, and Shanghai-Chongqing and vice versa
• East King (5 star) - Yichang-Chongqing and vice versa
• President No. 1 (5 star), Yellow Crane (President No. 2), Yangtze River (President No. 4) - Yichang-Chongqing and vice versa
• Yangtze No. 1 (5 star) - Yichang-Chongqing and vice versa
• Century Star (5 star) - Yichang-Chongqing and vice versa
• Chinese Victoria Cruises (4 star) - Yichang-Chongqing and vice versa

Where do cruise boats go?

Most boats operate between Yichang, just downstream of the Three Gorges Dam, and Chongqing, the latter being the upper limit of navigation for the cruise boats. Some others start at Wuhan. There is also the option to travel take a cruise all the way down the river to near its mouth near Shanghai. Although the scenery is less spectacular than between Yichang and Chongqing, some extensive shore excursions are often included, such as to Huangshan.

A limited number of boats are now operating during the winter (mid-November to mid-March) but we would not recommend taking a cruise at this time as the weather in the Yangtze River basin is cold and the boats have little or no heating on board.

Voyages upstream are usually slightly longer in duration than those downstream, and all the cruises include a programme of shore excursions plus a boat trip on one of the tributaries of the Yangtze.