The 5 best destinations you can visit on a Viking cruise ship

Fast-growing Viking has one of the most diverse arrays of itineraries of any cruise line.

Not only does the California-based company offer ocean cruises in almost every corner of the world, it also offers river cruises on many of the world's major rivers. That's notably different from most cruise lines; typically, cruise lines operate either ocean or river cruises, but not both.

Viking has a particularly large footprint when it comes to European river itineraries, with a wide range of sailings on nearly every European river of note, from the Danube and Rhine in Central Europe to the Douro in Portugal.

The company also operates river trips on the Nile in Egypt and the Mekong in Southeast Asia, and it recently began river trips along the Mississippi as well.

As of the summer of 2025, there were 82 river ships in Viking's fleet — an astounding number. None of its main competitors among river lines catering to North Americans — which include Avalon Waterways, Uniworld and AmaWaterways — have anywhere near that number of vessels.

Among ocean cruise destinations, Viking has a major presence in Scandinavia and Northern Europe, which it considers its home turf. (The company was founded by a Norwegian family.) But you'll find Viking's 12 traditional ocean ships everywhere from North America to Asia and Australia. In 2022, the line also began cruising to Antarctica with its first expedition ship — a type of vessel built specifically for travel to remote, hard-to-reach places. Viking now has two such vessels.

Among the line's voyages, there's everything from eight-day cruises in the Mediterranean to 138-day around-the-world voyages. Overwhelmed with choices? Here are the five best Viking cruise destinations where the line can truly offer you a memorable vacation.

Scandinavia and Northern Europe

Some of Viking's most interesting itineraries are around Scandinavia and the Baltic Sea, with many beginning or ending in Norway — the homeland of the company's founder and chairman, Torstein Hagen.

As Hagen once told me, Scandinavia and the Baltic Sea are what the company considers "Viking country" — a region where it wants to dominate.

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During summer in particular, Viking devotes an unusually large number of its ships to itineraries around Scandinavia, the Baltic Sea and other Northern European destinations such as Iceland. Many notably use the relatively small but famously scenic Norwegian city of Bergen, Norway (population 286,000) as a gateway, something no other line does. That allows for unusual variations on the typical Baltic Sea or Norwegian fjords cruise.

The line's most popular route in the region, "Viking Homelands," is a two-week-long, one-way trip between Bergen and Stockholm that combines several days of exploring the fjord region of Norway's west coast with more typical Baltic cruise destinations such as Copenhagen and Tallinn, Estonia.

Related: The ultimate guide to Viking ships and itineraries

Note that, until Russia's invasion of Ukraine, these itineraries also included a visit to St. Petersburg, Russia — long the marquee attraction of a cruise in the Baltic region. But like other cruise brands, Viking stopped all of its calls in Russia after the war began, and it's unlikely St. Petersburg will return to the itinerary until the conflict is resolved.

Viking also offers a 14-night itinerary that includes several stops in the northernmost part of the country above the Arctic Circle. Dubbed "Into the Midnight Sun," the one-way route between Bergen and London is unique because it combines calls in far-north Honningsvag and Tromso, Norway, with visits to Scotland's remote Shetland and Orkney archipelagoes. Though part of the United Kingdom, these island chains have longstanding ties to Norwegian and Viking history.

Itineraries that take you from Bergen to Iceland or even as far away as France, Portugal and Spain are also available.

Viking's Scandinavia and Northern Europe trips range widely in length from just seven nights to a whopping 28 nights.

Among the longest sailings Viking offers that include calls in Northern Europe are one-way, 28-night voyages between Bergen and New York City. The trips include stops in Norway, Iceland, Greenland and Canada.

In Northern Europe, Viking ships mostly sail out of Bergen, Amsterdam, Stockholm, Copenhagen, London and Reykjavik.

The Mediterranean

Viking has grown into a major player in Mediterranean sailings, with more than 30 distinct itineraries that include stops in the region.

The trips include voyages focused specifically on either the Western or Eastern Mediterranean, as well as a few that include stops across both areas.

Typical of the latter is the line's 14-night "Mediterranean Antiquities" routing, a one-way trip between Athens, Greece, and Barcelona with stops in Greece, Turkey, Italy, Monaco, France and Spain.

More focused Mediterranean itineraries include the line's nine-night "Empires of the Mediterranean" voyages between Venice, Italy, and Athens, which mostly concentrate on stops along the eastern side of the Adriatic Sea in Slovenia, Croatia and Montenegro.

In the Mediterranean, the line's main hubs are Barcelona, Civitavecchia (the port for Rome) and Venice, Piraeus (the port for Athens) and Istanbul.

Related: Viking cruise cabins and suites: A guide to everything you want to know

Europe riverways

Viking is, quite simply, the giant of river cruising in Europe — at least, among lines that cater to English speakers. As of the summer of 2025, the company operated more than 70 river ships on a broad swath of the continent's rivers — far more than any other river line catering to North Americans.

In all, the line accounts for about half of all river cruises taken by North Americans in the region. The next biggest player in Europe river cruises for North Americans, AmaWaterways, is less than half the size.

Among the rivers in Europe where Viking has a major presence are the Rhine, Main and Danube in Central Europe; the Seine, Rhone, Dordogne, Garonne and Gironde in France; the Douro in Portugal; and the Moselle and Elbe in Germany. Until Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Viking also offered cruises on the Dnieper River in Ukraine.

On nearly all the rivers, the line offers multiple itineraries with lengths ranging from seven nights to as many as 22 nights.

Among 10 different itineraries on the Rhine alone, offerings range from a seven-night "Rhine Getaway" from Amsterdam to Basel, Switzerland, to a 22-night "European Sojourn" from Amsterdam to Bucharest, Romania. The latter adds travel on the Main and Danube rivers to days on the Rhine.

The Nile

Viking offers some of the most intimate and elegant cruises on the Nile, with seven vessels on the river as of this summer and five more scheduled to debut over the next two years.

With the exception of two older vessels (Viking Ra and MS Antares), all these Viking ships on the Nile are part of a new and particularly stylish series that just began debuting in 2022.

All seven of Viking's Nile ships operate the same seven-night Nile cruise itinerary that Viking pairs with a four-night stay at a hotel in Cairo (three nights before the cruise and one night after) to create an 11-night "Pharaohs and Pyramids" tour of Egypt.

The cruise portion of the tour includes visits to the historic temples of Luxor, Karnak, Esna, Dendera and Abu Simbel, as well as a visit to the iconic Valley of the Kings. The stay in Cairo brings a visit to the pyramids of Giza, the Egyptian Museum and other sites.

The five vessels in the new series of Viking ships that began debuting in 2022 offer a clean-lined, Scandinavian-influenced design that mimics the look of Viking's Europe-based vessels.

Notably, the ships feature an entire deck of sprawling suites that rival anything else found on the Nile for luxury and comfort. Each of these suites comes with two full-size rooms — a large living room with a residential feel and an adjacent bedroom with a walk-in closet and bathroom. Each suite also has an outdoor balcony with seating for two — something you don't always see on Nile ships.

Antarctica

Viking is a relative newcomer to cruises to Antarctica, but the destination is a big growth area for the line. Viking recently added two new 378-passenger expedition cruise vessels specifically built to travel to the White Continent.

Dubbed Viking Octantis, the first of these vessels began sailings to Antarctica in 2022. The second ship in the series, Viking Polaris, debuted soon thereafter. Together, the two ships have made waves in the market for Antarctica cruises, in part because they have several new and unusual features.

Most notable is The Hangar, an enclosed marina that allows passengers to transfer to two of each ship's exploratory vessels while still in the protected interior of the ship. A first for an expedition ship, it's something that significantly improves the experience for passengers heading out on Antarctica exploration.

Related: The 3 types of Viking ships, explained

In another first for polar expedition cruise vessels, every cabin on both Viking Octantis and Viking Polaris has floor-to-ceiling glass walls that slide partially open from the top to create a balconylike feel.

Viking offers several Antarctic itineraries, with the typical trip starting with a night at a hotel in Buenos Aires, Argentina, before a flight to Ushuaia, Argentina, to board one of the two expedition ships for an 11-night cruise to Antarctica and back. A longer version of the trip features 13 nights on board one of the ships and extra days in Antarctica.

Viking also offers Antarctica sailings that combine a visit to the White Continent with stops in the Falkland Islands, Uruguay and Brazil.

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