What you pack for a river cruise depends on heavily on your destination and the season. For a European river cruise, the golden rule is versatility. You’ll want comfortable, high mobility clothing for daytime cobblestone excursions and elegant, elevated casual looks for dinner and onboard evening entertainment.
Because temperatures fluctuate significantly along the water from morning to night, lightweight layers are your best friend.
The Fabric strategy: breathablity VS WRINKLE-fREE
Our number one recommendation is to look for lightweight, easy-care, wrinkle-free items that will survive being packed. Who wants to spend their vacation ironing?
A note on breathability: Be mindful when shopping for “wrinkle-free” travel clothing. A vast majority of these items are made from heavy polyesters that trap heat and don’t breathe.
Instead look for premium brands that specialize in technical, high-stretch, and naturally derived fabrics that offer the best of both worlds: unwrinkled silhouettes and breathability.
Some recommended retailers
If you need to pick up a few capsule pieces before you sail, these are some fantastic brands to explore.
1. Kit and Ace
Elavated basics engineered for movement. Made from breathable fabrics, Kit and Ace’s versatile designs are perfect for a river cruise in Europe because individual pieces effortlessly transfer from touring castles to enjoying dinner al fresco.
- Standout Pieces: The Maven Pants for women and their tailored t-shirts. For men they offer a large selection of travel friendly shorts, polo shirts and pants.
- Pro tip: For best value invest in their t-shirt three-packs to build foundational layers of your packing capsule. Available for both men and women.
2. Lululemon
Over the years Lululemon has diversified far beyond yoga and athletic wear. Today their collection features outstanding travel options that aren’t leggings.
- The Standout Collection: The Daydrift line, available for men and women, made from their stretchy LuxtremeTM fabric which keeps you cool and moves with your body. This collection has everything: tailored pants, jackets, shirts, shorts and even capris.
3. Du/ER
Another standout Canadian brand, DU/ER makes clothing explicitly made to move in. The quality of their jeans, shorts, pants, tops and outerwear is outstanding, and the pieces are simple yet stylish. These are jeans comfortable enough to wear on a plane!
- Star fabric: Jeans made from their Performance Denim Lite, which is engineered to beat the heat and keep you cool.
Shop their Men’s Travel Collection
Shop their Women’s Travel Collection
Footwear
Ladies, leave those heels at home! River cruising takes you right to the heart of the cities you are visiting, which allows you to easily walk off the ship to start exploring. Most river cruises include a variety of walking excursions, which in Europe means uneven pavement and cobblestones.
choices that are chic and comfortable
This Italian brand is practically made for walking in Europe. Choose from their Men’s and Women’s SphericaTM line of sneakers for all day comfort that also looks great. We did find some styles have a narrower toe box, so if you need a bit more room for your toes choose the Ecub-1 style which are a bit roomier.
As you transition to evening, slip on a pair of their sandals for an elevated casual look. We recommend sticking to flats, afterall, you just spent the day on your feet, but if you do want a bit of height their wedge sandals are a great choice.
2. Naturalizer
Several years ago, Naturalizer went through a major rebranding. Gone are the comfortable, dare we say, frumpy styles of the past. Today they offer sleek, modern silhouettes and inclusive sizing, all while keeping their footware ultra-comfortable. If you haven’t discovered today’s Naturalizer we think its time you did.
- Our top choice for daytime: Naturalizer’s best selling Morrison 2.0 lace up sneaker. These have a slighly lower price point, but still provide endless comfort and style. We love that many of their styles have metallic detailing that add a bit of flair to your outfit.
- Evening Choice: the Brandy Sandal. We love the gold version, but they are also available in classic black and taupe. Incredibly versatile, these are a great addition to your suitcase as they can easily transition to daytime wear too.
Naturalizer has earmarked a number of styles for travel. Shop them here.
Outer Layers and rain wear
One of the great things about river cruises is the ships keep umbrellas onboard for their guests. These are typically large, golf-style ones, so you might find it more convenient to bringing a small packable umbrella you can slip into your daybag.
As much as no one wants it to rain during their vacation, inclement weather does happen, even in the peak summer months.
- K-Way
That’s right Gen X – K-Way is back. Trending across Europe, these are the perfect jackets for your cruise vacation. They pack up into their built-in pouch and they are breathable, waterproof and windproof, making them an ideal outer layer,
Simons offers a curated selection of K-Way outerwear for both men and women.
2. Mountain Warehouse
Based in the UK, Mountain Warehouse has an extentive collection of wet-weather gear. Their base model, the Pakka II, is light weight and features fully taped seams; however is not quite as breathable as other styles. It packs away into its own pack when not in use, however, unlike the K-Way, the pouch isn’t built into the jacket itself. For a more breathable model with a built-in pouch upgrade to the Swerve.
Shop for men and women’s Mountain Warehouse rain jackets.
What to leave at home
We already touched on it, but it bears repeating, there are no formal nights on river cruises. You can leave your high heels, gowns and tuxedos at home!
As always, we recommend you leave a little extra room in your luggage for shopping!
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