TUI River Cruises launches new 2026 Serbian and Croatian Danube itineraries

TUI River Cruises has announced an exciting new programme of winter sailings for 2026, including the introduction of cruises on the River Danube with new ports of call in Serbia and Croatia. These itineraries will go on sale from 3 July 2025 and will include 33 sailings across the entire fleet between November 2026 and April 2027.

For the first time, TUI Aria, the largest ship in the fleet, will operate winter sailings along the Rhine. Guests can look forward to exploring a variety of traditional festive markets on two key itineraries. The ‘Mistletoe and Rhine’ itinerary will take in the German cities of Düsseldorf, Frankfurt, Koblenz and Cologne, while the ‘North Rhine Noel’ itinerary will visit Christmas markets across Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands.

TUI Isla will be sailing on the Danube with a special ‘New Year on the Danube’ itinerary, offering guests the chance to celebrate New Year in style and explore the festive markets in Belgrade. A second TUI flight from London Gatwick to Vienna will be available to support these Danube sailings on TUI Isla and TUI Maya. Across the fleet, guests will have a choice of 16 itineraries, with additional flight options from TUI partner airlines to destinations including Basel and Amsterdam. TUI Aria will operate several itineraries such as ‘Rhine Explorer’, ‘Rhine Explorer 2’ and ‘Southern Rhine Delights’.

To offer even more flexibility and choice, TUI River Cruises will introduce a selection of shorter four to seven-night cruises. These include ‘Yuletide Getaway’, a four-night cruise on TUI Isla calling at Vienna, Linz and Bratislava, and the seven-night ‘East Danube Explorer’. Festive sailings will return in full with 11 themed cruises across the Danube and Rhine. These include ‘East Danube Christmas Charm’ on TUI Isla, a five-night sailing through Vienna, Esztergom, Budapest and Bratislava, and ‘Rhine Festive Flavours’ on TUI Skyla, which travels through Cologne, Boppard, Rüdesheim, Frankfurt, Koblenz and Düsseldorf.

For those looking for winter sun, the Nile programme will return with two ships, TUI Al Horeya and TUI Bahareya. These ships will sail alternating seven-night itineraries – ‘Legends of the Nile’ and ‘Ancient Gods and Famous Pharaohs’ – departing from Luxor and visiting Edfu, Kom Ombo and Aswan. Direct flights to Luxor will be available from both London Gatwick and Manchester Airport.