When you travel on a river cruise, the vessels you sail in are not just restricted to rivers. Sometimes your course may take you across a picturesque lake or two, adding to the beautiful scenery and giving you a different type of waterway to explore. Lakes are often synonymous with serenity and relaxation and so they reflect perfectly the atmosphere that you’re likely to find on board.

Here are just a few of the lakes you may get to visit on one of our river cruises.

Tonle Sap Lake

Tonle Sap Lake is regularly visited on our Mekong river cruises which travel from Tonle Sap to Ho Chi Minh City. This is the largest freshwater lake in south-east Asia and plays a vital role in the lives of the people that live along its banks in Cambodia. It is estimated that there are over three million people living here and around 90% of them carry out jobs that rely on the lake, such as fishing or farming. The water levels are very much determined by the monsoon season and so, at certain times of the year, the lake may become unnavigable.

Coldwater Lake

This lake is one that you will visit as part of a shore excursion when you sail on the Columbia River with the American Queen Steamboat Company. The Mount St Helens tour will allow you to explore the volcano that created Coldwater Lake after an explosion in 1980. The ensuing earthquake caused mudslides that now act as a natural dam and form the 750-acre lake that lies eerily in the shadow of Mount St Helens, which is still active today.

Lake Ladoga

When you sail on a Russian Waterways cruise with Viking River Cruises, you will get the chance to cross Europe’s largest freshwater lake. Lake Ladoga has a surface area of approximately 6,800 square miles, meaning that it is also the fifth largest freshwater lake in the world. As well as being home to many different kinds of fish, the lake can boast its own species of ringed seal, known as the Ladoga seal.

Lake Tisza

Our Tisza river cruises will take you through Serbia and Hungary, via the beautiful Lake Tisza. This is a popular holiday destination with locals and tourists alike, due to its resemblance to Lake Balaton, and offers many different forms of entertainment. Besides the breathtaking views, there are wildlife reserves around the edge of the lake and you can also take part in water sports. Lake Tisza was artificially made when a dam was constructed to try and control the flooding of the river.

If you would like to see any of these lakes for yourself then check out some of the itineraries that they feature on. We can offer river cruises on six different continents from a variety of different operators. Call us today for more details.