Mississippi River Cruises

The Mississippi is America’s best-known river cruise, and for good reason. It runs from the Minnesota woods to the Gulf of Mexico, and a small ship lets you stop at the towns that grew up along it — places with antebellum mansions, Civil War battlefields, blues clubs and riverfront main streets.

Lower Mississippi: New Orleans to Memphis

The southern river is wide, brown and slow, lined with levees and old river towns. Typical stops include Baton Rouge, St. Francisville, Natchez, Vicksburg and Greenville before Memphis. Expect plantation-era history told with more honesty than it used to be, the Vicksburg battlefield, Delta blues and very good food. Many itineraries start or end with a hotel night in New Orleans.

Upper Mississippi: St. Louis to St. Paul

North of St. Louis the river narrows and climbs through a series of locks and dams, past bluffs and small towns such as Hannibal, Mark Twain’s boyhood home, and river towns in Iowa, Wisconsin and Minnesota. Late September and October bring fall color, and those sailings are popular.

When to Go

A Day on the Lower Mississippi

Mornings often begin with the ship tied up below a levee, a short shuttle from the town. In Natchez you might tour antebellum homes on the bluff; in Vicksburg, drive the battlefield park with a guide; in St. Francisville, walk under live oaks to a plantation-era house. Afternoons bring long stretches of river with barges, herons and wide skies, and evenings on many ships feature live music — jazz, blues or a riverboat singalong. Cajun and Creole flavors show up on the menu more and more as you head south.