TUI River Cruises has launched its winter 2027 programme, featuring TUI Elara’s first winter season and bringing the total to three ships on the Rhine including new Belgian ports. TUI Luzia will offer Douro sailings, plus solo sailings on TUI Elara and TUI Aria on the Rhine, marking the line’s biggest winter launch to date. The programme goes on sale from 2 July 2026, with 37 sailings featuring three-, four-, five-, and seven-night itineraries across the fleet from October 2027 to April 2028.
TUI Elara, the river cruise line’s most intimate ship, will sail the Rhine, offering customers a glimpse of different Christmas markets on the ‘An Enchanting Christmas Journey’ itinerary. This features new ports of Maastricht, Liege, and Roermond, where the ship will dock on Christmas Day for winter 2027.
TUI Luzia, the first purpose-built ship for the river cruise line, will sail its first winter season on the River Douro with four Portuguese sailings of its ‘Douro Discovery’ itinerary. The cruise sails from Porto to Entre os Rios, Peso de Regua, Vega de Terron, Barca d’Alva, back to Peso de Regua, and finishes in Porto from 5 November 2027. These sailings will be supported by third-party airline routes from Stansted Airport to Porto and London Gatwick to Porto for winter 2027.
TUI Maya and TUI Isla will both sail on the Danube, with itineraries including ‘New Year on the Eastern Danube’ on TUI Maya, departing on 30 December 2027 with the ship docked in Budapest for New Year’s Eve.
The river cruise line is continuing to expand its regional flight programme with the addition of a third TUI Airways departure from Birmingham to Dusseldorf, joining existing flights from London Gatwick and Manchester for TUI Skyla, TUI Aria and TUI Elara. These flights will support itineraries such as Mistletoe & Rhine on TUI Aria and ‘A Christmastime on the Rhine’ on TUI Skyla.
Finally, TUI River Cruises will offer two solo sailings on the Rhine: TUI Elara will sail the southern part of the river for a seven-night ‘Rhine Chateaux & Gateaux’ cruise visiting Basel, Mannheim, and Koblenz from 31 October 2027, while TUI Aria will sail the northern section on a four-night ‘Northern Rhine Highlights’ cruise visiting Amsterdam, Cologne, and Mainz from 17 November 2027.
Katy Berzins, Head of River Cruises at TUI River Cruises said: “Winter 2027 marks an exciting step forward for TUI River Cruises as we expand both our fleet and our offering. With the addition of TUI Elara for her first winter season, new Rhine itineraries, winter Douro itineraries and calls to new Belgian ports, we’re giving customers more choice and flexibility than ever before from festive Christmas market sailings to solo cruises and a wider range of regional flight options."
Prices start from £869 per person for the ‘A Taste of Christmastime on the Rhine’ winter 2027 itineraries which are available to book from 2 July 2026.
