Three gorges,from your ownveranda.
Four nights downriver through the most-painted stretch of the Yangtze, on the only tier of cruise that's actually quiet.
The Yangtze Three Gorges, Qutang, Wu, Xiling, are the two-hundred-kilometre limestone stretch of the six-hundred-kilometre cruise route between Chongqing and Yichang. Cruise ships run downstream in four nights, upstream in five. The fleet ranges widely in quality; we book one tier and one tier only, the premium operator whose top-deck cabins carry a private veranda. The two we'd never put a guest on are also named in our pre-trip notes, so you know why we chose what we chose.
Four nights,
three gorges, your own deck.
Embarkation in Chongqing
Skyline at dusk.
Board late afternoon as the 8D vertical city lights up behind you. Our Chongqing transfer is direct from the airport or the hotel, no group bus, no thirty-minute queue at the gangway.
Lesser-Three Gorges shore excursion
On a smaller boat.
Day two, a smaller boat into the Daning tributary, through karst walls too narrow for the main ship. Cormorant fishermen on the bow, Tujia minority hill villages above. The shore excursion most large cruises skip entirely.
Through Wu Gorge at first light
Veranda coffee.
The middle gorge, Wu, runs at sunrise on day three if the river timing holds. Coffee on your private veranda, no commentary on the loudspeaker, the mist lifting off the water. The reason the veranda cabin tier exists.
One tier,
named, everything else, declined.
- We book one cruise operator only, the premium fleet whose cabins carry private verandas. Mid-tier and below we won't broker.
- Transfer to and from the ship is on our own Chongqing fleet, not the cruise company's shuttle bus.
- We pre-book your cabin tier (port-side, mid-deck) so the gorge views are on the correct side at sunrise.
- We brief you on which onboard 'optional excursions' are worth the price and which are filler. An independent brief.
Four nights downriver,
or five upriver.
Standard run is four nights Chongqing-to-Yichang downstream, the easier direction, the better embarkation city. Some parties run upstream from Yichang on the five-night route for the slower pace. Either way, we add a night in Chongqing pre-cruise and a connection out of Wuhan or Yichang post-cruise. The river is the trip; everything around it is a frame.
The cluster
around the river, all within easy reach.
Chongqing
The cruise embarkation city. Two nights pre-cruise for the 8D skyline, the cable car, the night markets.
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Wulong Karst
Ninety minutes east of Chongqing, UNESCO three natural bridges. A day trip before you board the ship.
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Chengdu's Pandas
Three hundred kilometres west of Chongqing. A panda morning fits the trip cleanly before the cruise.
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Your Yangtze,
sketched,
by reply tomorrow.
Tell us your dates and whether you'd prefer downstream or upstream. We'll send a draft, cabin tier and side specified, Chongqing pre-nights named, the post-cruise connection routed, and an honest all-inclusive price. No deposit, no obligation.
From US$360/day on a private 5-seater with driver.
Rolled into your journey quote.