A CONSTANTLY navigable waterway through the heart of Europe, from the North Sea to the Black Sea, is now being constructed. Twice before it has been attempted. More than a thousand years ago ...

Leaders have wanted a canal that connects the Rhine to the Danube for centuries, but it didn't become a reality until 1992. Now, we're seeing the ecological impact.

No rivers, of course, cross the watershed but the Danube and the Main/Rhine rivers come tantalisingly close – 1.5 kilometres, before coquettishly curling away from one another.

And that is thanks to the Rhine-Main-Danube Canal, connecting the two great river systems of ... (the culinary artworks so impressive I felt my spoon hovering before it swept in to destroy ...

The Danube is officially open to navigation for the first time since the NATO bombing of Yugoslavia two and a half years ago. A safe channel has been approved through the Serbian city of Novi Sad ...

The best river cruises in Europe offer a new way to experience the continent. See lavender fields, terraced vineyards, and medieval villages.