There's a brief period every year when trees become considerably more interesting than they have any right to be. Hillsides turn gold, forests acquire an alarming range of reds and perfectly sensible adults begin organising holidays around the precise moment a maple tree changes colour.

North America's autumn foliage is famous for good reason, but Europe offers some wonderful alternatives, particularly along its rivers and fjords. And a cruise can be a rather good way of seeing it all, moving between landscapes without having to spend half your holiday behind the wheel.

The trick is timing. Autumn colour travels south through North America, while Europe's vineyards and forests follow their own schedules. These seven destinations offer some of the finest displays accessible by cruise ship, including several where the sailing itself is half the attraction.

Québec City, Canada: autumn colours along the St. Lawrence

Best time: late September to early October

Québec City may be one of the few places where an eighteenth-century streetscape has to compete with the trees for attention. In autumn, the forests surrounding the St. Lawrence River turn extraordinary shades of red, orange and yellow, providing a magnificent backdrop to the city's stone buildings and copper-roofed Château Frontenac.

The advantage for cruise passengers is that you don't necessarily have to travel far. The Plains of Abraham offer lovely foliage within the city, while Montmorency Falls, around 15km away, is particularly impressive when framed by autumn woodland.

For something more immersive, Parc national de la Jacques-Cartier has forested valleys and extensive hiking trails, although you'll need a longer excursion to do it justice. Québec's tourism authority identifies late September and early October as the sweet spot for colour, with conditions varying from year to year.

The approach along the St. Lawrence is lovely in its own right, particularly where wooded riverbanks are visible from the ship. Make time to be on deck rather than treating arrival as an opportunity for another breakfast.

Bar Harbor, Maine: autumn foliage in Acadia National Park

Best time: early to mid-October

If you've ever wondered where America's autumn obsession comes from, Acadia National Park provides a fairly convincing explanation.

Just outside Bar Harbor, Maine's famously rocky coastline meets forests of maple, birch and oak, with the Atlantic appearing between hillsides covered in colour. There's something particularly satisfying about seeing brilliant red trees against a rather uncompromisingly blue sea.

Cadillac Mountain offers sweeping views across Mount Desert Island, while the Park Loop Road passes wooded lakes, granite headlands and some exceptionally photogenic stretches of coastline. The National Park Service says foliage generally peaks around mid-October.

Bar Harbor is a tender port for many visiting ships, so allow for the journey ashore. You can explore the town on foot, but reaching the park's finest viewpoints requires transport. The seasonal Island Explorer buses serve parts of Acadia, although they don't run up Cadillac Mountain.

If you're choosing a New England cruise specifically for autumn colour, this is one of the ports I'd be most reluctant to miss.

Sydney, Nova Scotia: the glorious colours of Cape Breton

Best time: early to mid-October

Sydney itself is a pleasant maritime town, but the real prize lies beyond it.

Cape Breton Island's mountainous interior becomes spectacular in autumn, particularly along the Cabot Trail, the celebrated scenic road that curls around the island's northern coastline. Here, forests descend towards the Atlantic, creating a landscape that looks suspiciously like Scotland after someone has considerably improved the weather and colour settings.

Cape Breton Highlands National Park is the highlight. Parks Canada recommends viewpoints including North Mountain, where you can look across the Aspy Fault and the surrounding autumn woodland.

There's a catch for cruise passengers, however. Sydney is some distance from the Cabot Trail's most dramatic northern stretches, so a full circuit isn't realistic on a typical port call. Look for an organised excursion covering a manageable section of the route, or arrange a driver who understands the ship's departure time.

This is one of those destinations where the journey matters enormously. A good scenic drive, with plenty of stops, is worth more than arriving somewhere impressive just in time to turn around.

Saint John, New Brunswick: autumn colour around the Bay of Fundy

Best time: early to mid-October

New Brunswick is sometimes overshadowed by its more famous neighbours, which feels a little unfair given the enthusiasm with which its forests approach autumn.

Saint John offers access to the Bay of Fundy, where dramatic tides, wooded cliffs and coastal scenery make for an excellent port day. The city itself is worth exploring, but an excursion into the surrounding countryside offers a better chance of seeing extensive autumn colour.

Fundy National Park is a particularly rewarding option for ships with a sufficiently long call, although the journey takes a substantial chunk of the day. Closer to Saint John, Rockwood Park offers woodland trails and lakes without requiring quite such an expedition.

According to Tourism New Brunswick, foliage generally develops earlier inland, with southern areas around the Bay of Fundy reaching their best colours a little later, often in early to mid-October.

For anyone considering a Canada and New England itinerary, Saint John makes an excellent complement to Québec and Bar Harbor, provided the dates align with the changing leaves.

The Moselle, Germany: golden vineyards and riverside castles

Best time: October

North America may have the advantage when it comes to scarlet maples, but Germany's Moselle Valley makes an extremely persuasive case for autumn cruising in Europe.

Here, the colour comes largely from vineyards. As the harvest draws to a close, the impossibly steep slopes above the river turn gold and copper, punctuated by villages, church towers and the occasional castle perched somewhere that looks profoundly inconvenient for delivering groceries.

A river cruise through the Moselle takes in some of Germany's most beautiful wine country, with towns such as Cochem and Bernkastel-Kues providing opportunities to explore on foot.

Cochem's Reichsburg Castle is especially atmospheric above the autumn vineyards, while the river's tight bends mean the view changes constantly as you sail.

The regional tourism authority identifies September and October as particularly attractive months, with the harvest and changing vine leaves transforming the landscape.

This is also one of the strongest options for simply staying onboard and watching the scenery. Though getting off for a glass of Riesling would hardly constitute a failure of commitment.

The Wachau Valley, Austria: autumn colours along the Danube

Best time: October

Between Melk and Krems, the Danube passes through the Wachau Valley, a UNESCO-listed landscape of terraced vineyards, wooded hills and small riverside towns.

It's gorgeous throughout the cruising season, but autumn adds a particularly lovely warmth to the scenery. Vineyards begin turning yellow and bronze, while patches of woodland provide deeper shades of orange and red.

The stretch around Dürnstein is especially memorable, with the village's distinctive blue-and-white abbey tower rising beneath ruined castle walls. Farther upstream, Melk Abbey commands an enormous presence above the river, apparently built on the understanding that subtlety was unlikely to impress anyone.

Austria's tourism authority highlights the Wachau's vineyard terraces, historic settlements and river cruises as defining attractions of the region.

Unlike a port requiring a long excursion, this is scenery you can enjoy directly from a river ship. For the best experience, choose an itinerary that actually sails through the Wachau in daylight rather than passing through overnight.

Flåm, Norway: autumn colours in the fjords

Best time: September to early October

Norway offers a very different sort of autumn.

Rather than great forests of red maple, you'll find golden birch trees, rust-coloured mountain vegetation and dark conifers clinging to the sides of immense fjords. Add a little low cloud and the occasional waterfall, and the whole thing becomes rather theatrical.

Flåm, at the end of Aurlandsfjord, is an excellent place to experience it. The surrounding mountains are spectacular from the ship, while the famous Flåm Railway climbs through steep valleys and woodland towards Myrdal, offering another perspective on the changing landscape.

The nearby Nærøyfjord is particularly beautiful in autumn. Visit Norway describes its seasonal transformation as a landscape of golden terrain and clear air, with fewer visitors than in summer.

September is a sensible target, although colours can linger into October depending on altitude and conditions. Bear in mind that some excursions and services become less frequent as the season progresses.

And check that your chosen cruise includes the fjord sailing you want. A stop in a Norwegian coastal city doesn't automatically mean hours spent navigating the country's most dramatic waterways.

When is the best time to book an autumn foliage cruise?

The difficulty with planning a holiday around leaves is that they have shown remarkably little interest in keeping to a timetable.

In North America, late September to mid-October generally offers the strongest opportunities, depending on latitude and elevation. Québec often reaches its best colour earlier than coastal Maine, while conditions around Nova Scotia and New Brunswick vary between inland and coastal areas.

In Europe, September is particularly attractive for Norway's fjords, while October tends to suit the vineyard landscapes of the Moselle and Wachau.

For the best chance of success, choose an itinerary with several promising destinations rather than relying on one supposedly perfect date. Canada and New England cruises are particularly well suited to this, combining ports across a broad geographical area during the foliage season.

And remember that the best autumn scenery isn't always waiting at the end of an excursion. Sometimes it's the valley you're sailing through, the riverbank outside your cabin or a hillside that happens to catch the afternoon light.

You may as well enjoy it. The trees have put in a surprising amount of effort.