Sometimes the relationships are love-hate. When the Mississippi River burst her banks in 1993 and the Yangtze flooded in 1998, the consequences were dire for the settlements on their banks.

But the rivers that run through cities are predominantly benevolent, life-giving forces, providing water, a source of food, a form of transport and, of course, enabling people to drive machinery. As a result, many of these cities have a pulsing, vibrant energy. Here are five that are worth the visit.

St. Louis, United States
St Louis has long embraced its historic role as the gateway to the western reaches of the United States, and there is much to discover beneath the shadow of the Gateway Arch, which marks the city’s location on the western bank of the mighty Mississippi River.

Soaring nearly 200m above the city centre, the Gateway Arch — architect Eero Saarinen’s icon of modernity — commemorates US President Thomas Jefferson’s purchase of Louisiana in 1803, which doubled the size of the US overnight.

There’s plenty here for history buffs to enjoy. The gigantic silver arch plants its surprisingly massive feet on the site of the original French village named after King Louis IX, now a large park. The city has also played host to a range of historical figures and artists, including explorers Meriwether Lewis and William Clark, and the author, Mark Twain.

Like most great river cities, the Mississippi played a major role in the city’s growth, and is the reason why the nation’s largest brewery, Anheuser-Busch, is located there. For a more authentically local experience, visit the Soulard neighbourhood, with its historic farmer’s market, fine restaurants and a Mardi Gras to give New Orleans a run for its money.

Buenos Aires, Argentina
1945. Your SS uniform is in mothballs and the pressing issue is to find somewhere that Mr Simon Wiesenthal won’t find you. Evita’s husband is running a Nazi-friendly Argentina and you’ve heard good things about the French-styled capital of Buenos Aires.

But most importantly, you’ve heard about Tigre, a small, canal community on stilts just north of Buenos Aires. It’s soaked by the Rio de la Plata, sometimes known as the River Plate, and seems like somewhere you can happily hide and still be within an hour’s reach of the finest European opera. Passage booked.

And so it is today. Buenos Aires sits on the edge of the Rio de la Plata, the world’s widest estuary, fed from the Uruguay and Paranà Rivers. Waterways are what define the broader municipality, but there’s a catch. While Melbourne, London, Chicago and Liverpool have gentrified their waterfronts, Buenos Aires is still playing catch-up, with most of its attractions still based near the city centre, away from the water.

The Buenos Aires equivalent of the V&A Waterfront is the Puerto Madero neighbourhood, the old docklands region. The area has seen much change since the Nineties. Here you’ll see the insidious VRWBT (Victorian Red-brick Wine Bar Trend). Hotels have moved in, as have loft conversions and pier-side floats. But for all the investment, its soul is yet to be restored. Better by far are La Boca and Tigre.

Tigre is a small village from which boats leave, taking tourists and residents into the maze of watery byways, while La Boca is old Italian docklands. This is where the tango started: on the docks, men dancing with men, drunk, holding onto each other, wailing about the lack of women. Today La Boca is only poor in parts. The gentrification has begun.

Florence, Italy
Most cities love their rivers. The Florentines, at best, tolerate it. Although the Arno has historically been the main artery of commerce, it also has a nasty habit of flooding and ruining a lot of fine leather Italian shoes. And you know how much they love their shoes.

The city’s ambiguous relationship with the river can be seen in its architecture. Everything seems to turn its back on the Arno as the buildings focus inwards to the city’s piazzas. Even the famous medieval Ponte Vecchio bridge is almost entirely closed to the outside, with its legendary jewellery shops the focus of attention rather than any river view.

So yes, Florence is a river city, but that’s not the main reason you want to be there. Neither are the cafés — there are cafés all over Italy. Nor is it the food, even though the meat-based Tuscan cuisine is delicious (the bars and restaurants of the Piazza della Signoria is a good starting point).

No. The reason you want to visit Florence is the art. You are, after all, standing (hopefully not ankle-deep in water) in the cradle of the Renaissance. Florence is home to the Uffizi Gallery, one of the most famous art museums in the world. Yes, you’ll have to stand in a long queue, but step inside and they’re all there — Michelangelo, Da Vinci, Botticelli, Raphael, Giotto, Titian, Rubens, and Caravaggio. It’s a total jaw-dropper.

Lisbon, Portugal
Meet the hands-down winner of the ‘Most Underrated Destination in Europe’ award. No, it’s not a city of fishermen, Fado singers and mustachioed grannies (at least two of these descriptions are totally inaccurate), but a gracefully ageing citadel of architectural contrasts, hand-painted ceramic tiles, the world’s most delicious custard tartlets, and hills.

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Published courtesy of Horizons

The Tagus is mighty both in size — it’s spanned by a 2.2km suspension bridge — and in influence. From its mouth, Lisbon’s ancestral citizens stared out across the Atlantic, dreaming of new colonies to discover.

The best place to absorb that Age-of-Discovery glory is the Belém district, with its historical buildings and cafés — which brings me back to those tartlets.

Antiga Confeitaria de Belém is a pastelaria that has refused to divulge the recipe for its famous custard tarts since it opened back in 1837. Apparently it sells more than 10  000 tartlets a day, so you should be able to get your hands on a few.

Kinshasa, DRC
Without a hint of overstatement, there is nothing in the world like it. Imagine yourself in a speedboat, having just crossed the imaginary middle line of the four-kilometre-wide Congo River, with the Republic of Congo behind you and the Democratic Republic of Congo ahead.

Brazzaville is fading to your rear as Kinshasa looms; having left the capital city of one country, you are about to land in the capital of another. You won’t find this instance of geography anywhere else on the turning globe. All you need to sashay between these two African greats is two visas.

Despite a history of liberation struggles against the colonial Portuguese, civil unrest and corruption, Kinshasa is still a cultural centre in central Africa — and the river’s south bank is the ideal place to imbibe the river port’s internationally renowned party spirit.

At six times the size of Brazzaville, Kinshasa is a city of high-rises, monumental government buildings, three universities and a number of educational institutes. It is the second-biggest French-speaking locale after Paris and home to almost seven million inhabitants, most of whom live either in extreme wealth or extreme poverty.

At night, however, these contrasts are cast aside and Kinshasa comes alive in the famed Commune de Matonge district. Congolese rhythms beat fast and furious out of the many nightclubs in the area. Chez Ntemba, a legendary dance hall, is so popular that it has even spawned a number of namesake venues in Cape Town and Joburg, brought there by an influx of West African refugees into SA.