Riverine transport was significantly important in Early Medieval Northern Europe. Viking longboats in particular were designed with shallow drafts to enable them to easily travel rivers, and indeed the network of Norse settlements and trade that spanned from the Baltic to the Black Sea was based almost entirely on the rivers of Eastern Europe, the Dneiper and Danube in particular.

In England and France in particular, fortified bridges became important elements in defences against the Viking threat. Paris, London and Bath are particularly good examples. Threat aside, rivers provided relatively fast and easy transport for bulk trade. Chester and Bristol blossomed into major trade centres during the tenth century because their locatations on the rivers Dee and Avon respectively enabled maritime trade but from a relatively safe inland position.