Off to Italy to bike
Wednesday, June 7, 2023 at 08:35AM
I suspect there are as many reasons for traveling as there are travelers. Adventure, culture, relaxation, food, exercise, scenery… People who travel of their own free will may so love their own idea of a great trip that they may become blind-sided to the joys others experience when away from home.
As readers of this blog know, I do love to travel - and for all the reasons stated above. What I found a number of years ago is that there is one kind of travel which manages to incorporate many of them - boat/bike trips.
The concept of a boat/bike trip is simple. One stays aboard a small cruise ship that usually travels a river or other inland waterway. Small cabins, well-prepared meals, comfortable lounges, and top deck viewing areas are standard. But as the name suggests, the boats also carry bicycles, either cruise company or rentals or brought aboard by the passengers, which are ridden on prescribed routes during the day.
While the bikers bike, following either a human guide, provided maps, or GPS programs, the ship sails to the next embarkation point. Biking usually lasts from early morning to mid-afternoon with stops during the day for eating and visiting places of interest. On the tours I have taken, the daily mileage usually runs between 25 and 35 miles, with some days having a choice of longer and shorter route options. Should a person not feel like biking, they may stay on board and just enjoy the scenery.
I love relaxing on board. I don’t have to change hotel rooms, find new restaurants, or locate guides. I don’t have to do a tremendous amount of trip preparation. The other bikers aboard have always been a pleasant, quite international, bunch. I get exercise every day, even when riding an ebike.
But perhaps most of all, I love seeing the country in slow motion. The back roads. The small towns. Everyday people going about their everyday work. Small museums and coffee shops. The air comes unfiltered; the sun and rain unavoidable. The cows moo and the birds tweet, just for me.
I have certainly enjoyed the majority of my biking experiences - from week-long rides in Wisconsin, Missouri, and Minnesota to inn-to-inn trips in Ireland, Provence, and Cambodia. But biking from a boat is very special.
My boat/bike trip in Italy starts this Saturday. I am excited. I hope it falls somewhere in the middle of the list below before I am no longer able to pedal! I still have a lot of places to see from a bike seat and a ship’ deck.
2017 - Prague up Elbe River (SE Tours)
2019 - Northern Holland (Boat Bike Tours)
2021 - Danube, Passau to Budapest (SE Tours)
2022 - Bruge to Amsterdam (Boat Bike Tours)
2023 - Venice to Mantua (Boat Bike Tours)
Reader Comments (1)
Have a great trip, Doug. Looking forward to hearing all about it and seeing the photos.