Discovering Germany by Bike and Barge: My Journey as a Cycling Newbie
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 4 ส.ค. 2022
- ad (invite) - I’ve just disembarked a European river cruise on a 1930s barge that took everything I thought I knew about cruising and turned it on its head. Our cruise was a week long and on the cruise schedule was 225km of cycling across the German countryside from Bonn to Saarburg. I am definitely not a cyclist, so I was very nervous, I didn’t want to let anybody down. To say it was eventful would be an understatement. We had injuries, a heatwave, I smashed my camera, and I saw and did things I never thought were possible on a cruise.
Merlijns website: Merlijn.nu
Before Coen and Cristina, the owners of the Merlijn invited me to join them on their ship I had no idea that this type of cruise existed.
My first reaction was ‘cycling? I can’t cycle’. At this point it had been a good 5 or more years since I’d been on a bike but I thought either it’ll go well, or it’ll be a great story for me to tell you and here we are.
I had visions of me being the person who was holding everybody else up, I didn’t know if I would be physically able to cycle that far? What would happen if I couldn’t? I had no idea what staying on a barge would be like, I didn’t know what would the food be like, what would the other guests be like? I had no idea.
** As mentioned in the video and on all my social posts (you may have noticed the ad (invite) disclosure) I was invited onboard by Merlijn which means that I didn't pay a cruise fare. All opinions and content are my own. **
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An update on a few of the frequently asked questions! 😀
Spending money at a small business just feels different. Especially now, when everything more and more expensive so you showing us this beautiful family business. Honestly my favourite cruise I've seen from you. And I'm gonna pretend that's not just because of Sascha...
If you want a game to play while watching this video, count how many times I said the word Bum... 🤣. More than in any other video thats for sure!
I am SO excited to share this video with you! Thank you so much for following along with this adventure, it took me far out of my comfort zone but I always had you cheering me on and that made such a big difference. Have a great day! :)
As the sort of person who prefers looking at the cruise ships from outside rather than being on them- this looks like my kind of cruise. Will book one!
Can we all just pause for a moment to honour the life and work of Emma`s camera lol. Really interesting cruise, IU can`t cycle but it looks ideal for those who do. The food looked really good too.
That looks like it would be a lot more fun than a traditional cruise on a sea monster. I said I was looking forward to this video, thanks for not disappointing. It was great!
I really like the way you do your reviews I would really like to do something like a bike and barge many years ago we did a bed and breakfast bike tour and enjoyed it
This looks great.
This sounds like a perfect way to dip one's toe in the cruise pool! E-bikes? Wonderful. So sorry for your loss. Mashed tech is a heartbreaking sight. PS- STOP with the White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Raspberry cookies pics! Stop it! I am dying over here.
There is a cooling towel brand called “Frog Toggs”. My daughter played junior and college golf and it really helped when temps hit the high 90’s.
"... we arrived at a place called Bonn." This led us to the very sobering realization that Emma probably hadn't been born yet when Bonn was the capital of West Germany!! 😊
This is honestly a dream cruise for me. I wanted to cycle in Europe for so long. But I don’t have the guts to just do it by myself.
You may not have felt like one, but you certainly looked like a proper cyclist! What a lovely, scenic and personal travel experience. Thanks for sharing! 😊
Thanks Emma for the wonderful review. After watching your video we booked for summer 2023, then showed the video to our adult son who is now also booked on the same trip! We would not have known of this bike/barge cruise option, nor of the wonderful family business without your video. Appreciate all your content!
Hi Emma, It was so nice to finally see such a vacation get „air time“! We also took a „barge and bike“ vacation in 2019, booked with Freedom Treks out of the UK (we are in Switzerland, but they were fantastic! - they also are the „agent“ for „Boat and Bike“, I think out of Germany). Your trip sounded exactly like ours (36 passengers) and the food, I agree, was THE BEST on any cruise I`ve taken. Cooking for a smaller guest group means the Chef can do his own thing and it was fantastic! We did ours 8 days round trip from Amsterdam. 3 of our 4 group were not cyclists and on our trip we had a short route and guide and then a long route and guide. Had the best time and would even do our tour again. Just keep in mind in Holland - yes flat but wind all the time - so the e-bike I rented was the key to my enjoyment!
This cruise looks fantastic, I'd love to do this but not cycle, what a lovely surprise, all the things to do and see, great food, lovely cabin, good company, brilliant hosts, what more could we want!
Oh my gosh this is perfect!! This is where it's at! A barge, a smaller group, and cycling! WOO HOO!
a wife and husband duo running a small cruise ship on a river sounds like the set up for a great sit com
Fantastic video Emma! This is absolutely something my wife and I would love to do. Thank you so much for sharing this as I had no idea that there are cruises like this one. I love the idea of being on a ship with so few people and cycling everyday. By the way, you did famously riding your bike for the distance you did! I always enjoy your vlogs, very informative. Cheers