16 European River Cruise Cycling Tips & Packing Hacks

European River Cruise Cycling Tips

By Heidi Sarna

Last fall I spent a week aboard the 156-pax AMA Stella round-trip from Amsterdam to explore the waterways of the Netherlands and Belgium.

We chose this itinerary because of the many opportunities for us to sightsee by bicycle to soak up the two countries’ rich culture and heritage. And we appreciated AMA Waterways’ focus on fitness and wellness.

Cycling is my happy place and my husband and I try to get some pedaling in whenever we can while traveling.

Heidi & hubby love cycling, and Heidi's hone many European river cruise cycling tips over the years

Heidi & hubby love cycling. Here on our first ride of the week from Utrecht. * Photo: Heidi Sarna

A river cruise in Europe is an especially ideal opportunity for cycling, as so many European countries are exceedingly cycle-friendly, with extensive and impressive networks of bicycle paths, wonderfully car-free.

AMA Waterways’ “Best of Holland & Belgium” cruise is a particularly ideal itinerary for daily cycle excursions as both countries are super cycle crazy.

Every single port offers an opportunity to ride on guided cycling tours that AMA Waterways includes in the cruise fare.

European river cruise cycle tips include going on a guided ride to see Antwerp's central rail station.

Some guided rides even took us INSIDE of heritage sites, like Antwerp’s central rail station. * Photo: Heidi Sarna

Our itinerary, round-trip from Amsterdam, included these cycle-friendly ports of call:

Utrecht, NL
Veere & Middleburg, NL
Ghent, Belgium
Brussels, Belgium
Antwerp, Belgium
Dordrecht & Kinderdijk, NL

We did one or two guided rides per day, and also went out a few times on our own without a guide. We did this in Ghent and Antwerp, pedaling around to sightsee and then finding a local restaurant to refuel and sample Belgium’s famous beer and fries.

Belgian beer on our European river cruise cycle tour

When in Belgium … * Photo: Heidi Sarna

(The calories burned while cycling help to justify lots of eating and drinking while traveling!)

Like-Minded Others Who Enjoy Cycling in Europe

On the week’s guided tours we were usually joined by five to 10 other passengers, ranging in age from 20s on up to 70s, who enjoyed cycling as much as us.

European river cruise cycling tips I learned on ride like one from Veere to Middleburg in the Netherlands

A scenic guided ride from Veere to Middleburg in the Netherlands. * Photo: Heidi Sarna

Only the very first guided cycle tour of the week drew more than 20 passengers. We preferred smaller groups, and in some cases there were just three or four of us; the tours always went ahead and were never canceled even if only a few showed up, which was great.

AMA Stella’s wellness host (in our case the lovely and friendly João from Portugal) is always in tow on the guided rides, bringing up the back. And a local guide with knowledge of the area takes the lead.

European River Cruise Cycling Tips includes choosing a line with good guides

Wellness host João was an escort on all guided cycle tours. * Photo: Heidi Sarna

All of our local guides were passionate and shared lots of interesting details about what we were seeing, whether we were cycling around the medieval villages of Veere, Middleburg and Dordrecht or the fascinating and multi-faceted city of Antwerp.

The guide would stop the group four of five times to share some background about where we were.

In one case, we stopped for a cheese tasting and to pet some adorable dairy cows that produced the milk for the cheese! Another ride included a castle tour. One took us close-up to real working wooden windmills dating back several centuries.

European river cruise cycle tours include fun stops at farms

Our guided cycle tour from the port of Veere included a stop at a farm to meet the dairy cows and sample some cheese and butter milk. * Photo: Heidi Sarna

And perhaps our favorite ride (though it’s hard to choose, they were all really good) had the guide taking us, AND our bikes, into Antwerp’s famous train station known as the “railway cathedral.”

VIDEO: See Antwerp’s “Railway Cathedral” for yourself, below.

AMA Waterways’ focus on wellness helps them stand out from the crowd of the many other Europe-based river cruise lines and it’s the major reason we chose to cruise with them.

Yes, other river cruise lines also carry bicycles on board for passenger use and some guided rides during the week, but AMA Waterways prioritizes wellness and we met several other passengers who also chose to book AMA because of it. Other river lines that are also big into cycling include Avalon Waterways; QC contributor John Roberts pedaled with Avalon and reviewed it HERE.

For all ports we visited in the Netherlands and Belgium, we moored conveniently in a town or village, and as on most river cruise routes, we could step off the boat and immediately take a walk or a cycle ride — no big cruise terminals to wander through or long bus rides to the destination.

HERE: Check out my full review of this highly-recommended AMA Waterways cycle-friendly river cruise.

In the meantime, here are my 16 Europe river cruise cycling tips and packing pointers that I’ve honed on my extensive travels.

Heidi’s European River Cruise Cycling Tips & Packing Insights

1.. Bicycle tours cannot generally be pre-booked before the cruise (as other excursions can), as the wellness host or activities manager must assess each passenger before riding and a waiver must also be signed. (But don’t worry too much, the bar is pretty low; you only need to be reasonably fit and able to ride a bicycle.)

2. Don’t get me wrong, it’s definitely a good idea to have some cycling experience and a degree of confidence riding a bicycle in order to enjoy the cycling tours and also not hold up the group.

European River Cruise Cycling Tips including knowing your skill level, you need to be a confident rider

Passengers getting ready for a guided ride; all were confident riders. * Photo: Heidi Sarna

3. If you haven’t ridden a bicycle in a long time, I suggest you do a short ride on your own in one of the ports if you want to test the waters and see if you’re steady on two wheels.

4. On our AMA Waterways rides, we typically pedaled just 8 to 15 miles per ride on flat paths. This is business as usual for a standard river boat bicycle excursion. (Now if you’re doing a special river cruise that is partnering with a cycling company like Backroads, then you may be doing longer more strenuous rides in the 30- to 40-mile range, but that’s a different story; see below.)

5. While it’s great to be able to ride on cycle paths that are car-free in countries like the Netherlands and Belgium, keep in mind, you may encounter speedy cyclists and motorized scooters on the cycle paths, so you do want to keep your wits about you.

6. Cycling (like driving) is on the right in the Netherlands and Belgium; so when pedaling, stay to your right on the bike paths. You may pass a slower cyclist from the left.

7. Remember, the complimentary use of the bicycles are not just for guided tours, they’re also for independent pedaling, which we did a few times during the week.

8. If you want to go off on your own, the wellness host or cruise director can generally point you in the right direction; there are often cycle paths literally at the end or near the gangway.

9. AMA Waterways has bicycle helmets to borrow for all rides, so you don’t need to bring your own (though people occasionally do). Now let me share a little quirky tip — as the bicycle helmets are shared (of course), I like to wear a thin baseball cap under it. Not only will the visor help shield your face from the sun (and light rain), the hat will be a barrier between your head and whomever wore the helmet before you. (I swear, I’m not a germaphobe! I saw the AMA staff cleaning the helmets in between rides, but still, maybe after living in hot humid Singapore for so many years, I don’t relish wearing someone else’s potentially sweaty helmet! In lieu of a hat, you could also tie a thin bandana around your head before putting on the helmet.)

My European river cruise cycling tips include wearing a hat under your bicycle helmet. * Photo: Heidi Sarna

10. As for cycling gear, you definitely do not need a Tour De France spandex twin set! On our AMA Stella cruise, I rode in jeans and even a short denim skirt a few times! Usually with a t-shirt. Whatever you wear should be comfortable and allow for easy movement of your limbs. If you wear long pants or jeans, they should be slim around the ankles so the fabric doesn’t get caught in the chain (or otherwise roll up your pant legs or “tie them down” with a pair of Velcro pant cuffs or clips, like these HERE. I’ve also used a large rubber band around each ankle.)

11. Avoid carrying a big heavy bulky backpack when you cycle to stay comfortable and agile; another one of my European river cruise cycling tips is to go for a smaller lighter backpack, or better yet a compact sling bag or a fanny pack around your waist. Some river boat bikes have baskets at the front, but don’t count on it.

12. I definitely suggest closed shoes; again fancy cycling shoes are not needed (and the river boat bicycles won’t have pedal clips!), but closed shoes like sneakers are a must.

slim jeans and sneakers are good cycling gear

Note the slim jeans, comfortable non-binding top & sneakers — I’m ready to cycle. * Photo: Arun sarna

13. Sunglasses are always a good idea, and sunscreen too.

14. A super lightweight rain coat that you can roll up into a little pouch is ideal if you don’t like getting wet. (I actually don’t mind a little rain and rarely bring a rain coat!).

15. That said, I always carry a small plastic bag in my fanny pack for my phone in case in starts to rain along the way; other than a phone, most things can get wet without worry.

16. And finally, if you’re super into cycling like we are, then keep in mind some lines, as I mentioned earlier, such as AMA Waterways, partner with bicycle tour companies like Backroads to offer a more intense week of cycling, while still being based on a cushy river boat for the week. Lucky-duck QuirkyCruise contributor John Roberts will be doing one of these awesome trips in September; a Backroads and AMA Waterways combo in Bordeaux, France. Stay tuned for his review soon.

So there you have it, my personal European river cruise cycling tips.

If the AMA’s Best of Holiday & Belgium river cruise interests you, you’ll be glad to know there are seven sailings of this itinerary in 2023 and 10 in 2024.

Happy pedaling!