Rhine & Moselle Premium Bike & Barge – Amsterdam to Cochem, 8 Days

Day 1 – Amsterdam → Wijk bij Duurstede (sailing)
Embarkation in Amsterdam at 2 pm, with a welcome meeting before the barge casts off. Dinner is served while you sail along the Amsterdam-Rhine Canal, and you moor for the night in Wijk bij Duurstede, one of the oldest settlements in the lowlands.

Day 2 – Wageningen → Arnhem, 35 or 44 km
Breakfast while sailing, then your first ride starts in Wageningen. You cross the Hoge Veluwe with its heathland and pine woods, where the last Ice Age left the gentle hills the Netherlands is not supposed to have. In the afternoon you meet the barge in Arnhem and sail upstream into Germany, to Rees.

Day 3 – Wesel → Duisburg, 40 km
An early departure and breakfast on board bring you to Wesel. Today you ride through the Ruhr, once the industrial heart of Europe and now a surprising cycling landscape of green corridors, old steelworks and waterways. You board again in Duisburg and sail on to Düsseldorf, where the Altstadt and its dark Altbier are waiting after dinner.

Day 4 – Düsseldorf → Cologne, 28 or 54 km
Ride out of Düsseldorf along the Rhine, or start later from Zons for the shorter option. You reach Cologne early enough to explore: the twin-spired Dom, begun in 1248 and finished only in 1880, and the city hall of 1330 that survived the war. Dinner tonight is on your own in one of the city's restaurants.

Day 5 – Cologne → Bonn, 38 km
A riverside day to Bonn, capital of West Germany from 1945 to 1990 and still home to six ministries. Time for the old city hall, the Münster basilica and the house where Beethoven was born. After dinner you can join a city walk.

Day 6 – Remagen → Koblenz, 44 km
You sail to Remagen over breakfast and start riding where the Ludendorff bridge once stood. From here the romantic Rhine begins: castle keeps, mansions and the first vineyards. You pass Bad Breisig and Burg Rheineck, stop in Roman Andernach and arrive in Koblenz, where the Rhine and the Moselle meet.

Day 7 – Alken → Moselkern → Cochem, 40 km
A morning cruise to Alken, then a ride to Moselkern and the short walk up to Burg Eltz, one of the finest medieval castles in Europe. You continue along the Moselle to Cochem, a wine town of half-timbered houses and cellars below its castle.

Day 8 – Cochem
Breakfast on board, goodbyes to the crew and disembarkation by 9.30 am.

Good to know: distances are approximate; on some days a longer and a shorter route are offered, and the shorter one may skip a highlight or two. You can always stay on board while the ship cruises to the next mooring. Route and itinerary may change for nautical, technical or weather reasons.