The Cologne stop on the Rhine Getaway (Amsterdam → Basel) includes a bicycle tour. I am trying to find out how strenuous it is. It is listed as "demanding". I realize ability/ease are subjective. We are active senior citizens who walk & play sports daily. Haven't ridden a bicycle in a while though. What is your take on the bike tour if you have done it?
Do they cover a lot of distance?
Is the ride in short spurts with stops?
Any guidance/description you can provide is greatly appreciated.
Hi Sri, I see you haven’t had any responses yet so maybe I can help. We did this Viking river cruise in reverse (Basel to Amsterdam) and really enjoyed it. In Cologne, we chose to do the Top of Cologne Cathedral excursion. It was very interesting and we got some beautiful photos of the city illuminated after dark.
We didn’t do the bike tour so I can’t comment on that specifically but we have done a number of Viking river (2), ocean (5), and expedition (1) cruises. Several excursions were rated as “demanding” and we didn’t find them to be difficult. As active seniors you shouldn’t have any problems. Hope you enjoy your trip!
try Cruise Critic Boards (honestly I would post in the Viking Ocean forum even though you're asking about Viking River, cause the Ocean forum is more active. Alternatively you can post in the River Cruise forum or the Ports-Western European forum.) i've never done a Viking bike excursion but their ratings are generally conservative (ie they don't want their mostly senior passengers to overestimate their abilities.) At least part of the ride sounds like it will be along waterfront, but other parts in the city center. May depend on how flat/hilly the city is (your physical endurance), whether you'll be riding on streets with vehicles and pedestrian traffic (your bike handling skill level), etc. Maybe ask here on the Germany forum, or research some bike tours offered in Cologne on Viator, or similar (you may find some details of the typical tour routes.) I have taken a bike tour on an Alaskan cruise in Victoria and we did ride through the city alongside vehicular traffic, some hills, but plenty of stops with the guide describing tourist highlights, and I assume most cruise excursion bike tours would be similar. Have fun!
@Donna @SQ - Thanks for your detailed responses. Your feedback was very helpful and convinced us to sign up for the bike tour :-)
Thanks
