The Newest Trend In Active And Adventure Travel – Boat Trips And Cruises

For decades, cruises were the vacation antithesis of active travel, more associated with overeating, midnight buffets and inactivity than anything resembling wellness. But times have changed dramatically – so much so that you might well consider a cruise for your next fitness-focused trip.

Before the pandemic, river cruises were one of the fastest growing segments of the leisure travel industry – eight new ships from the biggest lines hit the water in 2019 alone. During the pandemic, participation in all kinds of outdoor activities, including hiking and cycling, skyrocketed, and the elevated rates appear to be here to stay, with most major active travel specialty companies reporting record bookings in 2023.

Now as travelers flock back to vacations, especially overseas, these two trends have shown amazing synergy, and active travel by boat is hotter than ever.

“Active cruises have been a fast-growing part of Backroads’s business since 2015. Guests love the combination of living aboard a luxurious ship and unpacking just once while enjoying a Backroads hiking, biking or multi-adventure vacation during the day,” said Liz Enbinder, spokesperson for Backroads, the largest and oldest active travel tour company in the U.S. Backroads began with a single cycling cruise on the Danube River eight years ago, “and we now offer nearly 100 departures across 13 unique destinations with river and ocean trips. In addition to fun activities and the signature flexibility of a Backroads active adventure, guests also get to enjoy the comforts of a luxury ship and gourmet cuisine and wines.”

With the most comprehensive active travel by boat program in the industry, Backroads offers river cruises on the Danube, Rhine, Duoro and Seine in Europe, the Amazon in South America, and ocean-going ships for biking and hiking/walking trips in Iceland, the Galapagos islands, Japan, Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia.

Many of the companies offering active travel trips by boat point to the convenience of packing and unpacking just once as prime motivator, since the equivalent land-based tours typically change hotels three times. But there is also the fact that many popular destinations in Europe have been wildly busy, with hotel rooms hard to secure and very expensive, while the ships, mostly river cruises, offer an easy solution to that issue. River ships are also good for those prone to seasickness as they have less motion, have larger cabins that are often more luxurious than basic hotel rooms, and tend to be all-inclusive, including adult beverages. The best tour operators also tend to use top tier deluxe lines.

Backroads mostly uses ships from luxury line Ama Waterways, which in turn was among the first cruise companies to dive deeply into wellness and active travel itself. When its AmaMagna launched in 2019, it was the largest river ship in Europe and included a wellness studio with retractable roof and windows for enjoying the views while working out.

“AmaWaterways is proud to be the leader in the active river cruising sector,” said Executive Vice President and Co-founder Kristin Karst. “Our European ships offer well-equipped fitness rooms and guests can enhance their best selves on board with included offerings such as yoga, Pilates, resistance band stretching, cardio and even dance classes, all led by professionally trained wellness hosts.”

“Our commitment to physical and mental wellness started in 2006, when we became the first river cruise line to carry an entire fleet of complimentary bicycles on board our ships. We began offering our guests guided bike tours and soon after, we started offering guided hiking tours as part of our wide range of included daily shore excursions. Many of our tours are geared toward active travelers: scenic hikes culminating in a panoramic view, guided bike tours of the city or through vineyards or tulip fields, and visits to national parks. The latest addition to our fitness activities is the brand-new pickleball court on our wellness-centric AmaMagna, making us the first river cruise line to host a full-sized sports court on board a ship.”

Most top active travel companies now offer river cruise trips, especially in Europe, but there’s growth in Asia and South America as well. Butterfield & Robinson, generally credited with inventing the luxury cycling and hiking vacation category, offers these river cruise trips on the Danube and Rhine, as well as trips on smaller sailboats or yachts in the Adriatic, to Sardinia and Corsica, and on the Dalmatian Coast. Just as Backroads uses AMA, Butterfield also uses a prestigious line, Uniworld Boutique River Cruises.

Another big active travel operator, VBT Bicycling Vacations, gives top billing to these kinds of trips, and lists just three kinds of itineraries on its website: Guided Biking, Self-Guided Biking and Guided Bike & Boat. The latter includes a Lyon to Nice route in France through Burgundy and Provence, the Mosel River Valley through Germany, Luxembourg and France and the Netherlands. VBT uses high-end Emerald Lines on the Danube and smaller boats elsewhere. Sister company Country Walkers, which does only walking and hiking trips, also offers an active Danube cruise option.

“We are seeing that river cruises, with a guided walking or guided biking element, are becoming more and more popular,” says Chris Skilling, vice president of global operations for both Country Walkers and VBT Bicycling Vacations. “Guests love staying on these authentic and charming barges, and waking up at a new village to explore each morning. Plus, they only have to unpack once.”

Like AMA, the cruise lines themselves have gotten far more into wellness and fitness class offerings, with lots of guided and self-guided cycling options as well. For self-starters who don’t need the guides and full trip support luxury active travel companies bring, this can be a more affordable way to go. In particular, AMA, European Waterways, Uniworld, and Avalon Waterways have expanded wellness programs.

Boston-based luxury active travel specialist DuVine currently holds the coveted title of “World’s Number One Best Tour Operator” from Travel + Leisure Magazine, and offers its own unique spin on this trend, a collection of “Cycle + Sail” group and private trips. These use sailboats and yachts instead of cruise ships to offer the same one-time packing/unpacking for much smaller groups. In addition, some trips visit islands with excellent cycling but no crowds, as they are not accessible any other way. I went on one of these, the amazing “Greek Isles Yacht + Bike Tour,” based out of Turkish beach resort Bodrum. The trip uses a chartered boat, a traditional Turkish ship called a gulet, about 90-feet long and exceptionally stable and spacious, with a maximum trip size of just six couples.

The DuVine concept basically gives travelers three great vacations for the price of one, combining a charter sailing trip in a dream destination with a world-class bike vacation and a deep dive into local Greek culture and cuisine far from the crowds of tourists overrunning Athens, Mykonos and Santorini. I have had the pleasure of participating in many active trips over the years, all around the world, but this one was spectacular. It was full of unforgettable moments, from an amazing, decadent dinner at the home of a local winemaker to drinks served to us by a kayaking bartender (our guide) while floating in the Aegean Sea. DuVine has a well-deserved reputation for putting a high level of emphasis on the regional culinary and wine offerings on its trips, and they exceeded my expectations. The company also offers similar cycle and sail itineraries on Italy’s Amalfi Coast, Croatia and Sardinia.

I never had a lot of interest in cruise vacations before, but active travel is my favorite travel, and with the slate of tempting offerings now available, I look forward to again combining the beauty and convenience of being on the water with the best of cycling and/or hiking in top destinations. A great vacation is what we hope for when we travel, but two (or three) great trips in one is even better!