Weebles

We're planning to visit Germany next summer and we're hoping to rent a boat and cruise the Rhine for about a week. Does anyone know of a reputable company where we could rent a boat to do this?

elberko

Are you familiar with the Rhine? It's a pretty major shipping route. I wonder if this would be the best river for this?

~Liz

Suspaul

I have to agree with Liz, the Rhine may not be the route to take. Here is a link to Germany barge travels - a place to start.

http://www.bargeconnection.com/germany-seo.html



Susan

Weebles

Thank you for your info. Our itinerary is not set, we're kind of exploring ideas right now. If you have ideas of a better river for exploring, please let me know.

We're not interested in barge cruises, we definitely would prefer to rent a boat for a week & see things on our own.

Thanks again,

nukesafe

I briefly had my boat on the Rhine when I took her to Amsterdam, and I can tell you it is hairy. I don't know which part of the river you intend to cruise, but it the part I was on is any indication, you can expect swift currents, heavy commercial traffic, very confusing rules of the road, signage, and passing signals, and do NOT expect any patience, leniency or forgiveness from barge skippers. I could do 9.5 knots in my 45' ketch, and it was all I could do to stay ahead of the game. Just trying to moor alongside a dock in that shifting current had me jumpy and short tempered, even after thousands of miles of handling that boat all over Europe and the Med.

Not the place for a relaxing boating vacation, IME. I'd suggest you plan your trip off the Rhine and in the canals or canalized rivers.

Here are a couple of links that might be helpful:

http://www.germany-tourism.de/ENG/na...ys_network.htm

http://eurocanals.com/Waterways/germanywaterways.html

bilboburgler

there are other nice german rivers, mosel, elbe etc

Weebles

Okay, point taken. Do you have any suggestions for other rivers that may be more suitable?

Thank you!

jan47ete

Try leboat.com. They have canal boats in France, Italy, Germany, England, Scotland, Belgium and Holland. We did one in France, the Midi canal, and it ranks as one of my top 5 trips and we will do another next year.

nukesafe

Here is a site that lists an number of companies. Click on their sites and you will see maps.

http://www.ukandeuropetravel.com/can...t_rental.shtml

quokka

The Mosel is just as busy a highway as the Rhine, only narrower, and with many river locks. Don't even think about it.

The lakes and canals of Mecklenburg and Brandenburg might be an option.

bilboburgler

well the mosel is significantly easier than the Rhine, and it gets better as you head further up. The Elbe above Hamburg is very quiet. The Danube up river from Ulm looks possible but I have no experience of it, Lake constance is very pleasant and would make a good week's boating, the lakes around Berlin are pleasant (I have not been but a friend has and found it wonderful), the river up to Wurtemburg looked very nice but I've not used it.

bilboburgler

oh and the Havel/Elbe canal and the follow on canal towards Hannover is relatively quiet

treplow

Before you make any decisions about boating by yourself, be sure you are familiar with the German requirements for captaining your own (rental) boat. Nearly every activity in Germany needs an official license, and some are very demanding, with a lot of ( usually in German language) course work that really doesn't have anything to do with performing the task. I'm not sure if it is still true, but at one time you needed a license to play golf.