Want to go beyond the standard rivers of Europe and scenery? - Downsize!

[ural guy]

I did a little checking, a canal boat is rental is roughly $3500 usd for 7 nights.  That's for a boat that will sleep 4, includes gas, tolls, linens, etc.  Several places offer rental, at various spots along the canal.

[notamermaid]

Returning to Europe, let us have a close look at another German river - the Weser. This is a somewhat curious case as the river is navigable for 430km but hardly sailed by river cruise ships. It is suitable for goods transport and has been altered to accommodate such ships, it is a federal waterway. The river runs from South to North and drains a mountain range in the middle of Germany, then goes through the Northern Plains to meet the North Sea at Bremerhaven in a wide estuary. The river is seen as having two sources and rivers that form the river. They are the Fulda and the Werra, although historically the Werra has been seen as the upper part of the Weser (both names are related). The Fulda, by the way, also gives the name to a large town on its banks. They meet at Hannoversch Münden (Münden is related to Mund, which is also used to say that a river has its mouth or "mündet" into another river or the sea).

 

From Hannoversch Münden* downstream to Minden the Oberweser (Upper Weser) is navigable for small barges but river cruise ships are not mentioned in the literature. With the maximum allowed dimensions being 85m by 11m for the vessels very few would fit the regulations. But there may be another reason I do not know about. It is much used by the regional leisure industry otherwise, though. Excursion boats even go up the Fulda. *Hann. Münden is seen much and the accepted official abbreviation/name of the town

 

In Minden the river becomes interesting for river cruise ships.

 

Let us get the basics out the way with the wikipedia page's map: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weser#/media/File:Weser_basin_topo.png (page itself not nearly as good as the German one)

then in another post we will virtually travel along the Weser a bit till we meet the aqueduct at Minden, the second largest in Europe.

 

notamermaid

 

[mj_holiday]

Such a great topic. I am looking at a trip in France that goes on the ship elevator. That just looks fascinating to me. 

[notamermaid]

42 minutes ago, mj_holiday said:

Such a great topic. I am looking at a trip in France that goes on the ship elevator. That just looks fascinating to me. 

Ahh, I seem to remember it was you who mentioned that you like the Plan Incliné at St. Louis Arzviller in Alsace. Am I right? There is by the way, another one, absolutely huge monster, a proper vertical lift in Belgium. Strepy-Thieu, a modern replacement of a small older type. The old one is now heritage/museum status. Come to think of it, I should go into more detail on this some time...

 

Must admit though that the Arzviller hill climb lift looks kind of more appealing in its engineering. I have stood at the top, but not been in a boat on it. Seen Strepy-Thieu from a distance.

 

notamermaid

 

[notamermaid]

The Weser forms the boundary between the states of Hesse and Lower Saxony for many kilometres. As none of the standard rivers sailed by river cruisers are in Lower Saxony - the Eastern border straddles the Elbe but only the part that international companies hardly ever go along - you may not be familiar with the state. Let us have a look at this large German state to see what it is like. It is very varied, from mining areas in mountain ranges and the modern car factory settlement/town Wolfsburg to the British Royal family ancestral city Hanover and the plains of East Frisia at the North Sea: https://www.dw.com/en/germanys-16-states-lower-saxony/a-45215372

 

From Hann. Münden we follow the river through smaller towns and much natural landscape without agglomerations, see monasteries and castle ruins marked on the map and then reach the town of Bad Karlshafen. Here we are still a nearly two hour car journey from Minden (in this area we have not much motorway available) but it is worth stopping for a bit as there is a curious thing called "Hugenottenturm", the Huguenots' tower. This is worth looking at, the wikipedia page is only in German, so I just tell you briefly that this tower was financed and given as a gift to the town by a gentleman called Johann Josef Davin to commemorate his ancestors. It is a folly, a purpose-built ruin! https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hugenottenturm_(Bad_Karlshafen)

The background is this: Bad Karlshafen is a town of refugees, built to give a home to the persecuted Huguenots from France. The original layout and many buildings of the first decades of the settlement remain and make it an interesting place so different from Medieval settlements. A fitting place for the German Huguenot Museum: http://www.huguenot-museum-germany.com/

 

notamermaid

 

[notamermaid]

Before we have another look at the Weser let us see what the relatively new operator Viva Cruises offers as regards itineraries that use small ships to sail routes away from the standard ones. The great thing about Viva Cruises is that they operate on the English speaking market as well so while not every itinerary may do so at least some of their offers could mean that you can sail comfortably in "unknown territory", i.e. English language both on ship and during excursions. Viva Cruises has two smaller ships that look promising for our purposes here, the MS Swiss Diamond and the MS Swiss Ruby. The former is much deployed in the East of Germany including the Oder. That river has its own thread. The latter indeed has some interesting itineraries on lesser travelled routes, including an itinerary that specifically explores the Weser: https://www.viva-*****/en/cruiselisting?ships=MS SWISS RUBY

 

notamermaid

 

[notamermaid]

And now for something completely different - the river Ems. To put it into context, i.e. on the European map for you, here is the blown up course of this waterway in Northern Germany:

On the map on the right find Münster, sail north, turn left into the Ems, to the right is the Mittellandkanal. The Ems comes from East of Münster, shown is only the navigable part. In this area you are in the Northern Plains of Germany, so virtually no hills. Very different from the Rhine South of Düsseldorf. That is where I cut off the map, Cologne is just off the map at the bottom. Why am I mentioning this? The Ems is sailed by river cruise ships but normally is not the focus of any itinerary. However, in this article is described a short river cruise that sails on the Ems, starting in Amsterdam and then following the German river up to the town of Lingen. The North German television channel follows this special itinerary, to be broadcast on 29/30 March: https://www.ndr.de/fernsehen/sendungen/die_nordreportage/Mini-Kreuzfahrt-auf-der-Ems,sendung1338294.html

 

The ship Johannes Brahms takes the Northern route via Groningen and Emden, then sails up the river via Papenburg. Papenburg is home to the huge shipyard that builds ocean cruise ships. So this is all in German and not feasible for you most likely but you can see Papenburg on a river cruise - I have mentioned Viva Cruises and the Swiss Ruby. But CroisiEurope also again offers the Amsterdam to Berlin route this year, which gives you Papenburg and a stretch of the Ems.

 

notamermaid

 

 

 

[notamermaid]

If you downsize and I mean really, you get to the converted barges that sail on small and large rivers and canals. I have come across a rather unusual case of a river cruise ship that is not a converted or new barge type of boat but a purpose-built ship the size of a small barge. And she can only be found in a rather different place from what you are used to read. Not a river, not a canal but a lake, several lakes. The "MS Classic Lady" was built in 2003 and sails the Masurian Lake District. This specialist German tour operator offers cruises, unfortunately only in German: https://www.dnv-tours.de/ms-classy-lady/

 

If you feel confident enough in German, this I think is a great offer. I have been to the area and highly recommend exploring this landscape in Poland.

 

notamermaid

 

[notamermaid]

A standard German company, a standard river cruise ship. But this itinerary is not standard at all. Imagine a river cruise in Germany that does not sail on the Rhine or Danube, or the other major rivers. And not on the Elbe or the Neckar either. Aah, canals! - No, not them either. This is a river cruise by 1AVista Reisen on the Junker Jörg along the coast line of East Germany and in Poland. Here is the route: https://www.1avista.de/detail/flusskreuzfahrten-ostsee-fruehsommer-2024-ms-junkerjoerg/

 

While this is most likely not a river cruise for you, it shows though what is possible and what the lesser known companies offer. A similar route is offered by other companies.

 

The Junker Jörg is only 94.8m long, which means she can sail in a few places in addition to the regular rivers.

 

notamermaid

 

[Canal archive]

If anyone is interested at all in self drive hire barges/boats in Europe read a book entitled ‘Narrow Dog to Carcassonne’. Okay it’s a Narrowboat  and the dog is definitely narrow as it’s a whippet but at one point during their journey they actually venture out into the Med well actually a nip out and back. On our hire boat cruise on the Nivernais we met quite a few like minded Americans to a certain extent at first it was a bit of a surprise but on reflection actually not some of you North Americans are pretty used to small boat, boating aren’t you.

There is a follow up book ‘Narrow Dog to Indian River’ enjoy.