Bike, Barge, and Cruise your way across Europe!

What is the difference between 'Bike & Barge" and Bike, Barge & Cruise?

Some ship owners call it Bike & Barge, but we at Merlijn feel that term does not tell what a vacation aboard the Merlijn is all about!

Because in addition to cycling (Bike) and staying and dining on board (Barge), we also often sail with our guests on board. Imagine yourself enjoying the sailing during breakfast or after a strenuous bike ride, with or without a drink on one of our terraces.

That is what we mean by "Cruise".

2026 Cruises

With great care, the Merlijn team has put together its season. We face a luxury problem, we have more routes to choose from than we can fit into a single sailing season! Where do we go, what experiences do we want to offer our guests, and what is in demand? In addition, new routes have been developed, Merlijn guides were sent out, and owners Coen & Cristina traveled to Eastern Europe to map out a new route. Closer to home, a new Tulip Route was created, and Merlijn was so excited about it that it was named the "Tulip Expedition"! 

Beyond these popular new routes, we have also worked on improving existing ones. We always look for ways to make them even better, cycling routes, sailing routes, harbors, excursions, every trip undergoes adjustments. The routes introduced in 2024, which were operated for the first time, have also been reviewed and refined where necessary.

Here you can find Merlijn's 2026 schedule in a handy overview

Riding an e-bike

If you want to rent one of our electric assisted bicycles, this section is for you! The fun and freedom of a bicycle, with a little leg support, is what you can expect from an e-bike. There are quite a few different types on the market, so we want to briefly explain what you can expect from our e-bikes.

It is a pedal-activated system; when you start pedaling, the motor will start assisting. You can set the level of support with plus and minus buttons on the handlebars. When you stop pedaling, the motor stops. In short, it is not a scooter.

The e-bike is heavier than a regular bicycle, nevertheless, it is easy to handle. The extra weight is cleverly distributed making the bike balanced, and as easy to handle as a regular bike. It is very important to know that the bike will only support you in moving forward, it will not help you with the cycling itself. This may sound logical, yet we often see this misconception.

Earlier we described the necessary cycling technique, this is perhaps even more important for using our e-bikes. Because of the support, you will probably cycle faster than normal, accelerate faster, go through turns at more speed and have to brake harder. So you also need good cycling skills to ride an e-bike. We will explain more on the first day of cycling, if you want to look up information beforehand you can search the web for "Bosch smart system”.

Easy, moderate or expert?

Elsewhere, all cycling tours are usually described with a single rating "easy".

Merlijn likes to use two distinct ratings: Endurance and Agility.

• Endurance is generally rated as "easy." Only tours with significantly longer distances or more hills will receive a higher rating.
• Agility is set to "moderate" by default. Riding in a group and navigating busier paths requires more agility than you might think. 

Only tours that demand more agility than you may have experienced on previous Merlijn tours (or other bike & barge tours) will receive a higher rating. Tours with a higher agility rating are not extreme or vastly different from our other routes. Bike paths are sometimes of slightly lower quality than what we are used to, difficult surfaces, local traffic situations and intersections can be less clear, and it is more common that there is no separate bike lane. We believe it is important to mention these aspects in the tour descriptions and ratings. 

Most of our trips are marked as 'easy endurance' what does this mean? It means it is easy for a healthy person who rides a bike regularly. A tour marked 'moderate endurance' has this status mainly because of longer distances on avarage or roling hills on the route.

Most people's stamina is fine for our rides, the bike tours are spread throughout the day (usually from 9AM to 3PM or 5PM) and there are several short and longer stops. Sometimes we even visit things along the way. In this way, the tour is also manageable for the less trained cyclist. It is leisure cycling, not a Tour de France.