Overall:
This was a very enjoyable tour. I’ve yet to find a boat and bike tour I wouldn’t be glad to repeat and this was certainly no exception. The countryside was beautiful with good variety: woodland, meadowland, fields, agricultural land, lakesides and beaches. In some spots the hedgerow flowers were spectacular. There was a definite sense of serenity and tranquility on this tour. The daily distances cycled were generally quite short (there are options to extend, if desired), so I think the tour quite within the capabilities of teenage children (only once was it was necessary to cycle on a main road — the final section from Eberswalde to Oderberg — and this was an incredibly quiet main road). The routes generally followed recognised cycle paths, such as the Berlin-Copenhagen or the Oder-Neisse cycle paths and were on excellent surfaces, the one exception being the final day’s cycling on Rügen Island: although a recognised cycle path the surface was a dirt track most of the time. Many of the daily destinations were interesting places, well-worth visiting, being of historical and cultural interest. I was very happy with my cabin at the front of the boat; the boat crew were all excellent, very attentive, the food was good and the sun shone. What more could anyone need?

Date of my Tour: 2016-06-18/25 (7 nights / 8 days)

Direction: Berlin to Stralsund

Cabin Chosen: Main Deck, front/back for single use

Bike:
Step-through frame with 7-speed gear hub (Shimano “Nexus”), fitted with V-brakes front and back plus a coaster (“back-pedal” brake) and battery-powered lights, mudguards, rear rack and propstand. A Klickfix handlebar bracket is fitted as standard and good quality single rear pannier bag and handlebar bag are supplied for use throughout the tour (mine were both VauDe; I think a few Ortlieb bags were in use as well). I had brought my own handlebar bag, but saw no reason to use it. The Klickfix accessory holder I had brought with me was a tooless fit to the adapter supplied and enabled me to mount my GPS in a convenient position. It looked like a batch of brand new bikes was in use on the tour. I noticed a clicking sound from the bottom bracket of my bike at the beginning of the second day’s ride (Eberswalde-Oderberg-Schwedt/Oder), but it had stopped by the time I reached Oderberg and I put it down to “bedding in”. My only complaint about the bike concerns the coaster brake, which I’m not used to: I found it prevented moving the pedals to a convenient position for starting off and tended to engage when I didn’t mean it to, such as when changing gear or when standing on the pedals in preparation for a bump. I noticed not all bikes had the coaster brake and I would have happily had one without.

Transfers:
I flew to and from Berlin Tegel airport (TXL). From the airport to the ship’s mooring at Greenwich Promenade, I took bus 128 to Kurt-Schumacher-Platz followed by U-Bahn route U6 to Alt-Tegel, then followed the signs for “Greenwich Promenade”. The traditional red British postbox and telephone box were evidence of arriving at the right place.

For the return from Stralsund, I took a taxi (with some of the other tour members) to Stralsund Hauptbahnhof, a direct train to Berlin Hauptbahnhof, then the TXL bus from across the road outside the station to the airport.

Highlights:

• Beautiful mooring spot at Greenwich Promenade on the Tegel Sea with a lovely sunset (day 1)
• Being in wooded countryside within minutes of starting our cycling from Berlin (day 2)
• Cycling along the Finow Canal, the Niederfinow Ship Lift, cycling along the Oder into Schwedt/Oder and crew member Kristyna as a pirate-maiden (all on day 3)
• Szczecin (day 4)
• Wolgast, and dancing with someone else’s wife [;-)] after the Crew Show (day 5) [That Crew Show has a lot to answer for!]
• The beach resorts along the Usedom coast, the Historical Technical Museum (birthplace of the V-2 rocket in WW2) and ex-soviet U-461 at Peenemuende (day 6)
• Putbus and Stralsund (day 7).

Niggles:

• When the crew were introduced in the initial meeting in the ship’s lounge, they all lined up in front of the “piano”. This means those of us sitting behind the piano couldn’t see the new people being announced. I think it would have been better to line up round the bar.
• When we were allocated our cabins, my case somehow disppeared from the reception area. It was there when we went to the introductory meeting; it was there when we came out. I spoke to the Hotel Manager to get my cabin number and when I turned round, the case had gone. It took about half an hour for it to be found again, by crew member Vincent.
• At Peenemuende, some of the crew left (to go on leave, apparently) and were replaced with new members without any mention this was going to happen (although, possibly, an announcement was made in German and I was unaware of it).
• Finally, although the food was excellent, with plenty of choices for the buffet breakfast and the option of either a fish or meat course for the evening meal, personally, I would have liked a bigger proportion of vegetables in the evenings. Oh, and another thing: I wish there had been some warning before departing that one of the evenings would be designated the “Pirate Evening” (I could have brought my “Pirate” cycle shirt).

Day 2 (Sunday): Berlin-Oranienburg.
The tour guide recommended the alternative route, involving a ferry crossing, which I think most people took. I arrived at Oranienburg to find the boat at the bridge there and didn’t realise it would be at least another hour before it moored (it had to go through a lock first), so would have had plenty of time to go to the Castle at Oranienburg first. The mooring spot has a memorial to prisoners of the Sachsenhausen concentration camp (nearby in Oranienberg) who had been forced to work there.

Day 3 (Monday): Eberswalde-Oderberg-Schwedt/Oder.
The English version of the route instructions about “turning left behind the petrol station” were only metaphorically correct because everyone I was following took an offshoot-road on the right down to the Finow Canal and then turned left at the canal itself. So perhaps we all went wrong, not that it mattered, for, as intended, we were on the canal, which was idyllic. The two ship hoists at Niederfinow are impressive structures and some people saw our boat being lifted down from the Havel-Oder Canal onto the River Oder over 30 metres below. Tour Guide Gerhard had recommended a route diversion at this point, to avoid using the main road (“the only disadvantage is you have to cross a bridge with a few steps”) and this also provided an excellent viewing spot for observing the two lifts. Optionally, the ride can be extended to Schwedt/Oder instead of boarding the boat at Oderberg, more than doubling the day’s cycling. About half the tour did this, and I’m glad I did, for it provided some very enjoyable cycling, good vistas and an immense feeling of tranquility and being at harmony with nature. The cyclists arrived at Schwedt/Oder well before the boat, giving time to look around town, but also meaning a later than normal evening meal and possibly missing the organised walking tour (“Stadtrundgang”) of the city.

Day 4 (Tuesday): Schwedt/Oder to Mescherin, then by boat to Szczecin.
This is a relatively short ride. Our tour had to take a diversion away from the river because of some workings going on. The route goes through some National Parks and at one point I took to a viewing platform to take some pictures and knock back my packed lunch prepared from the breakfast things on the boat. This was the only day on which we had a spot of rain, but it didn’t last long. Szczecin, the former German city of Stettin, has a significant history and a number of imposing buildings. As the only tourist on board who didn’t speak German, I didn’t understand a word of the commentary of the guide on the “Stadtrundgang”, but I was still grateful for the places he had chosen to show to our party. (A separate Stadtrundgang had a shorter tour and then went off to watch a significant Germany game in the Euro 2016 championships. [They came back happy.])

Day 5 (Wednesday): Sailing Day, Szczecin to Wolgast.
For me, the least interesting day of the tour. I was told that to cycle from Szczecin to Wolgast is well over 100 km, so not considered appropriate; and, had it been a part-cycle, part-boat day, the boat would have had to take a longer route to come in to the coast, prolonging the transit time. Perhaps there could have been a bike and train option? Anyway, it was a day on board, broken up with tea and cakes mid-morning, and more-than-ample 3-course lunch on board and the usual tea and cakes mid afternoon. The boat arrived early at Wolgast and I think everyone went ashore to explore. It’s quite a small town, but it has some attractive places to visit. In the evening after dinner came the Crew Show in the Lounge with the reprise of a few well-known sketches from these events plus a few new ones, all rounded off with a good-natured “crocodile” round the Lounge singing “YMCA”. (Thanks to the Reserve Captain introducing the acts in both German and English even though only one person on board needed the latter...)

Day 6 (Thursday): Wolgast to Peenemuende.
On paper this was the shortest ride of the tour, being only 15 km. The guide book described an alternative, although the printed map showed 3 different routes; Gerhard, our on-board Tour Guide, suggested the third was the one to take, going first to Zecherin, then Moelshow and into the beach resorts of Trassenheide and Zinnowitz before doubling-back to Trassenheide and on to Peenemuende. For those who wanted to extend the route even further, he suggested taking the train to Heringsdorf and cycling from there, estimated to be 60 km. I stuck to his suggestion of the third route option. I have to say the beaches were lovely. You cycle along under a canopy of trees slightly above the beaches, with little paths every hundred metres or so leading down to the beach below. Trust me, when I went to sample its delights, to have unerringly found a “textile beach” (where, it seems, the wearing of any textile is entirely optional). On returning to the cycle track, I realised I should have taken note of the board at the entry to each beach which describes what type of beach it is and what kinds of water activities are permitted. The boat departed Peenemuende at 18:00, noticeably crossing open water and producing some gentle rocking during the course of dinner. (Perhaps it was a portent of the news which would rock the “European Boat” the following morning.)

Day 7 (Friday): Lauterbach (Putbus) to Stralsund.
So we awoke to discover Britain had narrowly voted to leave the European Union, with a variety of opinions about this expressed at breakfast. Anyway, back to the cycling, which very soon took us past an “upside-down” house (I suppose you never have to worry about a leaky roof) before reaching Putbus itself where a trip round the circus was de rigueur. The pretty little harbour at Puddemin with its waterfront café was a popular place for a lunch stop. I found mine a couple of hundred metres further on where there was a magnificent display of wild flowers and a conveniently-located bench. A few kilometres from Stralsund a vista opens up, giving a view of the city in the distance across the water, the spires of its 3 big churches making very distinct landmarks. The cycle track leads easily on to the bridge across to the city; cars roar across a big new bridge to the right while cyclists and pedestrians have a track of their own safely divided from any traffic. Then a turn to the right leads along to the waterfront where the boat was found opposite the Ozeaneum. Perhaps I had pressed ahead too much, for it was a full hour before tea (much appreciated on a very hot day) and cake on board, but it did give plenty of time afterwards to explore the city, which deserves all the time you can give it.

Photographs
The first photograph (IMG_0068) I have selected comes from Szczecin, taken from the riverside promenade, “Waly Chrobrego”, towards the end of the guided walk.

The second (IMG_0052) is from Stralsund, taken in the Alter Markt and showing the brick Gothic city hall, dating from Hanseatic times. Behind and to the left is Nikolaikirche.