Luxury tour operator Abercrombie & Kent is enhancing its European canal cruising program for 2010 with a new barge as well as several new food and wine-themed sailings.

Barging or canal cruising is the more intimate alternative to river cruising. Depending on the barge, they can accommodate anywhere between four and 18 passengers, and the number of crew vary according to the size of the barge. The barges, charming sailing vessels with cabins and cozy common spaces, are intended to travel along the calmer canals of Europe, namely in France, Belgium, Holland, Ireland and the U.K.

With a newly added eight-passenger barge, Enchanté, A&K has 23 barge ships on offer for 2010. The Enchante was refurbished in 2009 and will sail the Canal du Midi in the South of France next year. It has Internet connection and a guest computer on board, as well as air conditioning. An on-board chef will prepare gourmet meals in a demonstration kitchen, and meals can be served al fresco on the deck. For larger groups of up to 16, Enchanté can be chartered in tandem with the eight-passenger barge Anjodi. Six-night canal cruises start at $5,890, per person, cruise only. Private charters start at $45,000 for up to eight guests.

Additionally, A&K has introduced several new themed canal cruises for 2010.

A new culinary cruise is being introduced on the four-passenger Alouette (pictured below), which also sales on the Canal de Midi. The itinerary includes cooking lessons as well as accompanying the chef to local markets. Six-night charters start at $25,000.

A Wines of Burgundy (Grand Cru) cruise is being offered on the eight-passenger Amaryllis barge, part of the Orient-Express collection of cruises. The wine cruise includes tastings of 33 Grand Crus of Burgundy, including Bonne Mares, Montrachet and Romanée Conti during France’s “Semaine des Grands Crus.” The cruise takes place July 18 to 24, and starts at $9,800 per person.

Additionally, a chocolate and wine cruise is being offered on the six-passenger Elisabeth, which sails the Canal du Nivernais in Burgundy. Included in the cruise are wine tastings and dessert-making demonstrations. Six nights start at $4,300 per person.

Lastly, a bike and barge charter is being offered on the 18-passenger Le Phenicien. The summertime itinerary along the Canal du Nivernais includes a different bike ride each day, ranging from 19-mile to 32-mile rides, with the assistance of a cycling specialist. The Bike & Barge itinerary is only available by charter. Six-night charters start at $54,460.

For additional information visit Abercrombie & Kent.

Bikes!

The recent trend of carrying bicycles onboard for passengers to use — so far, AMA and Uniworld River Cruises both have bikes — makes for a perfect compliment to the river cruise experience. I am partial because I enjoy being active on trips, as well as exploring new places in new ways. But there really is something magical about biking through the European countryside, winding along cobblestone streets, passing quaint storefronts, stopping for a picnic in an orchard, all by bike. Much of Europe is very bike-friendly, with bike paths separated often entirely from the main driving roads. Obviously, the weather must cooperate to make biking a viable option, but if it’s sunny out, be sure to give the biking a shot. For some, it might completely enhance the river cruise experience like it did for me.

Outdoor grilling

First, river cruise companies all started building a casual alternative dining lounge at the aft of the ship, and I thought that was a pretty nice option for those nights when some of us don’t feel like facing the more social dining room. But when Avalon Waterways introduced outdoor grilling on the top sun deck this year, I really couldn’t believe more ships don’t have that option. Again, weather is critical. But, on a nice sunny, day, with a light breeze from the gliding ship, a grilled sauasage and a beer, there’s no better way to experience the river.

Better beds and bedding

I don’t think anyone can object to the improved quality of beds and bedding in the staterooms onboard river cruise ships in recent years. The comfortable mattresses and fluffy bedding almost make up entirely for occasionally being jolted awake in the middle of the night by the ships’ engines starting back up. How can you not fall right back asleep under those Egyptian cotton sheets?

There are so many other enhancements that have been made and continue to be made — from increasing the number of suites onboard, to the use of headsets during excursions to better hear their guides, from improved bathroom toiletries (Tauck wins in this category with delectable L’Occitane products) to including wine and beer with dinner, for better or for worse. Even ensuring that more and more staterooms have floor-to-ceiling windows or French balconies is a significant improvement in river cruise ship design. But the above were some of the standouts. As for future improvements, there will likely be more. I’m personally hoping for a better, more cohesive spa, Jacuzzi, sauna and fitness center experience.

In the Netherlands, it is said, there are more bicycles than people.

The statistics, thanks to the web site Amsterdamize:

• Population: 16.5 million
• Bikes: 18 million
• New bikes sold a year: 1.35 million
• Bikes stolen a year: between 1.2 and 1.4 million

I pedaled through the tiny country and saw more bikes than I could count. Everyone, from crib to coffin, pedals a bike in Holland.

The country is mostly flat and ideal for cycling, but the best part is that cyclists pedal along roads either with no cars at all (with traffic lights just for bikes) — or with drivers who actually pay attention to cyclists. That is why Dutch cyclists are 30 times less likely to be killed than their stateside counterparts, according to Bicycling magazine.

The story gets even better when you combine boats and bikes. That is just what I did for one week on a “Bike & Boat Tour” offered by Channel Cruises, which touts its tours as “the most Dutch way” to see Holland.

Each morning, the captain mapped out a route for the 70 or so German, Dutch and English-speaking passengers. We pedaled away from the ship in small groups to a destination where we would meet the ship late that afternoon. Along the way we fortified ourselves with apfelcake (apple cake) and french fries with the traditional Dutch topping — mayonnaise. There is no better way to see Holland.

I was not lucky enough to travel during mid-April to mid-May when tulips turn the winter fields to color, but the weather during my trek in June was sunny skies all week.

Our ship, Anna Maria Agnes, was not as luxurious as the Viking River Cruises vessel we were docked beside in Amsterdam, but it was certainly adequate, particularly for launching cycling trips and having someplace to come home to. Cabins featured two beds with a private bath (there are configurations for three and four). Pack lightly.

No need to bring a bike. They’re available — and in prime condition — on the boat. They’re easy to pedal too. Our group ranged in age from 13 to 82 and averaged 35 miles a day. And the evening meals were especially good, particularly after long days on bikes seeing Holland “the Dutch way.”

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On tap for European river cruises: more choices of pre- and post-cruise tours, more special interest programs and more bicycles. Yes, more bicycles.

River cruise companies continue to add bicycles and bicycling excursions to their programs. Amadeus Waterways, for example, carries about 50 bicycles for passengers to use on its ships. Uniworld River Cruises offers cycling excursions (see Pedaling Along The Danube) as does Peter Deilmann River Cruises.

River cruises have all the advantages of a bus tour — in that you get to visit the European capitals and major cities — but without the hassle of having to change hotels or deal with your luggage, or let’s face it, endure the bus ride.

River cruises also are a bit like ocean cruises ­— you sail from one destination to the next — but unlike ocean cruises, which disgorge passengers by tender and tour bus, river cruisers disembark passengers within walking distance of city centers and major attractions. Put a bike on a boat, and you have a match made in heaven.

My river cruise has turned into a cycling tour. Each day during this journey up the Danube on Uniworld’s River Empress, I have had the opportunity to straddle a saddle and pedal along the river — or out into the picturesque countryside – with the River Empress serving as my comfortable floating hotel.

I can’t say that I expected to be cycling so much on what could be considered a “relaxed” river cruise. In fact, river cruises are often perceived as being “too relaxed”for some, particularly younger people and those who want to be active. But lately river cruise companies have been going to great strides to cater to those who want an active vacation. River Empress, for example, carries six sturdy Dutch bicycles, which are available for guests to use free of charge.

“I knew I would be one of the younger passengers on board,”says 45-year-old Laura, traveling with her mother and a friend from Greensboro, North Carolina. But she adds that she’s been pleasantly surprised by the options to be active ashore. “You may have to look for it,”she says, “but the options are there.”

I didn’t have to look far. In Bratislava, I joined the hotel manager (pictured) and the executive chef for a three-hour ride on flat, paved, dedicated bike trails. One of the great things about cycling in Europe is that traffic and bicycles often use separate roads.

The next day, our ship docked in Vienna. The Danube flows on the outskirts of Austria’s capital city, and it’s a bit ambitious to think of walking “to town.”I’m sure it would have taken an hour to reach the heart of the city on foot. And while Uniworld includes a complimentary city tour in Vienna, I had done the bus tour before, and so I hopped on a bike instead. I’m glad I did. I had an exhilarating ride.

Shortly after pedaling away from the River Empress, I asked a fellow cyclist (a Viennese bike commuter) if he could steer me in the general direction of the city center. “Follow me,”he instructed. And follow I did. We weaved in and out of traffic, hopped sidewalks and dodged pedestrians. “Hope you don’t mind running red lights,”he shouted over his shoulder. I was in no position to argue.

Passing Stadt Park, he pointed to the statue of Johann Strauss (pictured left), which I later came back to see. We continued along Ringstrasse, Vienna’s best-known street, and from it, my escort pointed me to the Sacher Hotel, where we parted ways with a wave. I peeked in the hotel, walked along the pedestrian street, then headed back to the ship — exhilarated and euphoric.

The next morning, shortly after we docked in Durnstein, my stateroom phone rang. “Did I wake you?”the voice on the other end said. “No,”I replied. It was Rudy, the hotel manager who I had cycled with two days before. “Five of us are cycling through the Wachau Valley,”he said, “and we have one more bike available. Want to join?”Of course I did. “We’re leaving in five minutes,”he added. I hustled to gather my things and headed out to join the others.

It was, suffice to say, one of those mornings when everything seemed right with the world. The sunlight was so golden that it appeared to have texture, like a golden cheese. I could have cut a slice and put it in my pocket. The six of us cycled past vineyards where workers waved to us. We pedaled through small villages, where the locals greeted us with a pleasant, “Morgen.”The world was a happy place, especially from the seat of a bike.

We pedaled for nearly two hours, returning to the fairy-tale-like Durnstein, where we had a glass of wine — a perfect ending to pedaling through Austria’s wine country. Who would have imagined that we were on a cruise?