Many river cruise lines offer gym facilities and top-deck walking tracks. If these do not appeal to you, however, fitness routines can still be maintained using your room and/or the boat’s decks as part of a workout regimen.
Physical activity can help fight fatigue. If you find yourself becoming chronically tired, consult with a healthcare provider immediately.
Yoga 
River cruise lines have recognized this need by offering onboard yoga classes and healthy-eating seminars, in response to increasing demands from travelers for healthy diet and fitness programs.
Uniworld also offers European river cruises featuring their Traveling Lite menu, offering lighter meals with reduced fat and calories but all of the flavor of traditional dishes. Furthermore, this line provides select excursions featuring walking, bicycling, hiking and golfing activities.
Avalon Cruise Lines offers guided cycling tours in multiple European ports-of-call, while their new AmaMagna ship provides plenty of space to work up a sweat on vacation. Furthermore, Avalon also offers spa and wellness programs aboard their ships.
Pilates
Cruise ships used to be considered an inactive form of travel, associated with overeating and midnight buffets rather than healthy eating options. But as cruises have grown increasingly popular, some cruise lines are offering fitness programs to ensure travelers have a pleasant yet active journey experience.
Emerald Waterways and AmaWaterways both provide fitness programs through EmeraldACTIVE choices and Wellness programs respectively, offering classes such as Pilates, yoga and spin.
One company goes even further with their fitness offerings, featuring an innovative “Paris Navigating Gym” boat equipped with ARTIS equipment that harvests energy from people using it and utilizes that power to run gym rooms and power onboard activities.
Aerobics 
River cruises have quickly become an exciting adventure travel experience, providing the opportunity to indulge in fine food, sip wine and explore Europe’s culture and history at their own leisure.
Though you might not expect it, riverboats do offer ways to stay active. AmaWaterways’ professionally trained Wellness Hosts lead classes such as Body Sculpt Boot Camp which builds muscle tone, increases endurance and burns 700 calories in 40 minutes!
At their location they also offer healthy lifestyle lectures and outdoor (top deck) classes to promote wellness. Additional exercise possibilities include walking the walking track on Sun Deck and TRX Suspension Training classes – they even provide a $10 pedometer so users can monitor their steps daily!
Hiking
Since cruises have emerged as an active form of vacation travel and demand for cruise travel is at a premium, some lines are offering active experiences onboard their boats – AmaWaterways provides bicycle tours on select river voyages.
Nordic walking sticks are available as an additional way to increase pace during their European river cruise experience. If hiking is top priority for you, be sure to review both itinerary and ship prior to booking your vacation.
Travelers on the eight-day Enchanting Danube cruise may opt for cycling excursions in Budapest that include visiting an equestrian park and goulash-making competition, or for programs in Vienna featuring marionette shows as well as Mozart and Strauss concerts.
Biking
As riverboats glide along peaceful canals and rivers, passengers can easily take leisurely strolls up on deck or just sit back in their lounge chairs to watch the sights pass them by. Many river lines also carry bicycles for tours at their various ports of call.
Luxury hotel barges now include electric bicycles to give passengers an added boost when pedaling, and family-owned CroisiEurope offers family cruises featuring these bikes on select sailings.
Swimming 
River cruises allow visitors to Europe to visit some of its iconic spots up close and personal, yet can require extensive walking for itineraries that traverse mountain ranges, forests, valleys, as well as medieval half-timbered towns.
More cruise lines are adding fitness-oriented facilities and activities to their European itineraries, including Viking’s Rhine Getaway and Grand European Tour voyages that feature bicycle shore excursions in cities like Cologne, Germany where passengers meet a bike guide after attending a safety briefing session.
Cruise ship swimming pools provide a refreshing way to burn calories, tone muscles, and flush away toxins accumulated after strenuous sightseeing excursions. Indulge in this refreshing activity before returning home, too!
