What Is Rowing Travel?

Rowing Vacations & Holidays: The Best in Rowing Travel

What is rowing travel? Whether you call our adventures a Rowing Vacation, Rowing Holiday or Rowing Trip or Rowing Tour, simply put, Rowing The World provides exceptional experiences for rowers who love to travel. Rowing the World selects the planet’s finest rowing destinations and designs small-group trips of three to 10 days. Trips beautifully blend river, lake or coastal rowing with genuine cultural travel experiences. Brilliant insider access, remarkable lodgings, amazing local food and wine, and ten years of experience make Rowing The World trips in inspiring destinations memorably one-of-a-kind. It really is the best of rowing and the best of travel.

A whole world of rowing to explore awaits

Rowing travel

What is the Rowing Like?

Each rowing trip is carefully crafted to suit the local water conditions and touring opportunities. We either explore out from one place or row point to point or sample different clubs and waters every day. It can vary, but typically we row 80 to 100 kilometres on a one-week trip. We row on rivers, lakes, lagoons and seas, past diverse scenery or stunning historic sites. We may explore different rowing clubs, always fun.  Usually, distances and difficulty can be modified if needed based on water conditions, weather and other factors.  Typically our coastal rowing tours require more rowing experience and fitness, although some are perfect for experienced rowers looking to expand their rowing repertory. We would be happy to help you choose the right trip that suits you.

While rowing is the focus of the trip, we don’t row all the time! Other activities—a bike ride, museum tour, or listening to music in a pub—enhance the experience and expose us to the destination’s most authentic activities beyond rowing. Groups are typically made up of 4 to 12 guests. Guests are from North America, Europe, Australia and New Zealand. They are men and women, skewed a bit higher for women, typically between 50 and 70. Non-rowers are welcome too!

Elena taking her turn coxing
Elena taking her turn coxing

How Good of a Rower Do I Need to Be?

Straight up, you need to be a good, fit rower with solid rowing skills. Rowers who join us row or have rowed competitively, recreationally or both. You must be able to scull, and you should row regularly.  Every trip requires different skills. We will validate your experience and make sure you choose a trip best suited to your skill level. Even so, you need to train for a rowing trip. Think of a rowing trip as a marathon, not a sprint. You need to build stamina to recover quickly and to be able to row day after day. Your basic fitness will need to be enhanced to prevent injury. There are physical demands associated with long-duration rowing, and you need to develop fatigue resistance. We are ready to help you, with information on Why Train for a Rowing Tour and Top Tips for a Rowing Tour Training Program.

Please have a look at our Testimonials page, since our past guests tell it best! There are also links there to stories about our guests, guides and more.

Nore rowing

The Best of Travel in a Rowing Holiday

Rowing The World trips are inspired by the world’s most inspiring places. We take great pride in the time we put into planning and running exceptional trips, each with its own character and high level of quality. Whether you want to row in Italy with your spouse, photograph St. Petersburg from the water, or try coastal rowing in Canada, we have a trip for you. Trip descriptions provide details such as distances rowed, type of water body, type of rowing craft, group size, and more. Our guides, all rowers and interesting local people contribute enormously to the success of our trips and make them culturally immersive. Rowing and travel make a natural pair, a good double.  Click here to get an early notification for a trip of your choice, or let us know that you are interested in a particular destination.

Photo credit: Aviron Lachine
Photo credit: Aviron Lachine

Private Trips

We believe that joining one of our small group trips is a wonderful way to meet rowers from other clubs and countries. But we also know that it can be very special for you and your rowing club mates to enjoy a private tour, just for you. We listen to your needs to create a private journey, whether a unique date for one of our existing tours, or a completely customized trip to a new destination. Picture your crew rowing a historic river, trying coastal in a gorgeous setting or guest rowing with a different club each day. We’ll make it happen, whatever and wherever your it is.

Go where you want with whom you want

Rowing travel 2

I have more questions

We hope you do. Whether you have more questions to those we’ve answered here or have additional questions, more information to respond to these questions and more: “What do you mean by a rowing trip?” “What will the experience be like?” Which rowers are best suited for these trips?” “How big are the groups?” “What type of boats do we row?” “Can I bring a non-rowing friend or spouse?” Check out our FAQs or contact us.