About Us

Our Story is Your Story

Have you ever wanted to row in a beautiful or exotic destination?

But you are not a group and guided tour person.

Or a week is too long for a rowing trip.

Or the dates of a tour don’t work.

Or you only want to row with people you know.

You would like to travel to row in an amazing place. Perhaps to enjoy an experience customized to you. But you don’t speak the language or it seems brazen to just contact a club to ask for a guest row or you worry about being slotted into a crew you don’t know or doing a workout that it too hard or too easy.

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This is why Ruth Marr and the team at Rowing The World created Independent Rowing Experiences. To give you the opportunity and flexibility to enjoy special rowing in beautiful places. Book with confidence and ease, knowing that all the destinations have been checked personally by Ruth and the experience is designed around you.

Ruth really understands independent travel. She was a co-Founder of Randonnée Tours, owning and operating for 15 years before the company was sold. Randonnée grew to be the premier self-guided cycling and walking tour operator in North America under Ruth’s guidance. In 2013 Ruth returned to adventure travel with the launch of Rowing The World, offering group and guided rowing trips in Europe, Canada and around the world. Expanding into Independent Rowing Adventures returns Ruth to her “vecchio amore” as the Italians would say.

The idea for Independent Rowing Experiences originated during the pandemic when travellers were carefully returning to travel, wanting small groups of people they knew and to control their travel logistics. We tested the concept with IREs in Thessaloniki and in Luino on Lago Maggiore. We love the idea of offering rowers curated experiences, sharing with you our passion for both rowing and travel. Your way.

Frequently Asked Questions