Dear Partner,
The 2023 boat and bike season got off to a flying start at the end of March and is now running at full speed! In the first months of the year we were inundated by a huge number of bookings and that wave is not over yet. Due to the high demand, we were able to add a few more travel dates for 2023.
Almost all of our 2024 tour programs are now available. Due to great success, much remains the same, but we also have some interesting news to share. You will find below news about all now bookable tours for 2024 and a brief description and announcement of more new tours, itineraries and ships.
Additional tour dates added for 2023
On our popular tour “The Best of Holland and Belgium” with the Fluvius, we have added two additional departures on September 30 and October 7. From Saturday, September 30 to Saturday, October 7, 2023, the cruise takes you from Amsterdam to Bruges. From Saturday October 7 to Friday October 13, 2023 (NOTE: 7 days/6 nights!) the Fluvius performs a slightly shorter variant of the trip from Bruges to Amsterdam. Because the last trip is 1 day shorter than normal, the price is reduced.
On the Premium version of this tour, the Magnifique IV is now also available from Thu. Oct. 12 to Thu. Oct. 19, 2023, for an additional tour from Bruges to Amsterdam.
And on our popular semi-guided “Southern Tour of Holland” to well-known cities and highlights and with cycling through the Green Heart of Holland, the river cruiser De Amsterdam is running an additional trip from Sat. Oct. 14 to Sat. Oct. 21, 2023.
Low-season prices apply to all the above trips. All details and prices can be found on our website via the links above (see at each trip: “Price overview 2023”).
LAST MINUTE: Due to a cancellation of a full charter, the beautiful tour in France from Paris to Montargis (Upper Seine, incl. Fontainebleau castle and impressionist Barbizon) with the cozy barge Fleur from August 12 to 19, 2023, is now available. Our 20% discount applies to bookings for this departure.
Our “Summer 2023 Promotion” is still valid for new bookings for 2023 made through May 31, 2023. Book one of the last available cabins and receive a 10% discount when booking any of the Boat Bike Tours trips with departure dates in July or August 2023. Please note that the promotion expires at the end of May and applies as long as there is availability. Enter the discount code SUMMER23 when booking online or mention this code when booking by phone or email.
Boat Bike Tours’ tour programs 2024 are now available and bookable
Almost all Boat Bike Tours’ tour programs for 2024 with all departure dates, prices and details are ready and available in 3 languages (English-German-Dutch) and can be downloaded from our Dropbox 2024. If there are any changes, additions or other updates, we will add them to Dropbox immediately.
Ship change: In 2024, our semi-guided Hansa Highlights Tour will be operated with De Nassau. This ship is the same size as De Holland, the ship that runs this trip through the end of 2023.
Our image bank of photos and some short videos of our trips and ships, including some “white label” versions, are available in the Boat Bike Tours albums on FLICKR. Our booking partners may use these (with source attribution – see also file name) when publishing our tours. As soon as new photos and videos are available, they will be added.
Registered partners can use our “Online Partner Booking Tool“: This Tool enables you to check availability in real time and make options and bookings directly in our reservation system. This Tool is available through THIS LINK. If you do not (yet) have login details or if you have a question, please report it to: partner (at) boatbiketours (dot) com.
Two new ships to be added to our fleet in 2024!
Sailing ship Leafde Fan Fryslân to be extended: 4 new upper deck suites , 4 masts, 38 passengers
In winter 2023-’24, the large sailing ship will be cut into two pieces and extended by a new section of 14 meters. An additional fourth mast will also be installed. This will make the Leafde Fan Fryslân the only four-masted schooner in Dutch waters in 2024 with 64 meters in length. Below deck, 3 new cabins will be added and on the upper deck there will be 4 beautiful upper deck suites, each with a double sliding glass door and small private balcony. Air conditioning will be installed throughout the ship. This will increase the passenger capacity from 25 to 38 guests. The ship will then have 13 twin cabins, two single cabins and one junior suite on the lower deck and four unique new suites on the upper deck. On our website you will find some “artist impressions” and the tours that the Leafde Fan Fryslân will sail.
New Premium ship Magnifique 1 is extended and restyled: 32 passengers
The new premium ship Magnifique 1 strengthens our fleet in 2024. In recent years Walter van Berkum successfully constructed and operated the Magnifique 2, 3 and 4. His latest project is to extend and restyle an existing ship. A new 12-meter section will be inserted into the ship making it 57 meters long. The ship can travel on smaller waterways and often dock in the center of cities. On the lower deck are 12 comfortable twin cabins and four beautiful junior suites with en-suite bathroom, TV, air conditioning, mini-safe and hairdryer. The upper deck houses the tastefully decorated salon with a restaurant, bar and a lounge area with cozy seating. The salon has air conditioning, TV, large windows and glass doors that open to the partially covered teak sun deck between the salon and the wheelhouse. On our website you will find some “artist impressions” and the tours that the new Magnifique I will perform in 2024.
PRE-ANNOUNCEMENT
Three new tours in 2024 – to be published soon on our website and in Dropbox
Sicily and the Aeolian Islands
For the first time in 2024, Boat Bike Tours is organizing unique bike and boat vacations from the port of Milazzo in northern Sicily to five Aeolian (aka: Liparian) Islands. This is a wonderful trip on an intimate small ship for only 12 passengers led by an experienced guide/tour guide. During bicycle tours and some walks the guests can discover the unique nature and landscapes of Lipari, Vulcano and Stromboli, with its famous always active volcano. Tour dates (departures on Saturdays) of this eight-day trip are in May, June, September and October 2023. As soon as this trip is bookable we will announce it in a new Partner Update.
Sail + Bike from/to Copenhagen along the Danish and Swedish coasts with Tall Ship Atlantis
Another wonderful trip on salt water is the new eight-day Sail & Bike trip in Denmark and Sweden. The trips in May, June and July start and end in Copenhagen. Passengers will discover beautiful and varied landscapes and islands along the Danish and Swedish coast east and west of the Øresund. The beautiful Tall Ship Atlantis offers comfortable accommodation for 36 guests in 18 twin cabins. The experienced crew of this three-master and the tour guides will show you well-known highlights and hidden gems during the varied sailing and cycling tours. During several trips, guests and bicycles will be brought ashore and picked up again safely by dinghy. The Dutch Tall Ship Atlantis is well-known for her sail and bike tours Highlights of Tuscany. As soon as this unique trip is bookable we will announce it in a Partner Update.
14-day tour of southern Belgium and northern France between Bruges and Paris with the Fluvius
This special, fourteen-day cycling cruise through the South of Belgium and the North of France has been operated for several years by the two smallest premium ships Fleur and Zwaantje. In 2024, the larger Fluvius will sail this tours in virtually unchanged form. Cycle through attractive areas, not yet discovered by mass tourism. A few highlights are the medieval towns of Bruges, Ghent and Oudenaarde, the World War I battlefields in the Somme-valley, the landscapes that inspired Vincent van Gogh, the Chateau de Chantilly and last but not least Paris, the City of Light. In late August, the Fluvius will sail this trip from Bruges to Paris and in September she will return from Paris back to Bruges. The bicycle tours are guided by two experienced tour guides. For an first impression you can check out Fleur and Zwaantje’s 2023 trips. All details for the Fluvius will follow in our next Partner Update.
