Reviews

Magnifique crew and all services were premium. The guides were good for routes and mechanics but not so great on communication and touring. I do not recall a single time that the stop signal was given. Consequently, there were fast stops and riders bumping each other on occasion. Consistently I had to ask why we were stopping…coffee break? Water? Lunch? Where are the toilets? Where is potable water? Never provided without asking, then of course only a few of us had the information. Tom seemed bored. Esthe, seemed unaware of group need for communication. Nothing awful, but I would say premier ship and average guides.

Great experience and would do it again. The only minor complaint I have is with the bicycle maintenance. That could improve.

So much to love about this concept of a barge cycling trip but a few rocky bumps distracted – be sure to request an XL bike if that is what you use at home, no matter what your inseam says. Beds are short if you are over 6’2” in height – and narrow. Twin-sized but we understand rooms on a vessel like this can’t be much larger. Dinners varied and well prepared. Packed lunches monotonous, lots and lots and lots of bread and cheese. Wine and beer prices reasonable – staff delightful. Not a lot of opportunity to stop and take pictures except at planned coffee and lunch stops. Felt like we were in a race sometimes and there was confusion about our routes from time to time, not enough info shared in my opinion, on the areas we visited except more formal sites like UNESCO. All in all a positive experience and staff tried to rectify mistakes made by admin.

Another wonderful holiday with Boat Bike tours. Our guides Anika and Andre were fantastic and the crew on the boat were great as well. Food and service impeccable!

I had previously taken this exact itinerary on this company’s smaller barge, the Fluvius in 2017 and that experience was fabulous and inspired me to subsequently make several bike/barge trips throughout Europe. Because of the pandemic this reservation was pushed out twice in 2020 and 2021. It was originally made by a former cruise mate of mine who was unable to make it this year and because I had also had cruise reservations to other destinations also cancelled during this period I decided to assume her reservation and introduce this experience to another friend of mine. BoatBikeTours cannot be faulted for the fairly heavy rainfall our group endured, and while the crew was friendly and optimistic and did a good job with food service and maintaining the cabins, it appeared that the disparate staff were all fairly new and the guides while perhaps experienced were not as familiar with the routes and equipment and perhaps the company standards for safety that I had perceived in 2017. My specific criticism is of the encouragement and optimism for the day #1 long ride through mostly pouring rain particularly as clients have not yet become completely familiar with their rented equipment. While everyone is anxious to ride on these vacations, I feel the leaders should have prepared modifications and recommendations so that the clients are not arriving back at the barge at the end of the day truly miserable. In 2017 there was one scheduled riding day like this and it was discouraged precisely for this reason. I personally was very negatively impacted when midday our guide decided to “save time” by steering the group off road through a “shortcut” of narrow, muddy, uneven paths, clearly unsafe for the conditions. I took a spill that while not completely sidelining the rest of my European vacation impacted my mobility greatly and I returned home 2 weeks later to discover I had fractured my ankle and required immediate surgery. Our guide appeared to have no clue as to how to use the first aid kit, alternate means for transport, had little follow-up upon returning to the barge, and made no attempt to document the incident or file a report. Fortunately I was helped and advised by a fellow client who happened to be an ER physician and I take responsibility for assuming I was nursing a sprained ankle, but in hindsight a proactive X-ray should have been encouraged and might have prevented additional damage that was done. I realize we must all take responsibility for our own safety but I do question the judgement and qualifications of this guide and hope the company does have appropriate safety protocols and training for their staff. On a guided tour such as this, one does become captive to the situation and must rely on the judgement of the leader.

It was wonderful. The pilot and entire crew were exceptional. The trip not only met my expectations, it exceeded them

After a year of planning and anticipation, we were excited to arrive in Amsterdam and board our barge. The vessel certainly met our expectations and the meals provided throughout the week were varied and first rate. The Captain and crew were extremely welcoming and attentive to our needs and our tour guide excelled in both her guidance and knowledge of the areas. Would we do another bike/boat vacation? Absolutely!

We had a wonderful week cycling roughly 50km each day in Northern Burgundy and coming ‘home’ each evening to the lovely boat ‘Zwaantje’ and her warm, funny, welcoming and very competent crew. We had two tour guides, professional, knowledgeable, helpful and charming. A tour of Sens cathedral and the inner city was a highlight as were two quite different wine tastings and a cider tasting. Walking tours of the towns where we moored each night were also always most enjoyable. We have no hesitation in recommending this tour.

It was a wonderful experience. The boat was in great shape. Our room was excellent. The crew was allways fun. Good food and drinks. The bikes: could use a tune up and air in the tires. The weather: one bad day out of six. Overall it was a great time and we’ll do it again.

Very fun trip. We chose to use ebikes which were excellent and a guide which added so much to the experience. It was obvious that there were staffing challenges which is a post Covid issue everywhere however the staff they had were courteous and hard working. The food was just OK, the room and bathroom wer clean and had what we needed and I found the bed comfortable. I will do another trip with Boat Bike Tours – it is a great value overall.