Reviews

The information provided prior to starting the trip has an incorrect point that customers need to be aware of (I hope it has been fixed by now) It contains a requirement for participants to bring their own helmet. However on premium boats they are provided and particiants might bring their own from various places on the planet (inconvenient) or be out of pocket unnecessarily. I’ve already communicated this to Boat Bike Tours but disappointingly (and not surprisingly) have had no response. Once on the boat everything was fantastic but the boat experience is run by a separate company, Magnifique. My trip was on Magnifique II. All the crew were lovely and the boat is beautiful. If my review had been for Magnifique only I would have given 5 stars.

Wonderful experience. Beautiful boat. Excellent catering. Great organisation and guidance of Bike Tours.

To visit countries by bike is amazing. We have the chance to go more in depth.

All our needs were met, and beyond. From great meals to a comfortable room, and friendly and helpful staff who truly seem to love what they do, it was an amazing trip. Tour guides very knowledgable about the history of the countries we toured, and encouraged us to embrace the culture.

Overall, it was an excellent trip and we’ll be doing another one in the future for sure but adults only! For context, we are in our late 50’s. There were many positives but one major drawback. Accommodations: We booked a standard cabin that was below the main deck. Beds were firm, body wash/shampoo, conditioner and a hairdryer were provided. There is small closet to store clothing in. NOTE: the closet is not big enough to store checked luggage – my husband’s soft sided suitcase fit under the raised bed, but my hard sided one did not. The Boat – Manifique IV: The boat was very nicely appointed – great space outside and inside to enjoy the trip and views and a hot tub on the upper deck. The Bikes: The bikes were standard touring bikes. We found the bikes to be quite heavy (both e-bikes and regular ones) as compared to our road bikes or hybrid bikes at home. All the bikes had a cell phone holder on them and a pannier to store your lunch/jacket/ sunscreen/water bottle. There are no water bottle holders on the bikes. The boat was staffed by the captain, two sailors, a chef, the two tour guides, and two ‘we do it all’ hosts! All of the staff were wonderful! Everyone was warm, welcoming, fun and accommodating. You have a lot of interaction with all of the staff. Our boat was staffed by Captain Michael, hosts Mieke & Shay, Sailors Marchy & Julius, Chef Jules and Chef Michel (Jules left the boat after 3 days and was replaced by Michel) and tour guides Corrine and Esther. Esther and Corrine were the best tour guides you could ever ask for! Each spoke English, Dutch and German and were happy, smiling, engaged tour guides. At each of our stops along the way, they dispensed interesting facts and historical information about the area. They were safe and made you feel comfortable asking for stops as you needed them (water breaks, photo ops). Mieke and Shay were great fun to interact with, very accommodating and worked from sun up to sun down! The food was excellent – great variety and quality. We had halibut, salmon, steak, Asian, and BBQ! The intinerary had wonderful variety each day – countryside, small towns, cities – something for everyone. CAUTION: The only real disappointment on this trip was the volume of children that were on the boat. It NEVER occurred to us that there would be children on a ‘luxury’ boat and bike tour and unfortunately, 12 of the 35 guests were children ranging in age from 11 to 17. Four of the kids were the most polite, well-behaved kids I have ever met. Eight of the kids were the most entitled, ignorant, self-absorbed kids I had ever met as were their absentee parents. We assumed that guests would generally be between the ages of 40 – 80. This dynamic completely changed the tone of the trip. In the first two days, kids were running around the boat (despite being told not to by the staff), slamming doors, etc., well into the evening. If they were the first down for breakfast (you waited upstairs until you were called for breakfast), they ravaged the buffet, put their hands into communal food dishes instead of using the utensils provided, and were disrespectful to the staff. They did the same with the après ride food. They monopolized the hot tub (adults couldn’t get anywhere near it) and never left the hot tub to use a toilet…need I say more? They disregarded the ‘rules of the road’ when on the bikes and were, I suspect a nightmare for the poor guides at times. Though staff repeatedly reminded everyone of some common courtesies, it fell on deaf ears. Several guests took it upon themselves to school the kids in basic manners since the parents were completely out to lunch. This tour company should have ‘adults only’ options available. There were so many good things about this tour, but I wouldn’t book another one with this company unless it was adults only. There are many, many cycling tour options available and there are likely operators who have adults only options.

Fantastic experience. More than just a cycle tour. Amazing staff and a luxury floating hotel.

The staff and crew were friendly and helpful. However the quality of the boat and made it hard for staff. The regular bikes were terrible, the air conditioning did not work and the food was mostly awful.

Guides were exceptionally well versed in the environment, territory and the terrain. Accommodations were excellent, as was the cleverly creative cuisine. As a bonus, the group of 40 that we traveled with were gregarious and cordial – yet respected boundaries. A stellar trip that indicates we will be considering another (Paris) next year. (This year was Amsterdam to Bruges.)

My wife and I were very happy with our “premium” boat bike trip from Brugge to Amsterdam. The newer blue e-bikes (with “Boat Bike Tours” branding) are everything you need, and we are very experienced e-bike riders. Plenty of power and battery for the flat terrain and occasional headwinds. The available long or short, or fast or slow bike rides offered each day gave us lots of options. The accommodations on the boat were great. We got the premium cabins, which are on the main deck of the Magnifique II, very important to me, as my knees could not have handled the steep stairs to a cabin on the lower deck. All the boat’s crew were very friendly, spoke good English, and worked super hard! Our every need was met. Meals and our bike tour guides were fantastic. I only wish laundry service could be somehow made available, as those of us traveling from the West Coast of North America could pack with less luggage.

The crew were amazing. Immediately made you feel at home and with friends. Special thanks to Peter who was our bike tour guide, very knowledgeable and great sense of humor. Franklin was also helpful and kind, and always knew our names. We would also like to recognize Shea, she is such a kind spirit and we just loved her. Chef never disappoints and meals were amazing. Captain and sailors were also above and beyond in what they do.