Reviews

This is our second time booking with Boat Bike Tours who are easy and courteous to make arrangements through. The first was Bruges to Amsterdam 2 years ago on The Fluvius, September 14 to 21 2013 with 36 passengers and guided. This time Passau to Budapest June 14 to 21 2015 on My Story with 100 passengers, self guided. Both wonderful experiences. We especially enjoyed, My Story Cruise Director Leslie – great personality, organiser and friend.

my friend and i did the netherlands/belgium trip in May 2015 and had a fantastic time. Thomas, our guide, was amazing, the bikes were easy to ride, and very comfortable, and the places we saw were so memorable. Now i am looking to do another trip w/ them in the fall…

The trip was excellent. We enjoyed very much the nature, the small villages, the vinetasting, the day (one and a half) in Wienna, and also the bikes. they were very good. The service was fine and all in time, The only thing to complain for was the narrow cabins, and also a smell like the smell of something old in the cabin. In spite of that, the tour was marvellous.

Everything was well organized and amazingly inexpensive. The routes are not always clearly marked but when you take a wrong turn you can usually easily get back on the right path. The Hague should be taken off the route map of the Southern Tour, since it gives the false impression that there will be a visit to this city.

Our sailing and biking tour of the Danish Baltic was a wonderful combination of good company, good organisation, good food and good opportunities to explore lovely countryside and villages. All in all – a fantastic week! The skipper of the Oban was mindful of the prevailing winds, and charted a course each day that made cycling a pleasure, regardless of the weather! We are a mature couple, and enjoyed 30-50 kms per day of cycling on picturesque Aero, Lyo and Langeland as well as sightseeing in the ports of Kiel, Marstal, Aeroskobing, Svendbourg and Bagenkop. Would recommend this tour to anyone with a basic level of fitness, an appreciation for the outdoors – sailing, cycling walking – and a sense of adventure! Well done Olaf, Jolan, Imke and Bo – you gave us memories to treasure!!!!

Fun experience – Brugges toAmsterdam- 300 km in 6 days. Great way to see the countryside and some beautiful cities ….. just follow your guide.

A week on the Green Heart of Holland tour with the Jelmar. Room for 20 on board, but only 7 travelling in late May, so nearly personal service from the crew of two. Excellent all round. Surprisingly varied and beautiful countryside, and time to explore the towns and cities too. Dutch kilometres must be shorter than other kilometres, as it’s so flat – you hardly noticed how far you’d travelled, even on the sit-up-and-beg hire bikes. Food just what you wanted – plenty of it and tasty, although nothing too exotic. Cabins and beds perfectly comfortable. The crew spoke Dutch, German and English, and were a great, although unlikely, double-act (a weatherbeaten salty sea-dog as skipper+owner+waiter with a petite cook+deckhand+Number 2).

This is our 5th boat and bike holiday so it’s a formula we love. We also keep returning to The Netherlands and Belgium…we haven’t found anywhere that caters so well for cyclists…we are not courageous in traffic nor good on hills. This trip was on The Gandalf…one of the smaller ships…takes about 20 passengers..the skipper, Hans, was welcoming…a friendly and generous host. His crew and the chef were really excellent and the food was varied, imaginative and extremely tasty and lots of it. The route Bruges to Amsterdam is really lovely…beautiful cities, towns and villages. You really feel you can see day to day life…what people are growing in their gardens…whole classes of school children out on their bikes…small holdings with a few sheep and a duck pond. The guide, Rikko, worked hard to find good spots for refreshments and had excellent knowledge…historical, technical, local, which made the trip richer. He did tend to keep the pace a bit swift. He also led a walk each evening so it was not all cycling. Our group of 16 was by far the most mixed we have experienced and we all got on well…people came from France, UK, Germany, Argentina, Australia, USA and The Netherlands…this made for some interesting conversations. This is not a luxury holiday. Be prepared for getting soaked, wind blasted, sunburned, exhausted and in need of some good muscle rub. The bikes are good. We have seen more and more people using ebikes and have some qualms about this. We feel it might put those not on ebikes at something of a disadvantage at times…and sometimes we did struggle with the pace. Three of us therefore decided to ride independently using the maps provided…this was easy and fun….but you did miss out on the guide’s local knowledge and the group experience. Being able to go at a slightly slower pace worked well for us. We love cycling holidays (have been on about 14)..we especially love the boat and bike formula but a word of caution…on almost every trip we have done…with a whole variety of companies… there has been a tendency to play down the daily distances…so practice beforehand and be prepared for some long days in the saddle (sheepskin saddle covers seem very good investment!). We hope to do more bike and boat trips …they are something a bit special.

Last year I went in the Randolf from Bruges to Amsterdam and although the boat was quite basic the experience was memorable. Patria is a better boat. However the crew, specially the captain are very unfriendly, borderline rude. There where 2 crew members, Catherine and a gentlemen that helped serving dinner and at the bar which were quite nice. The captain would not even answer back to “good morning” and NEVER smiled. One cannot put someone uncomfortable with people to be in such position. The crew did not understand that we do not served them, we were the clients. This trip was the opposite of last years; it was unguided (which was not clear to us when we booked) and the “guide” that would distribute the itinerary the day before spoke marginal English. He presented slides written in German with broken English. His instructions on the possible afternoon hikes let us ( and all that attempt) to wonder around the mountain lost. It would be beneficial to actually have maps for the hikes. I would not recommend this trip unless the shortcomings of the staff are address.

We experienced the Southern Tour in Netherlands on the Anna Maria Agnes boat. The team was fantastic- very friendly and helpful. The route for each day was carefully prepaid and discussed prior. The weather was sometimes challenging but it was really fun. The country is so beautiful and peaceful so we`ll come back for sure. I actually like the tour and the boat, only few things to improve the experience: 1. Please provide some fresh fruits during the meal time; 2. It would be better to provide 2-beds cabin in case 2 people will live there. These 3 beds (bunk beds) in a small cabin are quite uncomfortable.