Reviews

My husband and I just got back from the Amsterdam to Bruges bike tour, having joined my cousin and her husband for the trip. This was our 2nd Netherlands bike trip and 4th European bike trip. It was a fun week. Using the boat as base is a great way to go. You don’t have to pack up everyday, and when you’re on the boat it tends to be peaceful and a different way to see the countryside. The biking was very easy, mostly flat bike lanes and quiet roads. The Fluvius had wonderful staff, friendly and helpful. Jorritt, the young man working on the Fluvius, always got the bikes off and on the boat (with a grin, always), and even took all of our dripping wet shoes and dried them out in the engine room overnight (thank you again, Jorritt!). Food was plentiful and good. The young women staff members were quick, friendly and hardworking. The captain kept us afloat all week and made it through the locks on time. Our guide, Guus, was informative, friendly and very good at finding new tires in small towns! The cabins are small; it is a barge, after all. However, there was a real shower, unlike on our other bike-barge trip. We slept well, ate and drank well, and made new friends. It was a multi-national group with many lively conversations, including about politics. Love those varied perspectives! How could you improve the trip? 1. More bike maintenance. Some of the bikes needed it. 2. More vegetarian options on the menu. 3. Perhaps split the biking group in two. It was a big group and it would have been more fun to ride in smaller groups. I highly recommend this trip, especially to those looking to discover the joy of biking in another country or for those looking for an easier trip. It was actually a relaxing week on a bike with wonderful companions.

This was our second time using Boat Bike Tours for our trip. The first trip was Bruge to Amsterdam, this latest trip was Paris to Epernay. First off, a boat bike tour is really a great way to travel if you enjoy biking. You get to see a lot of the country and small towns without ever having to pack up and move hotels every day, you never have to figure out what restaurant to eat at, what part of town to stay in or deal with driving a car in a new country. You get to see so much all from the view of your bike saddle while being in the outdoors. The crew and staff on the Zwaantje were fantastic, pleasant, the boat was clean, well equipped and the meals were top notch. Martijn is an experienced and funny captain, he and his wife made everyone feel comfortable. Our chef and housekeeper were a lovely couple, friendly, great food, always ready to help with any request and just really nice people. Gert our guide was very knowledgeable about things and a very good cyclist but I felt sorry because he was constantly having to make trip adjustments and concessions so much of his time was trying to figure alternate routes. Our problem was with a large portion of our tour group itself. The tour states that the riding is somewhat challenging with hills and long rides however 16 out of the 22 people on our tour were members of a bicycle tour group in America who were not up to the challenges of the tour. Since they could not handle the hills and cycling routes our tour guide was forced to make changes to accomodate them constantly due to time constraints or because they simply would not ride. We were constantly waiting at the top of climbs for stragglers and once they arrived they demanded rest. Within 30 minutes the group would be so stretched that we would have to continually stop and wait for slow and struggling riders to catch up. There were complaints about how difficult the riding was but yet everyone demanded to ride every day. We missed out on some attractions and towns and had several day rides cut short and diverted because we were running late or the group was simply not up to the challenge. And since they were the majority their complaints over ruled the rest of the group and we were forced to go along with their reduced itinerary. Prior to the trip, my wife and I read the description very closely and were even worried about our cycling skills on the trip, we were fine, it is a bit challenging but not over difficult but I do not think anyone in the cycling group took heed in the literature and just decided since they had cycling shorts and gear that they could cycle up and down the river valleys. Also one other complaint not related to Boat Bike or it’s staff was that it was clearly stated that breakfast was at 8-9 am and early coffee at 7:30 if you wanted… We listened and adhered to this request but the cycling group was up early around 6:30 am with no respect to those that may be sleeping or having a quiet morning. They would be yelling “Good morning” to each other across the boat and in the below decks, using hair dryers before the requested time of 7:30 and generally just being loud with out any concern for others. When we arrived for breakfast at 8 (the assigned time) the breakfast choices were picked over and scraps remained and people were reaching around us and pushing in to make their lunches while we were just trying to cobble a breakfast together. Since they were all familiar with each other they saw nothing wrong with it. The captain repeatedly told them when breakfast was but that went in one ear and out the other. Their complaining and lack of cycling skill had our tour guide scrambling to find alternate routes and try to make it easy for them. We did have fun, we went on our own the last day and had a long lovely ride and lunch in a town we happened upon… the scenery was beautiful and the attractions we did get to see were appreciated although sometimes rushed since we had to begin our slow bike ride in order to make it back to the boat in time. Altogether a great staff, ride, experience… my suggestion is possibly find out if there is a large group booked on your dates because they can take over a tour with their sheer numbers and make it into their tour instead of the planned tour.

Lovely tour, good bikes, nice people, wonderful food(!) Helmut was a very competent guide. We enjoyed this way of discovering beautiful Italian towns and citys. We were on the Vita Pugna and liked biking in the small group.

The Boat Bike Tour we went on was a wonderful start to our first trip to Europe. The accommodations were adequate and comfortable. The food was excellent with plenty throughout the trip. The bikes we used were solid and suited the terrain we rode on. Our tour leader was knowledgeable and friendly. The boat crew were helpful, friendly and very courteous to all of the travelers. It was a busy week and we made lots of friends from various countries and had a wonderful time on our boat/bike trip from Amsterdam to Bruge.

Sailing was fun. Islands were beautiful. Could have done a little bit more biking. Crew was great. Definitely need better biking maps and descriptions of where to go and what to see. Mostly had to figure that out for yourself.

The boat was old and quite small, but still cosy and comfortable. The crew were great as was the food, especially the desserts. The biking was very basic over mostly paved and level bike paths. There were some gravel parts that would have been better ridden on a bike with suspension. Overall we quite enjoyed our experience.

Excellent bateau, excellente équipe sur le bateau. Le guide était une personne très instruite et pas du tout avare de ses explications; dommage qu’il n’attendait jamais le dernier de la file de 20 personnes pour les commencer.. et dommage aussi qu’il n’a pas adapté sa vitesses à la majorité des cyclistes. Malheureusement le descriptif n’indiquait pas que les sorties à vélo était OBLIGATOIREMENT EN GROUPE. Or, un groupe de 20 personnes, c’est pénible, tant pour le guide que pour les cyclistes. De plus, tout le monde n’a pas forcément envie de rouler ensemble et à la même vitesse et surtout de faire les sempiternelles visites de mémoriaux aux guerres. C’était pour moi la 4ème fois que je faisais un voyage avec BoatBikes et c’était aussi la 1ère fois que je rencontrais cette situation, je devrai faire une demande d’information explicite la prochaine fois à ce sujet. Je voulais aussi me rendre sur le bateau avec mon propre vélo électrique (ce que j’ai déjà fait au préalable), ce qui m’a été refusé lors de la réservation car il y avait manque de place sur le bateau, ce qui s’est avéré faux. Mon amie et moi sommes tombées avec tout un groupe d’américains qui faisaient ce voyage ensemble, donc nous étions un “appendice” de ce groupe.

Beautiful week on board and cycling through the roads on north Holand. The leader,Margret, was carefully and ready to take a solution to all your problems, and very clear during the daily briefings. The cabins clean and the waiters very polite. All of them deserve 5 stars. The missing star is due to the time of dinner, 6 pm.

Opportunity to have a hotel and bike tour. Different views every day.

We are casual bikers, but occasionally do 25 mile trips here at home. We did every leg of the trip, over 180 miles total and it was great. We did luck out as we had only a short period of rain. Everything about the trip met or exceeded our expectations. The barge we were on, the Magnifique II, was well set up and the food was very good. The bike guide was knowledgeable and interesting. It is an amazing way to see, hear, and even smell, the countryside. The stops along the way were also interesting, especially Ghent and Antwerp, places I would not ordinarily visit.