Reviews

Holland is beautiful for biking, and safe. The boat (Angela Esmee, 1st week July 2016) was not fancy but it was comfortable enough. The meals were healthy, with lean meets and plenty of vegetables. The only thing I would change is they need to put a pitcher of water on the table with meals. Charging two and a half euros for a small water is excessive.

This was our second boat & bike tour and we couldn’t recommend it highly enough. The boat (Fluvious) was great, sun deck really did the trick with the good weather. The food was fantastic and the tours were interesting, well paced for all and enjoyable. The staff on the boat were brilliant. It was such a good trip we can’t wait to book up the next one.

Exceptional, friendly, polite and competent staff in all areas: meals, cleaning, boat, bikes, tours, hospitality. Very nice atmosphere on board. Very good mix of structured tours and flexibility. Being able to stay aboard the comfortable boat all day instead of biking was a real advantage. There were often alternative biking routes. We had anticipated more leadership/ guidance from the tour guide while biking, but it proved not to be necessary. We were a more experienced group, but others might need to be led and this was not a possibility. Good with TV for the UEFA games, a must! Perhaps more WiFi. People would post more pictures if there was more free Internet access (more free advertising for you). Every destination was superb. Holland is really beautiful. I loved all our stops and all our rides. Fantastic scenery all around. To improve this trip experience — more information is needed about the bikes available. These were not light-weight touring bikes. They were old, heavy-duty city bikes with new gears and brakes. These bikes were too heavy, cumbersome and uncomfortable for 40-50 km/ day in all weather for 6 days. I have experience with other tours that offer better bikes as the standard. Perhaps these can be the discount bike. Have on offer better bikes!!! There was no drinking water available on board without an unreasonable cost. The mark up on the bottled water was 10-20 times what it cost in the village stores. Drinking water on a summer bike trip is a health issue, not a courtesy. Water needs to be freely provided or at least reasonably priced!!! Not to mention the environmental pollution due to the small, un returnable bottles solely available on board. The ride to Texel we learned could be dangerous in certain weather; in fact we adjusted our crossing due to safety concerns. Passengers should be told about life vests, what to do in the case of an emergency, etc. We received no such information. Traveling with children places more safety requirements on the tour and crew. But everyone should know about life jackets on a boat! More consideration needs to be placed on where one can use the toilet. These places should be marked on the map. There are cafés, but we were often turned away even if we offered to pay. Perhaps there needs to be a wider system of ECO toilets on the map at convenient nodes. It must be possible to go to the bathroom on route. Perhaps rightly so the same cafés are tired of handling 100s of bikers every week! Again, on other bike trips, toilet stops were clearly part of the deal – no stress.

Really had a wonderful time on the recently added Bourdeaux, Boat Bike tour. This well laid out tour lets you bike along quiet country roads with scenic vineyards and chateaus from five major producing regions. The MS Bordeaux was clean and well presented, the crew friendly and courteous. For me the highlight on board the ship was the excellent French meals and a later sampling from the wine region we were to visit the next day. If you are not a bike rider or just out of shape, consider renting an ebike as this tour has some gentle to moderate hill climbs. Merci Beaucoup to the Captain and crew, Scott, Pascal and the Chef du Maison.

We did the Paris to Epernay Champagne tour in early July. We were blessed with amazing weather (no rain at all while cycling). The crew of the Zwaantje are truly outstanding. They work together like a well oiled machine and always with a smile on their faces. The on-board meals, served ‘family style’ were plentiful and equal to many luxury sea-cruise lines we’re taken before. The cabins are small, but you’re only there to sleep and shower, so they’re sufficient. They were cleaned each day while we were out. The sundeck (roof) was great for relaxing (and dancing some nights) after dinner. Martijn (captain/owner) altered the morning routine a couple of days at our group’s request to give us a breakfast cruise along the river. He indicated he may add this to the itinerary for future trips. It was beautiful to enjoy the early morning sun on the roof as we glided along. The bicycles are all Treks for the non-ebike versions. Great shape and easy to adjust. The cycling part of the tour was wide ranging from flat to steeper hills (both up and down). Our guide, Mijntje, speaks English, Dutch, German, Italian, and French. As we explored the French countryside, we’d stop for pictures and information about the areas we visited. We also visited a few champagne houses, from large commercial operations to small family run enterprises. Our favorite was Champage Nowak. Be sure to buy some bubbles when you are there! Every evening there was an optional (no charge) walking tour of the town where we were moored. Led by Mijntje. As the Euro Cup was on, we also went to a few pubs to cheers on the teams in the evening. I highly recommend this tour. We’ll be back to go on the Bruges to Amsterdam beer tour!

We had a very good, relaxing experience. Our time on the boat was very pleasant. The rooms were a little small but perfectly adequate and always cleaned thoroughly each day. The food was excellent and we really enjoyed our time with our fellow guests at table. The bike routes were well selected and the rides were very enjoyable. One small criticism is that the maps provided certainly sufficed in rural settings but were sometimes inadequate once the route entered a crowded urban environment.

The Magnifique II is a beautiful barge. It was a pleasure to return each day to this oasis of the senses. The food was exceptional. The crew were personable and enthusiastic. They went out of their way multiple times. The bikes worked out well and we enjoyed each day’s ride. We think Mariels, our guide, was superhuman to bike all day, then do an after dinner town tour. This was a memorable experience!

This is a bike boat tour. It is about biking every day in all elements to see the country side and parts of cities and towns. The cabins are small but adequate for the purpose of the cruise. Three meals are provided each day. The staff was very helpful and nice.

Boating was fun, always enough wind for the sails to be hoisted! E-bikes were mostly good, but power setting on one bike was not satisfactory. Food on board a plenty, great honesty system for the bar! Cabins good for size of the boat!

We had a great week on the Magnifique II going from Brugge to Amsterdam. The boat far exceeded our expectations for facilities – lots of light, beautiful furnishing, nice decorations – and the crew were warm, knowledgeable, and fun. We set off a lot on our own without the larger group and appreciated the maps and tips on how to navigate both Belgium and the Netherlands on bike. Thanks for a great week. We will be back!