Reviews

This was a great experience. The crew was exceptional and the boat was beautiful. And it was such a nice size group of passengers too. We got to meet some really wonderful people from all over the world, while enjoying beautiful sites in Germany, Luxembourg and France!

Barge clean and a happy place! Vacation with family great. Leaders very nice and knowledgeable. July 2023. Bicycles very good! Routes good. Maps need work. Confusing but they worked! Meal offerings scarce for vegans. We knew this ahead but would hesitate to book again without vegan option. Would like non smoking barge in future. Cigar and cigarette smoke drifted everywhere via vents and windows.

Loved almost everything about this trip. We visited charming places and appreciated the late afternoon briefings which explained the cycling options and choices of itineraries for the following day. Our “suite” cabin was well designed and only a small premium for the extra space over the smaller regular upper or lower. Be aware that Boat Bike Tours does not own its vessels and the only Boat Bike employees were the excellent multilingual Dutch guides who went above and beyond to ensure everyone had a wonderful experience. All other staff are contracted employees. The front desk managers were pleasant and very professional. The dining room servers were mostly Romanian and Bulgarian who did their best in a very tight area. The food quality and variety was very good, but the servers were not able to circle around the tables due to lack of space, so they had to reach across our table companions to pass and collect plates. This really detracted from the dining experience, especially at dinner when all guests had to eat at the same time. The buffet breakfast set-up was more staggered, but most guests had to weave around tables and almost the entire dining room to get to their assigned seats. The dining room could not comfortably accommodate the number of passengers on the boat, which was our only complaint. Plenty of people caught coughs and colds as a result of the very close proximity.

This trip was the perfect combination of top quality accommodation and food along with physical fun with biking throughout the land.

This was our second time with Boat Bije Tours. We love the smaller boat experience and absolutely love Tamara and Bert. We want to book again with Tamara/Bert for 2024. We love your company! We sent you photos’.

The staff on the boat were very engaged and honestly interested in our well beings. We felt it was very much a prevaledge to be on the boat and to be guided to the sites with such knowledgable staff. the only small thing I would have liked to have was a mirror on each bike so riders could see who was behind them without having to stop and look back.

Staff were very warm, cheerful and helpful. Cycle guide leaders Peter and Andreas were excellent. Briefings informative. Cycling App very good. Maps excellent and easy to follow. Beautiful routes. Food was good. Bikes comfortable. Spacious and comfortable cabin Enjoyed the evening walking city tours in Rotterdam and Zaandam Really lovely holiday and would go again in a different location. Thank you

Very well organized trip, bikes were great, food and service top, all the staff fabulous and the friendships we made was fantastic

Great experience. Excellent guide and choice of cycling route. Accommodation on boat was good, but as expected a little cramped in the bedroom, and the bathroom was tiny and needed some attention (but not serious). Meals on the boat were very good, and the lounge and eating area were ample and relaxing. Cycling routes were easy except for going over Les Alpilles, but it was worth it.

We were greeted with a very warm welcome by the crew when we first boarded. The whole crew on the Gandalf were very professional, helpful, polite, and friendly. The kitchen staff bent over backwards to cook to our special needs. We so much appreciate their willingness to do this. We had a very good experience on this trip and enjoyed all of the biking, coffee stops, and city tours. One suggestion I have is to perhaps include more special stops like at a cheese factory, or an artist’s display, or a farm. I would have enjoyed more stops like this than lots of coffee house stops. Yes, there was the Delft pottery, which was great. It would have been special to have seen an actual cheese factory in Gouda. Another suggestion is to make sure all of the porthole windows have screens or meshes covering them. This is my only complaint. In the middle of the week when it was warmer than usual, we had both the bathroom window and the bedroom windows open. There were 2 nights in a row where I woke up in the middle of the night violently scratching myself. I had about 50 bites on my legs, ankles, feet, arms, and shoulders. At first I wondered if there were bed bugs as I did not see any mosquitoes. I pulled the sheets back and did not see any bed bugs. I had to conclude that it had to be mosquitoes and we did start seeing them after that. I was very miserable with all of those bites. I did talk to the captain about this and he said that they had removed the screens/mesh to pass something through the porthole windows and had not replaced the screens. I strongly urge the captain to cover the porthole windows back up with screens for the next vulnerable occupants.