Reviews

Scenic tour through gorgeous old towns The boat and crew of the Zwaantje were friendly and hospitable. The food quality and quantity was incredible. The guide was knowledgeable and a great storyteller, however was sometimes focused on stopping for beer (not many others were so keen) and vague with meeting times/instructions which left minimal time in towns to explore the beautiful buildings, etc. I would recommend this tour for the scenery and old towns that it passes through and the overall service.

This trip was all we could have wanted. The crew on the Zwaantje was fantastic. We had great fun both while cycling and after with alll the other guests. Our guide was great. He took us to interesting and off the normal tourist routes. We greatly appreciated all he did.

We have had a great holiday ! Very good organization.

Great trip, fabulous crew, friendly boat. Only problem with the experience wad problems with communication after the deposit was paid as we were not notified of your receival of monies and it took a few emails from me before our confirmation came through, making the rest of our holiday difficult to plan.

Boat (Zwaantjie) We had an excellent crew and Captain. Everything was well organised and well presented.The food was great and well portioned and we had a pleasant relationship with the crew. However we were disappointed with our tour guide who didn’t add much to our experience and was not properly prepared . He could of made our experience more pleasurable by being more pro-active and being more interactive with the group and providing us with more information etc. This was our second BikeBoat Tour and we would do another with BikeBoat Tours.

Great boat (Zwaantje) … great captain & crew … Very helpful, always smiling. Food was nice and hearty portions. Bikes were good and generally well serviced. Sadly, our guide was pretty much useless … nice enough guy, but it was obvious he hadn’t researched the route and he had little to add to our experience. The BoatBike navigation app worked well though. This was our 2nd Boat Bike tour – All said, I would definitely do another with Boat Bike.

We enjoyed our trip – here is some advice: If traveling intercontinental arrive a day or two early to shake off the jet lag. The food is very good, recommend that you are very specific with likes and dislikes on the pre-cruise questionnaire. Chef Frank prepared dishes with lots of flavor from garlic, cilantro, curry, mushrooms, chorizo etc. We were delighted. Rooms are small of course, pack light. There are racks for drying laundry on the deck. Bikes are well maintained and easy to ride. This is not an itinerary for a novice rider. You should be ready for long climbs and steep downhills. Totally worth it. This s a trip for people who are social, low maintenance, and willing to work through language differences to get to know their fellow passengers. There is a selection of board games and playing cards aboard for after dinner entertainment.

We were extremely happy with the service that we received from the Boat’s Captain and crew of the Zwaantje. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said about our Tour Guide, Geert. From the first day of the tour we found him to be inadequately prepared on the City (Paris) we were visiting. As most of the passengers had already been to the Eiffel Tower, Arc de Triomphe etc, Geert suggested a tour of 3 parks which he advised he had visited in advance and would show us some interesting architecture and historical buildings. Unfortunately, Geert had us all buy the wrong train tickets and got lost several times which resulted in our spending a large proportion of the day in the Metro stations and arguing with the train staff over the tickets purchased. The parks were nothing special and there was not much to see which resulted in the Sunday in Paris being a total waste of time. I still don’t understand why the Sunday cannot be a cycle day from Paris to Lagny-sur-Marne or even a portion of this – we could spend the morning on the boat and start cycling from outside of Paris. Geert’s favourite sentence during the week was “they will be closed” – he was not open to suggestions to phone ahead and check, or to stop into the villages that we cycled through. He was only interested in stopping for lunch and at the booked Brie tasting and Champagne tasting. The two restaurants that he said he had phoned ahead to make arrangements that we could stop for coffee / lunch were closed when we arrived. He was constantly getting lost, even on leaving the boat on the one morning he took the wrong route. When we entered the Champagne region and cycled past open Champagne houses which had signs outside saying “Accueil” or “Ouvrir” he did not wish to stop saying “they wont be open”, and when I explained that on a previous trip to Champagne that we had received welcome from Champagne houses like this, he proceeded to argue saying, “clearly you think you know more than me”. This resulted in our cycling on our own for a majority of the route (i.e. without Geert) and yes we did stop at champagne houses who welcomed us very warmly. Geert told us about the Museum of Jean de la Fontaine in Chateau-Thierry as a place of interest, but when we wanted to go there he told us they would be closed. Once again, we went to the museum which was open. In closing, we were very disappointed that Boat Bike Tours would use a tour guide who had very to little (almost no) knowledge of the area, and one that is confrontational and obstinate. This was our third Bike and Barge tour, and the second with Boat Bike Tours, and we have never experienced anything quite like this. It is due to Geert’s poor behaviour that I do not feel I can rate the trip higher than 3.

My partner and I had a terrific holiday on the Zwaantje. The captain and crew were the best you could find. The food was amazing and plentiful. The cycling guide Fred was a character and kept you amused for two weeks with plenty of riding, coffee hunting in the morning and beer hunting in the afternoon. Would recommend this to all my friends that want to see off the beaten track villages, historic towns and keep fit at the same time.

This was my first cycling holiday and unusually I was travelling alone. I didn’t know quite what to expect but all my worries were soon dispelled from the moment I arrived at the boat. The MS Zwaantje is a purpose built barge with everything needed for a comfortable and pleasant stay. The cabins are quite sufficient for two people and I heard no complaints whatsoever about the size, facilities or comfort. The captain, crew and guide were cheerful, efficient and welcoming. Nothing was too much trouble for them and I felt that they enjoyed giving the best possible experience. The food served was plentiful and of a very high standard, my waist size grew despite all the cycling! The cycle trips and evening walks were well planned and flexible depending on the weather and the ability of the cycling group. Cycling with a group of people of different nationalities was enjoyable and as there were a few English speakers on the tour, it was conducted in English, an important point for me as I have no other language skills at all! Even the group of people on the tour went out of their way to speak English so that I was included in the evening gatherings. The tour involves some beautiful scenery, quiet roads and reasonable tracks, there was very little time spent on busier roads but even those had cycle lanes. The bikes were of good quality, well adjusted and well maintained. The pannier bag supplied was solid and more than adequate to carry the essentials (water, food etc.) and other items for the day or room for any items purchased during the day. Our guide was able to sort out any problems we did encounter (puncture). You need to be relatively fit to do this tour (or hire an e-bike) and there is always the option to stay on board and take a rest day. At the end of the tour I would have happily stayed on board and done the tour back again from Epernay to Paris! Give half a chance I would go back and do it all again.