Travel stories

Shortly after we started offering our trips again, Els van der Drit joined one of our tours from Bruges to Amsterdam. She works in health care and had had an intense period in the first months of the corona outbreak. Els really needed a vacation, but was hesitant to travel by plane. Boat Bike Tours seemed like the perfect solution. Flying to another country? A beach vacation? I don’t feel up to it, even though I really need a holiday. Then I see an advert about Boat Bike Tours. I…

We went on a week-long cycling and sailing holiday with the Fluvius from Amsterdam to Bruges with a group of four people. We heard about the trip thanks to my brother. The tour departed opposite central station in Amsterdam and arrived at a dock in Bruges which was also close to the station. It turned out to be an unforgettable week. We were looked after with great care on board, with delicious meals and well-kept bedrooms. The crew tried to please everyone and the atmosphere was very friendly! Sailing from the…

We, Ewa (23 years) and Sandra (20 years), are currently doing an internship at Boat Bike Tours. Of course part of the experience is doing a tour ourselves! We were lucky enough to take part in one of Boat Bike Tour’s most popular routes, Hansa Highlights. It was a trip we’ll never forget!   We began the tour in the port of Amsterdam. There we were warmly welcomed by the ship manager and our tour guide, Wilma, when we boarded the ship De Nassau. After checking in, we went to…

Cycling from Amsterdam to Maastricht through beautiful Dutch countryside, Frederike would normally be found helping the marketing team as an intern, but in June she experienced one of our trips firsthand. Here’s her account of what tours are like as a solo traveler.   Hello Frederike! As an intern at Boat Bike Tours you’re normally in the marketing department. Did you gain many new impressions during the trip? Yes, definitely! Since the tour only took place at the end of my internship, I’d already gained a lot of theoretical insights…

Kris and her friends have been sailing together every year for nearly a decade. Here she tells us about how she got inspired to organize her first trip, and how it launched adventures all over Europe, along with lots of new friendships.   Planning a tour with friends We did our first [boat and bike] trip in 2011. My friend’s husband was organizing one and we were invited to come along. It was wonderful, but we didn’t have a perfect fit with the group, they were quite different from us.…

Margriet has been with the Boat Bike Tours team for years. Originally in marketing, she’s currently helping make the company more sustainable. And when it comes to boat bike tours, you could say that she’s an old hand. Nevertheless, there are always a few new discoveries awaiting her when she joins one of our tours. She recently took our Hansa Highlights tour and was pleasantly surprised more than once by a lot of unexpected aspects of the trip. The tour wound its way over eight days through picturesque Dutch towns…

On our Southern Tour of Holland, our intern Alina cycled through the Green Heart of Holland to the city of Gouda, with its 73,000 inhabitants. Here she shares some interesting things she learned about this most Dutch of cities. Anyone who’s ever visited Gouda knows how impressive the city looks – especially when you’re staring up at the fairy tale town hall from the middle of the marketplace. The Four Cs of Gouda Despite its name being synonymous for cheese, Gouda is so much more than a cheese capital. On…

During the 2019 season we invited travel blogger Rachel Heller of travel blog Rachel’s Ruminations to join us on our Hansa Highlights Tour. Afterwards she wrote a wonderfully detailed account of her experience. If you want to get a good idea of life on our tours then Rachel’s account will give you a very clear idea about it. (Note: it’s a long post!) “One of the first people I met on my recent week-long trip with Boat Bike Tours was a retired Canadian man named Peter, who told me right…

Tulips, more sunshine than at any other time of year, and many exciting events: a spring trip to Amsterdam is simply the best. So, it’s no wonder that the canal metropolis gets particularly crowded. But what if you need a breather from the hustle and bustle of the big city? One of our favorite quick escapes is to go cycling through the Waterland nature reserve north of Amsterdam. Let yourself be surprised by the city’s idyllic hinterland; where green meadows, cows and farms are so much closer than you think.…

When Jossie imagines a map of Europe, she doesn’t think in terms of roads, she sees waterways instead. Jossie is a sailor with all her heart and soul. For more than 20 years she navigated Europe’s rivers, large and small, for tour operators. More recently, however, she swapped the steering wheel for the desk chair: Jossie is now responsible for developing our new boat bike tours. From time to time, you can still find her back on the water, as Jossie joins our cycling cruises to learn how guests experience…