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Can you imagine a better job? Our colleague Jossie and her companion Lenny got to travel around France by bike and boat for us. Why? To review all the intricacies of our new tour of Northern Burgundy. It all kicks off on May 23rd and, of course, we want to be sure that everything is perfect as our guests cycle through the rolling hills of Burgundy, cruise down winding river valleys, stroll through quaint French villages, sip the local wine and try other goodies. Fancy a taste? Read Jossie’s travelogue…

In every season, nature surprises us here in Holland with its colors: in spring, a rainbow of flowers pop up everywhere. In fall, the leaves of the trees glow in orange, red and yellow. And summer has its own special color too: purple! In August and September the heather blooms in radiant violet and lends the landscape a certain magic. Do you want to witness this spectacle with your own eyes? Then read on, as our guide José has some great tips on enjoying the heather fields in bloom. Where…

Have you been browsing our website but having trouble making a decision about which tour to take? The Boat Bike Tours website has so many tours on offer: nature-focused, city-focused, tours by sailboat, tours by motor barge, tours in a single country or several. It’s hard to choose! To help you out, here are some questions and some advice to help you make your choice: 1. What country or countries would you like to see? Since we’re based in the Netherlands, it’s not surprising that we have the most tours…

Eelke and his wife Carlijn have been the proud owners of the Lena Maria since 2020. Eelke himself, as the captain, steers the guests of Boat Bike Tours to the most beautiful places in the Netherlands. We talked to Eelke about his great passion for boats, traveling on the Lena Maria and his plans for the future. Eelke can’t really remember when his enthusiasm for ships, boats and life on the water started. “It’s actually always been that way. I spent every spare minute I could on the water,” he…

Holland is famous for its tulips. In fact, our most popular Boat and Bike Tour routes are the springtime ones that center around seeing the tulips. So where are the best tulip fields in Holland? Here are our recommendations: Keukenhof Certainly Keukenhof is the most famous place to see tulips. Claiming to contain about 7 million (!) tulips, it has grown from a castle garden to become an exhibition park: a place for bulb growers to display their wares. The grounds are carefully landscaped to show off the amazingly wide…

The former island of Schokland is located in the middle of the province of Flevoland, an area that’s been reclaimed from the sea. Where the inhabitants once fought against the power of the sea, today it’s a beautiful landscape. This is, of course, because part of the former Zuiderzee was diked in and then drained back in the 1930s. The sea floor dried out and the current Noordoostpolder was created. You can still clearly see that Schokland used to be an island: it’s now a hill surrounded by meadows, which…

Have you ever wondered what happens to the Boat Bike Tour ships in the winter season? Are they still sailing? Or do they just sit in harbors, waiting for the spring? We had a chat with two ship owners, Johan ten Kate and Roy van der Veen, co-owners of two Boat Bike Tour ships: the Princesse Royal (formerly called the Magnifique) and the Fluvius.   Maintenance The short answer to what they do in the winter is maintenance. During the high season, there just isn’t any time to do maintenance.…

Romy from the Boat Bike Tours team swapped her desk for a spot on the Magnifique VI to enjoy a break and experience a trip firsthand. On September 2nd it was finally time to board the Magnifique IV for our cycling vacation from Amsterdam to Bruges. Our group of four ladies could hardly wait! Once on board we were warmly welcomed and the special corona measures were explained to us. Everybody followed them carefully and we didn’t feel unsafe for a moment. Thanks to this there was a wonderful vacation…

This is a bike tour that you’ll never forget: visit real historical windmills, take a walk on a North Sea beach and cycle through colorful tulip fields. Today we will take you on one of the most beautiful bike routes that you can experience: our Tulip Tours. See 5 highlights of this route and discover how varied a day on a bike in North Holland can be!     1. Holland like in a picture book: Zaanse Schans It doesn’t get more Dutch than this! Windmills, a wooden shoe workshop,…

This summer has shown that we can travel again. Even though there were still some restrictions, our tours could go ahead and the guests were enthusiastic. At the moment everything looks like we can pull out all the stops in our 2022 season. We’re all really looking forward to the new season! So what can you expect at Boat Bike Tours next year? In this interview, our company boss Laurens Winkel reveals our new plans!   The travel program for 2022 is ready. What’s new at Boat Bike Tours? We…