Reviews

Boat was quiet and had clean and modern rooms. Breakfast had plenty of choices and dinners were very good. Appreciated being to fix good lunch each day. The e-bikes were easy to ride and comfortable. Crew was very attentive and helpful. Guide Jan was friendly, knowledgeable and good to work with throughout.

We had a wonderful trip on the de Holland from Bruges to Amsterdam. The cycling brought us through lovely landscapes and villages of Belgium and the Netherlands. Cycling there made me wish we could have such well thought out cycling routes everywhere in Canada, along with the positive mentality that the Belgians and Dutch have towards cyclists and cycling. The Riding with GPS app was quite good though improvements could be made to include more info on where to stop en route to see specific places of interest, or restaurants etc. The map of the routes with the numbers was at times not well explained at the previous nights info session or was incorrect, or the signs difficult to find or see. The concept though is brilliant! The food was fine, dinner portions were sometimes too large, and it seems that there was a lot of waste, especially with the salads at dinner, that were not as popular. Sadly, we learned that any leftover food was thrown out. Additionally, there was little variety with breakfast or the assortment of “make your own sandwich” foods for lunch. Perhaps skipping the lunch idea altogether and providing people with the names of restaurants and eateries along the route, where they can support the “buy local” idea would be more suitable. The dessert and tea/coffee time in the afternoon was much appreciated. The staff were quite nice and worked hard at their jobs. Asking for group tips at the end of our trip was awkward and left me wondering if they weren’t being paid well enough. Is there another way to look at compensating them for a job well done? Finding the ship at the end of a ride was problematic on occasion. A better way of informing cyclists of the location of the boat might be considered. The bikes, both regular and e-bikes were good. As was the locking mechanism and handy pannier. The tour leader was available to help with any bike problems, though thankfully we did not need his help. The rooms and bathrooms were great. Comfortable beds, hot water for showers etc. The other cyclists on board were so nice to meet and enjoy this shared experience with. There were Canadians, some Brazilians, Americans and Germans. Overall, it was a great trip and I would recommend Boat Bike Tours to others and we will likely do another trip.

We truly enjoyed our trip. And are planning another Boat & Bike for the future. The staff was wonderful. Everyone was professional, extremely helpful ane hard working. Cabin was clean. The bike routes were well planned. Belgium and Holland were beautiful. The food was good, dinners did seem to fall off a bit later in the week. The only negative was the system of paying for drinks was confusing.

The crew were great and we really enjoyed the food,the dinners were delicious. I would suggest greater variety, even on a rotating basis for the breakfast and lunch options. While we enjoyed the snacks & coffee that were placed out upon return of the cycling day, we felt that those foods could have been left out for a longer time, those who cycled at a slower pace couldn’t take advantage of this. Additionally, we felt that water, tea, and coffee should have been free at all times. When one cyclist suffered a head injury shortly after leaving the boat and his wife requested a cup of tea while he awaited medical attention, it seemed petty to charge him for that tea, as his wife was told he’d need to be charged for it. The injury happened after his wheel had fallen off, a free cup of tea seems very little to ask. While nothing can be done about weather related delays and issues, the communication was poor and slow to be shared. We were left with questions about why some changes had occurred, a transparent and full sharing of information as it became available would have reduced frustration, for example, the first day’s warm up loop was cancelled, with no explanation given. We enjoyed the riding routes, the communities we saw, and the people we met over the course of the week. As was mentioned, the crew of the boat were hardworking, friendly and helpful. Hopefully our feedback regarding the other issues can be food for thought on some positive changes you may wish to make to improve the experience for your future guests.

What a disaster. The primary staff were surly and not hospitable at all; 4 bikes ‘broke’ causing injuries (loose handlebars, front wheel fell off, e bike ‘e’ not working’, seat fell off. I am not making this up). Breakfast and lunch were the same every day. Would NOT recommend. The tour was pretty although there was no tour guide available despite it being advertised as such, and when there was an accident (seat falling off) they didn’t answer the phone or call back. Very frustrated and disappointed.

We loved the scenery along the way. This is our third Bike and Boat and it was my favorite bike rides. Using the Ride GPS made navigating our rides very easy. The crew was very kind & helpful. My only suggestion is that it’d be nice to have more variety for breakfasts and lunches. Snacks too for the rides would have been nice (like granola bars, chips, candy bars, etc)

Every day we rode through amazing landscapes and every evening came back to the boat for a great meal and a chance to share our experiences with other guests and the crew. The boat felt like a great home away from home, very comfortable, clean and organized the food was plentiful and yummy We loved the fact that we were able to see so much of the country from a different Vantage point, back roads farm fields, small communities And cities, we saw it all. We also really appreciated that we could ride by ourselves or ride in small groups. That was something we could decide on a daily basis. We had all the information get to our daily destination. Once when we got a little lost, we were able to connect with our tour leader and get back to the boat! We would definitely consider doing another boat and bike tour and have recommended boat and bike tours to our friends at home. Even though we do ride bikes at home pretty regularly. I would recommend choosing an E bike for comfort. One suggestion I might have is to establish a WhatsApp call board or WhatsApp connection with everybody at the beginning of the trip so that it’s easy to reach out to people if there’s any changes, for example if the boat is docking at a different location.

The bicycling is fantastic, the rooms on the De Holland are very nice. Breakfasts were good, lunch was repetitive, lack of fruit, dinners were mostly good. Electric bicycles were great, crew was great. The GPS needs to have waypoints shown on the app. Written daily route instructions could be much more clearly presented. Overall great experience.

We had a tandem bike which was comfortable and reliable. Captain Klaas was very entertaining and sociable. The bike routes around The Netherlands were quite well laid out and the scenery was beautiful.

We’ve never done any cruise-type activity. We have a horror of those large ships like floating, waste-dumping Disney World hotels. We loved the small barge. Angela, our guide, was patient, thorough, and friendly, without being intrusive. The bikes were fine, although we would have preferred to have our own clip-ins spun on for the week. The meals were interesting and varied. The staff were friendly and polite. The app was highly useful. Netherlands is a great country for biking and otherwise.