Reviews

The crew were outstanding. The ship immaculate and clean. For the price for a suite, it was a very good deal. The rooms are cleaned daily. (bring your own was cloth) The add-ons for drinks were a bit pricey and if you are a white wine drinker like me, you get about a shot+ of wine, and not a very good wine. The rides were a good length. We would have appreciated more commentary from the guides as we rode. There was also not enough time at the stops to visit the cute towns at length. That was usually less than an hour. However, the Ghent evening river boat tour is a can’t miss! The food was amazing, thank you check Michel. Ingabor (hostess)and Hilko (ride leader) were also outstanding!

It was a very well run tour. The Food was excellent. The only two faults we could say was at the start of the Tour an explanation of how the bikes operated both Electric and ordinary bikes eg: the lock on the bikes, the braking systems, how the paniers fitted on. The daily maps could have approximate distances in Klms to landmarks rather than just sowing where to go. Maybe a bit more up to date music to cater for younger tour participants eg 70/80/90s music as well as older participants.

You’ll read many reviews lauding the beauty and the fun of the biking portion of the trip (ours included), so I will not repeat them here. What was VERY disappointing were major deficiencies on our barge, The Fluvius. Sanitary concerns: The 6 cabins on the lower deck area we occupied were plagued with 4 days of fouls smells that emanated from our toilets. Our guide occupied one of the rooms and he called the toilets “volcanoes” because they bubbled loudly and off-gassed all day and night. One day we returned to our bathroom to find toilet waste splattered all over our sink (as it bubbled up from the sink drain pipe). Absolutely disgusting! We had to use a shared bath on the upper deck for washing and tooth brushing for the remainder of the trip due to to risk of infection/sickness. Inadequate ventilation and air conditioning: The cabin air conditioner didn’t work properly for 1-2 days. Even more aggravating was the intolerable high heat level in the dining room during 3 consecutive dinners. All of the guests were sweating profusely – really. WiFi – this isn’t 1990 so why did all 42 guests have to endure virtually non-functioning wifi? It was beyond slow (anyone remember dial-up modems?). Some days it simply was down. They brought a tech on board over 2 days to fix it and when he left it was even worse. The staff was fully aware of this and even had me go onto a sister barge to use their network one day. As mentioned, the biking was fabulous. The staff were stellar and the food and drink were fine. Our very strong suggestion is to use Boat Bike Tours but to NOT travel on the Fluvius, but rather, another vessel.

We had a great experience overall. The bikes were well-maintained and rode well. The routes were interesting and beautiful. The routes were fairly easily to follow. The staff worked hard making the bikes readily available at the destinations first thing in the morning. The breakfasts were excellent and the dinners were quite good. Sack lunches could be improved- the sandwiches were very small and the fruit was limited. We were happy to have lunch on our own but not all rides had restaurants or cafes readily available. The room on the ship was very comfortable.

Our Boat bike tour was great fun, well organised and well provisioned. i would recommend it to anyone wanting to see the countryside of the Netherlands including the islands of Texel and Terschelling and have a bit of sailing fun. The team looking after us were professional and informative. Our cook was excellent!

Overall we thoroughly enjoyed our holiday with Boat Bike Tours. Communication beforehand was excellent, and we liked the relaxed style of the tour. Food, produced by chef under difficult circumstances, was excellent, and staff members were universally helpful and friendly. The maps and information provided by the company were great and we enjoyed the evening walking tours. Our cabin was compact but comfortable with just enough storage (though there’s scope for that to be improved by a better design). The ship’s refurbishment wasn’t properly completed for the week we went, but didn’t have too much of an impact on us personally (unlike the crew). The start and end of the holiday were both marred by the ship being delayed (hence the four-star rating). Neither delay was caused by the company itself, but its communication wasn’t good, so that we were left wondering what had happened. We believe there is room for improvement here, and no doubt the company will have learned some lessons for the future. Nonetheless we have subsequently had an open and honest explanation and full apology from Boat Bike Tours, which have assuaged any concerns we had about booking with them again. We’re already looking forward to planning our next trip with them now!

Japka (younger tour leader) can be less condescending to passengers who do not follow every bike ride. Everyone shd b allowed to make a choice even if it’s a boat bike tour

Our trip was great. Alex, our guide was knowledgeable, funny and approachable. The food was outstanding with several local dishes that we all enjoyed. The bike tours were accessible for everyone and the suggested wineries and historic stops were interesting. I would definitely recommend this tour.

The Magnifique ll is a beautiful, comfortable, luxury barge. The staterooms are quite spacious and nicely appointed. We especially loved the air conditioned cabins after a long hot day of cycling. The crew of 7 each excel in making the cruise exceptional. The chef prepared 5 star dinners each night, catered to the children on our cruise and provided variations to accommodate the vegetarians. The guides Ari and Wilmi carefully planned beautiful rides each day that took us through some of Holland and Belgium’s most beautiful cities and towns. Stops were plentiful at small local businesses where we could shop, eat and drink. The hot tub on the upper deck was a treat on cool evenings or to soothe sore muscles. Our group made good use of the full bar where the beer was icy and the drinks and conversation were always good.

We had a wonderful time, this was a great way to see the Amalfi Coast and the islands. The crew looked after us really well, the food was good, Clement our guide was incredibly helpful and informative, the group (of 10 people) was friendly and enriching. I think we all learned a lot, and managed to see many things that ordinary tourists miss out on. Thanks guys!