Reviews

This was the second time that bike boat tours ran this tour and they are working very hard to make this unique experience terrific. The team is dedicated to making this as safe and interesting as possible and provide first rate service.

Their dedicated Egyptologists are an essential part of the tour which is absolutely packed with visit to the major sites and those off the beaten track. If you choose to participate in all activities you will be very busy and may need a vacation after this adventure.

The boat experience on the NEBU is first class with excellent food and a crew that works exceptionally hard and is very attentive.

Cycling component is unlike anything you can imagine. There is NO cycling presence, culture or infrastructure in Egypt. Therefore you are accompanied by police escort, ambulance, a mechanic, and riders from the Boat bike team. This results in effectively a parade like procession with corresponding interest from locals and is an amazing experience. With the use of e-bikes the parade speed is anywhere from 12-20km typically and there are rest stops every hour. Do not expect a grand fondo/tour de France type or intense fitness ride. Do expect that you will always be riding single file over variable road surfaces requiring some bike handling skills and the need to pay attention.

This is a unique way to experience Egypt and offers much more than a typical boat and tour bus shuttle service. I expect that future tours of Egypt will continue to evolve and improve as the Boat Bike team seem to be looking for constructive feedback throughout our tour.

The trip in the Southern Dalmatian region far exceeded expectations!
The guides were knowledgeable and patient , friendly, courteous, professional, human ( lost their own phone , communication challenges but handled well ) . Crew staff were courteous and professional.
Food was delicious and selection very accommodating . Quarters were amazingly comfortable and clean !
Highly recommend!!

It took an incredible amount of coordination for BBT to pull this trip together. This is a fascinating trip for the experienced, confident cyclist who is able to navigate occasional congested traffic (which is sometimes going the wrong way) and maneuver through cars, trucks, tuk tuks, donkey carts, pedestrians, motorcyclists, and local cyclists. Local police would at times stop all traffic to allow our group to pass smoothly through a busy area.

This is not cycle touring where you can obliviously cycle along just enjoying the surrounding scenery. Some of the paths are off-road style riding. Even paved roads are often lumpy, potholed, with sandy spots and irregular surfaces, so you need to keep your eye on the upcoming road at all times. We rode along the shoulders of regular, heavily-trafficked tourist and commuting roads and also along backroads through some rural farmland and small villages. Since our group was definitely a novelty, groups of children were running out into the road “helloing” and trying to high five us. Locals were taking photos of the tourists rather than the other way around.

Our cycling guides were fantastic in every way, but I felt that 40 people (35 guests and 5 guides) riding together was way too large a group for safety. Prior to booking I had been told that I would be riding with a group of about 20, and even the day of our arrival we were told that we would be separated into two groups for riding. However, when the actual cycle touring began we were told that Egyptian governmental regulations require police escorts for cycling, so we needed to ride as one large group. If this concerns you, ask before you book.

Starting in ElGouna was a wise choice with a lovely hotel there, and it gave us the opportunity to visit the temple at Dendera while enroute to the Nile. This temple is rather infrequently visited, not nearly as crowded as many others, and was one of my favorites of the entire trip. 

Our ship Nebu was over the top deluxe accommodation and way fancier than I would normally book. The meals we had on the ship were consistently the best of the entire trip. As far as meals, throughout the trip there was simply way too much food on offer, and it was wasteful.

The Renaissance Cairo Mirage City Hotel at the end of the trip was a fine lodging with mostly mediocre food. But, for a tourist, the location was terrible; I assume that it was chosen for its proximity to the airport. This hotel is located and isolated in a newer area, and there is absolutely nothing around–no little shops, no restaurants, no grocer or convenience store, nothing to walk to or easily reach. For food you are limited to the hotel’s restaurants.  Excursions from the hotel with the group and on my own after the tour ended were a .75 to 1.25 hour drive each way. I suggest trying to find a more centrally located hotel for future tours.

Our Egyptologists–Maged, Mona and Amina–were unbelievably knowledgeable and also genuinely kind, caring, and helpful people. The tour did a great job of mixing the traditional must-see tourist sites with parts of Egypt that the typical tourist is not exposed to. So, we got it alI! By the end of the trip I felt that all those disparate pieces of info our egyptologists gave us coalesced into an understanding of Egypt both in the past and today.

I have now seen everything I wanted to see in Egypt. If it weren’t for the size of the cycling group, this would have been a 5* review.

Extra notes: February is when the sugar cane fields around Luxor are burnt. This causes terrible air quality, and some people were definitely struggling with this. This is not a country for skimpy cycling attire, and even though temps during our trip were 15 degrees warmer than average, while cycling I felt appropriately dressed for this culturally conservative country in more modest attire–a long sleeved shirt with either cycling capris or a skirt with cycling shorts underneath. The great group of cyclists on our tour were from 40ish to early 80s and came from all over the world.

Egypt Boat & Bike: Every day presented a new incredible adventure, like nothing we’ve done before. Expect a completely different, warm culture (sadly, including garbage in the trenches/rivers in most small towns) but you will not find kinder, more earnest people than Egyptians! People were excited and thankful we were there showing up with huge smiles, taking our picture, offering high fives as we rode by – police escorts announced our arrival like rockstars. Egypt is incredibly safe, but given the newness, and hectic traffic, an escort was necessary. We enjoyed dodging donkeys, tuk tuks, the townspeople, with occasional gravel and sandy roads. The Nebu boat, its staff and food were First Class. The cabins are better than shown, each with its own living room. Food was amazing – kudos to the staff and chef. The excursions were delightful and the guides were passionate and true Egyptologist. Being the first Boat/bike trip in Egypt, a few glitches were to be expected, but with some tweaks, we highly recommend this trip for the experience of a lifetime. Fingers crossed the Egyptian government realizes what an opportunity these tours present and allows even more access.

The Family of Boat Bike Tours is wonderful. They are caring, helpful and always have the clients need at the top of their list. They helped me secure my lost luggage, find a solution in between and made sure all of my needs were taken care of. The Egypt tour was a once in a lifetime experience and we were so happy to be a part of this inaugural trip. The food was amazing and accommodations off the chart! We went with a higher level cabin and well worth it. Our hotel rooms were above and beyond wonderful and transfers and details were on target. We have already booked our 2nd trip to Europe this year with them! Rudi is a mastermind with his ideas, Magid, Mona and Amana were true leaders and Galal is a true professional while guiding us on the roads. We are still taking in all the places we went while combing through our photos and it is now sinking in what a phenomenal trip we had the opportunity to be a part of. Thank you so much for everything.

Did the Passau to Vienna bike cruise in 2023 with my 16 and 15 YO teenagers using non electric bikes. The boat ride continued circled back at Bratislava(no stop though). Very enjoyable trip, you have plenty of to bike during the day. Dinners are of good quality. The night before they tell/show you what’s coming. you might need a little complement to the lunchbox the provide sometimes. Linz, Grein, Krems, Wachau valley: all better seen by bike. Don’t miss Schloss Eckartsau.
Pascal,
Québec, Canada

The crew was FANTASTIC especially Marilu our biking guide. Ten stars to Marilu and the crew! The cabins were very small as to be expected. You have to put your toilet paper IN THE TRASH CAN so don’t forget! The food was DIVINE- really top notch. The biking was amazing- I wasn’t familiar with ebikes before we went so I had been training on a push bike getting up to 25 miles a day- not necessary. The ebikes are easy and the guides are very helpful in training you. That being said I wouldn’t do the trip if I had had a recent surgery or wasn’t in reasonably good health. We didn’t get to go the islands advertised because of weather- but the islands we did go to were incredible. GET SEASICKNESS MEDICATION from your doctor before you go- I didn’t know that I would get so seasick since I never had before. You have to wash out your underwear/bike clothes and dry them on the line on the deck so be prepared for that. I would get the hotel transfers next time as the taxis were on strike when we got into the airport- super difficult to navigate. The passengers were lovely but if you’re an introvert be prepared for 24 hour socializing and drinking. Marilu made it so fun with the games and classes. All in all it was an amazing trip and I can’t wait to try another one!

Enjoyed our trip on the Fleur in September 2025. Chef Steffie provided wonderful dinners. The e-bikes allowed folks at various fitness levels to complete 24- to 40-mile rides (our choice) daily. Low water levels meant we didn’t get to tour all of the towns on the schedule, but the tour guides, Monique and Desiree, were wonderfully creative, and we got to know some areas better than we otherwise would have. Quarters were a bit cramped, but that was to be expected. When sharing notes with others on the trip, we found we had a common complaint — the company only communicated with one person in each party. Communications need to be shared with all members of the party. All in all, I had a good time and have fond memories of this experience.

Our guide! Chrisha was amazing. She performed above and beyond expectations. She was poised, smart, calm and had a great personality. She took care of everyone’s needs and she was a lot of fun.

I never forget everything during cycling journey, all of us really enjoy cycling fun

Loved the guided bike tours through the Belgium and Holland countryside.

Boat Bike Tours kept us up to date with all information. Any questions were answered in a timely manner. The barge was as described, in fact, better than we expected.