Reviews

It is lovely to bike through the countryside. Very good biking paths. Easy to have your own cabin the hole week and the meals onboard. Very social staying with other guest and bike in your own speed during day time.

Well organized with excellent interesting places to visit in the evening. Route was mainly through interesting countryside on tarmac surfaces. Navigation app was a joy to use and if you deviated from the route it told you within a short distance. Excellent feature. Free coffee and tea in the afternoon was good but would have been better if not restricted to 1 hour

We had a really great group of people on our boat. I enjoyed how we were able to all interact and socialize with each other and make new friends. Our crew was fantastic, the food was delicious and everyone was very accommodating. Our bike guides did a great job of giving us a good mix of enjoyable breaks and area history. We had fantastic volunteer sweepers. Unfortunately for them, this was a responsibility that may have detracted from the enjoyment of their own holiday. I don t know how this normally works on the guided tours. The accommodations were ok. The cabins were a little worn and damp. The bathrooms were better than I expected. There seemed to be a lot of variation in the HVAC system and the ability to cool the 5 rooms that our group occupied. Some rooms were more comfortable than others. Luckily we didn t spend much time in our rooms. The upper deck, lounge and dining room were nice. Overall it was a wonderful experience and a great way to explore the country/countries.

We had a thoroughly enjoyable week cycling from Amsterdam to Bruges. The boat was really comfortable and clean. We paid extra for the upper deck cabin, and it was worth it. The food was excellent, although the quantities were erring on the side of too much. The basic organisation was very good. I particulalry liked the navigation app that helped us keep on track. The guide was very attentive to everyone’s needs, but was not always clear on some details, which caused a little confusion at times. I would certainly do another holiday with them.

Had a fabulous time on boat and bike tour. Entire staff was wonderful. Food was phenomenal especially the dinners. That lasagna made from beets and carrot was delicious. Bike equipment ran well. Would absolutely plan another trip.

Staying on a barge was great and meals were very good. The test ride didn’t happen which would have been good to get used to bikes. Daily briefings could have been more in depth, with some days the guide had not been supplied with correct maps/routes to display. Bikes were surprisingly comfy and good.

We really enjoyed the boat and barge experience!!!! What a neat way to see the countryside, charming villages and impressive cities between Bruges and Amsterdam. After a great day of riding and seeing the sites, it was fun returning to the barge to rest and relax. Most of the staff were very friendly, accommodating and helpful. While the breakfast and lunches lacked variety, the suppers were absolutely delicious / WOW!!!! A few concerns: Tea and Coffee: We could rarely get back to the boat for tea and coffee between 3-4:30; we found this frustrating. We would have appreciated tea and coffee readily available all day and included in the price! On one of the days, the boat was delayed due to issues with canal scheduling no offer of the missed coffee and tea was offered. The evenings we could depart the boat to explore a town or city was often a disappointment because many of the shops and restaurants were already closed. On the day of the Kinderdyk, we had a long day of cycling with a shortened time frame due to another canal scheduling issue. We missed out on tours, shops and other experiences as we had to race back in order to catch the boat on time. One starts a trip with a great deal of enthusiasm and anticipation. We suggest you don t make your employees try to sell a drink pkg for an outrageous sum and make this one of the first encounters the cyclists have with the staff. After having already spent thousands of dollars (with additional currency expenditures) this was a complete  turn-off . Overall, the boat and barge experience was very memorable; a very neat concept that allows for a great adventure and we would recommend it to others! Thank you.

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.

I was so impressed with the crew, the marvelous enthusiasm of the guides, and the boat. A beautiful boat of high quality craftsmanship. The countryside was beautiful and the chef Sidi’s dinners were incredible. He even put together a Canadian Thanksgiving dinner for us.

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.