Reviews

Our Boat-bike tour/ island hopping was great because of a wonderful staff, crew, and chef. Also, of course, the ship Leafde fan Frislan is magnificent and comfortable. And the chosen route offered us a wide variety of the local culture.
It was very impressive to watch just Captain Floris and crew Taeme dock her, just the two of them.
The food prepared by Chef Peter was over-the-top wonderful, delicious and beautiful. The carry-away lunches were simple and created by us so we could get just as much and choose what we wanted, a simple antidote to the rich dinners Which we could persuade ourselves we had earned, usually biking for miles into a headwind. The morning breakfasts were wonderful, starting with a huge bowl of delicious yogurt and cut up fruit and muesli.
Tammy was a very good biking leader,!excellent in her management and decision making. Meakie was also very good and probably learning from Tamara’s excelllent model.
Floris was an excellent captain, not only a superb seaman but also a great story teller, raconteur, historian, and jolly presence.

There is one area that was a bit difficult, that was the difference and potential
Conflict between e-bikes and
Regular bikes, which are inherently slower. Both Tammy and Maekie handled this well, but the people on e-bikes were often a bit impatient with the slower ones. Perhaps they should be in different groups?
The scenery and sailing amidst beautiful historic vessels was unforgettable!
All in all I had a wonderful time! And would not hesitate to recommend it to all.

We enjoyed the tasty food each day with lots of fresh fruit. Chef Peter was very good working in that small galley. Servers/hosts were very attentive and efficient. The captain and crew worked hard to resolve the water issues that came up.

The tour guides were very knowledgeable and helpful. The could have made a few less stops on the route, especially on Thursday. We we glad that we could go on our own when needed.

The cabin was clean and comfortable with some exceptions. The water issues early, the heater was set too high, and our AC discharge unit made too much noise.

We were disappointed that the hot tub was not available.

The crew, servers and tour guides all worked very hard to serve us. Overall we were very happy to be part of the trip and will consider going on future cruises.

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.

The cycling part of the trip was good. Cycling through Denmark was more stressful due to narrower paths and locals passing by you with high speed and no warning. Sweden part was more relaxed. Guides were not Danes or Swedes so we missed on some local information.
Advertising this trip as a sailboat and bike is misleading since we used some of the sails for about 4 hours during our one week trip. The sailboat itself is very old, cabins are small and bathrooms even smaller with bad plumbing. There is no ventilation of any kind and everything in our cabin was dump with water running down the walls in bathroom. We used Boat and Bike twice before and conditions were much better on both of them.
It didn’t help that 10 people out of 32 guests got, at some point, stomach problems (vomiting and diarrhea).
We had a medical emergency on board and one person needed to be evacuated. To that the crew responded very professional and effective.

Our tour guides, Hugo and Marco were amazing. The itinerary was beautiful and interesting. We’re just basking in the glow of a wonderful trip. Thanks a ton!

This was the first trip of this kind by this crew and guides. It was my second trip with Boat Bike and I was embarrassed to have recommended this trip. Boat Bike did not train their guides on this destination. We could have done this as a self-guided trip no problem because the guides added little value. They were absolutely wonderful women and we liked them very much but they had not been trained to do this job. The routes were great but there were few excursions, little evidence of advance planning for breaks and lunch locations, and no info about the culture or history of what we saw on the route.
Do not take the Antigua mid summer!! It was May and quite cool (about 10-15 C at night outside temperature) but the rooms were hot.
The crew and crew culture led by Captain Douwe were fantastic. We helped hoist the sails and got a lesson about the ship from Sarah (fantastic). The food was great.

Well organized, great guide, bike paths and itinerary.

We had the best time ever with Vera’s well oiled guiding skills she never lost her smile throughout our vacation. From Vanessa’s amazing cuisine to Angelo’s gentleness and Salvatore’s impeccable steering this was a journey of a lifetime . The beautiful landscapes, the variety of the different sites and great weather all added to the success of this fabulous journey.Thank you and now where to next???

Wonderful time: superb food, good company, beautiful routes (especially late in the week), and well-planned and executed tours. Early on, I’d have liked less talk and more pedaling, but by the end of the week, I was very happy with the tour overall.

One caveat: we assumed that the boat would depart Venice on night one, so spent a couple of days touring Venice on our own before the trip commenced. When the first day or so of the tour was devoted to highlighting things in the Venice area, we ended up re-visiting places we’d already visited on our own. Other than that, an extremely well-curated experience. Highly recommended!

From the moment we walked on board our experience was exceptional. The food, the service, the staff, all exceeded our expectations. The staff went out of their way to be helpful and accommodating, especially as there was a large group of us. It presented as friendly, well organized (thanks to Leslie) and efficient. The bikes were well maintained and good quality. The rides everyday were, easy, well marked, scenic and beautiful. Our last day thru stunning Austria will have us coming back. Thank you for a truly memorable holiday.