Reviews

My partner and I had a terrific holiday on the Zwaantje. The captain and crew were the best you could find. The food was amazing and plentiful. The cycling guide Fred was a character and kept you amused for two weeks with plenty of riding, coffee hunting in the morning and beer hunting in the afternoon. Would recommend this to all my friends that want to see off the beaten track villages, historic towns and keep fit at the same time.

This was my first cycling holiday and unusually I was travelling alone. I didn’t know quite what to expect but all my worries were soon dispelled from the moment I arrived at the boat. The MS Zwaantje is a purpose built barge with everything needed for a comfortable and pleasant stay. The cabins are quite sufficient for two people and I heard no complaints whatsoever about the size, facilities or comfort. The captain, crew and guide were cheerful, efficient and welcoming. Nothing was too much trouble for them and I felt that they enjoyed giving the best possible experience. The food served was plentiful and of a very high standard, my waist size grew despite all the cycling! The cycle trips and evening walks were well planned and flexible depending on the weather and the ability of the cycling group. Cycling with a group of people of different nationalities was enjoyable and as there were a few English speakers on the tour, it was conducted in English, an important point for me as I have no other language skills at all! Even the group of people on the tour went out of their way to speak English so that I was included in the evening gatherings. The tour involves some beautiful scenery, quiet roads and reasonable tracks, there was very little time spent on busier roads but even those had cycle lanes. The bikes were of good quality, well adjusted and well maintained. The pannier bag supplied was solid and more than adequate to carry the essentials (water, food etc.) and other items for the day or room for any items purchased during the day. Our guide was able to sort out any problems we did encounter (puncture). You need to be relatively fit to do this tour (or hire an e-bike) and there is always the option to stay on board and take a rest day. At the end of the tour I would have happily stayed on board and done the tour back again from Epernay to Paris! Give half a chance I would go back and do it all again.

We did the Paris to Epernay Champagne tour in early July. We were blessed with amazing weather (no rain at all while cycling). The crew of the Zwaantje are truly outstanding. They work together like a well oiled machine and always with a smile on their faces. The on-board meals, served ‘family style’ were plentiful and equal to many luxury sea-cruise lines we’re taken before. The cabins are small, but you’re only there to sleep and shower, so they’re sufficient. They were cleaned each day while we were out. The sundeck (roof) was great for relaxing (and dancing some nights) after dinner. Martijn (captain/owner) altered the morning routine a couple of days at our group’s request to give us a breakfast cruise along the river. He indicated he may add this to the itinerary for future trips. It was beautiful to enjoy the early morning sun on the roof as we glided along. The bicycles are all Treks for the non-ebike versions. Great shape and easy to adjust. The cycling part of the tour was wide ranging from flat to steeper hills (both up and down). Our guide, Mijntje, speaks English, Dutch, German, Italian, and French. As we explored the French countryside, we’d stop for pictures and information about the areas we visited. We also visited a few champagne houses, from large commercial operations to small family run enterprises. Our favorite was Champage Nowak. Be sure to buy some bubbles when you are there! Every evening there was an optional (no charge) walking tour of the town where we were moored. Led by Mijntje. As the Euro Cup was on, we also went to a few pubs to cheers on the teams in the evening. I highly recommend this tour. We’ll be back to go on the Bruges to Amsterdam beer tour!

This was our second time using Boat Bike Tours for our trip. The first trip was Bruge to Amsterdam, this latest trip was Paris to Epernay. First off, a boat bike tour is really a great way to travel if you enjoy biking. You get to see a lot of the country and small towns without ever having to pack up and move hotels every day, you never have to figure out what restaurant to eat at, what part of town to stay in or deal with driving a car in a new country. You get to see so much all from the view of your bike saddle while being in the outdoors. The crew and staff on the Zwaantje were fantastic, pleasant, the boat was clean, well equipped and the meals were top notch. Martijn is an experienced and funny captain, he and his wife made everyone feel comfortable. Our chef and housekeeper were a lovely couple, friendly, great food, always ready to help with any request and just really nice people. Gert our guide was very knowledgeable about things and a very good cyclist but I felt sorry because he was constantly having to make trip adjustments and concessions so much of his time was trying to figure alternate routes. Our problem was with a large portion of our tour group itself. The tour states that the riding is somewhat challenging with hills and long rides however 16 out of the 22 people on our tour were members of a bicycle tour group in America who were not up to the challenges of the tour. Since they could not handle the hills and cycling routes our tour guide was forced to make changes to accomodate them constantly due to time constraints or because they simply would not ride. We were constantly waiting at the top of climbs for stragglers and once they arrived they demanded rest. Within 30 minutes the group would be so stretched that we would have to continually stop and wait for slow and struggling riders to catch up. There were complaints about how difficult the riding was but yet everyone demanded to ride every day. We missed out on some attractions and towns and had several day rides cut short and diverted because we were running late or the group was simply not up to the challenge. And since they were the majority their complaints over ruled the rest of the group and we were forced to go along with their reduced itinerary. Prior to the trip, my wife and I read the description very closely and were even worried about our cycling skills on the trip, we were fine, it is a bit challenging but not over difficult but I do not think anyone in the cycling group took heed in the literature and just decided since they had cycling shorts and gear that they could cycle up and down the river valleys. Also one other complaint not related to Boat Bike or it’s staff was that it was clearly stated that breakfast was at 8-9 am and early coffee at 7:30 if you wanted… We listened and adhered to this request but the cycling group was up early around 6:30 am with no respect to those that may be sleeping or having a quiet morning. They would be yelling “Good morning” to each other across the boat and in the below decks, using hair dryers before the requested time of 7:30 and generally just being loud with out any concern for others. When we arrived for breakfast at 8 (the assigned time) the breakfast choices were picked over and scraps remained and people were reaching around us and pushing in to make their lunches while we were just trying to cobble a breakfast together. Since they were all familiar with each other they saw nothing wrong with it. The captain repeatedly told them when breakfast was but that went in one ear and out the other. Their complaining and lack of cycling skill had our tour guide scrambling to find alternate routes and try to make it easy for them. We did have fun, we went on our own the last day and had a long lovely ride and lunch in a town we happened upon… the scenery was beautiful and the attractions we did get to see were appreciated although sometimes rushed since we had to begin our slow bike ride in order to make it back to the boat in time. Altogether a great staff, ride, experience… my suggestion is possibly find out if there is a large group booked on your dates because they can take over a tour with their sheer numbers and make it into their tour instead of the planned tour.

Excellent bateau, excellente équipe sur le bateau. Le guide était une personne très instruite et pas du tout avare de ses explications; dommage qu’il n’attendait jamais le dernier de la file de 20 personnes pour les commencer.. et dommage aussi qu’il n’a pas adapté sa vitesses à la majorité des cyclistes. Malheureusement le descriptif n’indiquait pas que les sorties à vélo était OBLIGATOIREMENT EN GROUPE. Or, un groupe de 20 personnes, c’est pénible, tant pour le guide que pour les cyclistes. De plus, tout le monde n’a pas forcément envie de rouler ensemble et à la même vitesse et surtout de faire les sempiternelles visites de mémoriaux aux guerres. C’était pour moi la 4ème fois que je faisais un voyage avec BoatBikes et c’était aussi la 1ère fois que je rencontrais cette situation, je devrai faire une demande d’information explicite la prochaine fois à ce sujet. Je voulais aussi me rendre sur le bateau avec mon propre vélo électrique (ce que j’ai déjà fait au préalable), ce qui m’a été refusé lors de la réservation car il y avait manque de place sur le bateau, ce qui s’est avéré faux. Mon amie et moi sommes tombées avec tout un groupe d’américains qui faisaient ce voyage ensemble, donc nous étions un “appendice” de ce groupe.