Belgium Bike + Boat Tour Reviews — 961 to 990 of 1017

The bikes provided were crap. You could still see the cobwebs. What was particularly egregious was the lack of a decent bicycle pump to bring our tires up to pressure on a daily basis.

Could not have asked for a better experience. From the start the help and communication was excellent, the staff at Tripsite was superb. The trip itself was great. The staff helpful, the guide did an excellent job.

Absolute top quality from stepping aboard the barge through to saying goodbye at the end! We were made to feel special and they sure delivered.

Was disappointed that there seemed to be less cycling per day that expected from the website description.

With 30 participants cycling I feel it would have been safer and more enjoyable to ride in 2 guided groups. We were initially hesitant to book this, our first group tour
but my husband and i loved the trip. Accommodation and catering on the Magnifique were excellent. The crew and our guide Tom were encouraging and established a friendly, relaxed atmosphere. It was great to meet and cycle with other like minded travellers from USA, Denmark, Germany, Canada and even some other Australians :) We enjoyed cycling on the wonderful cyclepaths in The Netherlands and Belgium. The after dinner town walks gave a great insight into the local areas. We have already recommended this tour to friends and look forward to further adventures! Thank you.

Enjoyed every aspect of the trip.

Overall very satisfied. Felt the food quantity could have been increased but very good.

Cabins were nicer than I expected. We stayed with the guide as found the routes hard to navigate and the guide knew all the great stops. Dinners were good, breakfast and lunches needed more variety by the end of the week. We had fabulous weather and loved the route. Lots to see.

Amsterdam to Bruges was a great first bike trip. Although we averaged 50km/day the pacing allowed much time to soak in the culture and scenery .

We really enjoyed our trip, our guide Thomas was excellent. As always with group travel, the mix was interesting and generally older than us and less fit. We have travelled with a group before but usually we are the oldest so this was different dynamics and did set the tone somewhat. Would look at a trip again when we are older or with our own group to fill the barge.
Thanks,
Lynn

Barge Quo Vadis was intimate and comfortable. Although small, our cabin had sufficient shelving available to store our clothes (we used ebags pouches to keep biking stuff and hanging out later stuff organized). Our very large roller duffels collapsed enough to store under the beds. The bathroom was fine and we eventually realized the shower squeegee was for the floor - to bring the water towards the drain in middle. Wifi was very limited as the captain made his hotspot available to us but that only seemed to work at the end if the dining room closest to his quarters. We would have liked more seating areas as you had a small sofa/ chairs seating area bordering the dining tables but once filled you would have to sit at a dining table to read etc. The outside seating area actually would seat twenty but appeared smaller....would have liked a bigger outside area too. The staff was wonderful. The bikes were great and i loved my ebike (you have to pedal every bit as much as on a regular bike but you are always "assisted" so you never break a sweat or have to huff puff if encountering an incline or a headwind. In truth i probably would have liked some kind of arrangement where we had the option to do a bit more touring on foot/ time in cute little towns, vs all the time on the bike. We did see things I never would have seen on my own and Belgium is fascinating....hence the wish to actually have had a bit more time in towns like Mechelen where we had a one hour lunch stop and then were on our way. For my next trip i would also invest in a pair of rain pants. I did not know about them but all the Swiss ladies jumped into them as well as their rain jackets when clouds opened up three times as we cycled. One other wardrobe tip...we were spending four weeks in Europe and packing was an issue. I did not bring sneakers which i would only have used while biking, then having to lug for three weeks through fashionable France. Instead my black Sketchers, GO WALK line, did the trick for both a great bike shoe and a walking shoe in France.
We really enjoyed the trip in general and would just search out a barge with a bit more public space were we to do a future trip. "

I already have, but warned them about the wind! Which I personally found made the cycling very difficult. I will opt for an electric bike next time.

We highly recommend the Paris to Bruges bike and barge on the Elodie but one must be a strong cyclist as there are hills. The food was really excellent. Comradery among the group was high, and that's one of the great aspects of the trip.

We had a great time and plan on another bike-and-barge trip sometime. We loved the mix of passengers from different countries. Some of the other passengers, using other tour companies, had a few more details of the ports of call, and this would have been helpful for us, and may be a useful selling point for Tripsite.

I loved everything about this trip from the boat, the staff, the bikes and, of course, the scenery. I highly recommend this trip for anyone who likes to take a trip up close and personal.

1) In the boat is possible to rent helmet for EU$ 5/week. This renting is good for travelers that spend more time in Europe. I'm not sure if this information is available in the Tripsite's site.

2) I ordered a E-bike for my wife. In the boat I saw that 2 kinds of E-bike are offered to the customers. My wife would love bike in a more comfortable E-bike.

3) According to the staff of the boat, I should speak German. I don't know the source of this information. This information is used to organize the passengers in the restaurant.

We enjoyed ourselves so much that we are already planning another bike and barge trip. It would have been nice if there were a better split in English speaking guests as most of the guests spoke German and we didn't get a chance to mingle much. Tripsite was very good to work with and we would use this company again. "

We had a fantastic trip we loved everything about it. I would recommend this trip to anyone. The people we met were so nice and helpful and friendly. Our Polish chef on the boat was fantastic.

We were overall extremely pleased with our trip! The only downsound was the infestation of bedbugs... The staff had bites and my husband I had bites as well. The staff took this very seriously and called a Pest Control Company ...they had their rooms treated and ended up treating our room as well. We ended up having to treat our luggage and all personal items upon our return home to Canada.. To make sure we didn't bring any into our home.....Which was quite a chore and inconvenience.

Other than this, it was an awesome time.

Our Brussels to Brugge trip was an incredible experience. The biking was fantastic, the boat was great, and the staff superb. We even traveled with wonderful fellow travelers on the trip! So many kind people. I had heard great things about this trip too but it turned out even better than my expectations! What can I say? The food was excellent. The service was excellent. The camaraderie was wonderful. We were on the Magnifique and it was magnificent. Thank you!-Archie, Nancy and Zach August 2015

My husband and I(in our 60"s) were on the Sailing Home a month ago with 6 friends from Bruges to Amsterdam. We had the most wonderful time. Everything about this trip exceeded my expectations. The boat, our accommodations, the food, the crew were all excellent and I can't say enough about our guide Hugo. He was amazing and really made our trip memorable. He was funny and very knowledgeable about everything we saw so we got info about the countries and the politics. I highly recommended this fun trip for all ages and biking abilities.

I traveled aboard the Fiep from Amsterdam to Bruges* in July of 2013, and it was a wonderful way to see this part of the world. (*It looks like the itinerary has changed slightly, but on our trip the boat stopped in Ghent and we had to take a train back and forth to Bruges, which was a disappointment I didn't discover until after booking.) I traveled solo but was matched with a wonderful roommate. The accommodations were fine - I believe they've added air conditioning now, which will be a great improvement! - and the crew and chef were terrific. Our tour guide was adequate, and we all agreed that with a large group of 26 she probably should have had some assistance with wrangling everyone, but there were only minor glitches and no disasters. :-) I can happily recommend both the Fiep and TripSite if you're looking for a unique travel experience!

We just returned from our bike trip; Amsterdam to Bruges aboard "Sailing Home" (June 13- 20). This is our third Bike-n-Barge tour and we will do it again. I thoroughly enjoy being able to exercise everyday and have someone make me dinner in the evening. We also prefer the smaller barges.
Bill and Lisa Smoak - Melbourne, Florida

We just returned from our trip aboard the Sailing Home going from Bruges to Amsterdam. The trip was outstanding! Our guide, Hugo, was fantastic. He took time to explain a lot about the country, its people, and culture. We appreciated the walks he took us on in the evenings into town to learn more and explore. The boat was exceptional. the cabins were very comfortable and we enjoyed every delicious meal. The crew was always helpful, positive, and welcoming. We would go on another trip like this next week if we could. We will be back again as soon as we can. Thanks for preparing such an enjoyable cycling experience. Bill and Candy Flink Sacramento, California

the captain was wonderful and the nice part was he had his two daughters on for a few days and they were lovely. They also had there small dog who was great. Missed the dog when he went with the girls. The guide Lia was excellent and very helpful at all times. They rearranged the direction of the tour to cope with the wind and to go to the Keukenhof on a day when it was not so busy. The Keukenhof Gardens were at its peak the day we went. We will never forget that day. There were many highlights the cheese farm, the floralies were flowers are sold world wide, and so many other things like a barge tour at night in one town. I could go on for pages.

Waldy the helper was always there with a smile and never did he let me carry a bag. The cabins were neat and clean. Alf the cook who did the food was sensational every day . Alf and I had a birthday on the same day (April 21st) and they had a party for us. It was my 82nd birthday one I will never forget. All the other guests were great and we mixed so well. We bonded the first day even though we were from many different backgrounds. The e-bike you arranged allowed me to keep up with everybody. It was always ready and charged up each morning. I had a minor tumble in Amsterdam landed on my head and the helmets provided did the job. Guess I have a hard head too. Only damage is a sore thumb. When it hurts from time to time it brings back fantastic memories of our wonderful trip a very positive feeling. My wife and I really hope life will let us take another bike and barge trip in Europe.

I really can not thank you all enough for the wonderful happiness you provide.

I had always wanted to take a bike and barge trip in Europe for many years and finally did as my retirement celebration. Everything about the tour exceeded my expectations! The bicycling through the country, villages and cities was pleasant; our tour guide Sjac (Jack) aboard the FLUVIUS was friendly, helpful, indefatigable and could speak 4 languages; the camaraderie with the other cyclists and staff was outstanding; the food was excellent; the cabins were clean and actually bigger than I expected for a barge; and we lucked out and had perfect bicycling weather day after day. The folks at tripsite always responded quickly and were very helpful when I emailed or called them with questions. I would highly recommend this mode of travel as a way to get exercise and see Europe close up!

we just returned from our trip. Brugges to Amsterdam. It was AWESOME. We had such a great time on the Gandalf with Hans. Els was our biking guide. She was terrific. It was fabulous and a great way to spend my 50th birthday!

Thank you for everything you did to arrange this trip for us. We will be back on some other trip in the future.

Not too sure what I can say that the above feedback haven't already said. We travelled as a group of 6 on the Magnifique from Brugge to Amsterdam May 31st to June 7th, 2014. Everything and everyone was top notch. We started out with Carl as our Captain but due to holidays the barges owner, Walter, took over. Not only can he handle the barge but he does a mean BBQ. Our guide Tom was perfect. With a great sense of humour and and sweet personality. There was not one person who did not get along with him. Meeka, bar tender, server, cleaner, and Peter the amazing cook finished off the crew. The barge itself was fantastic. No complaints there. The beds are extremely comfortable.

Unfortunately one of our group was not able to complete the trip but we did meet a great group of people from all over the world.

I am not the greatest biker but thoroughly enjoyed the whole journey and would do it again.

We had an absolutely fabulous time in September this year on this trip. Cycling was fantastic-Francien an excellent guide, Inma a wonderful gourmet cook. The crew was always helpful and cheerful. The group of fellow cyclists were great fun - lots of laughs. Thank you, we will be back!!

My husband and I thoroughly enjoyed our Sept trip from Bruges to Amsterdam on The MS Magnifique, booked through Tripsite.com. Comfortable cabin, great food, hot tub wonderful after long days of biking! Crew easy going but always helpful and attentive. Multi national fellow passengers all good company. Definitely encourage bringing your own gel seat cover! I had an electric assist bike which I'd highly recommend if in any doubt about managing the occasionally challenging distances. Already thinking of booking another similar trip next year.