Europe Bike + Boat Tour Reviews — 3451 to 3480 of 4949

Montova was a really lovely spot and I liked the cycling around there. It might be easier in the towns if the cyclists all had either jerseys or pennies to identify the group so locals see we are all together which would prevent us from getting cut off or unable to pass.

Fantastic trip! The biking was great...very serene and relaxing thru small towns and villages thru farmland and along the coast.
The best part was the socializing with felllow travelers and the crew. The ship is huge for a sailboat, but much smaller than the big barges. Between biking and the ship, we all spent a lot of time together, and had a lot of fun getting to know each other. My cruise happened to be on a German holiday...I was the only non-German on the tour. It worked out fine, everyone was welcoming and willing. Between a bit of Ge-english and sign language we shared many laughs (and beers!) together.
Ilse led our tour-her knowledge of the area was great, even opened her riverboat home to us during our stop there.
The ships crew was terrific. Captain Eelke, first mate Annemaj, and Thabea all made us feel at home. Chef Alf served up restaurant quality meals, this was an awesome surprise.
Would absolutely return to Netherlands...would even consider repeating this trip/ship with other friends and family, it was that good.

We absolutely loved our first Bike & Barge. We did the Tulip Tour the week of Apr 14 - 21/18 on board the Sarah and had a fantastic time. We had beautiful weather the entire week with absolutely no rain. The scenery was amazing and the tulips were at their peak during this week. We enjoyed the Dutch culture and food especially the cheese, chocolate and yogurt. The crew were amazing. Thanks to Ivo, Reintje, Kristof and Agnieszka who looked after us so well on the Sarah. A special thanks to Cornel our tour guide. He went above and beyond to make sure we were safe and that we all had an enjoyable week. We would love do another tour in the future.

The two excellent guides, Anya and Age, made the trip fun and informative. We also had a very congenital group of bikers, which helped make the trip truly memorable! We had an excellent time!

Awesome opportunity to experience the many Dutch highlights and tulips without being too touristy. The 4 day Tulip Tour offered an easy ride for retired bikers but was still adventurous and so interesting with incredibly beautiful scenery. Our guide, Bob, was fun, well organized and knowledgable about the area and towns we visited. The Jelmar berth was really comfortable and clean and they offered us first rate meals. Definitely a trip of a lifetime for me!

Having a guide who provided all the extra touches for touring for our perfect sized group of 10. Dinners on the boat were very dragged out with no opportunity to change tables and meet other guests. Food was beautifully presented, but the petite portions left me starving after a day of biking. I made sure to stock up on a big breakfast. Director made a big deal of tipping whereas this could have been explained ahead of time, so more time could have been spent on what to see in the quaint, darling villages. More info on what to see along the way would have enhanced the adventure. We did a lot of homework ahead of time on what to look for in each village and that helped us to appreciate the history and stories. Highly recommend a guide, but keep groups small for safety and management purposes.

Had an absolute great time on this Tour. Venice was amazing and Mantova as well. Our cook was Erica who is wonderful chef. Every meal was impressive— creative and delicious. This was my fifth bike/barge tour and she is definitely the best cook. Really enjoyed my fellow Travelers, as well.
Vita Pugna

Our private guide, Axel, was excellent. I strongly recommend a guide because it took away all of the worry about maps, directions and getting lost. He was also very knowledgeable about the history and geography of the areas we visited. I would definitely do another bike tour with Axel.

The scenery was amazing and fortunately, the weather cooperated and made it even more perfect. My only “suggestion” (not complaint) was that coffee was not available in the rooms. Being an early riser, a lot of us “seniors” prefer to have our coffee in the room while getting ready for breakfast! :).

Most memorable part: Being on the water at night and looking out our bedroom window to see the Budapest Parliament bathed in a golden glow against the clear night sky.

Most memorable was biking through the peaceful countryside, getting lost (not with the guides, but when we ventured out on our own), finding a real working windmill, and being invited inside by the owner. Lunch selections could have varied more but dinner onboard was always wonderful. Staff was also on point and always ready to help.

Every aspect of the trip was as expected or better.

A great balance of activity, wonderful scenery, and interesting towns and culture. Lovely!

Our Bike and Barge trip on the new Magnifique III was the BEST! The boat was beautiful, the food was fabulous, the the guides and staff were so helpful and friendly. We'll never forgot all of the beautiful sites - windmills, tulips, and baby animals - just to name a few. Memories that will last a lifetime. I cannot recommend this vacation highly enough!

The people who we met in the trip made it memorable. Cornel was a wonderful guide who made everything fun and interesting as we were biking. Everyone on the Quo Vadis made us feel so welcome. Food was fantastic. Loved meeting all the other bikers and had lots of great times together.

My wife and I did a 10 Day Barge and Bike trip from Brugge to Amsterdam during Tulip season. The boat Quo Vadis was really excellent. The rooms were small but quite comfortable. The dining room and lounge were well appointed and welcoming. Everything was always spotlessly clean! The crew was incredibly hospitable catering to any need. Captain RJ was knowledgeable, experienced and and very approachable. The evening walks he led in towns were great fun. Also really enjoyed sitting in the wheel house and chatting as he navigated rivers and canals.

The food was basically gourmet with delightful surprises every dinner. Fresh bread was baked on board every day and breakfast was a mix of american style eggs, bacon, etc and European style meats, cheeses, fruit, veggies, etc. Chef Franco deserves many accolades for his commitment to healthy and delicious food.

Our bicycle guide was extremely competent. He knew the roads and towns well and was able to make changes to routes as needed on the fly. An example would be an extra loop on some roads when he spotted blazing fields of tulips off in the distance. Our timing was good as there were acres of fields in full bloom as we rode down tiny country roads with no other tours, tourists or buses anywhere to be seen but our little bicycle group. It was sublime! Wind mills, polders, dykes, historic locks & bridges dating back centuries, and wonderful local festivals in the central squares of small towns on Kings Day - all to be seen on an 'organic' level from the saddle of a bike. It really doesn't get much better! And our guide, Cornell, knew the history and had a story to tell about so many places. He also knew the best places to stop for a coffee break, a picnic lunch or a hot bowl of soup and a slice of Dutch Apple Pie ... maybe even a great spot to get a good Belgian beer. Thanks Cornell!

It is almost impossible to pick one favorite thing as best of trip. The fields of tulips, the Kings Day Festivals and the gourmet food would all have to rank high on a list of many highs. Towns? Brugge, Antwerp, Delft, Amsterdam - all high on the list and each for different reasons. History, culture, shops, vibrancy, beautiful town squares & lovely streets are all a part of European charm! I don't know what else to say other than we will do another and Bike and Barge trip through the wine region of Germany in the future. It's just such a great way to get a more intimate experience when traveling.

Memorable parts: The other guests, the scenery, and the barge experience. The Tulip time is also the rain time, so be prepared with proper clothing. Even though the weather may not be ideal, the experience more than makes up for it.

Qua Vadis boat, staff, tour route all exceeded my expectations. The food is fabulous and the chef, Franco, made me fabulous gluten free options. I loved the small group, our guide was knowledgeable and fun. He made sure to take us on loops that would show us major sights. R.J. And Ina, owners and captain, are personable and accommodating. I would recommend any tour on the Quo Vadis.

Most memorable part? All of it! Fantastic! Most memorable: Hein! And Marco! The whole staff! Loved every minute. Loved the e-bike too.

The bike tour was terrific and exactly what our group was looking for. Biking along quiet country lanes and through vineyards. Our Italian cabin crew was fabulous.

I was so impressed with the level of service and detail on this trip. Completely exceeded all expectations from the guides and the rides to the food and the lodging. So much fun! It didn’t hurt that we had perfect weather. Hoping to do it again!

I am a very experienced cyclist (raced in my younger days). The condition of the bicycles left something to be desired. For example, the headsets of the bikes were not tightened after the handlebars were straightened out as they were distributed to the group. The loose headset contributed to an accident that resulted in an injury.

I suppose it is a common type of bicycle in Holland, but the upright positioning and lack of rake on the front fork made the bike inherently unstable. I got used to it pretty quickly, but some of the group never did. Only about half of our group were regular cyclists, and that made riding in/with the group an exercise in self-protection. Fortunately, my brakes worked well.

Also, lessons on how to cycle in the Netherlands (rules of the road, etc.) could have been more complete and reinforced each day. Our group tended to bunch up whenever stopped, blocking the way for others, and again, verging on dangerous. The guide said nothing. After one of our group said something to the guide, he finally started paying more attention to keeping the group together at traffic signals. Another part of the group tended to ride in the pedestrian lanes- they stopped doing that after getting a thorough tongue-lashing from a Dutchman walking his dog.

All this said- the general content of the trip was wonderful- the tulips, the cities, the countryside... we thoroughly enjoyed that. Would we do it again? Unsure... perhaps if we could be with a more experienced group.

Overall, it was a great trip - boat and crew, bikes, guide, fellow passengers. Where this trip fell short of a previous bike boat trip that I did, was that this trip lacked interesting stops along our cycle route. It felt more like getting from point A to point B with a brief coffee or lunch stop - no tours along the way. From my understanding in talking with the boat owner/captain, the cycling routes and stops are planned by the local partner.(https://www.tripsite.com/about/our-partners/).

Most Memorial Parts: the biking routes and scenery.

Most Memorable Part: The fabulous guides, scenery and staff!

The kindness and attention of Sanders and Als, owners of the barge, the delicious and beautifully presented meals, the bike tours so different every day, the size of the boat allowing super relations with the others, Rola the so friendly and helpful guide and to top it all, 5 days of perfect sunny hot weather....ordered by Tripsite, no doubt!!

Our trip aboard Quo Vadis exceeded our expectations; the food and crew were great. We ended riding more than the itinerary suggested (averaging about 35 miles per day), but we lucked out and head great weather the entire trip.

The Quo Vadis was super! The food, accommodations, staff and bikes were all terrific.
However, we were unprepared for the traffic and city riding intensity. Marsha is an experienced recreational rider but had no idea how to deal with traffic. She completed the first day and began another, but turned back after the first half kilometer and packed it in after that. City traffic and congested cycling is something only urban folks experience, so we and others were unprepared. We were were really expecting a leisurely paced scenic tour, not the frantic paced marathon we got. The trip was listed as easy, but a 12 mph average speed for 36 miles is ridiculous for most recreational cyclists, especially when you’re there for scenery and cultural experience along with cycling.
Additionally, once you start for the day, there is no practical way to drop our.
So, if we were to look for another bike barge trip, we would be looking for:
Quo Vadis or equal
20-25 mile days maximum
8-10 mph average speed maximum
Route maps
Routing to avoid urban traffic
More short stops to smell the flowers.
Ultimately, we were disappointed in the cycling portion of the trip feeling it was not so much for tourists who like to ride. We (and others) felt the guide placed too much emphasis on covering miles and not enough on making it pleasurable.
Tripsite staff is superb and did everything they promised. Thanks.

Most Memorable Part? Cycling in the warm spring weather seeing the fields of spring bulbs in bloom with windmills almost always in view.