3 Star Feniks boat/barge tour reviews — 1 to 7 of 7

I enjoyed cycling through scenic villages, seeing wildflowers, visiting the Watersnood (Flood museum), sampling amazing meals by fabulous chef, cavorting with small group passengers on this guided trip. The Feniks is an old small barge with lots of character.

I was disappointed the Tulip trip was tulip-less, thus my reason for knocking off 1 star. I understand there were maintenance issues on the canal that prevented us visiting Keukenhof Gardens & seeing tulip fields, just wished Tripsite notified us at least 1-2 days in advance so that we could make our own arrangements to see the fabled gardens. Another star knocked off due to guiding portion of trip which could be better managed: stick with nightly overview for next day's riding, biking more along canals and less through farmlands, and include stops to visit St. Bavo’s Cathedral. I emailed in advance confirming if Kinderdijk was on itinerary and was informed it was not. So I booked separate trip afterwards to visit the place. On the bike/barge trip we ended biking to Kinderdijk, so we were not able to get our separate tickets refunded.

Loved the rides in rural areas along canals. Found the quarters more cramped than the Fleur.

Nelleke’s cooking was super and really memorable.
What was also memorable but far from super was our guide.
Maybe I was spoilt by my 3 previous Tripsite Barge/Bike trips with really excellent guides.
The guide lacked any passion about his job. Many felt we were not looked after properly. Cycled up front and hardly ever looked back if we were behind. Half the party would be delayed at red traffic light and guide just carried on. Sometimes lost him as we could not see where he had turned off. Information always minimal and very sketchy.

Riding through the Belgium and France country-sides on our bicycles..

The crew was the best! A definite ten + in every way. Dinners were excellent and crew always available to us. Nelleka lent us her fan at night! Harm great guide. Fiona excellent skipper and Reinier always helpful. Great atmosphere. It would have been nice to have some special stops, maybe a cooking class, winery and more info about special sites would be good. Tour description clearly stated that barge has Wi-Fi and air conditioning. It was very hot and ac very spotty and not available at night. No wifi.

We loved our day at Keukenhoff Gardens. We also enjoyed the amazing dinners on the boat prepared by our chef, Paulina. As for suggestions, the bike leaders need to understand vacation culture more. The bike leader seemed to be in a rush wherever we biked, and was not happy if we wanted to stop and take pictures of the countryside. Many people like to stop and take pictures!! We would pass by beautiful fields of tulips and hyacinths, but couldn’t stop to take photos (except maybe a 30-second stop to get one quick photo) because otherwise we’d be too far away from the rest of the biking group. We weren’t given any kind of detailed maps of where we would be biking, so if we did want to stop and take pictures, or drink some water, or grab an energy bar from our sacks, and we lost sight of the others, there would be no way to find or catch up to the rest of the group later on. One of the reasons why we liked Keukenhoff so much was because we were on “our own time” for the entire day, and didn’t have to worry about being on someone else’s schedule. We would have also liked it if the bike leader would’ve pointed out some interesting facts and history about the different places we visited. We got almost no guidance about what to see or do at each of the villages/cities we visited.

A great trip in many ways. Good staff - helpful and friendly. Good scenic route with chances to visit places of interest, very good food. Only draw back was problems with 3 out of 4 'E' bikes and a lack of expertise in how to fix them causing stress to some riders.