Netherlands Tour Reviews — 781 to 810 of 1806

Biking through the gorgeous country side - stopping at the cheese shoppe - the attentiveness of the staff and the camaraderie of the fellow bike riders!

Tips - do as many activities as you can - yet if that doesn't work for you - spend a lovely day on the barge- reading , writing or simply enjoying the gorgeous scenery.

Really loved the trip - biking was flat, fabulous and scenic!

The trip was fantastic! The ship itself was comfortable and offered flexibility in seating with the upper and first decks, lounge area and dining room. Cabins were nicely done with storage room and comfortable beds. The crew was wonderful making sure every need was met. Having self guided before, we loved the guided option which led us through lovely villages, to coffee shops, picnic stops, and in through larger towns and cities without a worry. It was nice to have the option of not biking, and enjoying cruising the river or even to self guide as you wanted. The bike guides were fantastic engineering safety with a bounty of beautiful sights and history and facts of the sights. Having an after dinner stroll led by the guides was an unexpected treat. Hightly recommend this beautiful, relaxing, carefree yet full of activity vacation.

The "directions/highlights " paper along with the offline downloaded directions were terrific. The company's expert experienced routing took us thru scenic backways and villages that we may have missed by simply following a directional app ourselves. We enjoyed being able to ride at our own pace, stop where ever we chose, visit sites, museums, villages, or take photos on our own timeline. This also allowed us to begin the day's ride on our own schedule, enjoy a picnic lunch or lunch in a village center, and return early or later, have a coffee or beer along the way, still knowing when dinner was being served!

The guides were wonderful, the staff on the boat was so friendly and attentive, cabin accommodations were lovely as was the boat itself, and the biking itself was fabulous! We met lots of really great people and ate lots of good food. ALL of these things made it equally memorable.

Crew and both guides were professional, knowledgeable and very friendly throughout the trip. Our chef Wendy was superb and prepared wonderful dinners...also prepared crispy bacon and delicious scrambled eggs to start of out day. Our guides shared interesting stories and history about relevant sites we visited...all in all a great trip!!

Fourteen strangers came together for 11 days of cycling, with lots of laughing, good food, and camaraderie. We learned a lot about the places we saw and by the last day we were all friends.

An excellent biking experience through beautiful countryside and on top of dikes allowing views of the sea and dunes. Then on to the boat for delicious food and an after dinner tour through picturesque towns and cities. It's my favorite way to visit a country.

We lucked out with the most gorgeous weather and didn't need to break out any of our raingear. We enjoyed meeting our fellow travelers. The meals were fabulous and our tour leaders were knowledgeable and informative. Others may find some extra comfort if they bring added bike seat cushion (memory foam or gel). The tour leaders adjusted our itinerary when changes had to be made due to high winds and we still had a good time. Most memorable was seeing Kinderdijk, swans nesting on the polder, and storks on their nests.

The whole trip was great. The evening events on board were really special - the barbecue with the toast for the 30th anniversary couple, the beer and chocolate pairing with Peter and the farewell dinner with the toast for our 50th anniversary and Hester’s wonderful oboe concert. The whole crew was terrific but our guides were outstanding. The atmosphere was always convivial and we made many new friends.

The bicycle ride along the canals and fields of endless tulips! The staff and service was excellent. We highly recommend this trip to everyone.

It was a magical trip. We learned everything about tulips, chesse, windmills and much more. Try the E-bike, you exercise and also you enyoy the ride in a better way.

The attentiveness of Christina and Koen and all the rest of the staff on the boat. The only comment i have is that with 24 riders and quite a varying degree of riding abilities, I think two guides and divide the group into two would have been better.

Pros:
The tulips were gorgeous, Keukenhof was a highlight and a nice break.
The bike paths were easy, fun and relaxing,
Food was plentiful and the chef did a good accommodating various diets and planned varied and delicious menus.
The other guests were friendly, fun, and interesting.
The crew were all kind and patient.
The hybrid bikes were comfortable.
The guide (Piet) was knowledgeable, and gave historic walks almost every night.

Cons:
Riding in the cities was stressful. There was too much urban riding with many treacherous intersections, bike and pedestrian traffic. It seemed very unsafe.
The e-bikes mixed into the group were a problem. Some of the riders couldn't control the e-bikes. Also, riding up and down hills through the dunes, with a strong head wind was gave the e-bike riders an advantage.
The size of the group (24) was too large for a single guide. He struggled to be present for everyone.
The large gap in abilities of the riders was problematic. This tour was rated easy, but some riders were extremely fit and pushed the pace.
Some of the schedule didn't work well. On the hardest riding day, we started the bike tour very late, after shopping in town and museums. We barely had time to eat lunch that day . But the ride through the dunes was difficult. I'm not sorry we went, but I wish we had left earlier and taken some breaks.
We were close to the end of tulip season and so didn't see as many as earlier tours.

Visiting the beautiful cities of Bruges and Ghent

Since this was our first Bike and Barge experience we have little to compare it with, but found we enjoyed the total package. The accommodation on the Gandalf was clean and the crew made it feel more like at home instead of just a place to sleep. Can't say enough about our guide, Simon, who spent many hours insuring the biking portion was smooth and profession. Even when the unexpected happened he calmly got us up and running again. The little personal touches he added gave the group a great deal of comfort in navigating in a foreign country.
Suggestion: If you are not use to riding 40 km a day, the e-bike option goes along way to improving the enjoyment level. A purchase of a local "SIMM CARD" that has data is very reasonable and give you a local phone # to communicate with the guide and/or the boat. TIP: call your guide on the first day so that he has your phone number registered on his phone.

Visiting the Keukenhof Gardens & riding through the countryside of the Netherlands. Wildlife and Windmills were abundant.

This is hands down, the best way to see Holland. Our guide Piet and the crew were amazing. My husband, brother and I (in our 30’s) as well as my parents (in their 60’s) all had the best time. The rides were relaxed and gave us a chance to really take in the incredible views. I would not hesitate to suggest this trip to anyone.

The guides and crew were wonderful and really made the trip special. Although you will be riding and walking a good part of the day, don't expect to lose much weight as the food is delicious

The leaders stopping along the way to educate us on the history of the area we were biking through.

The biking route was just perfect. The scenery and sights were wonderful. Staff was friendly and knowledgeable.

The new bikes were so great to use. There were 2 smaller people on our trip that had bikes that were too big for them. One had a couple falls and we were always afraid they might be injured.

Another thing that could be helpful is to have some more road safety tips. The shark teeth at intersections, the red path is for bikes etc. While these were explained to us it might be more helpful to see a video with these actually shown. I loved having Lenny as sweep the one day just reinforcing "you are on the right so he will stop " and "he has shark teeth so you can go".

Thank you for a wonderful vacation

The visits to the the lovely villages in our bikes. The great meals in the evening. The great breakfasts in the morning. The wonderful sense of togetherness

My wife and I have just completed our first Bike and Barge tour. Amsterdam to Bruges on the Gandalf. From the Captain Hans, crew and Nishka (the dog) they made a very comfortable and enjoyable trip. We spent a lot of time with our guide, Simon, and I can't say enough about the profession way that he handled his job. Planning of the daily routes, briefing, finding a wonderful spot for lunch break, the evening walking tours(for us that had enough energy), providing city maps and all the little extra personal touches added a great deal to the overall experience.
Since my wife had not been on a bike for a few years, the rental of the e-bike was a very welcomed. The tour is on flat ground but there overpasses and distance that the option of the e-bike should be considered.

The fellowship on the Magnifique IV was wonderful. However, several of our fellow travelers tested positive for COVID right after leaving the ship. More options for testing and keeping the travelers free of COVID need to be provided.

The guides and staff were extremely engaging and accommodating . The chef selection of food and wine pairings exceeded expectations . The guides were knowledgeable and personable . The tour route had the right balance of cycling , exploring and relaxing .
To improve
Rooms stuffy . Better ventilation needed for sleeping . Suggest a check to set the climate control .
Two members of our group required extra small bikes not available .
Face clothes in rooms .

The e bike was a fabulous way for me to be able to keep up. It was of superior quality to mine at home and I’d unequivocally say that almost any riding capability would be able to enjoy this trip by requesting the Gazelle e bike offering. For the barge, we really noticed the lack of air circulation in our rooms at night. They advised us when we got there that ac wasn’t working- they worked on fixing that during our time aboard but it was the one thing that prevents me from giving it an absolutely perfect rating.

When thinking about the trip, the biking is what I thought about most. Once the trip began, I realized the "extra" aspects of the trip were the most meaningful:
- visiting a cheese farm to learn about
- walking through the cities with our guides learning about their history
- fabulous meals on board
- friendly and talented staff

This trip had it all great cycling through gorgeous and historic NL with some fun informative guides, delicious meals prepared by chef Ellen, spending time with great friends and meeting new people. Highly recommend this trip. Lenny is an excellent host.

There were too many memorable moments to really list. What I think was most memorable of the trip was the kindness of all the passengers. It seemed like we all had been friends forever. The other was the professionalism of the entire staff. They were all so KIND, COURTEOUS and POLITE. The entire staff was nothing short of true professionals. They really went above and beyond to make us feel very comfortable. Actually, so comfortable I didn't want to leave. CHEERS to the crew of the Magnifique IV.

Had water issues at two hotels. Nothing you could have done. Hotels were great. Anna Caspari the best service.

The Merlijn, the captain, chef, crew and guides were absolutely fantastic - our third bike and barge with Tripsite and by far the best. The most memorable part for us was riding into Ghent where we lived 15 years ago as a family for a year - spent the afternoon with the group showing off our home away from home.