Netherlands Tour Reviews — 781 to 810 of 1947

All of the crew and guides were exceptionally pleasant and helpful.

Eating apple pie along the way!

Quo Vadis crew, and food and guides were wonderful! Most trips do not quite meet my dream expectations, but, this trip exceeded all my expectations! Kitchen crew stood on deck and waved us goodbye each morning and were out there to cheer and greet us each day! Great trip!

Fabulous guide, beautiful bike rides, wonderful food on the boat, great boat crew, fun group of travelers....overall it was a fantastic experience!

My immediate response would be the expert cycling guide (Tamara), who insured we were 1) safe and knew the cycling etiquette in the Netherlands, 2) took the time to stop and educate us at special points of interest and 3) invited any passengers to accompany her on after dinner walks through the towns the barge overnighted at. Equally memorable were the gourmet meals prepared by Christina and her team. Each night she would announce dinner at 6:30 pm sharp and begin her detailed yet brief explanation of what we were about to savour that evening.

The picturesque, quaint towns surrounding Amsterdam were a delight to experience. Each was a bit unique and offered their own history and charm. The cycling infrastructure in the Netherlands is among the best in the world and our self guided routes made sure we saw a wide variety of terrain, and featured many highlights that we would have missed without this guidance. We loved our week and will treasure the memories and the experience created by Tripsite and their partner, Tulip Cycling. And we did experience the tulip fields along with hyacinth and daffodils in bloom. The scents and sights were heavenly!

everything was good, the trip itself, the other participants, the crew, the captain and the guides. Suggestion, check age of other participants and level of biking

It was the operational windmill / sawmill at Zaanse Schans. To me this was the capstone to man harnessing nature for his purpose. While creating land from the sea was monumental, utilizing the means of pumping water to another level for more productive enterprises was genius. I wish there had been more history around the tour. It would have been difficult to match the cycling routes with the flow of history, but some touchstones along the way would have enhanced the experience. Maybe a history night before the first ride with references to the history in the evening before each subsequent ride.

This was a wonderful, amazing trip! Bike guides Andre and Corrie were personable, professional, knowledgeable and thoughtful. The boat crew Michael, Thomas, Jolene, Alexandra, and chef Gerard were top notch, providing great service, great food and a delightful atmosphere! The bikes were in great condition, we chose ebikes that were wonderful. The days of bike riding (through all kinds of weather) provided a great introduction to the beauty and majesty of The Netherlands. Then we came home to a lovely boat with great snacks and food. Gerard was great at accommodating my need to avoid garlic while creating flavorful, delicious food. We would highly recommend this trip and look forward to our next tour on the Magnifique II!

This was my first barge trip. Everyone on the trip who had been on other barges informed me that I had started at the top! The crew was amazing and provide first class service. The chef is the captain's wife and cooked us 5 star meals. The lunch she packed for the bike trips was wonderful each day. She accommodated the gluten-free passengers. Our tour guide, Tamy was knowledgeable and friendly. I learned so much about the cities where we docked and the countryside where we rode. This was my first bike trip and the description was accurate. The ride was flat and easy which made looking around at everything pleasurable. I loved that there were only 24 passengers on the boat. I got to know them all and enjoy their company at meals and during the rides. Since this was the first tulip tour of the season, the tulips were not yet blooming in the fields. However, there were many other flowers blooming to see on our ride. We saw many many tulips and other flowers at the Keukenhof where we spent several hours. I am looking forward to traveling on the Merlijn again in the future!

Was the wonderful guide and the beautiful scenery we encountered every day. Peaceful countryside.The boat was top notch and the hosts went out of their way to make things nice . Food was well presented with lovely courses. I would recommend this tour to others.

Amsterdam to Bruges was our first bike and barge experience in 2016. The experience of small group travel, seeing villages and countrysides at 12-14 mph, and the coziness of barge life intoxicated us. We have since done six more tours. Everyone unique, quirky, full of beautiful vistas, and future friends from all over the world.
If you are considering this type of travel adventure for the first time, this tour is for you. AND for you stubborn Americans, there is absolutely no stigma attached to e-bikes. In fact, they are prolific throughout Europe.

Excelente cicloviagem, paisagens muito bonitas, vias super seguras e uma ótima organização pela tripsite!

The bike routes were the best and our tour guide Klaas exceeded our expectations

What a wonderful week biking Maastricht to Amsterdam. Riding through beautiful countryside every day with our knowledgeable leader made this trip a memorable one. The staff on board the Sarah were top quality and we would consider another trip again.

Too many memorable parts to decide. The staff aboard the quo vadis, the food, the beautiful scenery both on the bikes and barge. All were superior.

Cycling through the countryside and then returning to the comfort of our boat. The staff were accommodating and considerate. By far the best cruise that I have experienced. The meals were exceptional and the small group setting provided an opportunity for both socialization and relaxation. The crew also provided a variety of opportunities which enhanced the experience .

The boat, crew, dining, site seeing and and itinerary were fabulous, buy the most memorable was the bike tour guides, who- "with a little luck" was able to time our rides and routes through the many predicted rain showers and keep us dry and entertained.

The people - the Food - the boat.

Even MORE sailing time would be even better! :-)

Cycling along dykes near Amorongen and through huge avenues of ancient beech trees in the woods

This is our second TripSite tour and we love the combination of bike/hotel/luggage transport support and being on our own and without the added cost of a guide. We have recommended Trip Sites to many friends.

A few of the positives and suggestions...

Pros

Great bikes. High quality, both the regular and e-bikes.

Friendly, responsive and helpful staff. When a few of our group asked to exchange for e-bikes after a first very windy day, the local company (Dutch Bike Tours) was very friendly and drove them to us within a couple of hours (for a cost but that was expected).

The Netherlands is amazing for biking. Flat, accessed by a huge network of bike paths (seemingly every roadway), very well signed, drivers unexpectedly respectful to cyclists (compared to the U.S.), and so scenic.

Some lovely towns: we especially loved Gouda, Willemstadt, Zierikzee, Middleburg and Bruge.

Suggestions

Information: While we had contact with the local company in our first trip (Lake Constance), we had no initial contact with the company and had to figure things out more on our own. Information that would have been helpful:
1) It would have been helpful to have some basic instructions on how to use an e-bike (we had to search for instructional videos on the web).
2) how the Dutch bike path system works and is signed was only briefly mentioned in the printed material. More detailed explanation would have been helpful.

Maps: The printed maps provided are not very helpful. They are too big for the plastic window on the bike, the font is tiny and can’t be read while biking, and the print quality is low so even harder to read the maps. We ended up using Google Maps to map out the cycle route the next destination each day. This worked but was not ideal because there is no place to put the phone securely (e-bikes don’t have the front bag) and the route missed the customized route suggested by the tour company. We would recommend anyone to get the GPS option (even just one person in a group having this would be helpful). Or even better, why don’t you just include a GPS unit, or, a Google MyMap link for each day so we can get easier access to the customized route. I think this should be provided without extra cost since the printed maps simply don’t work.

Hotel/Locations: While some of the hotels were quaint, locally owned, and in or very close to the center of town, others felt like chain hotels in the suburbs. Perhaps ask people to select not only if they want a slightly nicer hotel but how important it is to be in/close to the historic center of the towns. For us, this would have been more important than better amenities in the hotels. This was probably the most disappointing part of the trip, especially Pappendrecht, a newer town seemingly without a historic area when we could have easily gone a few extra miles to Dordrecht.  SHOW MORE 

A memorable trip right in the heart of nature.. easy and relaxed cycling whereby the one can enjoy nature and heighten ones senses. So much to see and explore and yet so calm and relaxing.

Well done tripsite, a truly memorable holiday with great friends. Service was exceptional.

We were astonished at the small hidden trails that Peter found for us to discover on our self guide journey. The terrain was so diverse. One minute you are riding in a small village, the next you arrive at the sea cruising along the coast, then entering the national park and the beautiful sand dunes. Just when you think you can top what you have just seen you come to the end of the sand dunes, and across the street are the beautiful fields of colorful flowers. Pinch me, is this all real?

I loved seeing The Netherlands by boat. After all it's a country surrounded by and defined by water. With the tulips in bloom, it was a perfect time to learn the history and experience so many towns. The cuisine and beer are a terrific part of the immersion into a Dutch life.

The staff on the Merjlin were fantastic
The bike seats were a bit uncomfortable but overall the trip was great. The tour guides were were great unfortunately they did not explain the route prior each day

Outstanding trip. The Merlijn is a first class ship. The owners and the crew were just out of this world accommodating. The food was delicious, maybe too delicious. My bike was fantastic. Can’t say enough good things about the ship and the people that own it. Liked it so much, I’m going back on it for three weeks next year in Germany.

The Merlijn and their staff were excellent! The food was fabulous too! The only reason I am giving this trip a 4 out of 5 stars is the tulips were on somewhat dying on May 11th. We booked this trip in 2019 for April 2020 and then COVID took over all of our lives. Then we rebooked for 2021 and had to change 1 week later. Then 2021 was still not safe to travel so when booking again for 2022, we had to switch to start May 3 in Bruges with the tulip part at the end of the trip. I loved Bruges and thoroughly enjoyed biking in Belgium. I developed a cough so unfortunately I missed a lot of biking in The Netherlands. But I did enjoy the river views while on the boat and got to experience locks also. When cruising into Rotterdam, I saw one of the super yacht builders' ship yard (Oceanco) and that was exciting for me as we sell to the super yachts.

Great meals, excellent organization.
More substantial lunches would be good.
The tulips were finished by the time we got to the fields. I don’t think the May 2 trip should be advertised as a tulip tour.

Starting and finishing at the Hotel Mitland was great. The tranquil setting in the park was very relaxing.
We were just lucky to hit Gouda on a Thursday and see the traditional cheese market.
The GPS was not worth getting.
We had issues with an open seam on my wife’s front bag, but we switched it out at the Art Hotel.
I would check the bags and panniers more carefully. Perhaps leave a few extras at the starting hotels.
I would add a narrative on the guidebooks about entering the city to find the hotel. Especially Amsterdam as there were road closures.
Trip advisors should also be aware of school and national holidays and closures ie. Sundays, when helping plan trips for people with a flexible itinerary.

The food was very good, the accomodations were fine, the crew was very helpful and friendly. The route was less scenic than i had hoped for. Holland is prettier than Belgium (for what we saw) and the dutch bike paths are awesome.