4 Star Netherlands Tour Reviews — 91 to 120 of 269

Peaceful transit through canals and rivers.

The most memorable part of the trip for me was the interpretation the trip leaders gave of their culture. It felt very personal and caring. The food was very good and the onboard staff were excellent. The ship is sound but needs refurbishing. Be aware that the Dutch and Belgians make their beds with a bottom sheet and a duvet only. You may want to bring a top sheet and a wash cloth or two.

Really enjoyed the camaraderie with other participants & the captain & crew members & our tour guides. Some suggestions would be a few more stops to drink water & take photos on the rides. Also, the gluten free accommodations were very much appreciated.

The most memorable part was seeing actual Archimedes Screws in the Netherlands that are still in use!!

Crew and meals were awesome. Would be great if they introduced everyone at the first meeting or meal. Also would be great if they had a signup sheet for emails to keep the group connected.

Museum in Spakenburg was self directed but very interesting and beautifully laid out.
Using an e bike for the first time really made the daily biking more relaxed and enjoyable.
I would suggest the evening meal be presented as family or buffet style and available earlier than 6:30.

The Zwaantje, Captain Martijn, and his crew were among the highlights of this trip. We had an amazing time exploring the different cities. The routes were easy to follow and the guides were great, friendly and personable, though I would have loved more history/information during our rides. We enjoyed the variety of scenery, the option to go off on our own, and the opportunity to socialize with many other adventurous people :)

As our trip leader was well aware, I preferred the scenic countryside to the hectic intersections of the bigger cities. Though I was glad to see Leiden, Haarlem and Delft, it is a consideration when picking a tour. Crew was great and the meals surpassed expectations!

We were dissatisfied with the fit of the bikes. Care was not taken to size the bike to the rider and several of our members dealt with bikes too big for them - a safety issue! Also, my nephew had to trade seats with me to make my ride much more comfortable - that left him with a less desirable seat - those options should be the responsibility of the tour company and back up equipment should be available on site.

Loved all the beautiful scenery and being able to see it by bike. We particularly liked being in a small group (9 couples) who we got to know quite well and had fun socializing with. The crew and guide were very attentive and made the trip extra fun.

The excellent mix of people on the boat from at least 8 different countries. Everyone was very friendly and interesting. We ate dinner with different people every night. A very fun group! My advice to other is to step outside of your own group and talk with your fellow travelers, the crew and the guides. Struggle through using your high school French or German. It's well worth it.

beautiful weather, really great tour guide (one of the best!), food was reasonable (not the best).

We had a group of 20 family and friends that booked a trip in May, ages 23-88. We were treated amazing by the staff on the DeWillemstad. Captain Michael was so caring and made sure that our rooms and bikes were in tip top shape. He even assisted us with additional train schedules and bookings. Our waitress Petra was charming and took care of our table and became a friend.
We truly loved the Holland countryside and biking options. We had so much fun dancing and spending time on the upper deck.
I would recommend this boat & tour and I have to give a shout out to Captain Michael and the crew, they truly made this an experience and not just a trip !!!

The dinners and the beautiful countryside.

The route was wonderful, the barge was great and the guide excellent. The downside was the food. It was not the level of interest and taste I had experienced on another bike/barge trip.

You can make this trip exactly what you want -- a great adventure by biking every day; a relaxing cruise by staying on the boat and curling up with a good book; an educational trip by picking up loads of history while walking through the wonderful old towns and villages the boat docks at; or a combination of it all.

Daily countryside rides were wonderful. Our guide Marianne was great.
Suggestions- staff should wait until all courses are served and tables cleaned before eating. Waiting half an hour between servings not good and takes too long. Should make enough for seconds! Missed out on visit sites due to timing. Everything was closed by the time we were done with dinner. Notwithstanding the above, was a wonderful trip.

Biking through the countryside with new friends - over village streets, up on dikes, through forests, etc. Our group would stop each day for coffee and apple cake with whipped cream to try out the many delicious variations of baked goods. Best found in Bronkhorst.

Walking through the Keukenhof Gardens and seeing the blooming fields of tulips, and smelling the fragrant fields of hyacinths as we were riding was amazing, especially as the pouring rain held off until almost the end of the day! But walking around Ghent, and Bruges were equally delightful, if for a different reason. Of course the fabulous meals Christina prepared for us on the Merlijn were memorable. For future riders on this trip, know that the tulip experience is only one day of the entire trip so that you aren’t terribly disappointed, and be sure to have rain gear at that time of year!!

The staff and guide were wonderful. My only criticism is regarding the food: put out some snacks when returning to the barge after riding. One small bowl of chips for 22 people is insufficient. Secondly, the time from start to finish dinner talked too long ( 1 1/2 hours). While of course the staff must eat as well, they shouldn’t be eating after putting our plates down. Our dirty plates sit in front of us for 30 minutes while they eat. The food is very good though.

There were many memorable parts of the trip, all enjoyable. The barge, the guests and the crew were all great. I used an e-bike which was not great. I am barely 5’ 1” and the bike was a “small” and too big/heavy for me. It should have been an X-small. Another woman of similar size had a small and fell numerous times. I was disappointed that there was no alternative offered. I am an experienced rider and the heavy weight of the bike affected balance especially on curves. I’ve been on a number of bike trips and quality bikes and safety was a number one concern. Also there were no rear view mirrors. This was a safety concern. The answer I received was that the rear view mirrors are not used in the Netherland. This does not make sense as we got helmets and the people in the Netherlands don’t wear helmets. Why would we not be provided with rear mirrors.

Kuekenhof
There was no place at the Prominent Hotel to safely lock the bikes. One Ebike had its control box torn off. Seems the bike store has to bear that cost. We did not ask for but thought one repair kit would have been provided. Panniers, though promised were not available. Bike store was closed on Sunday so had there been a break down no support would have been available that day. Bikes were OK but gearing on one were rough and catchy. Otherwise most were happy with the bikes though very heavy.

It was an active adventure where you got to see so much of the country not just the tourist attractions.

Riding through the countryside and seeing all the baby animals and, of course, the tulips! The Keukenhof Gardens was absolutely spectacular. There is so much to see in Amsterdam, I'd suggest spending a few extra days there either before or after the barge trip-you just might want to avoid Kings Day! I also recommend using an electric assist bike-more enjoyable and less stressful.

Overall the trip was great! The boat was nice, the rooms had more space than I expected, and the boat staff were superb! My only "opportunity for improvement" comment is that for a group of 25, the cycle tour company needs to provide more than one guide. Though our guide was very nice and knowledgeable, he was not good at making sure all 25 of us stayed together, made it through red lights, knew where the rest of the group was, etc. On more than one occasion, we had multiple people get far enough behind that they got lost and didn't know where they were supposed to go.

The barge, service, crew, meals & hospitality all exceeded my expectations. This was a very well planned itinerary and was implemented seamlessly. Riding past tulip fields and the amazing day at Keukenhof Garden is something I will never forget!

Boat and crew were great! Food was very good and overall I would recommend this trip especially if you are a skilled/avid biker. For me I only biked one day of the five, I had trouble managing the e-bike with the number of other bikers, people walking and cars especially in the cities. I would agree that the biking was easy because it was flat, but there are a ton of other people biking and there was lots of starting a stopping and others people, bikes and cars to watch out for. I also think there needs to be two guides, 25 riders is a lot for one person to keep track of and manage. On Multiple days riders got lost.

The barge, the crew, the service, the hospitality were exceptional. The itinerary was well planned. The thrill of cycling by tulip fields and the amazing day at Kuekenhof Garden is something I will never forget.

My memorable part of the trip was seeing the colourful tulips, cycling through the quiet farm land. Perfect weather for me to cycle in, some may think it's too chilly.

Wished we had stopped over each city/ town longer, had a guided walking tour each evening after dinner. Dinner was too long, need to trim down on the dining time.

The boat, crew, food were wonderful. It was apparent that a second cycling guide would have been an advantage as it was difficult for some riders to keep the pace.

It was a great time of year in the Netherlands. Caught the flower parade, 4-20 day, Kings day and the tulips in bloom!

The most memorable part of our trip was keukenhof gardens. It was amazing. We also liked Aalsmeer which was fascinating and the North Sea. The bike ride there was beautiful and different from any of the other biking we did. The neighborhoods and homes were beautiful as well as the forests we rode through. Then it was just a treat to be on a beach when we got there. Our week was cool windy and rainy at times. My best suggestion would be to have layers to dress in. The panniers for the bikes are very spacious to hold layers and jackets if you need to remove any. Gloves were very helpful as well as gators for our heads/necks. Another suggestion would be to be practiced up on your bikes in some crowded conditions as Amsterdam biking was brief but a little hairy. Use an Ebike if you’re out of shape. The wind was brutal.