4 Star Netherlands Tour Reviews — 241 to 269 of 269

Super trip. I was a inexperienced bicycler and the ebike made the journey very enjoyable.

My sister and I loved the trip and have told many people to book the barg trip. One of the best trips I have had.

The trip is excellent and we are now booked for our third time. However, and I know this is out of control of anyone, but our last trip was affected because of the crane accident near Gouda. This caused a rerouting of half the trip and because of that, we missed half of the sites that we wanted to see. On another note, the country should really make it illegal to dump raw sewage from the boats. This is disgusting and makes the waterways unclean. One would think that the government should do something about this and set up pumping stations. Otherwise, we really enjoy the bike/barge rides and will continue to go on them in the future.

Wonderful way to get a taste of the country, pace was ok. Nice to meet people from all over the world. Some situations which were dangerous, the guide was somewhat oblivious to them since he was always at the front and didn't really pay attention to the group the way he should have.

All good on our bike and barge trip from Amsterdam to Bruges - especially the fantastic boat crew (I got to spend a rainy afternoon on the bridge with the boat captain).

Barge had bugs in drains. Lots in room every night. Aldo specifically booked comfort class boat for the AC. They turned it off before 9pm every night.

Trip was up to high standard and very enjoyable. Great staff and very friendly atmosphere.

The staff on the Zwaan was top notch. They attended to our every need. Trip was superb. Every person in our group of 10 loved the trip!!

Excellent guide, staff. Very friendly and helpful. No complaints.

Our guide was ok but I've had better ones on previous trips. It was a lot of going through the motions since he had done 15-20 trips prior to ours it was maybe a case of being burned out. A bit more interaction on where we were going and what we were seeing would have been nice. Overall trip was top notch though as usual.

Excellent guide, staff. Very friendly and helpful. No complaints.

I had an amazing time. I loved everything about it and I would recommend it to anyone. In fact I have recommended it to many many people.

Though not a 'delux' trip the staff and other passengers made it such a memorable trip! It might not suit everyone but we loved it!

1. Food was mediocre - not great...lots of canned or frozen vegetables. Meat was consistently over cooked and dry. There was lots of choices for breakfast and we especially liked the variety to make our lunches. Had to pay for hot water, tea & coffee after 4:00 pm was a ridiculous and cheap policy which angered many.
2. Room service - towels were not replenished each day as expected until the guide told us to put them in the shower to indicate we wanted towels refreshed each day. This was a problem of no signage to indicate this practice and that the guide forgot to tell us until day 4 when someone complained.
3. Maps and route descriptions - we always marvel at the signage for cycling in the Netherlands. Our country should adopt this method. But we were only given one map/booklet per room. Again, a very cheap practice as all travelers are paying cyclists and each want their own maps. Can't guarantee that those who room together actually cycle together. This again angered many in our group all of whom are avid cyclists who have traveled extensively by bike in Europe.
4. Route - Wonderful! Northern Netherlands is so beautiful, the route selected was varied and very picturesque, and towns we visited were charming.
5. Staff - Every staff person, but one, was extremely polite, helpful and courteous, from the kitchen staff, the captain, servers, and bike support fellas. The one exception was our guide who was rigid, rude, impatient and grumpy. He warmed up as the week progressed but his welcoming manner was less than desirable. He didn't seem to like to deal with women or English clients, as we saw that he got along very well with the German clients. It could have been a factor of language and fatigue due the fact that it was the end of the season.

Cycling a wee bit fast. Most people were in fifties & sixties and I was seventy-nine.

The nickel and diming on the boat was annoying - i.e., free coffee until 4 pm but nobody gets back before then; coffee and tea not included with dinner (extra cost); bottled water sold at the same price as a beer (one token worth 2.5 Euros). Our guide, Marcel, was clearly out of sorts and was not someone I would recommend - rude, disinterested, unhelpful, condescending, and refused to answer questions. I trust that other guides are much better.

The bikes did show some wear but the two mechanics on our barge were wonderful in making repairs overnight. The maps were on the whole very good but each person on the trip should be given their own set of maps and the accompanied daily itinerary descriptions.

Fantabulous! Will be back and do another trip. Am a Tripsite ambassador!

The bikes provided were crap. You could still see the cobwebs. What was particularly egregious was the lack of a decent bicycle pump to bring our tires up to pressure on a daily basis.

Was disappointed that there seemed to be less cycling per day that expected from the website description.

This was a nice trip which I chose after research. I learned that I prefer smaller groups.

I really loved: Tour guide, boat hosts, food, sights, other guests.
I only enjoyed: quality of bike (could've been a better bike, but it was well maintained)
Could've been better: speed of cycling (while I understand not everyone cycles at the same speed, there should be a ""fast"" group and a ""slow"" group
--overall rating: 4.5 of 5

Loved the trip!!

Cabins were nicer than I expected. We stayed with the guide as found the routes hard to navigate and the guide knew all the great stops. Dinners were good, breakfast and lunches needed more variety by the end of the week. We had fabulous weather and loved the route. Lots to see.

On some days, we could have biked more. Very pleasant walks in the evenings.
Very small window in our room.

I found the conditions of the bikes quite poor. They were obviously wearing out after a season of use. The food was adequate but not spectacular. The information about how to get clean towels was given 5 days into the trip.
The routes were well described but I would have liked further information about the towns we were passing through and where we were staying the night. Our group happened upon a cemetery with Canadian war dead but it was just luck. That type of information should be included I the route description of the day. Despite the things mentioned I did enjoy the trip and would recommend it to others.

I had a lot of trouble with the bike seat. That created pain/discomfort for the whole week. We saw other barges participants en route with much better bikes than we had. Ours were quite old and clunky but they worked OK when you got used to them. The bike mechanics were great. The seven gears were adequate for the terrain.

We should each have our own maps and route descriptions, not just one per cabin. You don't necessarily cycle with your cabin mate and sometimes people get separated from cycling partners during the day.

Our guide Marcel appeared to have a very arrogant attitude towards guests, particularly those who asked for clarification of various things. He was rude to me when I asked a question about the availability of public washrooms along the way - and what was customary in Holland. He snapped "So you think Dutch people don't go to the toilet?" He seemed to make a lot more effort as the week went on and was quite knowledgeable about a variety of things. He got off to a bad start with quite a few people however.

Re Food: The food was good and varied. We had a lot of salads/vegetables (generally overcooked) which I appreciated. Tea, coffee and water should be available for free all the time, not just till 4. A euro for hot water and a tea bag is chintzy.

I enjoyed the trip and the route. The route was quite varied in a lot of ways and very beautiful. Luckily the weather was reasonably cooperative and our group had a great time. The barge is a fun experience, and I would recommend it and consider another trip for myself as well.

This was our first tour in hotels, others have been on barges. I would recommend staying with the barges. There is no contact with a person regarding the tour or the bikes except hotel staff so issues with the bikes were difficult. Bikes were in bad shape we had 4 flats and a broken gear casing so we spent a lot of time in bike shops getting repairs done. Thank goodness ther are lots of bike shops in Holland. GPS was good but one day took us to the wrong hotel some 10 km off course and missed a town we had to back track the next day to see, so that was very annoying. After that we made sure it had the right destination on the GPS. Some hotels were lovely but a couple were very small. We had purchased the meal plan and that was good, though Tripsite said we would have a choice of meals there were 3 places it was just one meal offered to bike tour participants. Holland is beautiful and enjoyable to bike though we had lots of rain and wind so dress appropriately.

1) In the boat is possible to rent helmet for EU$ 5/week. This renting is good for travelers that spend more time in Europe. I'm not sure if this information is available in the Tripsite's site.

2) I ordered a E-bike for my wife. In the boat I saw that 2 kinds of E-bike are offered to the customers. My wife would love bike in a more comfortable E-bike.

3) According to the staff of the boat, I should speak German. I don't know the source of this information. This information is used to organize the passengers in the restaurant.