The Netherlands is a destination that’s always been at the top of our European bucket list. So when we found out there was a Boat Bike Tour of this beautiful country, we were all in! Over 7 days, we had the chance to cycle through Southern Holland and see so many stunning small towns. Here’s everything to know about our experience and why Boat Bike Tours is the best way to see the Netherlands!
What Exactly is Boat Bike Tours?
To start, we should tell you that this wasn’t our first Boat Bike Tour. Earlier in the summer, we took an amazing trip with them through Germany, France, and Luxembourg. We cycled through vineyard fields and along the Moselle river, which made for an incredible journey.
While we have taken many cruises in the past, this unique cycling tour was something we’ll never forget! Read all about our first trip with Boat Bike Tours.
So what exactly is a Boat Bike tour like? Basically, you bike anywhere from 20 to 50km each day and the boat follows along the river meeting you at your next stop. Every night, you sleep on the boat, and wake up ready to explore a new part of the country!
This particular route started in Amsterdam and went through the cities and towns of Southern Holland. There are many different sized boats depending on the route and location. For example, our first ship was a small barge with only a 32 passenger capacity.
However, with Boat Bike Tours in the Netherlands, we had a much larger boat with over 100 people. These were completely different styles, but we really enjoyed both of them in their own way.
Self-Guided vs Guided Boat Bike Tour
You should also know that there are many different kinds of Boat Bike Tours offered. Our first trip with them was fully guided, which meant we had the pros with us for each step of the way!
The guides would lead us in two groups from when we left the boat until we got to our next location for the night. For our Boat Bike Tour of the Netherlands, it would be the exact opposite.
On this trip, we would head out on our own for a self-guided cycling ride! If you’d prefer this kind of tour instead, don’t worry. There is actually a great app called Ride with GPS that provides a map to show the exact route for each day.
Even on the larger ship we still had two guides who helped along the way. They just didn’t guide cycling groups. Every night they held a briefing so everyone would know the route the next day. Also, along the ride we would often see them at stops. Don’t worry if anything goes wrong during your ride you can contact them and they come to help.
While we enjoyed both for different reasons, we have to say we liked the freedom of the self-guided tour a little bit more. This was because we could bike on our own time and make all the stops we wanted.
There were so many instances with our fully guided Boat Bike Tour where we wanted to spend an extra hour grabbing a coffee or food in a small town. You can take the ride slow and do whatever you want, as long as you make it back to the boat that night!
One thing that surprised us was how many people actually brought their own bicycles on board. We chose to get ours from Boat Bike Tours and went with the electric option over the standard.
Our Southern Holland Itinerary
The Southern Tour of Holland was something we were so excited for. As we mentioned, we’d never been to the country before, and it combined some of the most popular sights with little known towns of the Netherlands.
Our trip started in the capital city of Amsterdam and made a small loop around the outskirts. From there, we headed south towards Utrecht, explored Rotterdam, and even stopped in in the famous cheese city of Gouda.
The cities were certainly fun, but the highlight for us was all the small villages of Southern Holland. We even went to the Kinderdijk Windmills, which was truly a highlight of our Boat Bike Tour in the Netherlands!
In total, we biked over 280 km (175 miles)! Most days there was also an option to bike a shorter or longer route. Check out our itinerary below and stay tuned for a full break down later.
- Day 1: Amsterdam
- Day 2: Amsterdam -Breukelen-Utrecht (20km or 39km)
- Day 3: Rotterdam- Schiedam-Delft-Rotterdam (48km)
- Day 4: Rotterdam-Kinderdijk-Gouda-Schoonhoven (30km or 58km)
- Day 5: Schoonhoven-Oudewater-Utrecht (36km or 44km)
- Day 6: Haarlem-North Sea Coast-Haarlem (40km or 50km)
- Day 7: Zaandam-Amsterdam (32km or 53km)
- Day 8: Amsterdam
→ Visit the official website here to see the exact Southern Holland route we took.
De Amsterdam Ship Tour
We sailed on one of their most popular boats during our Boat Bike tour of the Netherlands. De Amsterdam is complete with 56 cabins and has a capacity of 112 passengers.
This was completely the opposite of our first trip with Boat Bike on the smaller barge in Germany. De Amsterdam was first built in 1991, but was updated in 2017 with new features.
There are two decks with twin or suite room cabins to choose from. We shared a twin room and felt it was the perfect size for us.
It had a small window to look out from, a tv, and good-size bathroom. If you choose to upgrade to the suite, know that you’ll have a beautiful french balcony instead of a window!
There is a large dining room on the bottom deck where we would have all our meals (more on the next). On the main floor, there was a bar and lounge that was also a nice area to relax in.
Our favorite place to hang out was the top deck to take in the views at each location. This is where they store the bikes as well for the duration of the trip.
You’re able to purchase wifi for a small fee that works throughout the boat. This was great for us when we needed to get some work done in between stops.
Meals With Boat Bike Tours Netherlands
The next thing you may be wondering about is the food! Every morning, there was a full breakfast served in the dining hall on the bottom deck.
They would lay out a large spread of meats, cheeses, eggs, and other treats. There was also plenty of coffee, juice, and water available to hydrate with.
We were given our own Boat Bike Tours water bottles that we filled up each morning before our ride. One cool thing is that you make your sandwiches after breakfast to take with you for the day.
It was great to be able to pack our lunch and not have to worry about stopping somewhere along the cycling route. Also, our favorite time of day was the coffee and cake that was waiting in the afternoon when we got back to the ship!
For dinner, it was set up a little different. On the first day you actually have to pick your meals for the entire cruise. Almost every night they had a meat, fish, and vegetarian option to choose from.
We also had the unlimited drink package that included wine, beer, and local liquors. If you don’t need that, you can easily pay as you go from the bar. You can see some of our favorites below.
Highlights of Boat Bike Netherlands Tour
Wow, where do we begin??? There was so many highlights of our Boat Bike Tour in the Netherlands.
The cities were definitely fun to experience, especially seeing the busiest port in Europe in Rotterdam! Still, our favorite stops were definitely the smaller towns of Southern Holland.
Being from the USA, it was so interesting seeing where places like Breukelen and Haarlem got their names. There were endless windmills along our route, but the most fulfilling were the Kinderdijk Windmills we saw on day 4.
Delft was a beautiful small city and we loved taking a tour of the ceramics museum. We even bought a gift for Jake’s sister for her wedding here!
Gouda was another fun stop and we had our fill of the famous cheese. Our favorite day by far was when we went to Haarlem and biked along the North Sea Coast.
The water was a little chilly for swimming, but we did have a herring snack on the beach that was so good! Here’s a deeper day by day review of our Boat Bike Tour in the Netherlands.
Day 1: Amsterdam
We were driving from Interlaken Switzerland on the first day, so we didn’t arrive till the early evening. Instead of heading into Amsterdam, we spent the night getting acclimated on the boat.
Luckily, we would have more time in Amsterdam at the end of our Boat Bike Tour! It was also nice to relax after our drive since we had an early start the next morning.
Day 2: Amsterdam -Breukelen-Utrecht (20km or 39km)
The first day of cycling completely blew us away! It was full of amazing historic mansions and scenic views along the small waterways.
We had a warm, sunny day at the end of the summer, and literally everyone was out enjoying the weather. Many people were even cruising through the canals on their boats.
This area of the ride was essentially where many wealthy locals live and commute into Amsterdam for work. We were in no rush cycling on the first day, but by time we made it to the city we had to hurry up to catch our boat.
If there is one place we would love to go back and explore more of it would be Utrecht. This was one of the days where we weren’t staying overnight in one place, so we had to be back at a certain time.
However, this was also one of the few times we were on the boat as it was sailing. We sat on the top deck with an ice cold beer and took in the views to celebrate our long day of riding.
Day 3: Rotterdam- Schiedam-Delft-Rotterdam (48km)
On the third day, we had a round trip route from Rotterdam. We cycled from Schiedam, then Delft, before returning back to the city.
This was the first of many stops on our trip where we saw the beautiful windmills! It was so exciting passing over the draw bridges and small towns along the way.
Delft also ended up being one of our favorite places on the route. As soon as we got into the city, we got off our bikes to explore on foot. There is a massive main marketplace, loads of cute cafes, and plenty of bars and restaurants to enjoy.
While we packed our lunch from the boat, we always ended up getting a little snack or local treat somewhere during the day. We highly recommend stopping into the House of Frites in Delft for some fries!
After a fun day, we had the chance to tour the Delft Blue Museum. The pottery from this city is known worldwide, and it’s truly an experience not to miss!
Day 4: Rotterdam-Kinderdijk-Gouda-Schoonhoven (30km or 58km)
Every day of our Boat Bike Tour in Southern Holland brought something new. With that said, the day we went to Kinderdijk and Gouda was certainly one of the best!
One fun part of the trip from Rotterdam to Kinderdijk was riding on the water taxi to get there. The entire area is a protected UNESCO World Heritage Site, and it’s easy to see why.
We cycled around 17th century Kinderdijk windmills, toured the museum, and took countless photos.
This would also happen to be a longer biking day because there was no way we were going to miss out on the town of Gouda.
The ride there was stunning on the long greenway through the countryside. Obviously, we had to taste the cheese on our visit to Gouda. We even went to the original Stroopwafel factory and dodged a rain storm in a local brewery.
Day 5: Schoonhoven-Oudewater-Utrecht (36km or 44km)
Although our good run of weather had come to an end on day 4, we put on our layers and headed out from Schoonhoven for another great day. That morning, we got to try more local cheese and tour family-run farm.
This is certainly the spot to buy cheese if you were thinking about bringing some home with you! We loved how helpful everyone was to answer all our questions. After taking a tour of the Kaas Punt, we continued on to the Oudewater weekly market.
We skipped a packed lunch on this day, as we knew we wanted to try some local food.
The small meat filled bread roll was delicious, but the highlight was definitely the fish stand. We both got a fresh herring Sandwich and the famous Kibbeling.
Day 6: Haarlem-North Sea Coast-Haarlem (40km or 50km)
The day we cycled to the North Sea was amazing! A large part of the route was through an unreal nature reserve. Also, along the way, we cycled through massive sand dunes and came across a large group of highland cattle.
When we made it to the North Sea, we cycled on the coastline and beach area. One thing you can’t miss is trying some fresh seafood from one of the many small stands. There are a handful along the cycling path to pick from.
However, the one we couldn’t pass up, was a small cart directly on the beach! As you can tell, we enjoyed plenty of herring on our trip to Southern Holland.
Day 7: Zaandam-Amsterdam (32km or 53km)
For our final day of cycling, we chose the shorter route so we could have more time in Amsterdam. Yet, the closer we got to the city, the more we didn’t want our biking trip to end!
It was like a whole different world of cycling once we arrived in Amsterdam. The streets were so busy with traffic that we decided to park our bikes go by foot.
Check out this underground garage, which is completely free to store your bikes in the centre of Amsterdam.
We had a delicious four course dinner for our final night. It was the perfect end to our Southern Holland route and one of the tastiest meals of the trip! Our guides made the evening extra special by coming up with a song that they preformed about our trip.
Should You Take a Boat Bike Tour?
Yes! We can’t say enough about this biking tour of Southern Holland
We have always wanted to visit the Netherlands, but we never could have imagined seeing it like this. As you probably know, the Dutch are avid bikers, so the paths were so easy even in the cities.
The days can be long since your biking 30 to 50km in between each stop. Yet, if you’re up for a truly unique adventure, then this is the best way to see the Netherlands!
A few other popular tours through the Netherlands are the Sail & Bike Wadden Sea, and the Tulip Tour. We’ve heard nothing but good things about these trips, so be sure to read into them.
Have any questions about Boat bike and the route we did? Or want to share tips from own trip? Leave us a comment below!
Safe Travels,
Brigitte & Jake