Thanks for the link to the uncool bicycle club. It was an interesting read!

Glad you enjoyed it. I love the name of their club I admit.
I think something like that could be a good option for you since you can go at your own pace and see want you want to see but know you have backup and maybe company if you want it.

Hello all. My husband and I are going on our 3rd boatbike tour in September. We have taken two from Amsterdam on 100 guest river boats. Self guided. Mainly Europeans but a few Americans, Brit’s, Canadians. This time we are going Bruges to Amsterdam. Even tho these tours are self guided we found both times we banded with a few other English speakers. One solo traveler our first trip asked if she could bike together and she joined a small group. We used e-bikes on these trips which made it easy to ride six days and take longer routes. The boat bike tour explained the days route the evening before and there were great maps and a phone app that dings when you go off route. The food on the boats was delicious. We considered an hotel to hotel bike tour after meeting people who bike around lake Constance that way. Maybe next spring. I’ve also seen Dutch bike tours that sty at one hotel and take daily routes from there. I’ve never been on a Viking river cruise but it seems like the boat bike boats are refurbished older river boats. I thought they were great.

Lots of good information and suggestions. Thanks all

(Brits are Europeans, it is a geographical designation not a politcal one) ;-)

headwater,co.uk are a good tour company, I've used all over. I've also planned a lot of European trips as a couple. Worth looking at Denmark as well as the Netherlands for shear quantities of safe bike paths.

Thank you for correcting my geo vs. political. I appreciate the tip on Denmark and the UK company.

A brief update and follow-up.

I have now signed up for a fall Austria and Slovenia, hotel-to-hotel cycling trip with a company that uses chalk arrows for directions so people can ride at their discretion and don't have to do the mama duck routine. It should be an interesting post-trip comparison to my bike/barge trip. This fall trip is going to be pricey; the single supplement is very reasonable, but the base cost is much higher than my bike/barge trip. This trip does have a support van/ sag wagon which the bike/barge trip didn't, and I assume that adds to costs. In retrospect the bike/barge is seeming quite reasonable overall. So, we'll see how the upcoming trip is.

chalk arrows, do they not just hand out a paper map or link you to an APP?

According to trip reports I have read of touring with this company, many people much prefer this methodology over having to read maps or even use the GPS. We'll see what I think.

This might interest you and give you ideas for future trips: https://www.theguardian.com/travel/a...lands-contours

I appreciate the link. Switzerland definitely looks gorgeous, and it's 50 years since I last visited a teeny bit of the country so a very definite possibility with an ebike.