We joined the "Super Tulip Tour" during May 6-12, 2017. We had a lovely time and felt that the…read moreexperience was excellent and that our money was well spent. This was our first experience of a cycle tour, so this review is written from that perspective, with our "great" and "frustrating" items: Great: * This is a tour for casual bikers. The terrain in Holland is perfectly flat, with a few very gentle slopes (rarely encountered). The lengths of the rides were 25-35 km (15-22 mi) each day, but over the course of 5-6 hours with several stops it did not require one to be "in shape". The bikes are high quality, 24-speed, with water-resistant panniers and water bottles. Apparently for some extra you could get electrical assist bikes, but in our group of mostly 50-70-year-old people the exertion level was OK. * Our cycle guide was Paul, who was very experienced in leading tours, widely knowledgeable in Dutch history and customs, and spoke English and German fluently. The group universally felt he did an outstanding job. * After a few days, our group blended very well, finding all manner of things to talk about and some friendships blooming. This is apparently normal, per other tour members who have been on multiple cycle tours (unless there are language differences--the German quartet in our tour had very little English so was difficult to include). * Our barge (the Wending) had 12 cabins, which were reasonable accommodations for this kind of trip. The rooms had two single beds (we pushed ours together), a small set of shelves, a bath/shower and room for a very small table and chair. Don't bring a lot of stuff! I will say that they never ran out of hot water. Most of your time is spent cycling, touring the towns you are in, or socializing/eating in the dining area, so you don't need a large cabin. Several things you should consider bringing: shampoo/conditioner (soap was provided), a roll of duct tape (always useful--we taped the maps to our handlebars), a small carry bag or two, some plastic bags, and Aleve/Naproxen/Ibuprofen or whatever your low-dose pain pill is. If you forget anything, it was easy to find it in the towns where we visited each evening. * We were blessed with good weather for our trip. It was cloudy for 4 of the cycling days, sunny and quite warm for one, and had intermittent heavy showers on the last. It is really the luck of the draw. You should come prepared for bad weather (rain jacket and cycle "rain pants") and don't let it get you down if it happens. * You really get a good sense of Holland during this trip. The barge docked in a different small/medium towns every day, which were nice to explore in the evenings. In contrast, Amsterdam is a bustling city, where we started/ended (and biked through at one point). The tulip fields were spectacular--bright stripes of color encountered throughout the trip. They extend for hundreds of yards. By early/mid-May, some of the tulips have been "headed" so that they are stripes of green (they cut off the flowers in order for the bulbs to grow--the tulip fields are actually bulb farms, and it takes some 25 years for the bulbs to mature to the point where they can be sold). But plenty remained for us to see. Hyacinths were also in season, as were many natural wildflowers and trees. * There were several special tours along the way: Keukenhof (Flower Garden) and Flora Aalsmeer (the Flower Market). The Keukenhof was a garden park with the full variety of tulips and other flowers on display--we spent several hours here, and it was beautiful (the nearest thing I can compare it to in the States is Longwood Gardens in Kennett Square, PA). The Flora Aalsmeer is the flower auction/distribution facility near the airport. It is a colossal warehouse where some 44% of the world's cut flowers are shipped in, auctioned, and shipped out again. You see the warehouse operations and auctions, and it is a fascinating display of logistics. * We split several quartets off the main group, generally the faster riders. We had been provided with maps, and the Dutch "knooppunkt" system is easy to follow if you are navigating on your own through the very well-maintained bicycle path system. The downside is that you don't have someone with you to call your attention to things you might otherwise overlook. * Our cook did a great job with dinner (lunches were generally the same), even integrating cheese or spices we gave him. Frustrating: * Paul was a great guide, but there was only one of him--one guide for 24 people. We had three groups of four that tended to split off, but then you were on your own. We feel another guide would have been helpful for a group this size. Apparently, it was unusual for groups to split off. Another alternative was to have a much better written packet to accommodate separate groups. * The wifi on the barge VERY limited, due to their satellite connection. You could buy more MB, but would burn even that quickly.