Emiel Blok | Owner / Manager
Emiel left a big corporate to take over the family business and to pursue his passion for cycling and hospitality.
I love cycling. I practically grew up on a bicycle: as far as I can remember I was always cycling to school. As for most Dutchmen the bike is my number one mode of transport. Our mission is to enable our guests to explore the Netherlands like a local. And even to include some hidden gems and bike paths the Dutch don’t know about. Some of which you simply can’t reach by car, train or bus.
I like my own trips to be tailored to my preferences rather than having to adapt to fixed dates, routes, or accommodations. This gives me the freedom to travel wherever I want, whenever I want and to discover new places at my own terms. I also love good equipment which just makes every trip a bit more fun. We organize our tours the same way: everything is possible, and you’ll get superb equipment.
Holland Bike Tours is family owned and operated for over 20 years. Based on our guests’ feedback and our many many own rides we keep improving
our tours and we even created a
custom made tour option. The biggest compliment we can get is when guests enjoyed their tour so much that they come back for more. And we’ve been fortunate to see back many familiar - and smiling - faces over the last decades. This is why we do our utmost to create the perfect bike tour for you!
Meike de Groot | Travel Advisor
Meike knows where you should travel to next, will happily create a detailed itinerary for you and can answer all of your questions.
In my day-to-day life, I cycle everywhere I can. I deliberately made the decision not to buy a car. The Netherlands is perfectly suitable for this, and with my E-bike I am still able to get anywhere relatively fast.
I also enjoy longer bike tours, which I usually ride with my mom. In 2016 we rode from Batton Rouge, Louisiana to Houston, Texas in the United States. This two-week trip was so beautiful and a true adventure you could say! There were a lot of dogs coming for our ankles as they weren't used to cyclist. And we weren't used to dogs coming after us. So, we bought an air horn at local supermarket which we placed in our bottle holder, this way we could easily grab it when needed. This really helped! I must say dogs in the Netherlands are far more used to cyclists and if not, kept away from the streets.
What I enjoy most about working at Holland Bike Tours is to create tours to make people happy. That’s a really good feeling when waking up in the morning. During all my cycling trips I experienced that the Netherlands is such a beautiful country with scenic and safe bike paths and everything else you need within reach. It actually makes me want to ride each tour we create myself!
Rian Blok | Founder
Rian founded Holland Bike Tours before the smart phone was invented, is now cycling across continents and occasionally helps out at the company.
The Netherlands is made for cycling. The Dutch landscapes are diverse; green lowlands crossed with rivers, historic towns, lush woods, and the North Sea coast, and it’s all close to each other. Also, the Netherlands has excellent cycling infrastructure; it’s very safe (also for children) and widely available. This motivated me to start a bicycle tour company for guests from all over the world in 2001. It enabled me to create routes for our guests, based on their preferred distance, scenery, and duration.
Over the years it has always been very rewarding to be part of the joy and satisfaction our guests had during their bike tour. The feeling of "the toughest part of the tour was going home" was certainly not just an easy cliché for our guests. In 2017 my son Emiel took over the lead of the company and with him and the team, Holland Bike tours is continued in excellent and professional hands.
Our extended team
Our extra hands for dedicated group support and for when we need to be in three places at the same time.
During the cycling season we work together with a fixed team of experienced cycling guides, support van drivers and a mechanic. Some of which are part of our team since day one, more than 20 years ago.
