MathSpokenHere

We were in Amsterdam last summer. We did not rent bikes, but it was clear that bike traffic is a significant element in that city. They did not have clear bike lanes in every area, but there seemed to be a courteous blend of cars and bicycles. As walkers, we really had to maintain a constant vigilance - more so for the bikers than the car traffic. Incidentally, we did feel quite safe in Amsterdam.

One ironic twist related to your question is that adjacent to the train station, there is a fairly large parking lot for cars - and an ENORMOUS parking lot for bicycles.

My wife and I booked the 7-day Portraits of Southern France Viking River Cruise during July with a three day extension in Paris. What started out fairly well turned into one nightmare after another, mostly due to Viking’s parsimonious approach to business and an inflexible and non customer oriented attitude.

After following the planned route for the first three days of the cruise, upon reaching Lyon on Thursday morning, Viking announced that they were suspending the remainder of the northbound cruise activity and accordingly remained docked at a single location in Lyon. Our balcony view from Thursday through Sunday was of a cement wall, filled with graffiti and located just a couple feet from the edge of our balcony.

The fact that the ship did not continue its northward journey converted the planned daily excursions into a logistical nightmare. Bus rides in excess of two hours each way were necessary just to get to those locations. My wife and I signed on to the Viking River Cruise partly because of the promise of short daily excursions that were included in the price of the package. We wound up trapped in Lyon from Thursday through Sunday, occasionally taking the cruise shuttle into town and also incurring the additional cost of cab rides to reach other parts of Lyon.

We never did get to Cluny. Viking arranged to send a bus up there, but the excursion would have required a bus ride in excess of two hours each way. A few people from the ship did take the excursion. It killed the entire day.