Bolzano - Mantova - Venice

Customer Feedback

• Anne S. 4 weeks ago

  We loved the beautiful, amazing mountain scenery (with very few hills) of the first three days. The written instructions, though, are of a badness difficult to describe. We rated the tour 4/5, and the lost star were because of the extremely poor instructions. If we hadn't had maps and stickers on sign posts, we wouldn't have been able to make it through. The frustration really distracted from the overall enjoyment of the trip - an English speaker with an accurate odometer really needs to rewrite the directions. For example, they talked about "crossing a railway" (or maybe a "railway bridge"), so we spent about 20 minutes trying to find a way to cross the railway - but really it meant to pass underneath an elevated railway crossing. Also, the symbol used to indicate a warning (I think of a turn easy to miss) is a hand pointing to the right. One not unnaturally assumes that this means a right turn. It does not.

  Otherwise the barge, scenery, activities, food, and guides are all exactly what we hoped for and have experienced on earlier trips. No problems with luggage transfers, and the hotels for the first part of the trip were all great.

  Boat: Ave Maria

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• David & Patsy 2 months ago

  Most Memorable Part? The poppy fields along the bike ride was especially beautiful. Instructions need some updating.

  Boat: Ave Maria

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• Ian S. 8 months ago

  Superb scenery, boat, bikes and guides. Delightful in every way.

  Boat: Ave Maria

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• Nelson N. 8 months ago

  Enjoy, enjoy, enjoy! Piano player and entertainer was a highlight.....food was fabulous.

  Boat: Ave Maria

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• Rosemary B. 10 months ago

  Most Memorable Parts: the swimming off the boat, out in the ocean after a hot bike ride, were amazing.
  The historical information from our tour guides was outstanding.
  The food was DELICIOUS.
  Sunsets out on the water were glorious

  Boat: Vita Pugna

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• Carmel M. 11 months ago

  Every aspect of the trip made for a memorable experience. Having done both the hotel to hotel and the guided section gave us a truly great opportunity to see a part of Italy that is so varied in both history, culture, food and landscape.

  Boat: Vita Pugna

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• Janet L. 1 year ago

  We were glad that we did the independent bike ride starting in Bolzano 3 days before meeting up with everyone on the barge. The scenery and biking were incredible, especially on the alternate route. We did go solo the first day and got very lost 3 times! The next day we tagged along with others on the same trip. The directions could be more explicit ( Ex. It would be helpful to state directions that avoided questioning routes i.e. ""go this way, not that way""; caution - fork in road- bear right, but not up that 14% grade hill!) And what is a fly-over? (An overpass, we found out later) And what is considered a ""fountain""? (It's a small water spigot at a bikers rest stop). However, it was an adventure we won't forget. We learned we needed to have GPS through Google or another mapping/biking program. This would allow us to be more independent and ride self guided as biking with 28 or more people and 2 guides is slow going. The biking is on flat terrain, very easy. However, many days you bike around 30 miles, with many stops for breaks, tours, and sights. It was very warm in early June. Bring lip sunscreen and regular sunscreen!
  The Ave Maria is fantastic, our rooms were cozy but totally comfortable. The boat is in mint condition. Food is amazing! Our 2 chefs were top notch. Staff are fun and we really were lucky to have a great group of fellow travelers. Ronnie and Silvia were our guides and they were great. They were very patient, helpful and fun to be with. We had a competition one night, all the 5 groups from different countries did a skit. It was hilarious!!
  Also, arriving in Venice by boat at the end of the tour is the best way to go in our opinion. We stayed an extra day in Venice and took water buses to some of the islands. It was cooler there, we saw beautiful places and we used up our 3 day transit pass.
  I could go on and on, but suffice it to say, we had an unforgettable, wonderful trip and are thinking of where to go on our next bike and barge adventure!

  Boat: Ave Maria

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• Martha B. 2 years ago

  Outstanding guide, great staff on boat, wonderful food. The beautiful scenery from Bolzano to Mantova was probably the most memorable. Really happy we took the additional 3 days before boarding the barge.

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• Christine W. 2 years ago

  The scenery on the self guided from Bolzano to Mantua.
  The expert guide (Hein ), the food and the staff on the boat.
  They all went out of their way to make it a very pleasant experience.
  We could not have asked for a better crew.

  Boat: Ave Maria

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• Judith S. 2 years ago

  The guide, Hein, was very knowledgeable, entertaining and helpful. A real asset to the trip.
  Food on the Ava Maria was the best! Loved the three days from Bolzano through the mountains.

  Boat: Ave Maria

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• Rosemary B. 2 years ago

  We took the 11 day cycle in Italy and loved it all.
  A few things I think need mentioning.
  We got lost. Just as one of your reviewers mentioned on the way to Lake Garda. We were doing great and very early to get the boat but at one of the deviations,we turned towards Verona and didn't realize it until half way to Verona. We had to keep looking at the map and book description and when we thought we knew and didn't look at what we were doing, we got lost. So took a train to Verona, lugged the very heavy bikes up the train station stairs, no elevator or escalators there!! Then had to hang the bikes up on hooks on the train. Then the train back up to where we would have been finishing our trip in the boat down Lake Garda. PUCCINCI hotel in Peschiera.I was very disappointed to have missed the ride on lake Garda. So the day that was supposed to be our short day, and we had done 45k before noon, and should have been there, we did over 80K.
  I felt that in order to do each days trip on the extra three days, we had to miss lots of towns and sights I wanted to visit. The hotel in Bolzano was very lovely and staff was great.
  The hotel in Trento, The Grand, was very very Grand. We just loved it.
  The gentleman that was at the front desk in............Peschiera was very helpful and was trying to give us many many things to do until he realized we didn't have the time in one evening, when getting up early to ride, to do too much.
  The hotel at the bottom of Lake Guarda, Hotel Peschiera we had a large bedroom.
  The breakfast room was in the basement and was quite crowded.
  We went for a swim and I asked at the desk about towels for the pool and the woman said to just take the room towels. When I asked for dry towels later for our room she told me they were $5.00 each!!! Never have heard of that ever before.
  Our barge was wonderful and as the times we have biked and barged before with other companies, we were very delighted with the delicious meals, friendly crew and outstanding tour guide Lecia. She was so much fun, very professional, had amazing skills in many languages and we all fell in love with her. The rides were so beautiful, just as we expected and the others on board with us were friendly and keen like us.

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  • Carla 2 years ago

    Hi Rosemary! Thanks for submitting such detailed feedback. We are working with our local partner to make that part of the route more detailed. Glad you had a wonderful trip!

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• Daniel G. 2 years ago

  We did the 3-day self-guided tour from Bolzano to Lake Garda to Mantua first and that was a great adventure for us. The food and people we met on the boat was also a wonderful experience.

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• Joanne White 3 years ago

  This Bike and Barge tour was amazing, best holiday ever!

  Boat: Ave Maria

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• Christopher Manning 3 years ago

  Route guides(arrows)could in some areas(particularly in the Bolzano to barge section when riders on their own) be more clearly marked and better positioned.
  Steph,our guide,and the boat crew combined to make this a special experience.

  Boat: Vita Pugna

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• Debbie 4 years ago

  We did the Bolzano to Mantova bicycle trip, what an awesome experience. We loved every moment of it. Thank you for the wonderful trip, the hotels were excellent, the road maps we could not have done without. The signs from Pescheria to Mantova were not as good as the beginning - less to follow but on the whole I trip that we can recommend. The Ava Maria - 5 star, with a crew led by captain Connie and tour guide Helmut, not to mention the excellent food. Well organised and worth every penny

  Boat: Ave Maria

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• Jerry & Betsy Wilson 5 years ago

  Just completed this trip - we'll summarize by just saying "OUTSTANDING"! Enrico (our guide) couldn't have been better - surely gave us more info (and time!) than we expected. The boat's crew was outstanding too - food couldn't have been better! And we loved the cycling...even with (in spite of?) two days of rain. Our tandem bike was (surprisingly, for a rental tandem) easy to ride and control, even through some of the tight turns in the towns on the tour. Hard to find/fit tandems that are enjoyable to ride for both cyclists - Girolibero did their homework! We're already planning another tour for next year, and what a feast to choose from!

  J & B Wilson, 10/23/2013

  Boat: Ave Maria

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• E.R 5 years ago

  Great Trip! Directions were clear & detailed for the self-guided portion. Maps could have been better by showing North orientation.

  Guide on boat was fantastic! very knowledgeable and eager to please. Took us many places and gave us background info on things. Volunteered to take us on a tour of Venice and showed us how to use the water-bus system to get around on our own. Nicest boat and best guide I have had after many bike & barge trips.

  Boat: Ave Maria

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• Bolzano-Mantova-Venice 5 years ago

  We had great weather which helped make the trip so enjoyable. Heins, our guide, was fantastic.

  Boat: Ave Maria

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• Elizabeth Deerfield 7 years ago

  This was a well planned and orchestrated trip. The self guided part was easy to navigate and beautiful, lodging was great.

  The bike and Barge part was excellent. The guide, Hugo, was top notch along with a very great crew. The trip included so much, history, culture and fun. The barge was cozy, rooms good size and the food, excellent and nice variety. This was the best of 7 bike tours we have done.

  Boat: Ave Maria

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• Lynn Yetman 7 years ago

  Myself and 4 of my friends just completed the Balzano - Venice Bike Tour. This was our 7th cycle tour with Trip-Site and as with the previous 6 trips we were not disappointed. The cycling out of Balzano was probably the most beautiful of any cycling we have done. Coming down a mountain road to a spot overlooking Lake Garda was a spectacular site we will never forget.

  The Ava Maria has been beautifully re-furbished. The staterooms are roomy with plenty of storage. The dining room comfortabley seated our 28 fellow cyclists. The food was great and the wine reasonably priced. Our guides Flavio and Martina did a wonderful job and went out of their to be accomodating to our requests. The trail markers and directions from Balzano to Mantova could have been better. But, we were never actually lost, just misplaced from time to time. A great time was had by all.

  Boat: Ave Maria

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