2 Star Bike Tour Reviews — 1 to 30 of 81

We travelled May 24th to 31st on the Fluvius. (Amsterdam to Bruges).
The biking, the crew and the guides were fantastic. The ship on the other hand was not. We had one engine and no air conditioning.

This caused several problems: our riding was cut short on the first three days because of the engine difficulties.

The sleeping cabins and the dining room/ lounge were very close to unbearable with the heat and lack of air flow. Some nights we had to sleep with our door open due to the heat to allow for some air flow which presented privacy concerns for all as many of the passengers had to resort to this tactic of open doors. The crew did a great job working through these conditions but this is unacceptable working and living conditions.

While we enjoyed our time off the ship I would have serious reservations booking again with your company.

Albania is beautiful! The route is amazing and challenging but the guide was very unprofessional. Hence the reason for only 2 stars.

I'd like to begin by mentioning this was our 4-5 Tripsite trip, heretofore we have enjoyed our previous experiences.

1) The rating for this trip on the Tripsite website is "Easy/Moderate", whereas the rating on the Island Hopping (the operator) website is 5/5 which is their highest level of trip. We found it difficult even with e-bikes, the frst two days we climbed 6000 feet with several 8-10% grades. The sights were historical and we enjoyed them once we arrived. However the physical effort to finish daily left more exhaustion than we are used to.
2) The food quality and preparation was not up to our expectations. Breakfast was exactly the same each morning. The evening meals were bland; "Pass the Salt, Please" was the daily montra.
3) Our cabin never had a change of towels the entire week.

I’ve been on 11 Tripsite tours. This one was the most disappointing.
The Roman Colosseum in Pula on the Istria Peninsula was the highlight of my trip on day 1.
As to the tour itself, I found the routes to be unimaginative, mostly riding through Woods or Fields. As to the accommodations the tour guides were great, and the staff on the boat was wonderful and helpful, but The Linda is a tired vessel. The outside areas were interesting but the rooms could use some sprucing up. The bathroom had ceiling leaks that kept the floor constantly soaked. It’s just not what I came to expect.

Our trip had to be re-routed due to a bridge collapse, which is understandable yet the new route disappointing. This was not a Champagne tour -- just one day via bus to a cave. It was more of a WW1/11 site trip...which was interesting and we enjoyed that bit but not what we signed up for. The new route was 30% lovely, the rest mostly through industrial areas and unattractive routes; the guides were not well experienced with the new route and we frequently got lost. The lead guide was rather defensive when route etc suggestions were offered. The boat was lovely, though some people had trouble with power and leaks in their room; the owner did fix after a few days. The chef was excellent...food was 5 star. The captain and crew were helpful and delightful. Again, we understand that things happen...but the trip was not what we had booked and tripsite did not offer the option to rebook to a different trip or future date. We'll likley travel again with tripsite as we've had great experiences in the past (Croatia and Mosel), but wish they had offered options with such an extreme trip change.

The chef Paolo was amazing - his menus were delicious! The crew worked well together and did their best to make us comfortable on an old barge under cold/rainy conditions.
The Mosel/Saar is a beautiful area, but our bike guide had never been on the route before so did not know things about the route you would expect a guide to know. We really expected and would have appreciated some personal info about the places we were visiting and not just someone to lead us down a bike path.

We are quite experienced cyclists & have completed several European self-guided bike tours in the past.
We found this tour confusing with poorly marked and ambiguous bike trails. Suggest that using a GPS be mandatory. We got lost at least once every day!
Many bike lanes are on busy highways directly adjacent to cars going 80 km/hour, especially around cities. A bit unnerving to say the least.
Would remind travellers that in Germany most shops are closed on Sundays & many on Mondays too.
Not my favourite trip.

First thing this is not an easy bike ride. There are climbs every day and sometimes in the forest on dirt roads. I would recommend a pedal assist if you want to enjoy this trip. Denmark is wonderful and the people are great however a little pricey to eat and drink! The tour company was not the greatest. They did not have a print out for us which we were supposed to get a 20 Euro refund which we have not received and their GPS was not working the last day so we had to rely on Apple. Our luggage did not arrive one night until 7:30 so that was very inconvenient and some of the hotels were not in the city.

This is the 3rd Bike and Barge Trip That my friend and I went on. The problem was that the trip is geared to German speaking people. English was given we felt as an after thought. We also took the guided bike trip which had it perks, but we had the worst guide. The guide was not concerned with our safety and we had to continually ask for English. We were not warned of obstacles or any other dangerous situations. After I spoke to her she was kept checking with me but bit the other 7 English speaking riders. Also the electric bikes were so big and heavy, I would have been better off with a non electric bike. The staff was excellent. The cruise director terrible. Not happy with this trip

The actual trip was quite enjoyable. The boat was nice and the accommodations were good weight staff and food were excellent. I would not travel with this company again just because they are totally unequipped to handle a bike accident. I only received help by luck.

We picked up our bikes and tested them. Everything was fine. When we set out the next day. We were cruising right along. Some of the markers were hard to find as there are so many cyclists and trails and bike routes. We did get lost but there was always someone to help us. The next day my friends bike would not go into peddle assist mode. We stopped at a bike shop and were told that the problem was in the wiring of the bike. Upon calling our outfitters we were told that they would bring us a bike at 10:00 the next morning, 11 hours later. We ended up having to take a fare boat at our expense , to get to the next town. The replacement bike did show up at 10:00 the next day but that hardly gave us enough time to make it to our next destination. We lost a lot of biking time in those two days. Trip site has yet to reimburse us for any of the inconvenience and does not respond to our emails. I would highly advise going through a different company.

It was a family reunion with friends whom most have never been on a bike & barge trip…ever! It was fun, exciting, adventurous and EPIC. If you are curious about a bike and barge trip, take the leap and do it. You may see something, meet someone or reinvent yourself that changes your life.

The lack of communication on the lack of planning for weather. There should have been plans in place for us to visit all 4 countries that we paid for, or compensation for missing Budapest.

Disappointing trip. Our only day in Potsdam nearly every museum was closed. Countryside and small towns just were not very interesting. I don’t believe this same itinerary is being offered next year. Food on Merlijn was just ok and we were given small sandwiches for lunch.

Cycling in Lido and Pellistrina was fantastic. The cycling guides were all over the place. The boat went to Murano to see a glass blowing factory. We were told to be back at 4:45. We returned at 4:40 and the boat had already removed the gangway and was preparing to sail. We communicated with tripsite that we wanted a room with a window that opened that we could escape from if necessary. The window was less than 12" wide when opened. Clearly not was advertised. The guides frequently stopped after just a few minutes to talk about some unimportant building that wasn't even on the Ride with GPS app. The itinerary says you spend two nights in Venice. The boat is not in Venice. You have to take a Vaparetto to get to Venice. It is close but it is not Venice. That is false advertising. The espresso / cappucino machine had sour milk in it every morning. We had to buy our own Vaporetto passes even though the boat knew everyone would need them. This is ridiculous when you pay $5,000 for a trip. The whole crew had made arrangements with a group of Italian passengers to take them on a bike ride near Venice but didn't give anyone else the option of going. They also didn't tell anyone. The itinerary says you can get on the boat at 11:00 but the boat was gone to support the last bike ride. So folks who went to Venice had to stay out in the heat for over 4 hours.

This barge trip was my second one but definitely it wasn’t better than the first. The main reason of this disappointment was the guide. We were a group of 12 with a wide range of ages and personally I think he wasn’t able to adapt to every bodies needs and we had to look after ourselves. The guide didn’t explain much about the history and meaning of the places we visited, which, to my mind, diminishes the value of this experience.

tripsite was always a little confused and there were mistakes made, we got our info the day we arrived for the first day of our tour. The hotel did not know a thing about our packets, and again I had to make a call on vacation. The person that showed up was clueless about bikes did not know how to put on pedals or adjust the seat. He did not have our train tickets as someone forgot to put them in the packet. one of the bikes was missing a fender and a bag. The hotels were hit or miss. The Stockl hotel was dirty and smelly, we both got a rash that was scaly and itchy. I had to call Euro bikes to get our train tickets again. As they forgot to digitally send them. ,( second time). The directions were hit or miss. Gps was better. I have done many bike tours and I loved the Danube tour just need a more organized company. Electric bikes worked great!!
castles were great!

Not many memorable parts of the journey.

The information provided about the mileage each day was inaccurate. The rides changed and the downloaded GPS maps were useless.

The guide lost members of the riding group and we had to wait long periods of time.

I requested fish and had vegetarian meals instead

I could go on. Very unexpected experience and very disappointed

Just returned form a Pearls of Dalmatia on board the Romantica. I am very disappointed. The food we were served was less than acceptable. Vegetable soup without any vegetables (none, zero), chicken noodle soup with no chicken or noodles, thin chicken filet (2 nights) that would have been fine had they not been over cooked (think shoe leather), a lot, lot of pasta. Coffee & tea were complimentary with breakfast only, any other time, lunch, dinner or in between, there was a surcharge. However, there was plenty of bottled drinking water..good thing as you pay cash on board $60 euros per person for water.

Guides were friendly, stateroom was standard bike & barge size & layout. I would have preferred more riding, but what we did was good, certainly challenging. Bikes were in good working order.

We booked this trip for September, 2023 and had numerous issues with this company. We are experienced cyclists both on regular and e-bikes, and have cycled in Europe previously. With Tripsite, on the first day, the bikes were delivered to us without helmets and even without a seat. On Cycling Day 1, one of the apps on our phones was blank and it took a while to get that reinstalled. Halfway through the route, we found ourselves stuck on the side of the road, as our bikes no longer had a charge. They were transported to our final destination for the day by van/shuttle. On Cycling Day 2, only one of the two chargers was working, so one bike was still dead. We used the only working charger to charge the second bike - which takes 3-4 hours. After an obviously late start, again the bikes were just not what was needed for this route. It is not "Easy-Moderate" as stated and we found ourselves pushing very heavy bikes up very steep hills. Again the bikes were not functioning properly. No support from Tripsite, mainly due to time differences between Italy and the US, and although we were in touch with the European company, they were located 4 hours away and were not able to help much either. After only two days of cycling and realizing that the bikes were faulty compared to what we needed, we turned in our bikes and canceled the rest of the 8-day tour. It is now over 3 months later and our numerous requests for a reasonable refund have been disregarded by the company. We are not impressed with Carla (Manager/Owner), at all. Her responses are not only slow, but quite rude and she tends to blame us for the bike problems.
If considering a European cycling tour, we would suggest using a European company that is available to provide support when their bikes are not working properly. Tripsite does not stand behind their promises.

The Danube is one of the top places to bike in Europe – and I’ve done it many times over the last eight years. However, I did not enjoy the Primadonna. I wish that Tripsite would’ve told me that it was a “bargain” cruise. The staff was not very professional, and although breakfast was very good, dinner was somewhere between OK and unacceptable. Worst thing was the bike route description briefing. The cruise Director talked in circles and you never had a clear understanding of what you were doing. We had to ask a lot of questions and make notes to be clear. Many people in my group struggled - and the printed hand out they gave us was worthless.
Very disappointed in Tripsite for letting me book this for my group. I feel it was their responsibility to tell me that the Primadonna and it’s staff were the bottom of the barrel on the Danube boat and bike list, compared to others they offer.
In sales, they call that: managing expectations.
I wish we would’ve taken the Manon (which I did last Summer) – far better in every sense.

Stopping at local towns to sight see and hit a cafe mid-morning and for a glass of wine or beer in the afternoon. Allure barge never made enough food for our group, rarely made stops while biking at cafe’s or towns for coffee or drinks in the mornings or afternoons. Felt rushed to get from point A to B and not enjoying the ride.

This is my 6 th European cycle tour in two years. Overpriced and overbooked. Avoid this shameless money grab at all costs. An enormous motor coach with limited access to parking lots and some tour stops replaced the advertised support van. Thus, Zero ability to stop during an accident or transport an injured rider—- which happened twice. There were no picnic lunches provided. We were handed a cheese/cured meat sandwich with optional banana/apple and choice of energy bars every morning. Meals provided were high-carb, low cost— as sub standard as the accommodations. Our last hotel provided rooms with, I kid you not, two flights of stairs within the room. At least it had an elevator. Many of the places we stayed did not. At first, we were expected to transfer our own luggage to/from the bus and back. As well as our e-bike batteries and chargers. The last few nights our luggage was actually taken to our rooms— a huge relief. When heavy rains set in and I asked to ride the bus— the owner actually spoke very sternly to me and used the word “warning.” “I am warning you,” she said. The motor coach was already at our next hotel and she did not want to bring it back. After checking weather reports, the coach did return to pick us all up and our bikes. I have photos of meals, accommodations and injuries. If I can figure out how to post them, I will.

The hotels were great and the weather good.

Scenery, especially the last 2 days through the Vezere Valley was beautiful. The route had many more hills and more riding on roads, some with a good bit of traffic than we expected, but happy to have e-bikes. We loved our e-bikes, although ideally we would have gotten them the evening before, not 9am the morning we started riding. Norbert and his crew who delivered the bikes were helpful with setting up the bikes, as well as getting the GPS tracks for us which we requested, but hadn't gotten. Our first day riding there was a bridge out over the river that was being completely rebuilt. We used Google maps to find a way around, but it meant riding on a busy highway for 12km. When we called Loire Valley Travel that evening to let them know so the map could be updated, we were told they don't check the routes each year. That bridge construction appeared to be a long ongoing project. However, the most concerning thing was our accommodation on the 3rd night, which was in a remote location outside Bergerac. We did not even get to see Bergerac (other than riding through heavy traffic). We were served dinner at the B&B without any choice of food. I don't eat duck or foie Gras, so I had mashed celeriac for dinner (and a great dessert). It was absolutely NOT a superior accommodation, although the owner was very nice and beds were comfortable and our room was clean. The pictures on their website were not at all representative. I was shocked when compared to the sample accommodation on your website. We were very pleased with our hotels in Bordeaux, Les Eyzies, and Sarlat. The one in St. Emilion was OK, but "shabby", not at all superior.

Several of our friends have used your company in Portugal and have been very pleased. They mentioned meeting an area manager before the ride for an orientation, as well as raving about their awesome hotels. Please let us know if you would like further details, but sadly we were quite disappointed in this ride that we were very much looking forward to.

More of a boat trip than a ride. Lots of time stuck on the boat, minimal time at each location. Many rides cancelled or shorter than the advertised tour.

Getting to see so much of the Green Heart of Holland. However, incompetent dining room staff making me late for outings, insufficient/late availability of food for packing lunches, one guide leaving mid-trip, broken down barge meaning loss of 2 days of itinerary and then overloaded internet making us unable to download alternative routes, maid skipping our room first day - all made this a memorable trip as well, but not in a good way

I wish the group leader an responsible for eight people signing up for this trip. Guides were good, response from trip site was horrible when our bags did not arrive another party that we had signed up also did not have their bags arrive. Very disappointing with no bike clothes no pet it shorts no pedals etc.

Going to Poland. This trip was too rural and remote. Very few stops and few points of interest. Mainly dirt paths or cobblestone paths that were very difficult to ride a bike on. The farm fields we drove our bikes through were awful, some were full of holes and quite dangerous. I do not recommend this trip for those who have back and neck problems or those who never have rode a mountain bike.

The captain backing up the ship to fit into a small space at the dock.