5 Star Along the Danube - Four Country Tour Tour Reviews — 1 to 30 of 383

Magical, is the ideal word to describe this bike and boat tour. We arrived in Passau the day prior to departure, seeing where our shuttle would pick us up, strolling the little town and savoring the local dishes.
The Primadonna, is one of the larger boats cruising the Danube, having a comfortable sitting area where the daily orientations would occur. A dining room providing full views of the river while enjoying our elevated 4 course dinners that highlighted each region we visited accompanied with choice of beverages to purchase. Average wine or beer prices were around 5 euros.
The breakfasts had a very diverse menu with many options to consider, and each day we were provided a bottle of water for our daily ride, accompanied with containers for packing our lunch, (some brought their own reusable containers) from the breakfast menu, of meats, cheeses and breads. The cruise staff also would have a few options to consider daily for lunch as well, from Focaccia bread, quiche and cheese pinwheels to name a few.
The upstairs deck offered a place to unwind with a drink after our day of cycling or if a bit too hot or breezy outside, the bar / lounge inside where the afternoon coffee and deserts were served was another option to consider.
Our 2 twin bed main deck cabin was more spacious than we anticipated, providing us ample space to put our suitcases and backpacks. While our round window offered natural light and equally surreal to look out and be only inches above the water line as we cruised along.
Our first day of cycling had us get used to our bikes which were well maintained, she rode an E bike and I rode a standard touring bike along the flat terrain. keep in mind that with a turn here or there to see things you will average 38-40+ miles a day except for the day spent in Budapest.
The 1st ride from Schlogen – Linz had us pedaling with the river on our side, treelined paved roads, and mountains rising above, made this start of our trip to be one of the most enjoyable amongst nature.
The 2nd day cycling into Vienna, was effortless with directions to keep the canal along our left, and follow the signs towards the center. The ringstrassua was easy enough to follow, around the city and would provide us with a user-friendly route of all the sites. A bonus was Milos recommendation of the park to enjoy our packed lunch. A must was locking up the bike and walking to the center and seeing the spectacular St. Stephen’s Cathedral.
The ride to Sturovo would lead us on a few mistaken turns, yet easy enough to once again get back on track. During today’s ride we would go around a bend and be greeted by thousands of sunflowers. We must have taken collectively a hundred photos marveling in the burst of yellows and golds. Even with the rains later in the day that may have dampened our ride, it did not dampen the joyful smiles from earlier. It was quite humorous seeing our fellow riders clumped under a small group of trees as the heavy rains passed.
As we cycled from Slovakia into Hungry, our dinner would conclude timed with arriving into Budapest a glow in the night sky. Everyone went to the upper deck, and awws and ahhhs could be endlessly heard. This part of the trip was magical.
Our day in Budapest was cut short, an announcement was made that based on low water levels, that it was best for us to cruise back towards Vienna where the levels were better suited. We made amazing use of the time, and explored the city easily managed on bikes.
The lower water levels had a change in our itinerary for the following day, offering us a choice for a bike ride into Vienna, or take the provided bus into Bratslavia then onto Vienna. We chose to bike into the city having some familiarity from our earlier visit and went to see things missed. We chose the Belvedere museum, known for housing Gustav Klimts “Kiss”.
Our last day of cycling would be a highlight shared with so many friends and family as our ride weaved through vineyards of the Wachau region. The only suggestion to the cruise, would be during the briefing to provide some locations to stop for a tasting. We spent quite a bit of time searching, and was by sheer luck we would stumble across the amazing Wagner winery.
The last night was festive with the crew parading through the dining room, and all of us applauding for a wonderful time.
This was our 3rd Bike and Boat trip booked via Tripsite, they are great with correspondences. This experience was nothing short of a magical trip. There were only 4 people out of 160 that spoke English, 2 of which were us which was shocking. The majority spoke German and a lot of people were more than willing to try and talk with us and were quite friendly. The majority of the cruise staff spoke English which was quite comforting. They provided us with separate English orientations, updates with itinerary changes and made us more than feel welcome. Milos, who gave our briefings was great, and even though we took a few wrong turns here and there and let him know, he took notes for future cruises to ensure it was clarified for them. Drogen our server was brilliant; he went above and beyond to ensure our cruise was memorable and even had a cake made for my birthday as a surprise.
This was a wonderful cycling trip, very user friendly for all ages and levels of cycling experience.  SHOW MORE 

The Vivienne was very clean, and for a smaller river boat, it felt very spacious. Our cabin was very comfortable with plenty of storage. The crew, and food were also great! We opted to have a guide ( Hamish Lucas) and he was exceptional! We didn't have to worry about the route and Hamish gave us so much history. Highly recommend Hamish. Loved all the bike rides through historic cities, small town and countryside.

The service on board was superb, all staff was extremely helpful and kind. Information regarding the biking routes was very detailed and precise - we appreciated Leslie's markings along the way!

The tour director and the entire staff onboard the Vivienne were outstanding, so welcoming, warm and helpful, as well as very professional. The boat facilities are great, very clean and well maintained. The Danube River is beautiful, and the bike route is top notch. Very well marked, lovely countryside and small towns. Exceychoise of stopping points.

This bike and boat tour was excellent. We chose a guide and ebikes for the biking portion which made us really enjoy the day as we did not have to worry about getting lost and/or making it back to the boat on time.
The ship itself was smaller, so you got to know people and felt like a big family.
The service from meals, to housrkeeping to daily tour briefings was top notch.
This was our first bike and boat tour and we would definately do it again.

Good cycling, food, staff and experience. What fun to meet and make friends with our neighbors from Canada and Europe.

Everything was top notch! The people. the crew, the food...everything!
One suggestion...when serving dinner entrees from whatever country the boat is currently in, please include the type of meat in English (ie: chicken or pork, etc.)

Excellent trip we enjoyed the rides each day and the towns that we rode through.

I totally enjoyed our trip. The biking was wonderful and I appreciate Leslie taking time to brief us before each ride, it was so helpful.

Loved every part of the trip. We are not cruise trip people, but this was an excellent experience and would do it again. The number of passengers was just right. The staff was outstanding. Thank you.

We loved the entire experience! Boarding the boat and unpacking once was wonderful. We’ve done many bike rides and the daily grind of packing, unpacking and being down at the tour vehicle gets a bit exhausting.

We had the junior suite and it was great. Plenty of storage space and the large windows were fantastic ! The food was excellent and we were able to gather a group of eight other friends to join us so every night and every day at breakfast we had a table of 10.

Probably our only suggestion would be that we would’ve liked to have spent more time in Vienna. We could’ve skipped the day before and it would’ve been nice to arrive in Vienna first thing in the morning and have a full day there.

We are ready to book another bike and barge in the near future.

The entire barge experience…including raw ambiance, the food presentation, the planning on behalf of the staff, and even the boat itself.

We had a wonderful time for a first bike and barge. Would highly recommend this trip.
The staff were incredible and of course the biking. For couple of days there was strong head winds so had the work really hard as we had regular bikes..well worth the effort and sense of accomplishment at the end of the day.

Budapest
Cycling through Wachau Valley
Service and food on Vivienne

This trip was excellent from its start to finish. The staff made everyone feel welcome and communicated each day’s plan very thoroughly. We enjoyed making new friends and our guide, Thomas, helped make our experience so positive. What a great way to explore the four countries and cities such as Vienna, Budapest and Bratislava. The final biking day through the UNESCO valley was outstanding.

This trip was excellent from its start to finish. The staff made everyone feel welcome and communicated each day’s plan very thoroughly. We enjoyed making new friends and our guide, Thomas, helped make our experience so positive. What a great way to explore the four countries and cities such as Vienna, Budapest and Bratislava. The final biking day through the UNESCO valley was outstanding.

i loved biking through the country side and small towns. We would stop for ice cream and even visited a winery. It was nice having the guide, didn't have to think about where we had to go each day. Visiting all of the towns along the way tasting their food and beer and shopping in the small shops was fun. The boat had a good vibe and relaxing atmosphere.

The service, food and the beautiful boat. It was a wonderful trip.

We had a wonderful time aboard the MS Vivienne for this tour. The cabin was quiet and comfortable, no movement from the water. The food and staff aboard were wonderful. The cycling was beautiful, we got to visit several historic cities and we met some very nice people. We would definitely sign up for another bike and boat tour like this!

The bike ride scenery was almost 75% amazing, 25% was nice or ok. Having said that, I am an experienced cyclist but I do not enjoy riding on busy roads or in traffic. The meals were ample and enjoyable. It was so nice to come back from a ride and have a 3-4 course meal ready for you at dinner. The staff were lovely, attentive, and professional. The Prima Donna was our vessel. Very clean and comfortable. Large bathrooms, good water pressure, and temperature. It is important to look at the maps provided when you attend the route briefing. Keep questions to a minimum and directed toward route information. The bike I had was a pedal with electric assist and my 1st time using e assist. Great bike with comfy saddle, good gear shifting, brakes and panniers provided. Riding near Vienna was very busy on the bike paths. Stopping at a cafe when you see one on any ride, is worth stopping and enjoying the rest and good beer or coffee. My first ever “cruise” and it was just the type of experience I had hoped. We were a group of friends and siblings, and 12 of us. Great time.

Meeting people from around the world on the boat. Also the staff on the boat was fantastic very accommodating and helpful.

Beautiful boat lobby and cabins. Rooftop deserves more time spent there. Front bar has lovely views. River tour of Budapest nightlights is fabulous. Bikes are excellent . 3/6 days we had to dock late because another boat was in our spot? Therefore we rarely had time to sightsee or make cafe’ stops during our bike days. I don’t understand this. Late September is perhaps not the best time for this tour?

This is an excellent bike and barge. The Vivienne was a beautiful boat with excellent staff. The schedule is well laid out, allowed time to enjoy the biking and scenery. The navigation app worked really well but take a phone holder for your bike so you can see the map. I have Bluetooth hearing aids so the directions were also provided by audio which was very helpful. That city bus tours were ok, if you are a city traveller you could have navigated both Budapest and Vienna on your own.
The cruise director has lots of information and will answer your questions…. If in doubt ask questions.
The food was amazing … you will not go hungry.

The scenery on this tour was amazing. The Danube River valley is quite picturesque! The bike trails were awesome.

The caring staff, beautiful countryside and incredible sights made this bucket list trip awesome! The crew felt like family by the end of the trip and the biking was really fun rain or shine!

Boat was nicely appointed and good clean cabins. A small gym room with some weights would be a nice addition Tomas was a superb guide. A great balance between local knowledge and keeping 18 riders moving at a comfortable pace. Leslie , the cruise director was always available and worked hard to keep us informed for the next day and volunteer ice packs when needed! Even a restocked bottle of our favourite gin was procured when the bar ran out! Crew were excellent; bikes were always on shore or back on the boat as needed. Service at meals and bar were first class. Bratislava was the most interesting city tour; being the place where the iron curtain came down. Budapest night walking tour was spectacular. We found the e-bikes to be very heavy and a 30 minute familiarisation on day one would have beeen good. 95% of the meals were good. Certainly the most scenic and interesting cycling that we have ever done. Total was about 205km in the week. Take care on the 2km long bridge on the second day. It’s a very narrow cycling track; best walked if comprised by height and traffic noise! Overall, we thoroughly recommend this tour.

This was truly the best trip I’ve had in a long time! Everything about it was fantastic from the incredible sites We visited to the breathtaking biking routes. Every day was amazing. The experience on the boat was unforgettable, with outstanding staff, delicious food, and excellent service. Leslie, our cruise Director was absolutely top-notch. He was informative, funny and always ready to answer questions. Honestly, it’s hard to pick just one highlight because the entire trip was so special. I’ll definitely be recommending this adventure to all of my biking friends!

The bikes were great. The crew took care of everything, answered any questions we had and provided insight to suggested stops along the way. Tripsite tour representative Kirsten went above and beyond to answer all our pre-trip questions. The routes were very picturesque, provided ample opportunity to explore the countryside and learn about the local cultures. The food was great and great suggestion to bring a container for lunch. We will definitely book again!

The bike riding, the staff, the food and the new friends we met during the week were all amazing. The last ride from Krems to Melk was absolutely breathtaking! I literally cannot stop smiling!
Tip: expect to take some wrong turns, just enjoy the ride.

This tour exceeded my expectations. I loved the variety of biking along the Danube River and through vineyards and beautiful small towns, and free days to explore some larger cities by foot, bike or bus. Having one home base was perfect & our cabin was very comfortable.

I recommend that you view the trip as a sampling of the beautiful areas and not expect that you will be able to thoroughly tour many of the landmarks.