5 Star Along the Danube - Four Country Tour Tour Reviews — 301 to 330 of 377

The most memorable part was our free time in Budapest. What a beautiful city.

My wife and I enjoyed the variety of the destinations and getting off the boat to explore small villages, ruins and interact with the local people.
The staff was very friendly and always helpful.
One tip we would suggest is to make every effort to be on top deck or in the parlor to see the cities we visited during arrival and departure.

The combination of biking in the beautiful countryside and also being on the water on a boat for my lodging was wonderful and just enough time to enjoy the cultural hubs of the amazingly beautiful cities. I loved it all and for me just the right combination of it all.
I would suggest that the navigation on the bike routes was confusing at times so the next time to enjoy it more I would opt for being guided on the biking versus self-guided.

The most memorable part of the trip was the wonderful friendships made being a part of the guided tour group. There were six English speakers and seven Germans including the guide. Truly a remarkable experience. Budapest was also a memorable location. One tip we could recommend would be a portable hot spot. Wifi was not very good because it is satellite feed. Which caused issues with paying for some trips with a credit card.

This trip was an excellent opportunity for travel with our mother who could stay on the boat while my sister and I biked through the countryside - meeting back up for meals and comparing experiences. Tripsite was very helpful and we got to know one of our Tripsite staff as she joined our trip to learn more about the tour and help others in the future. She couldn't have been nicer or more helpful.

Loved the ship-the Primadonna. We liked it that the servings were not big and that you could ask for seconds. Appreciated the lunches they prepared. It was a great trip. Staff was helpful and efficient.

I don't know how I could possibly pinpoint one part of the trip as the most memorable as it was all so absolutely fantastic. I was expecting it to be good but is was beyond my wildest expectations.
Take a day in Passau either before or after the trip to walk around the beautiful historic town. The cathedral is so worth a visit, it's absolutely magnificent with an organ that has more pipes than any other in the world.
The boat was excellent, accommodations better than expected, the food was amazing and the staff friendly and helpful, nothing was too much trouble. Remember to book your spa time as you will have that privately for an hour. There is nothing quite like sitting in the hottub while cruising down the Danube after a days ride.
Visit the Trappist monastery before you ride on your first day and see the reliquaries in the church-pretty weird, and don't forget to stop for refreshments before you take your bike across on the ferry at the Danube bend. The bikes are really comfortable and take your time to enjoy the magnificent scenery on this ride. You will see old castles up on the cliffs and picturesque villages across from the bike path.
In Bratislava we took our time to walk up to the castle which give great views over the city and looks beautiful when lit up at night. Take a slight detour from the route to ride over the "flying saucer" bridge. When you are riding to Bratislava take your time to look at Prince Eugenes palace with its magnificent Baroque gardens.
Go up on deck to take full advantage of the cruise into Budapest. To say that every picture I took here was postcard quality is no lie. Rather than do the guided tour we jumped on the hop on hop off bus so we could make it up to the castle and anywhere else you might want to see. This was actually my favorite City as it was so beautiful and it didn't seem as packed with tourists and it's very walkable. The views at night from our cabin were fantastic with the city lights and the view across the river.
The next day was a beautiful scenic ride by the river with another ferry ride to Esztergom where you really should walk up to the cathedral and the huge statue that overlooks the river.
Vienna was our next stop and we took a tram and subway up to the city center. Tours were offered but we did this one ourselves, and I think that biking this city would be worth it as it is so set up for cyclists. There was a Jesuit church here that was more magnificent than any other church I saw on the trip. I had never seen rainbow colored corkscrew marble columns before. It was truly spectacular. Visit an art museum too if you get the chance. The architecture here was spectacular and we watched people waltzing in one of the central parks.
Our final day was riding through the vineyards of Austria and little villages along the river. Stop for some wine tasting but not too much as this is the day you will probably have to ride against the wind on the final part of the ride.
The rides were so much fun and anyone could do them, electric bikes were available for the less able. There is so much to do and see, and you can make great new friends.
All I can say is sign me up for next year and while I would do this trip again in a heartbeat, I want to try a new one.
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The best part was seeing the countryside by bike.

The e-bike option really made the trip for me. It allowed me to bicycle each day, get plenty of exercise, and not overdo it. As a result, I was able to enjoy the sites and experience much more.

There were many memorable parts of this trip. The vineyard/bike trails around Melk were very nice.

The people I was on the trip with we all had a just terrific time. A truly wonderful trip with a great staff great a wonderful trip.

The trip was very nice. Everything was nice. If I can figure a route will do it again next year!

Biking thru Wachau valley. Our guide, Hugo, was not real informative. We had to drag info from him. He was better later in the week when we kept asking. Wine tasting was fun. Loved quaint villages.

The e-bike option really made the trip for me. It allowed me to bicycle each day, get plenty of excercise, and not overdo it. As a result, I was able to enjoy the sites and experience much more.

The incredible countryside through which we traveled both by boat and on bike as well as the wonderfully hard-working, pleasant and attentive staff who made my trip so memorable. Lastly, the food was fantastic!

Sometimes we were unsure if we were on the route or not. Maybe could have had some additional signage along route.

The trip overall was great. The boat is showing its age, and the cabins are adequate but not overly comfortable.
The route descriptions provided by the cruise director could have been much better. Simply using visuals to indicate map directions would have helped a lot. There was some unnecessary confusion on our trip. A friend who took the trip two weeks earlier on the same boat with the same crew made the same comment.
Overall the lovely scenery, the interesting people on board and the beautiful cities we visited made this trip very worthwhile.

I loved every moment of the trip. The boat and the meals were far better than I had expected, the staff was super friendly and the fun activities were great. I look forward to booking another trip. I recommend that people read their information prior to daily outings as there is a lot to absorb. Also, take time on the first day to be sure your bicycle is a good fit. It was a magnificent adventure!

We found the boat comfortable and the staff really helpful and friendly. The trip was most relaxing and a good insight into the Danube countryside.

The most memorable part: The staff on board the ship, our guide, the beautiful sights and most importantly the people we met in the countries we visited. They were warm, welcoming and really made you feel like a special visitor.

Started our tour July 17th. Things went smoothly after they had gotten the engine fixed which caused a change in our first days agenda. They really came through in making up for the inconvenience. Staff on the ship and Stephan our Rad and Reisen rep were great.

All in all it was an excellent vacation, very well organized. All the ships staff were friendly and willing to go that extra step to make it a great experience. The food was wonderful, accommodations great.

I thought our Rad and Reisen biking guide Hugo did an excellent job navigating our group from spot to spot. Despite having quite a large group( English, German and Dutch speaking) he was able to spend time with all of us making sure we had a great experience. He was very personable and got our group from point A to B safely, making sure we had time to see and experience the many special places communities along the Danube.

He even went above and beyond to make my experience extra special. Having MS meant that I could not participate in the walking tours. He took it upon himself to make sure I was included by providing me with my own tour using bicycles. This would have been a night off for him and he knew that I would not be able to take part due to my limited ability to walk any distance due to my MS. It was one of my more memorable experiences thanks to Hugo.

He certainly looked after all of us and was accessible day and night to answer any questions and assist to make our trip an experience of a lifetime.

Boat: My Story

Was a great trip. Boat and tour guide were outstanding. Some of the staff were a bit stand-offish, but within reason. Just didn't make you feel 100% welcomed all the time (made you feel more of a guest than family) but again, well within reason. Got lost a few times so perhaps the maps could be a bit more directed, but again, not bad. Overall, it was a great experience and I would highly recommend it. Thanks - Larry

Only bad was some hills and a very long bridge (wife is afraid of heights and had to walk the over mile long bridge).

The bike path signs were sometimes hard to follow and we got off course a few times.
The staff of the boat, The Normandie, was fabulous. The food was better than we expected and they were very accommodating with our lunches. The wifi was very disappointing.

It was better than I could imagine! Thank you all.

We found this to be one of our best trips ever!

I know that there was a mid cruise change of cruise directors and neither were particularly helpful. We basically did the routes ourselves and there could have been better instructions. We had a wonderful trip though.

Biking - generally excellent. There is one day - Budapest - that is described as a biking day in most of the material we saw but when we were on the boat the tour director tried to discourage us from biking that day. There was a good reason for that - the route was confusing and included a VERY busy road for a few km. It should be removed from the promotional material as a biking day,

Boat - another boat broke down and several people were transferred to empty cabins on our boat. I think as a result there was more people on board than could be handled at dinners. Dinners went on for 2-3 hours just because the staff couldn't deal with all the guests. The good itself was fine when it finally arrived.

This adventure was more than we expected. The boat was very well equipped, and our cabin was comfortable and larger than we expected. The staff was very friendly and dealt with all of our needs, and the meals were fabulous. Our bikes were well maintained and were well suited for the route we rode. The scenery was amazing and we come home with a collection of pictures and memories.

The itinerary was excellent. A nice blend of bike routes and city site seeing along the way. We spent a couple days in Vienna before the trip and then used our Vienna day to bike on the island. Glad we didn't have to cram Vienna into a few hours. It was our cruise director's first trip and his enthusiasm was greater than his organizational skills in his presentations.