3 Star Austria Tour Reviews — 1 to 30 of 73

Loved the biking that we did along the river's edge and into the small towns - serene and beautiful. The e-bikes were great, in good working order, and always powered-up and ready to go. The staff of the Lisabelle were wonderful and did a great job to make us feel well looked after and accommodated us very well when we were on the ship. Giving only three stars because, even though we knew the trip had changed before we left due to low water on the Danube, it was changed even more once we arrived, and we were not able to bike outside of Austria. While I appreciated that the company bussed people to Bratislava and Budapest to see these cities - it was not the experience I was hoping for, and required much more decision making than my brain wanted to make on a pre-planned tour. Would definitely go on another bike tour though!

The boat was comfortable and the rooms were large enough and well equipped. The food was excellent. I found the summer camp like atmosphere on the tour not what I expected. If you like that kind of thing it is great. The cruise director although knowledgeable went on at too much length about each ride. The talks about each ride could have been shortened a lot by handing out a notice of the things to look out for. When there was a change of route part way through the day (probably the most critical info needed) we only found out a ferry was cancelled when we anrrived there. I know it was all minute to minute with the ferry operation but that is when we needed extra info. We had to phone him to get new directions. When we talked with him it was as if we had biked the route before and it wouldn’t be difficult to find where we were going. In fact it wasn’t. Sometimes one can be so familiar with a route they don’t realize it is not for the person encountering it for the first time.

The highlight of each day was the accommodation and position it was in. Very thoughtfully sought out. The ride itself was boring and only rode beside or near the Danube river on the last day. Long straight stretches on levy banks or on traffic roads. Very disappointing bike path. Arriving in Budapest was very special and thoroughly enjoyed our time there.

The trip was great, we really enjoyed the freedom of biking during the day and the amazing signage for the trail. The boat accommodations could improve. It is clean and new but the beds could be as one and the comforters and pillows a better quality. A coffee maker in the room would also be a great addition as there is no where to go if you rise before 6:30. It would be nice to have cushions or proper sitting on the balcony. Lunch was supposed to to be prepared but it was a scramble to get food before it was all gone. The bikes were great and in perfect condition

The reason I didn't give a two-star is because the customer service of Tripsite was very responsive and I liked them. The service on boat Primadonna was okay or a thumb down. My husband and I caught a flu on the way flying to Germany so we asked to sit away from other passengers, the waiter did arrange that but then he often forgot to serve us (sigh). Because of the water level was low so they changed itinerary so many times, I could understand but was not pleased. The bus tour in Vienna was not impressed. The communication on boat was mainly in German and the English briefings were not communicated well. If they want more American customers, they should sharpen up their staff's English.

Wonderful scenery , small villages , the Danube River, the accommodations on the Vivienne were satisfactory .
The staff were friendly and accommodating, our dining room waiter Canon made us feel welcomed and looked after all our needs.Dietary requests were not completely met compared to previous tours.
If we were to compare this tour to a tour on a smaller barge ,as opposed to a larger barge we would definitely opt for a smaller vessel after this experience .

I loved being on the boat, but there was not enough time to bike.. Too much Barge and not enough biking . I always felt like I was on too tight of a schedule. In retrospect, I would not have done the optional tours on the bus. They were informative but ate up too much time.
I loved the food, and all the staff was great! I wish we could have moved around our seating on our table, we were a group of 10. bu we had to sit in the exact same seat every meal, why not have room numbers we move to where we are seated?
I loved seeing Budapest at night also from the boat. The bikes were fine. overall I liked, it I just felt like we did not have time to relax and explore when we were biking. I wanted to check out more towns.

Our guide for biking was not very good. We have taken 3 other bike trips and the guide on them were far superior.

Hotel in st georgian and halstatt were nice. Theater hotel im salzburg had crappy breakfast. Bike riders coming to another country want to immerse themselves in that country’s lifestyle. Tourist towns as salzburg & halstatt are a tesl turn off. Small traditional towns are much more fun. This was our seventh tour in europe, but the only with these tourist towns.
The bicycles should be prepared before each tour. My front wheel wobbled, both bikes made noises, and the chain and cassette were filthy. Neither bike had a pump mounted on it as it should have. In case you didn’t know, you should not pair tubeless rims with standard tire/ tube arrangement. It is near impossible to fix a flat. Contact me if you want me to explain why.
The many pages of two sided maps are hard to match up on the side of the road in the rain. Cue sheets should be compact with notes of landmarks, signs, & suggestions where food or water can be found. In austria there were bike route signs that we were on often. They should be incorporated in the cue sheet.

Meeting new friends

Tour Guide was not well trained and did not highlight the sights.

Feedback:
1. The WhatsApp group were very good & followed up any issues or queries
2. The bike handover was a bit tricky as Simon had limited English & apart from bike matters didn’t seem fully versed in addressing some initial queries by someone that had never done a self guided bike tour
3. Inappropriate bike hire: the Agogs City Liner e-bike was ergonomically unsuitable for a bike tour of over 800km.
The seat angle & the handle bars meant I was very upright. It was uncomfortable.
A more appropriate style is that of a touring bike configuration, in which you are leaning forward and able to propel easily & with comfort.
4.Having 2 app’s - Ride GPS & Trip Plans a bit tedious to go in & out of for directions & guidance plus more draining on phone
5. An overnight in any large city is not enough time. A suggestion that 2 nights be factored into itinerary for say Vienna.

Disappointed that twin beds werr not provided on several occasions and that we had to get that sorted. The quality of some hotels was also not greaT as in tiny room, inadequate facilities and as already said, not suitable for 2 individuals travelling together. I think you should upgrade the ebike option as well. A city style ebike for an 800 km ride is ridiculous, un comfortable and ineffecient. The luggage transfer was excellent and the navidation with RWGPS worked.

The most important element is that we were in Constance on likely one of the busiest biking weekends of the year. It was a holiday weekend, the weather was awesome and everyone and his dog and baby and family and cart and wagon was on the path. With all the traffic, I found the biking quite stressful.
The hotels and were good, especially the Rheingold in Uberlingen. The days were longer than expected with two of the days being 60 km. And I would not describe the route as “easy”. There were some steep climbs and with the heavy electric bikes, it was a struggle for me at 75. (We did a tour in Croatia a few years ago and I am pretty sure those bikes were much lighter and more manoeuvrable. Is this my imagination?) The other disappointment was that we were in Arbon on a Monday and everything was closed. It was a real struggle to find a restaurant that was open. The little inn where we stayed was impressive though and the breakfast was lovely. We had some difficulty with directions, finding our way in and out of cities. Anyway, the tour was more of an endurance test than a leisurely bike around a lake but we did succeed in the end. The bike shop in Constance was great and the people were very helpful.

Replace tour director “Leslie” he talked to everyone as if they’re children

The entry into Budapest with the sun setting on the Parliament building was a once in a lifetime experience.

Budapest was the best city. Bratislava 2nd and Győr 3rd. The ride past Prinz Eugen’s hunting lodge (Schloß Hof), Bicycle Freedom’s Bridge and lunch at the Penny Coffea at the Slovakian side of the bridge (outstanding poached eggs on avocado bagels) and the ride past Devin Castle and the confluence of the Morova and Danube rivers was the nicest part of the ride.
The rest of the trip and the towns were very boring and monotonous. We had slippery mud in some sections of the trail with rain, and had to use the main roads. The train transfers went smoothly but did require carrying heavy bicycles up and down quite a few steps to reach the platforms.

Unfortunately, we did not travel far because of flooding although our cruise director tried to give us new options. The one thing you should do is maintain the bikes better. The chains were rusted and the tires very low. Some of the gears did not work. The food was fantastic.

Ended up being a Two-Country Tour due to high Danube water levels. It got a bit chaotic at times trying to understand where we were headed, when/where we would be riding, etc. While I think the onboard crew did a decent job of trying to adapt to the situation, I think boat operator should have had better contingency plans in place before ever leaving port. Watching/reading news reports the day the boat left Passau, water conditions were not unknown and it was predictable that the boat wouldn't make it to Budapest.

The bike rides we did get in were beautiful and the Danube area is definitely worth seeing. We were fortunate that most of the bike paths that had been affected by the flooding had been cleared and so only a few routes were detoured due to silt/debris on path. The bus rides we took to see a couple of the destinations we couldn't reach by water were longer than the time at the destination, but the time at the destinations was enjoyable.

Since we had anticipated it being the highlight of our trip, I wish we had made it to Budapest!!

The best part of the trip was seeing the different towns with their beautiful historic buildings. Unfortunately because of the prior week's rains which caused high water along the river, we weren't able to visit Budapest.

Unfortunately, flooding on the Danube prevented our trip from proceeding past Vienna. Having said that our group still had a good time together. The staff was accommodating and we appreciated all their efforts during an unexpected trip. Communication regarding trip changes, transportation and day-to-day activities could have been much better. Our tour guide was lacking some finesse in these areas.

Our cycling trip was marred by inclimate weather which cut the tour short due to flooding of the Danube. Because of the detours that were forced upon us we got to see some of the national forest (although we had to clime over downed trees to get through.

The weather wreaked havoc on the trip - with highly unusual rainfall inundation and wind conditions in Austria and Slovakia. The subsequent flooding affected the routes and led to the tour company cancelling 2/3 of the trip. The local tour company struggled to manage communication with everyone. We were booked into a different hotel for the 2nd night and not provided with directions to this hotel. Budapest was lovely and we had great weather there, but we did not experience most of the bike route.

Make sure you don't get booked on s boat as a hotel, dirty and bugs. They say gravel bikes but they are not. They do not send a mechanic to set up bike, just a tour guide who knows nothing. Bike was dirty and needed oiling. They said safety checked but found issues when given the bike. If traveling in pairs they only give you one copy even though you paid full price for both. They also only give one lock when we were told each would get one. Printed map and instructions not accurate. No instructions to specific hotels. Breakfast and luggage pick up times do not align.

While to bike, the GPS app, and the lodgings were all good, this trip had problems. First, I was routed to the wrong city/hotel on the first day. My trip itinerary and my GPS instructions put me in the wrong city so I had to ride additional miles to get to where my luggage was located. Very poor but doable. My main complaint is about the lack of communication from the local on the ground operator. My bike, while good, had an issue with the seat slowing lowering so every 30 minutes or so I would have to raise it back up. I called the company and was told someone would call me back, they didn't. I called again and was told that they would contact someone to come and look at the bike and that they would call back in a couple of minutes, they didn't. I called again and received the same response and the same result of not calling back. They are open until 8pm so at 7:45pm I called yet again and this time there was no answer and no way to leave a message. They did call back the next day and send me a list of bike shops in my next city. I was told to have the repair made, send them the receipt, and I would be reimbursed they were vague on how I was going to be reimbursed. I decided to stay with readjusting my seat every 30 minutes because I lost all confidence in them.

I will say that Rebecca from TripSite was excellent. I called her after the no answer phone call. She followed up with me later that day as well as the next day and patiently listened to my story. Thanks Rebecca!

Misunderstanding on inclusion of meals at the hotels other than Vienna, Bratislava, & Budapest. We specified that we’d like them included and they were not. We were able to find restaurants, but obviously that increased the cost for us.

The rides were wonderful, and the hotels spectacular !
This was my 6th cycling trip and the first time that my group did NOT receive a welcome package upon our arrival to the first hotel. No maps and no codes with which to unlock the bikes. We got underway that first morning two hours late and without any maps! Thankfully one person in our group had a cell phone with him so he could use it for directions. The packages eventually arrived but by then many in our group were not happy. The ride into St Gallen was not properly described. None of us could cycle it, even those with e-bikes and they are very heavy to push! Where were the map holders?? All of my other trips had something on the bikes to hold the maps, covered in clear plastic. We did not have those and so we had to stop to pull the map out of our bags to see where to go. Of the 6 trips I have done, this one was very frustrating.

Biking in the Wachau Valley was the most memorable part of the trip.

Suggestions - instructions on bike etiquette and traffic rules in Germany and Austria would have been useful.
There were numerous intersections on the five biking days when it was unclear the direction to take. During the briefing for the next day's ride it would have been helpful to have a powerpoint presentation or some other method of detailing the next day's route.
It would also have been helpful to know that ferries were not included in the cost of the trip. It was also a surprise that renting a bike helmet was 45 euros. It was a surprise that helmets were included in the cost of the trip. Finally, I also was a surprise that WIFI cost $15. All of these things should have been communicated to the riders before the trip.

The small towns and inns we stayed in were lovely. The people we met in these areas were warm and friendly. Not everyone accepted credit cards or cashless payment so it is necessary to bring cash along to these areas. The bike path was very well marked and easy to ride. The company in Austria that facilitated the ride was less than helpful. We used there app but it was not setup with our exact ride so finding hotels and restaurants was a challenge. We also did not get a proper first night introduction about our itinerary and therefore we were missing critical train tickets and boat information.

The scenery was so beautiful and all the hotels were very nice. The signage around the lake was confusing at times. There should be an option, for an extra fee, to have quality helmets provided along with having bikes delivered and picked up at hotels at beginning and end of tour.

The bike tour in Vienna was very good. Management did a poor job in communication. We were told conflicting information. We were surprised that the boat did not meet us in Passau and had to take an hour long buss ride. Food was from the region and Germans Austria are not as good as the Italian' s and French. Liver is not popular with us. We are spoiled with the other culture food.