3 Star Austria Tour Reviews — 1 to 30 of 65

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.

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.

It would have nice to have access to a tire repair kit or at the very least, a way to contact bike repair shops that are open. It would have been nice to be able to order water and not have to pay $7 for a bottle. It would have been nice to have shorter rides so that we'd have time to stop and see the sights along the way.

This was a nice trip. The boat and staff were amazing. The scenery of the Danube was spectacular but the most memorable part of the trip were the other passengers!

The ship and the food were a very favorable part of the trip, lovely.

The bike tours were boring and ill described by the guide. Less farmland and more quaint villages would have met our expectations. The last day was the best.

Ship was very nice and staff were friendly and helpful. Everything was spotless clean and bed was comfortable. Dinner meals were pretty mediocre and some of sack lunches included greasy deep fried items. Bikes were in excellent condition and the bike routes were fine, but the written descriptions for navigating the routes were indadequate.

Different city tours were the memborable part both positive and negative. We loved our tour with Peter in Vienna on bikes we did not like our tour with a different Peter in Budapest, he was rude to one of our rides, very opinionated against the West defense of Ukraine, and then left us in the middle of town since he had another tour to go to.

the communication about the departure from the very beginning was a fiasco and then throughout the German presenations were about 50% longer than the English ones. BUt Leslie the Tour Director did a great job overall.

Overall the trip was enjoyable. But the food was quite bland. Also they asked about food restrictions/ preferences, but did NOT accommodate them in any way. The directions for the biking were lacking in detail and the maps could be more zoomed in, especially on the days with many turns and route marker variations. It should also be made clear that many of the routes were directly beside busy roads. It is a great itinerary.

The entire crew was fantastic. The ship, Fortuna, is over 20 years old and it had some issues. In particular the air conditioning, The upper deck rooms had adequate a/c but the lower deck rooms, the lounge and the dining area were very uncomfortable. There were several people on this cruise who did not partake in cycling, some had mobility issues, the elevator did not work and it was difficult for them to get from there rooms to the other decks.
The food and the meal selections were excellent. Leslie, the tour director, was also fantastic. He constantly went out of his way, above and beyond, to ensure that all guests were taken care of.
Most of the biking route was scenic and safe, there was one stretch, appox 4km's that was on a very busy highway . The highway was narrow and carried many large buses and trucks. At the captain's party on the last night of the cruise, it was mentioned that the Fortuna was going to be replaced by a newer ship next year and also the routes were going to be changed to avoid that particular stretch of highway. This is a positive sign and I would have rated this trip much higher if it were not for the 2 above mentioned problems.
I would recommend the Budapest by night folklore show, it was very entertaining. Again, the entire crew did a fantastic job.

We just returned last week from the 4 country Danube trip on the MS Fortuna. I have to begin by saying that the entire crew was fantastic. The food was great and the food selections were plentiful. The cruise director, Leslie, was the absolute best. His knowledge of the bike routes, the cities of Vienna, Budapest and all of the small villages in between were very helpful. The optional Budapest by night folklore tour was a lot of fun.
The ship, Fortuna, is 20 years old and it had it's drawbacks. We had upper deck suites and it was well worth the extra cost, the suites were great. Many of the people that we meet were in the lower deck cabins with little air conditioning. The air conditioning on most of the ship was poor, especially the lounge area and dining room. The elevator did not work. There were several people who opted not to cycle and just take the river cruise, some needed assistance and the boat was not at all handicapped friendly. We were told that the ship Fortuna will be replaced by a newer vessel next year.
The bike paths themselves are well marked, and for the most part very scenic and safe. There is one stretch near the end of the trip that requires cycling on a very busy and narrow road. One cyclist was run off the road and spent the next day in a Vienna hospital being treated for a broken foot. At the end of the trip, at the Captain's party, we were all told that in addition to a newer ship next year, that that particular route would be changed to avoid that dangerous road.
Based on this particular trip, I can only give this trip a rating of 3. With the changes schedules for next year, I would rate this much higher. In finishing, I have to say that the ENTIRE crew was fantastic, they did an excellent job!