4 Star Austria Tour Reviews — 1 to 30 of 243

We recently returned from a memorable bike tour through four countries, and for the most part, it delivered on its promises. The e-bikes were well-maintained, the routes scenic and well-suited to the difficulty level described, and the new navigation app made wayfinding effortless. On board, the service was attentive and the meals were genuinely delicious.
Unfortunately, the experience ended on a sour note. The disembarkation the process was slow and ill-suited to the ship's passenger capacity. More frustrating, our large backpack — correctly tagged for delivery to the parking garage 5 km away — never arrived. We had to return to the ship to locate it ourselves. When we did, staff declined to take responsibility, attributing the error to other passengers. The bag was eventually returned to us still bearing the original garage tag, and with its contents inside, wet.
It's a shame, because the tour itself was excellent. With better handling of the final logistics, this would have been an easy five stars.

The entire trip was well organised with a great route. The path was exceptional albeit a bit flat at times which allowed the daily distances to be covered very easily. The route was punctuated by historic towns and natural beauty around every corner.

I would recommend this trip to anyone, even people with limited fitness.

This is the second trip on the Danube we have done. The first was in 2019. The rest days were nice as we had the opportunity to explore some of the cities we didn't have time for the last trip. The weather was outstanding, actually quite warm which unfortunately exposed a weakness in the ships air conditioning. It was quite warm in the bar for the briefings and in the dining room as well. We didn't find the briefing sessions as informative as in past trips, partly because the guide's English was not easy to understand. Some PPT presentations would have helped. As usual the staff was very helpful and professional. The entertainment night was a hit.

Despite the chilly weather in mid-May 2026, my partner and I thoroughly enjoyed our cycling trip, a first for us. The scenery was beautiful and varied, as the river is often winding. The accommodations were very good, although sometimes the rooms were a bit small for a 4-star hotel.
We opted for electric bikes, which was a good idea. However, they were quite heavy to handle. We also would have appreciated instructions on how to lock the bikes together and how to remove the battery to charge it in the room, as one hotel didn't have an electrical outlet in its garage. The Pedalo app, which served as our guide, was truly amazing; it's very well designed. However, the route really needs adjusting when there are detours that last for months due to major construction. The signs on the ground were difficult to find.
That said, we would be happy to repeat a similar experience with TripSite.

Biking the wonderful trails along the Danube. The quality of the e-bikes was superb. breakfast was always great. Plenty of variety. Dinner was 3-4 stars. Fish was the most consistent as far as preparation and flavor. I did like the option of ordering more or less quantity. I didn’t appreciate being charged for water - especially when dining. Overload of information prior to next days ride. KISS. ALL IN ALL AN ENJOYABLE VACATION.

Beautiful cities, villages and swans along the Danube. Made a lot new friends, especially our three Denmark table mates at table7. We might visit each other in the future.

Nice enjoyable trip. The crew was knowledgable, friendly and helpful. Beautiful sites to see. Con's... BRING YOUR OWN WATER! you get one .5 L bottle a day for free, and free water with breakfast. Make sure and don't go cheap with a lower level cabin. The room was very warm and their air conditioner didn't really work. It would have been ok to be upstairs where you could open a window and get fresh air.

Bratislava was most memorable, as well as the scenery along the way.

Discovering the Danube and surrounding countries and the extensive history leading up to their current status. I wish you had more time in Vienna.. like maybe an overnight since the barge was parked so far away from the center of town and it was a holiday (May 1), our visit was less than satisfying.

The friendships made on the trip were wonderful. The organising of the bikes was excellent. The waiters and waitresses were lovely and all so professional.

The scenery and the historical cities were so wonderful. Especially loved the last day of biking through wine country and small villages. Food was excellent, and accommodation was comfortable. Only complaint would be the lack of clear, English directions during our information sessions each evening. A guide out on the course would be recommended.

The boat was great , all the rooms had windows and a little terrace, and the food was amazing. I would have liked to have more time to visit the cities were the boat docked. Cycling was fun...but we could not visit the interesting sites.

My only issue is the routes gps. The explanation weren’t always good and the routes we downloaded were certainly not updated. On a couple of days they said it was actually dangerous to bike so some of our friends didn’t bike. We had all gone there for the biking.

Scenery was great bikes where good boat was excellent would have been bocce if helmets could have been provided or rented as hard to pack and carry one to Europe .

The first day and last day of biking were beautiful. The route the other days weren’t as nice.
The boat staff were wonderful and the food was delicious.
Only downside was having to be on the boat for a certain time as the boat moved all night long. I prefer the tours when the boat moves as we bike and stays in port all night. Nice for after dinner walk in towns.

Guides were great. Trip was very educational. Side tours were great even in the rain. Would to have more time to spend in each city. One day is just not enough to enjoy the local flavors.

Overall a very enjoyable trip which could have been made better with more suitable bikes. The bikes supplied were town bikes which considering the distance we were cycling, some of which was off road, did detract from the experience. The standard of hotels was very good. There was one where the size of the room was not suitable as a twin room with the beds shoe horned in. So we had to book a separate room on that occasion.
We are looking at booking something around Croatia next year.

This was our 2nd self-guided bike tour in Europe. It was a little different than our first where everyone leaving from our hotel was on the same schedule. With this company, you are basically customizing your tour by chosing to stay extra nights in some cities. The route chosen by the local company was qood. We had a variety of small villages and towns, crop fields and forrests. Lodging in the Category B hotels was good to excellent. The cycle paths were very good most of the time with little mixing with cars. We did this in Sept and it seemed alot of restaurants/cafes along the route were closed, so you might bring a lunch with you. The bikes were good, but do not have mirrors, which I had inquired ahead about. We did bring our own.

Liked the disco night. The fourth ride was beautiful.
Meals were also good and super service.
My e-bike was too heavy for me- suggest a more compact and less heavy bike for smaller women. Also, we had wanted to book a guide for the 9 of us and there were only 2 on this boat. We would have enjoyed having one to eliminate getting lost and also helping us find fun locations to stop enroute. We did this on our Italian trip and it made a large difference to our enjoyment.
Your staff are very helpful and pleasant. Well done overall.

Staff was amazing, wanted to help and please you al the time. Food was good. Meat portions could have been a bit bigger since we need lot’s of protein to bike. We need non guided and I would not do that again, missed the knowledge of the area that a guide provides.

I would strongly recommend taking the guided tour as opposed to non guided. The app to use is very average and doesn’t give you any information along the ride.

the boat, service and routes. we'd have preferred to have more time in viena and budapest

Our group truly enjoyed the week on the Vivienne. The bike trails were well maintained and routes well marked which enabled us to enjoy the amazing scenery each day. The staff on Vivienne was incredible.
Two complaints were the e-bikes were very heavy
and there were no water bottle holders on the regular bikes.

Biking along the Danube bend. Beautiful shaded path, interesting scenery. Catching last minute standing tickets to the Staatsopera in Vienna was amazing! Coming into Bratislava while a Trans-Danube Swim was occurring was a unique experience. Great meal at a hotel recommended restaurant (etterum) in Mosonmagyaróvár. The bikes were adequate for our 200 mile journey. I only wish I had a water bottle holder on mine.

Biking the Wachou valley, outside Vienna. It was an incredible ride, with great places to stop along the way. The trip was great, the crew handled all those bikes great. Would have liked more time in some of the cities, and more diet options.
But, that’s being kinda picky, it was a great trip and would recommend.

Wonderful biking throughout! App was helpful as was the route book. The arrow stickers Leslie put out were great. Bus/walking tour in Bratislava was good. Would have been nice if we stopped to taste some specialty foods. Not much time to explore. The bike tour in Budapest was fine while we were on the bike paths, but then the guide took us on some VERY busy streets with no bike lanes and mingling with cars, I was scared. then he lost three of us. Vienna concert was lovely. The Vivienne staff was very friendly and worked hard to get the bikes in and out, feed all of us and serve drinks. Great job by all of them. Leslie was always around and did a great job of managing all aspects of the trip.

This was my first trip on the Merlijn Bike & Barge. I was with a group of 3 couples that had done this trip before on the Merlijn. I found it outstanding, the equipment was excellent,( my wife and I rented electric bikes ) the cabins were very nice and roomy. Our meals were breakfast and dinner, the breakfast was good but I believe it could have been better, The dinners were first class....The barge also had a nice coffee bar and Bar that were excellent too. The trip was memoriable and I highly recommend the Merjin...

The scenery was beautiful! The Merlijn was beautiful and very comfortable. But, the standout for the trip was the staff. Coen and Christina made our week so wonderful and kept us well informed. “Cat” at the bar and serving was very charming and fun! He knew all our names by day 2! Simone kept our cabins tidy and did a great job on our laundry. June was always tidying up the ship and keeping it looking great. Ilsa was a really good tour guide and was very knowledgeable about the history of Austria.

The room on the boat was lovely and the food was very good. We did a guided tour and I felt our guide was inexperienced She did not have many safety measures that I have had on previous bike trips. i.e a sweep and ensuring everyone is ready to go before taking off. Also would have been better to be able to visit some cultural places like the Abbey, museums or churches. We were not given anytime on our rides to do this. The highlights was the wine region and wine tasting.

It was a great trip overall. We loved that part of the route also went inland a little through villages etc.

It would be great to have more lunch/food options marked on the maps and how to make sure they are open.

We also noticed that on the last bike day parting the route was over a blocked off and hard to ride dike so we were forced to find our way around via a main road.

It was well organized as nd we would do something similar again.