Austria Tour Reviews — 751 to 780 of 936

Extremely happy with our trip. There were a couple of times where maps or detailed instructions would have been helpful, eg. How to get to the boat in Passau and more detailed directions to get to our accommodations. The other part of the trip that proved difficult was getting from the train station to our hotel (Novotel Suites) in Vienna. The biking through the city was a bit dicey.
Each accommodation and restaurant knew who we were and was expecting us. The luggage always arrived before we arrived. The bikes were comfortable and worked well (after using our own tool to adjust a dragging brake which wasn't discovered until after the first day). You offer a great service and were very helpful answering our many questions prior to the trip.

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

Just came back from an exceptional Salzburg Lakes holiday.
I'll start with the good - fantastic scenery (so green), friendly well-appointed hotels, not too difficult route (a few hills from time to time but appropriate for the "easy to moderate" level, well sign-posted. Even the continuous rain on the first day didn't dampen our spirits.
This was my second time with "Tripsite" (went to Provence, France two years ago) and I feel compelled to add a few negative comments by comparison. Most of the maps and brochures were in German and not English. The quality of the bikes was less than expected. Far worse was the comedy of errors on the bike handover - no saddle bags, no repair kit, no pump, no apology. We only got the missing equipment at the end of the first day of riding. My thanks to the Tripsite Team, who did their best to intervene on our behalf.
In conclusion - don't let the negative comments stop you from booking this trip. I would however recommend to Tripsite to have a serious word with their local agents to prevent such mistakes in the future. And, yes, I'm already planning the next trip !!

Great trip but two minor issues
Room - hopeless shower curtain meant water went all over the floor. Other rooms had screens so why not all rooms?
Ride into Bratislava is ugly - need to find a better to arrive at this lovely city. A real low point in an otherwise fantastic itinerary - last 3 days were sublime.

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.

The city maps could be better! We met 2 couples from Australia and teamed up and rode as a group! Great experience. However, on the last day on the boat trip to Budapest, the boat loaded a group of 19 bikes in addition to all the ones on the scheduled trip. When we got to Budapest only 1 in our group were able to unload, before the boat headed to the other shore. That left 5 of us on the wrong side. The last day did not end as planned. There were way too many bikes on the ship!

Loved the route through small towns & vineyards in Sud Tyrol.
Guide book could be improved with maps incorporated.

Two ladies and I ( all in our 60's) just finished this tour on My Story. Having no experience with bike/barge I was not sure what to expect. What we got was a fabulous trip through some of the most scenic and beautiful country I've ever seen. Our tour guide, Stephan, was charming and informative. This tour was run by Rad and Reisen. They did a great job of marking the routes, although a few times we did get a little turned around. The food was top-notch and the staff did an excellent job of entertaining the travelers. I was impressed by the over-all professionalism. The riding was easy and on mostly asphalt with very few inclines. Only draw back was the size of the cabins. The pictures are a little misleading. When the second bed was lowered there was almost no room to walk by each other. You needed to be a contortionist to use the bathroom. But, since you really didn't spend a lot of time in the room it was tolerable. All in all would highly recommend this trip.

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!

The most memorable part of this trip was riding through kilometers of apple orchards on a beautifully paved bike trail.

What an awesome bike trip!!
Well organized, incredible scenery, great hotels, mild/moderate difficulty.
Recommend to anyone in reasonable fitness level.

A big thank you to all your staff and to Austria for making my journey a wonderful experience.

The most memorable part was Day 6 Rossatz - Pochlarn was the most scenic part of the trail. Magical small villages - wish the whole route could have been like this. Most of the trail was uneventful, some of the trail was in poor shape and rough riding.
Unfortunately, there was a language barrier between the Americans and the tour guide, so instructions were not always clear, and we needed to fend for ourselves most of the time. Certain sections of map were confusing and trail was not well marked. We made it though, and enjoyed the adventure!
Beautiful cities and villages to visit - wish we would have had more time to explore! All in all very good trail ride and good trip!

We've already recommended this trip and Tripsite when friends and family ask us about our experience.
We'd also like to complement Bird Service--the Polish bike tour affliate who organized the trip. Bird Service did a great job arranging all transportation, hotels & dinners.

Very satisfied with Route, only comment the finish was not as clear a couple times to find the Hotel location.

The guide needed to be more clear on the final route to hotels .

The route (along the Danube) was excellent - all paved, mostly with a view of the river and away from traffic. Markings were great and easy to follow.

We were provided with a lot of information (maps, routes, suggestions), but they were in separate books and materials. It would be helpful if they could be integrated more, or if we could have received more of the information ahead of time. It took us a couple of days to sort through the various pieces.

The best hotel was in St. Agatha. The best meals were at our hotel in Melk. Grein was a very cool town, with lots of art and theater. It was also very picturesque as we approached. The most beautiful site was the Abbey in Melk; the most meaningful was the Mauthausen Memorial. The biggest surprise was the swimming pool at our hotel in Krems. We loved the Wachau Valley, where we had vouchers for a bottle of wine and a tasting of liqueur. We also loved having the bikes available to explore Vienna, on the last day of our magical week.

The trip was well run and organized. The bikes were in excellent condition and easy to ride. The selected routes were easy to follow and offered many sights and excursions. Would highly recommend this trip.

This was my 4th cycling holiday but this year the quality of bikes was poor, only had 7 gears, had 21 gears every other year and did not like the back pedal brake.

Most memorable part was Stein am Rhein, and also liked the fact we could stop cycling and jump into the lake whenever we wanted.

Hotels varied. My daughter stayed at Hotel Krenn-- not great. Food in Rhein am Stein not good. Hotel St Leonard and Hotel Cholsteroff had the best food. The rides were fantastic, would say the last day was a bit boring and less scenic (especially the second half). Would have been nice to include the Rhine falls. Would love to do it again as there were many sights we didn't get to see! Loved the trip and have highly recommended it back home.

6 of us did this tour and pretty much have only good things to say about it. The scenery was breathtaking, the sightseeing good, although we didn't always have enough time to see everything recommended. The last day was a bit boring as we seemed to ride alongside the railway a large amount of the time. Our luggage was always at the hotel on arrival. Booking the dinner option was well worth it as after a long day one doesn't feel like having to find somewhere to eat that is agreeable to all. All in all the hotels were good. My daughter and niece had to stay in a different hotel on one occasion and it was not good. Breakfasts were generally good. Our hotel in Kressbonn was actually a little before the town and wasn't well described in the directions but 10km later we got there! We would like to do the trip again as we felt there is so much to see. I think one could spend an extra day in some places if time permits.

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

The scenery between Passau and Vienna was the most memorable part of the trip, even when we were away from the Danube. Beautiful.

The reason I gave the first question a 4 out of 5 is because the daily rides were long enough that it was hard (tiring) to get back out in the evenings to see the local sites or to see some of the sites along the way. That was probably also a result of trying to coordinate and corral too many people (9 on our trip) to get things done in a timely manner. I suspect the 10-day option for this trip might have been better for us.

Regarding route and description guides, sometimes it was a little too much to remember to coordinate the route book, the additional instructions in the travel documents (voucher) book, and Rad & Reisen's Travel Information book, not to mention the daily itinerary in the literature advertising this trip. In fact, the worst mistake we made was the worst one we could have made: ignoring the instructions to take the van transfer from Grein to Gasthof zum Aigner Kreuz, Bad Kreuzen to avoid very steep inclines. However, some of the literature given to us suggested we go to Klam Castle (a good way up the incline to Bad Kreuzen), which was not on the way to Grein, and that is what we did.

I've now taken 5 bike trips in Europe: 2 using hotels, 3 using boats/barges. Barges are easier: you only have to unpack and repack once while riding.

Thank you for all your help putting this trip together. Overall, it was a great experience.

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 boat was not in location we were told it would be. But once there the boat was good. The tour guide didn't seem to know the route as well as he should have. The directions on the maps could have been a lot better But we did have a great time but would recommend a different route next time.

Tripsite was great. Would highly recommend booking with them.

Ok so.... all the hotels were perfect and suited to the atmosphere of our biking trip except for the Einstein Hotel in St. Gallen which was not in keeping with the "atmosphere" of the trip...a little too fancy if you get my drift. Also some of the breakfasts left a little to be desired but this could also have been from us just getting tired of eating the same type of food every day. The people in the hotels were all so friendly and accommodating! The bikes were perfect especially for my 6'2" husband. I had trouble with my gears one day, the next day a new bike arrived. Best service! The first ride (I think 65 kms from Lake Constanz to Zurich) was long and boring! Bike path most of the way. Not sure what could be done about that. The rest of the rides were awesome through little towns, gorgeous scenery. We will be booking our next bike tour with you next year!

We very much enjoyed coming back to the Theodor Korner each afternoon and the camaraderie on board this boat. Previously we have been on hotel to hotel cycling trips, which we have also enjoyed, but this time we enjoyed not having to pack up each morning. The staff were all delightful, the meals excellent and the cycling / sightseeing just right for us. Even the rain a couple of days didn't dampen our spirits. The only thing to mention that Tripsite had wrong on the info we were sent was that we were told that credit cards could not be used for purchases on board. In fact we were able to use a credit card.

The details of the transfer from Munich Airport to Passau was not described in the online information, but detailed in the updated information leaflet found in the cabin once aboard (too late). The online leaflet needs to be updated with details of where the transfer desk can be found at Munich Airport.