Austria Tour Reviews — 181 to 210 of 1038

The best part of the trip was the cycle portion through Austria’s Wachau Valley winery district. Truly picturesque!
Advice: Bring a Tupperware type container to pack your lunch. The boat provides a small sandwich and fruit but if you prefer to eat something else or just more than the sandwich, you need to have a container for it. We started packing the hard boiled eggs, and fruit in our bike bags but a container would have made it much easier. There are not very many opportunities to eat lunch at a restaurant while you are cycling, but plenty of gorgeous places to have a picnic. A travel picnic set with a cutting board, an a knife and fork would come in very handy.
We signed up for all the bus/walking tours to give our saddles a break. They were all great but the bus tour in Budapest we could have passed on because the boat docks right in the center of all the tourist spots so it was just as easy to navigate touring there on your own. Friends we met on the boat did the bike tour there and said it was great but I couldn’t face getting on the bike again that day:). Vienna is harder to get around so unless you feel pretty adventurous, I recommend the tour. We also did the trip to the concert and it was gorgeous- well worth it!
The e-bikes were awesome, and very comfortable. We bought gel seat covers and brought them with us which I think helped a lot. Unless you are a seasoned cyclist, it’s a lot of time on the bike and the tush gets tired.
Overall an amazing trip, the staff was fun and helpful. Our tour director was a substitute for the regular person and he was good but cranky. The regular tour director had awesome reviews so I think we just happened to get an off week!
I highly recommend this tour and now am ready to do another bike and boat in a different location!

The self-guided bike tours and the guided bike tour of Budapest. More time in Bratislava and more time for the last ride would be my only criticism.

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.

Our group of four completed the nine-day Prague to Vienna Tour from 21st to 29th June 2024. Our experience was wonderful and memorable. We highly recommend this tour!

First, we had good support in the lead up to our tour and during it. All of our questions were promptly answered, both before we made reservations and when a few issues arose during the tour.

Second, the tour was very well organised. We had a detailed briefing and support before we started. Clear group communication was set up on WhatsApp among our group and with the tour’s support team. We were given maps and written guides for the ride each day, which pointed to tourist highlights and places to eat. Our rides were guided by Ride with GPS on our phones (bring a lithium battery to extend your phone’s life each day). Each bike had a phone mount to facilitate the use of Ride with GPS. The bikes and equipment were very good quality. We never worried about a breakdown. We were quickly back on the road after a punctured tire because we had the right tools for the job. In short, we never felt like we were on our own, even though we had no guide on the road.

Third, we found the daily routes, and options, to be outstanding. Each daily destination was a notable place to visit. We rode mainly along roads, and also on paved cycle paths, gravel and, at times, trails. My partner and I chose the extra distance routes whenever they were available, whereas the other couple on our tour selected the shorter options that catered to their interests. This is a tour for experienced cyclists with a good level of fitness, not novices or casual tourists.

Fourth, the accommodation was very good. We chose the upgraded facilities and were happy with all of them. Each day, they were close to the main historical or cultural sites. We could easily visit them, usually by walking or riding up to the castle at Vranov and Dyji.

We were very fortunate that we had very good weather. It only rained briefly on two days. I suspect that the riding would have been fine if it was wet, except for a few short stretches when we encountered rough cobbles or when we rode on short trails that linked roads or riding paths. We were well prepared for wet weather and would not have been challenged had it rained.

If we had to do it over again, then we make a few changes. We would use TripSite partner hotels before and after the tour. This would facilitate early briefing before we started the tour and easier hand-over of bikes when we were finished. We had planned to use .GPX files on our Garmin GPS units. Unfortunately, we didn’t download local maps onto our GPS units before we travelled, so that wasn’t feasible. We rented road bikes because that’s what we ride at home. There were places when a gravel bike would have been a better choice. One member of our group rode an e-bike. This made the rides less physically demanding.  SHOW MORE 

This was our 3rd trip like this and by far the best! It was a wonderfully well organized trip. We went with our children (3 and 11) and two of our friends in their 50s. Everyone have a great time. The distances and difficulties were doable. The towns were beautiful and interesting. And the routes provided a good variation of scenery. The non-biking days were well placed throughout the tour. Finally, the trip organizers were amazingly supportive when we had questions or needed to make adjustments. I can't recommend this trip enough!

The premium bikes were very good for the trip and a nice selection of hotels to stay at along the way.

All very enjoyable but particularly spectacular from Grein and through Wachau Valley. Durnstein ruins and abbey particularly memorable. Last night (Vienna) had been cancelled by mistake by Tripsite so some worries and no communication from Tripsite but eventually sorted out by the hotel.

Leslie, the cruise director made this trip the best one I’ve ever experienced!!!!

The most memorable part of our trip was the ability of the cruise director and crew to adapt to the high waters of the Danube. It was a wonderful trip; the bike rides we did were all enjoyable, even when many of them were ended by flooded back paths or required unexpected detours. The food was great!

The buildings in the towns, castles, and fortresses along the way were marvelous.

Almost missing it! You failed to keep in contact with Rad and Reisen - plans were shifting due to flooding and you did not keep us informed! Thanks to our hotel manager, we discovered the changes and got on the tour. Your lack of communication was unacceptable to me.

Cycling through the Wachau area was incredible! The quaint villages were beautiful. The Danube was unfortunately in flood so we missed out on parts, but the staff did what they could to allow us to cycle and see various sites.

We had a great time! As a bike guide in the US myself, I know how these things work. You cannot foresee every situation. And as a guide, we know to be flexible. And because of that we thoroughly enjoyed the trip.

Here are some thoughts for improvements for your next guests. These by no means took away from our enjoyment and are meant for future trips.
-- The hotels in general were nice. A few issues here and there (mostly normal stuff).
-- In Hainburg - Altes Kloster - there was no individually controlled AC. It was fine for us because the night was cool.
-- The breakfasts at all the hotels were excellent
-- In Esztergom, the Portobello Hotel was not so great. The hotel room actually smelled bad. My wife says it smelled like old shrimp. They sent someone up with a spray can which they left for us. That "hid" the smell for a while, and you got used to it. But when you stepped back in the room from outside you could clearly smell the mustiness. Also there was no coffee maker in the room (which is always a nice thing to have). We did OK there, but I'd recommend a different hotel for future guests.
-- Traveling by train from Gyor to Komarom was interesting. No elevators and no escalators. We had to carry bikes up and over (or down and under) the tracks to get to the platform. This is the kind of thing it would have been nice to know ahead of time.
-- There was no ferry service from Szentendre to Budapest. We ended up taking the train. While the docs say you might have to take the train, I think it would have been nice to have been told ahead of time that there would not be a boat.
-- Perhaps too, a little more heads up about possible river flooding and the need for detours (honestly, the guy we met with the bikes may have mentioned this. I'm just bring it up as a "nice to know" tip for future guests.

Again, none of these took away from *our* trip (except maybe the Portobello Hotel). As a bike guide these are the kinds of thing we like to look for and inform our guests about ahead of time.

And yes... we will see you on another adventure soon! We had a blast!

Thanks
-Philip & Caroline

tripsite was always a little confused and there were mistakes made, we got our info the day we arrived for the first day of our tour. The hotel did not know a thing about our packets, and again I had to make a call on vacation. The person that showed up was clueless about bikes did not know how to put on pedals or adjust the seat. He did not have our train tickets as someone forgot to put them in the packet. one of the bikes was missing a fender and a bag. The hotels were hit or miss. The Stockl hotel was dirty and smelly, we both got a rash that was scaly and itchy. I had to call Euro bikes to get our train tickets again. As they forgot to digitally send them. ,( second time). The directions were hit or miss. Gps was better. I have done many bike tours and I loved the Danube tour just need a more organized company. Electric bikes worked great!!
castles were great!

The villages we biked through., the people we met & the city tours we did.

The entire crew was exceptional! The only complaint, and it’s a big one, was lack of communication from headquarters when unexpected flooding altered the itinerary. The boat was not able to land where planned and there should have been an email sent out to inform us that they were working on it and to stand by for more information when they knew more. We had friends on the previous cruise and they knew Saturday morning that they were not going to land in Passau. No messages were sent from headquarters to inform us that things were in flux and we had passengers on our cruise that went to an empty dock in Passau and this could have been easily avoided had headquarters been set up for group emails.

The director and crew were very friendly and helpful. We enjoyed the ride through the scenic landscape and quaint towns. The tours were very good too!

Food and service, cleanliness was excellent. The Staff was fantastic also. Only drawback was charging for coffee and water during non- meal times.

The Vivienne and its crew were all exceptional! I would not change anything. Our guide, Leslie went above and beyond.

We really enjoyed cycling along the Danube. The nine days went by quickly and some of the overnight stay locations were in such interesting towns that we explored in the evening. Although it is rated "Easy", be prepared for some days of cycling into strong headwinds and a few days of 65-70 km of cycling. Accommodations were very good and the breakfasts provided set us up for the ride. The GPX tracks were sometimes out of sync with the printed tour book on the portion of the trip in Germany. In a few locations the tracks shown did not exist, or were out-of-date due to new construction. This tour would benefit from an option to stay an extra day in one of the towns to provide a cycling break as well as an opportunity to explore, e.g. Linz.

The scenic views were the most beautiful I experienced in our 5 bike trips.
The hotels were great as well as breakfast.
In my opinion this ride was more challenging then lead on to believe. The hills were steep.
We had a oroblem day one with hotel.
Left 2 hours late dud nit have the combination to the bike. Did kit have any maps, any welcome package.nothing.
Also we had mostly rain , would have needed a map peotector for our bikes. The maps were useless in the rain.

Vienna, Budapest and gyor. There wasn’t much to see along the ride.

Overall the trip was amazing. The most memorable part was just doing it, and so glad we did. The service staff on the ship was terrific. The food was pretty good but not quite 5 stars. The routes were fairly easy to navigate but in trickier areas, a guide or more detailed maps would be helpful. The tour guide was okay and did an adequate job if approached with questions. He did ride right by us on the trail on the last day and didn't even offer a friendly hello. That was a bit surprising to our group and fellow riders. No worries, though, it was a really fun trip. It was great to visit all the amazing cities along the way. The whole crew was first-rate from start to finish. I would easily recommend this trip to interested parties.

Great hotels which were distinct from each other. Quality bikes with comfortable seats and smooth gear changing.
The bikes were all locked when we arrived. It took far too long for someone to find the lock codes. There were no welcome packets/route maps and general information for the group of 12 and little help from the hotel who had apparently, all the information we needed. Unfortunate and unprofessional. The local people were apologetic but it should never have happened.

This was a good tour , the hotels selections were great, but we had a terrible start as there was no one on site to provide maps and to unlock the bikes . Very frustrating. Our weather was wet, for 2.5 days, so check out the rainy season. Also there were no front panniers for the bikes to hold the maps, a problem especially in wet weather.we finally received our maps on day 3 of 5. Poor planning on Tripsites behalf.
It’s a good thing some of us had the electronic maps or we would have been totally lost.

Beautiful scenery, good excursions, very professional staff, international community.

This is the perfect way to see the Danube for anybody who enjoys easy cycling with beautiful scenery. The MS Vivienne is a great boat, very recently refurbished with small but comfortable cabins, extremely friendly staff, and very good food. Everything was very well organized and the tour director provided plenty (sometimes too much) information regarding the next day’s ride or city visit. Take advantage of tours offered in Bratislava, Vienna and Budapest as the time in each (especially Vienna) is brief. The biking is mostly on paved trails with just a few places where we had to ride with traffic. We booked e-bikes, but could have easily done this with regular bikes. Our cruise was about half German speakers and half English speakers (with largest group being from US, followed by Canada, Australia, NZ, the Netherlands and the UK). The staff on board all speak English and the tour director is fluent in both German and English, so language is not an issue.

Very luxurious ship with superb dining and service. Highly recommend the Iron Gate cruise.

Everything we experienced was wonderful- the biking, the routes, the food on the boat, the excellent service , the room, the smooth transitions for tours. I highly recommend this trip and hope to go on another Swiss Crown trip in the futurez

If using the GUIBO app for route navigation, be sure to have an extra battery pack. The app uses up your phone battery.

If this review can be applied to the GUIBO app then, I'd give it (GUIBO) a poor rating. It sucks the phone battery. It does NOT guide you to (or back to) the route. It randomly talks to you (sometimes it tells you to turn, sometimes not). Fortunately, the routes are very simple, but it could certainly be improved. Providing a gpx file for my own device would be great. Even using google to navigate might be better.