Europe Bike + Boat Tour Reviews — 4081 to 4110 of 4942

I felt that the guide could have put more effort into letting us know what we were seeing. When we came upon a historic site such as a church, castle or such his standard comment was, "here is a church, you can go in and look at it if you want". We sat in front of the Porta Negra in Trier and were told it was a Roman ruin. Nothing more. My e-bike malfunctioned and I had to ride a regular bike the next day. I had ordered an e-bike because I have a health condition and was quite embarrassed that I held the rest of the group up while I walked the regular bike up small hills.

We had a very enjoyable trip with beautiful scenery, good rides and pretty good weather most of the time. The Route maps and detailed instructions could be improved upon. There were several mistakes on which way to turn as well as confusing instructions. Luckily, we had GPS with us to help out in various situations.
The food was very tasty, esp. the dinners. Great young chef.
One thing which bothered us was that we were told not to bring any wine aboard the boat - we were to only purchase wine that was available on the boat via the token machine. Odd, since we were traveling and bicycling in Bordeaux WINE country, visiting chateaus daily!! We think that there should be another arrangement in that area. It's apparently a financial situation although it was explained that they didn't want wine spills in the cabin. A damage deposit could be arranged if that's really the issue.
Otherwise, the staff, bikes and experience was great. This was our 3rd Bike/Barge trip with TripSite. Gladly recommend it often to others. We especially enjoyed St. Emilion (tour of monolithic church was amazing!) and riding to/from Blaye and touring the Citadel.

Having a guide for the biking. He was terrific. We had a route change which led to a boring day biking. They do not give you water at the table. Too many people on the boat. Lining up for things to buy tickets. Did not like having to buy a drink package. Too expensive.
Staff was very pleasant. Our guide was fabulous.

It is difficult to say what the most memorable part of the trip was since every bit of it was exceptional: the scenery, the friendly staff, the other guests, the food, all were above expectations. Add to that the fact that we had perfect early Fall weather, sunny but not too hot, we felt like we had spent a week in heaven.

This was our 2nd trip this year. We signed up for a 3rd already. Barge and bike is wonderful.

I speak as one who has done three previous bike/barge tours via Tripsite. It was marvelous, "gezellig," being the Dutch term. Capt. Rendert Jan and his excellent crew went out of their way to please the passengers, including providing a guitar for my wife to practice with. The scenery along the Mosel is like a fairy tale. The bikes ran perfectly. The food was plentiful and excellent. Considering that it was late October, even the weather cooperated--except for the first day when our small and perhaps unwise contingent got drenched. We had a bonus because it was the last trip of the season so we stayed on past Koblenz for two nights and left the Quo Vadis in Arnhem where we overnighted in a hotel in order to catch the crack high speed train to the Frankfurt airport. Said crack high speed train broke down in Cologne and we barely made our flight.

We took this trip from Compiegne to Moret-sur-Loing in September. It was just perfect in every way. There were eight in our group and Marco made us feel like family. The bike ride along the Seine was just beautiful with views one would never see from a car. There is so much activity along the river and in the evening we were guided around the towns where the barge was moored for the night. The bike ride through Paris was personally terrifying for me, but was also a thrill. I would probably do it again. Our guide Yought was full of stories and also very supportive. I could not have done it without him. WE all appreciated Kim who prepared wonderful meals with great variety and was always there to welcome us back at the end of the day. This was the perfect bike/barge trip. We are now thinking about taking a trip in Holland with the Clair de Lune.

The e-bike option really made the trip for me. It allowed me to bicycle each day, get plenty of exercise, and not overdo it. As a result, I was able to enjoy the sites and experience much more.

Outstanding guide, great staff on boat, wonderful food. The beautiful scenery from Bolzano to Mantova was probably the most memorable. Really happy we took the additional 3 days before boarding the barge.

Would have liked more time biking. 2 days had less than 10 miles. We were in the guided group and were told the group would decide how much to bike on those days-we were never asked as a group-the guide decided himself we would do the shorter distance. Barge "purser"-a woman-not very friendly or helpful or available. Trip booked as a Bordeaux start and end, but the location of start and end of trip changed and we had to pay extra to get ourselves to Cadillac and back to Bordeaux from Libourne. The boat company should have provided that transfer free of charge. The 2 wine tasting charges should have been included in the trip charge. The boat charged 20 euros for a bottle of wine in the wine country of Bordeaux and we were not allowed to bring on any wine from the outside. You could buy a nice bottle of wine for less than $10.00 in town. Disappointed that we had twin beds-expected a double in the suite room.

I would absolutely recommend this trip. We felt we were very lucky to have Hein as our guide. His insight was wonderful.

The scenery on this trip,while biking, was not memorable or especially unusual which was to be expected given the flatland of our itinerary. I was hoping it would be more dramatic but not surprised that it wasn't. Still I loved being there and next time will consider a more challenging terrain which ought to improve the views. ( ps lunch stop venues need more thought- in general unattractive.)
Memorable: the towns of Mantova and Ferrara were lovely and I enjoyed having time to spend in them , instead of merely riding through. The food was glorious and I felt the staff went the extra mile for us with a few perks and personal attention if needed. Clearly they like their jobs and it showed.

The entire staff was impeccable. They aimed to please and all had wonderful personalities. My only regret was wifi being shut down at 11pm. This was the best time for me to talk to loved ones. Other than that, it was great. Feedback from my group was positive.

Overall, the trip was good. There was, however, a disconnect among what our trip itinerary described and what the guide and the captain thought in terms of mileages and what entrance fees were included. The guide used the corner system. That means that the entire group has to ride together and do the same mileages each day. The trip description notes that each participant will receive maps and be able to ride on their own. We did not receive maps and therefore it made it impossible to ride on our own.

Route was easy. We especially liked the fact that the boat stayed overnight where each day's ride ended. Our guide was a replacement so we don't think he was familiar enough with the route to give us the best guidance.

I really enjoyed the off-road trails and quiet back roads near Aigues Mortes.

The Wachau Valley was our favorite!
Our only complaint is that the toilet in our room was backing up sewer gas. Would have really welcomed a bathroom fan to duck it away or an improved sewer trap to prevent this.

Barge, service, guide, food, comfort, weather and on and on...all great.

We really enjoyed the trip but the self-guided instructions could have been better. We relied on Google maps more than we should have had to; would have been quite lost without it.
We were a very small group and we all got along very well and became friends throughout the week.

This was a great trip that the group from Spokane (Tom & Mary Kay R. Mike and Mary M., Jan and Mark B., John and Helen W. -UK) recommends to anyone interested in seeing a beautiful part of Germany. It was not just the scenery that was great, but also how the Merlijn ""crew"" always made you feel at home and took care of any problems. Special thanks to Jantien, Henk and Jacques!

Barge was great, crew was excellent, could use more air conditioning, bikes need new pedals with more grip, very slippery especially when wet, boat could review policy of not letting riders use their own pedals.

There were many memorable parts of this trip. The vineyard/bike trails around Melk were very nice.

The people I was on the trip with we all had a just terrific time. A truly wonderful trip with a great staff great a wonderful trip.