Europe Bike + Boat Tour Reviews — 4531 to 4560 of 5219

This was our first bike/barge tour and we loved it. Riding through the French countryside was wonderful and it felt like we were in a Van Gogh painting. The boat was nice and the crew was great, with a welcoming attitude and GREAT meals! The bikes were perfect and I'm a bike snob. We made new friends from around the world. Do it, you won't regret it!

Everything was A-1. I was totally surprised when our tour guide Tom managed to reunite me with my lost "zebra" luggage on a cobblestone street corner 4 days into the trip! Thanks, Tom!

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.

Janine was the ultimate host and an excellent chef. She worked very hard to assure guests were satisfied with the trip.

This was a fabulous trip all around! The group was friendly, and guides were helpful and knowledgeable! Dinners were delicious and varied, stronger than expected for this type of trip. We really enjoyed being able to purchase wine on board the ship, also. The riding was varied, and we really appreciated that our guides made sure to schedule a mid-morning break for coffee/water/toilet. What a great way to get a sense of this part of Italy - from small villages and farm fields to Venice - just spectacular!
One suggestion for improvement: for riding in really hot weather, it would be great if there could be a little more flexibility. We rode during a heat spell (40 degrees Centigrade one day). It was difficult to shift schedules or shorten our rides due to logistics, and this created some health issues.

We had a lovely time. The barge and entire crew were wonderful. We were very disappointed with the bike guide though. She was not at all knowledgeable with her directions and we many times retraced steps on the bike. We feel we could have seen much more but her choices for stops were terrible. We would spend way too much time at a stop when we could have been seeing a lovely park nearby. Her choices for stops were not well planned out and some were just very disappointing. The captain, in our opinion should consider another guide for this trip. There is much to see in this area and easily done so on a bike. The guide was not good with directions and perhaps a bit more planning on her part would have made it a far more enjoyable trip. Berlin and the surrounding ares are beautiful and offer a wealth of history to be seen. We have taken other bike and barge trips and honestly, the guide truly is the person that makes or breaks the trip.

The short 13 km bike trip to Vodice was not scenic and seemed not a good choice for biking at all. Otherwise, the biking was great, scenic, nice villages, good stopping places. Thanks for a great week, great crew, great food and great company of others!

The wifi on the barge needs to be upgraded. It was inadequate and inconsistent.This is really the only criticism I have - the rest was great. But it is important to travelers these days.

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

My husband and I had a great bike trip. Riding through the Belgium/Netherlands was delightful. The staff made the trip most memorable- Jacob (bike guide), Els (boat captain), Thomas (cook).

Our first bike barge holiday and we loved it. Good mix of nationalities as guests. The Magnifique truly was glorious.

The staff on the Zwaantje made the trip!

It was a great bicycle trip. Beautiful countryside, bike paths were excellent and the guide "Hugo" was exceptional. Barge was perfect. We were able to see the real Holland, not the typical tourist city Holland. Communication and arrangement of the tour with Tripsite was very good. Thanks.

The boat staff were outstanding! The boat dinners were outstanding! The boat breakfasts and lunches were just okay.

The biggest downside to the trip were the totally inadequate route guides. They were not written for new-to-the-route riders. On one hand, they assumed the user was familiar with the route and knew where they were going. On the other hand, they seemed to have been written by someone who had never ridden the route, who just looked at a paper (or electronic) map to write the guide.

Finally, the on-boat guides were of minimal help. While they seem to have ridden the route, they did not explain the complexities a new rider would encounter along the way. They did, however, explain the highlights to look for on each route.

With those two exceptions, the trip was wonderful! As for the most memorable, being dog people, we really liked having the captain's dogs on board.

Holland has such fabulous bike routes and a tradition of bicycling. We left the boat by 9 am and reconnected with it by 4 at a new location. The cities that we rode to and through were old, small and quaint. The many stops along the way we're interesting and the people everywhere were wonderful. I highly recommend this trip.

A fabulous experience. We will seriously consider further barge/bike holidays with you.

We loved the trip. Hank, Jantien, & staff were super as usual. The electric bike was a bit heavy. My(Anita) electric bike at home feels much lighter--it's smaller. Look forward to another trip on Merlijn & with Jantien & Hank. --Anita & Duncan

The staff of the Merlijn were delightful and very personable. Enjoyed them thoroughly.

Travel aboard the Merlijn is always a wonderful experience. Our guide, Felix, was excellent. This was our fourth trip and we will return for more.

Our first day was quite rocky… The directions were not good and the routes were not well marked. Everyone was frustrated. The guide promised to bike out again from Prague and redo it--hopefully that happened.

The most memorable part of my trip were the small towns and villages that we visited. These are places where tourists rarely venture. The people are friendly and open for conversations; willing to share their lives and experiences with us. And curious to know about us as well. I have so many wonderful memories.

A fantastic tour. Really well organised and the guides had great local knowledge. One of our guides even spoke 5 languages so he made everyone feel welcome. The scenery was amazing especially the island of Brac with the most wonderful early morning reflections of the beautiful village in the bay. The food was tasty and plentiful rivaling the odd episode of "Masterchef"
At the Captains dinner we also learnt that the boat was built by the captains family over 4 years with no design drawings. Amazing. We met some great people on board from Brazil and Germany. A fantastic adventure. We enjoyed the Croatian undulations!!! There are a few hills but it is worth it!!!! Enjoy

The small tour group was perfect for my 12 year old son and I. The biking was awesome - we both loved cycling through the farms and along the canals. Although it was rainy and windy for majority of the time - we still enjoyed it very much. The food was fantastic!!

Having the map to tryi to not get lost was so much fun. Thank you to all the staff for making the bike barge a great activity vacation.

Great trip BUT.. We decided to cycle with 6 others because we are experienced riders. We were counting on the signage being much more complete and easier to follow. At times, there was no indication of where to go. Our path just ended! Also, the bigger group, of about 18, had some inexperienced riders and we felt that riding in this large a group could be dangerous...which proved to be the case.
In one case, a previous rider had taken the liberty to use a marker to write our path number on a sign. Thanks to him/her we were able to continue on without taking out the GPS. Had this been done on several other signs, we would not have had to find our way ...using GPS..on many occasions. There were also 4 other Europeans, who cycled as a group, who experienced the same sense of frustration as us.
We will forward a photo to the Tripsite website. Thanks for providing a most enjoyable and memorable trip.