Europe Bike + Boat Tour Reviews — 4741 to 4770 of 4930

Our group was more than well treated. The staff and officers on the barge went out of their way to help us and make the entire trip one to remember. The tour director really put himself out for everyone on board. He even helped us to solve a problem after we had left the boat at the end of the trip. It was outstanding.

We had a great time and plan on another bike-and-barge trip sometime. We loved the mix of passengers from different countries. Some of the other passengers, using other tour companies, had a few more details of the ports of call, and this would have been helpful for us, and may be a useful selling point for Tripsite.

Even for a novice biker I was looked after and given the opportunity to cycle shorter legs and enjoy the sailing on the boat. Bikes - we had a couple of bikes that had gear problems, otherwise they were fine.

Yes, yes, I would and have recommended this trip to friends. It was very relaxing, fun, offering beautiful scenery, helpful staff! visiting the small villages was a treat. The route and route guide was user friendly. Hope to bike this way again soon.

Garrit, our bike tour leader, was a novice on this route as well as a poor communicator to the english speaking clients. The docking area changed at each stop from the printed instructions, and the maps and turn-by-turn instructions were only partly correct! Everyone got lost at some point in the trip!! I had asked for GPS routing for my bike Garmin GPS but was told the route was to new and that it was not available! I think some accurate preparation would have made the trip more pleasant.
Second - the route along the Rhine is not scenic (as on the Danube) with few small towns to stop and look/snack on the way. The most notable sights were gravel pits and cement manufacturing. Of course, that is not the fault of the tour operator, however, they should have provided a detailed description of the small towns on the way (although not on the river) to give us the option of exploring the interesting ones and forgetting about the towns with 3 streets and no interesting sights.

I loved everything about this trip from the boat, the staff, the bikes and, of course, the scenery. I highly recommend this trip for anyone who likes to take a trip up close and personal.

Boat staff need to learn how to be more polite and friendly. The management seems to be in the military service.

Trip maps were difficult to decipher in some cases and needed more explanation. There were too many questions of ""which way do we go?, we must have missed our turn, where's the ferry?

Why couldn't we get a cup of coffee or tea before 7am or 4pm? Why couldn't we get a beer in the lounge right after returning from ride? Why couldn't we drop off our panniers before 4 on Friday when the man in charge was sitting at his desk doing nothing? The crew for the most part was accommodating but the Teutonic influence was in evidence too often, and I am 50% German. My grandfather having served for Germany in the First World War.

This was my first biking trip - truly enjoyed it and am looking forward to my next trip.

1) In the boat is possible to rent helmet for EU$ 5/week. This renting is good for travelers that spend more time in Europe. I'm not sure if this information is available in the Tripsite's site.

2) I ordered a E-bike for my wife. In the boat I saw that 2 kinds of E-bike are offered to the customers. My wife would love bike in a more comfortable E-bike.

3) According to the staff of the boat, I should speak German. I don't know the source of this information. This information is used to organize the passengers in the restaurant.

It's not that I don't recommend this trip, it's that I would recommend it with caveats. The guides were great, the cycling adequate. By this I mean, I found that on some days we started out and then, 25 minutes later, stopped in a city center for maybe 20 minutes. Why? To experience what, in 20 minutes? It would have been better to simply keep cycling. The first day of cycling I found, in particular, to be needlessly short. The barge in general was OK. The seats on the lounge chairs became uncomfortable after a while. Too thin.

The least satisfactory part of this trip was the food - I thought there would be more fish options, considering we were on the sea. The 2 fish dishes that were served were not good - one was very dry, and the other was smothered in a too-salty sauce. The desserts were memorable - for their lack of taste. The breakfasts were fine. The salads that preceded each main course were also fine. Someone mentioned that it might be worth your charging a bit more and offering better quality food. I was not the only one disappointed in the food offerings. More opportunities to swim would also have been appreciated, at least by me.
Actually, upon thinking about this, I probably wouldn't recommend this program, and would encourage others to look for better options.

The Rhine from Mainz to Basel, for the most part, is industrial and not as picturesque as other European bike and barge routes we've enjoyed. There were a few cities (Heidelberg, Germany and Strausbourg, France) which were beautiful and offered much to do, but we were expecting the scenic bike routes with quaint towns for cake and coffee, or beer stops along the way and were sorely disappointed. But the most disappointing aspect of this trip was the inability of the on-board guide to give proper instructions nor enlighten us of things to see or visit. We found out about popular sites from all channels except the guides. In Strausbourg, while chatting with tourists, we heard of an amazing evening light show projected onto an enormous cathedral - huge crowds gathered to enjoy this historic presentation, yet nothing was mentioned of it by our guide. We have needed so little guidance to enjoy our bike and barge trips, but this one missed the mark. Based on previous trips that we've done, we'd convinced 2 other couples to join us and they were underwhelmed and disappointed as well. The barge and accommodations were adequate, though rooms were random sizes no matter which deck you choose. One couple paid extra for the upper deck, but their room was much smaller than another couple's on the lower level. The staff and meals on this barge were top notch and we can't say enough about the gourmet chef and tireless staff.

The food could be a lot better, and we would even pay more. Other than that the trip was lovely.

We enjoyed ourselves so much that we are already planning another bike and barge trip. It would have been nice if there were a better split in English speaking guests as most of the guests spoke German and we didn't get a chance to mingle much. Tripsite was very good to work with and we would use this company again. "

We had a fantastic trip we loved everything about it. I would recommend this trip to anyone. The people we met were so nice and helpful and friendly. Our Polish chef on the boat was fantastic.

An amazing trip. Incredible scenery, beautiful boat, always warm and helpful staff. I'd love to do this one all over again. This was my fourth time with Tripsite and I really appreciated all their help choosing a great trip. Thanks!

Some issues with our room. We booked a room with two twin beds. We got a room with a double bed and bunk beds. The double bed broke the first night. It actually came apart because a brace had fallen off. Our phone charger was broken while trying to fix the bed. Our door lock malfunctioned locking us out of our room for two hours, and was difficult to use the rest of the trip. We asked for the phone charger to be replaced, but never got an answer.

Wow! Last year we did a bike and barge; Koblenz to Saarburg on the Patria and loved it. This tour on the MV Story was even better. Boat was a bit more upscale, food and service was better; and the biking along the Danube was beautiful. The City visits were very good.
The hotel Manager on the boat, Paval, was tremendous. And under his leadership the rest of the staff was also very, very good.
My wife rented an E Bike which was well worth the money. The 21 speed I got was also very nice for a comfort bike.
The other guests were also great!

What I didn't like was the fact that the ships organisers would have known that the Water levels in the Danube would not be sufficient for the boat to moor in Budapest long before they told us. I feel that we weren't told as it would have put in jeopardy people attending the trip.

Otherwise everything else exceeded my expectations. The only staff member who could have done better was the guy in charge of the bike courses.

Guide stopped to much for cappuccino, kept us bunched up, which was unsafe, had a sick person that should of been hospitalized. Want more milage not museums.

It was everything we expected and more! Beautiful scenery, made great new friends, attentive staff, fantastic meals and wonderful weather. Our first experience, fantastic! We shall return!

Not my favorite part of France. 6th bike tour there and the least scenic and inviting.

We were overall extremely pleased with our trip! The only downsound was the infestation of bedbugs... The staff had bites and my husband I had bites as well. The staff took this very seriously and called a Pest Control Company ...they had their rooms treated and ended up treating our room as well. We ended up having to treat our luggage and all personal items upon our return home to Canada.. To make sure we didn't bring any into our home.....Which was quite a chore and inconvenience.

Other than this, it was an awesome time.

I really enjoyed the bike/boat tour on the Rhine. Accommodations on the boat were very good and the meals were excellent. On our arrival we found that our boat was not at the dock as listed but had changed locations and was on the other side of the river. This created a longer taxi drive thus a much bigger fare (54 euros instead of 21 euros) for the 3 of us in each taxi. We had a briefing each morning by our tour guide and on almost every day, the directions were not detailed enough. One of the people we biked with had a GPS and with that and along with discussions among all of us, we managed to find our way back. I really feel this was a big gap and should be rectified before another tour. However it was a wonderful experience and we met many lovely and
interesting people. I would love to do a different bike/boat tour at some time in the future.

Did this trip late August 2015. It is my third bike/boat trip with Tripsite and they are not kidding when they call it spectacular! The views are incredible. The boat was beautiful and the crew took such excellent care of us. I loved all the different Adriatic towns with their history and ancient buildings. The cycling was great and guides were friendly and helpful. I especially loved it when the boat would pull into a cove for a swim break. Thanks for another great experience!

beautiful scenery, great food. great biking mates. captain hilarious.
Osisej needs work. No AC, bathroom has black mold, shower is a low pressure hand held sprayer, guide reluctant to give info re how far/steepness. did give generic overview.
stops indiscriminately, then mid/late PM lunch. From previous trips self guided more enjoyable for us. european group had a detailed summary with kilometers etc. not available in English???
Docking inadequate steps or plank for getting on or off Bikes Okay needed a proper stem to stern maintenance.

This Paris Tour exceeded our high expectations. Highlights included a madcap ride through Paris stopping at Notre Dame and the Eiffel tower and visiting Auvers with the Van Gogh sights. Professional multilingual staff, experienced tour guide and wonderful accommodating cook made us welcome. We quickly became friends with the other 14 riders who were all fun adventurous travelers. The bikes were sturdy and well designed for the changing terrain of cobblestones, gravel. dirt pack through forests, city streets and local roads. Bring layers of lightweight clothes for changing weather and bike shorts or liners for riding comfort. The ride could be challenging for inexperienced riders so it is helpful to do training of rides to 15-20 miles in preparation.Cabins are small in this canal boat but adequate especially at this price point. We loved it and look forward to our next bike barge tour.

I give this tour the highest possible recommendation! I have never been to Europe, and this was the best way to get introduced. Of course, Paris was fabulous! I enjoyed even more the time cycling in the countryside along the rivers and through the small towns. The crew on the boat was outstanding, professionally competent in their duties as well as friendly and intent on taking care of our every need. The cycling was relatively easy for the people who cycle regularly, but not too hard for novices. We rode on a wide variety of surfaces from pavement to gravel to dirt. The terrain was mostly flat. The bikes we rode were sturdy Dutch hybrids which were perfect for the task. Beautiful scenery, exercise, great food, many new friends! All this for a very low cost. Don't miss this tour!

I have mixed feelings about this tour. The boat was nice- clean, and incredibly well run; the food was good. The Czech Republic was beautiful (albeit unusually hot) and we enjoyed the countryside and the towns. However, if you did not speak German, which was the native language of the tour guide, Hans, you were in for some difficult times. He was outwardly pleasant, clearly organized (although the trip sheets needed updating), and I believe he gave the updates to the German tourists. Unfortunately, he did not provide all of the info in English and it made things difficult for us. He said that the other Germans didn't like it when he gave the presentation and then gave it in English (to all of us together). At one point, we (Americans, Aussies and Swedes) took him to task and he had a meeting with us to discuss - but had difficulty accepting our point of view. Also, the tour excursions, which were supposed to be available in English, didn't all happen. So we missed some of the information that others received. Overall, we enjoyed our time but we had not expected this level of difficulty and I cannot in all good conscience recommend this one to English-speaking tourists. However, if the boat is contracted for anything else - you are in good hands there.

Our Brussels to Brugge trip was an incredible experience. The biking was fantastic, the boat was great, and the staff superb. We even traveled with wonderful fellow travelers on the trip! So many kind people. I had heard great things about this trip too but it turned out even better than my expectations! What can I say? The food was excellent. The service was excellent. The camaraderie was wonderful. We were on the Magnifique and it was magnificent. Thank you!-Archie, Nancy and Zach August 2015