Europe Bike + Boat Tour Reviews — 31 to 60 of 5284

The trip on Magnifique IV was a great and memorable experience. The crew and tour guides couldn't have done a better job of managing our group and the record setting heat of the first three days of our trip. The boat accommodations were comfortable with a surprisingly large bathroom. The food prepared for us by chef Doychen was nothing short of fantastic.
Overall, the value for the expense exceeded my expectations.

The tour guides were awesome and the boat was fantastic. I was not expecting an executive chef to feed us each day. This was a great vacation where I didn't have to worry about one thing. The crew of the Magnifique IV pampered us, and they were very friendly.
The bike riding was my favorite part and seeing the countryside of both countries.

Great staff, great food, and most importantly great people. The best part of tours like this are the people that you meet from all over the world. This is my second boat and cycle trip, and both times I have created lasting connections with others on the tour. I will definitely be doing another similar tour in another new location down the road.

Time on the beautiful Thalassa was wonderful. Some of the rides were quite challenging, both in the elevation gain, length of elevation gain and traffic. However, others were amazing, especially when we were in areas with very little traffic. I would not rate this, an easy ride by any means. Each day started with an uphill climb because that’s the topography however, there were plenty of undulating hills, delightful, switchbacks, great views, and the smell of pine and thyme. I liked the swim stops and liked the combination of eating on the boat and eating at local restaurants. I appreciated hearing about the Greek gods that “inhabited” these islands. It would have been great to have access to a cappuccino machine, a luxury some boats provide.

We enjoyed being with people from four different countries. The sights were beautiful! The food on the San Snova was absolutely delicious! Being able to switch from a regular bike to an e-bike one day was extremely helpful. We are still in touch with our tour group and hope to do another tour in the near future!

The cycling was phenomenal: beautiful scenery, wonderful paved designated cycling paths. Our guides were friendly, experienced, just excellent. Our boat, the Magnifique X was beautiful and very comfortable and the excellent staff prepared delicious food and took great care of us.
Definitely one of our best bike and boat trips - this was #9! Hopefully more to come!

Cycling along the Danube in the forests was amazing. Staff engaged the guests and inspired us to visit historic sites. Food was splendid.

I had a good time but I think a lot could have been done better. I was concerned about the health and safety of those participating, including the guide. The weather during the tour was very hot, yet the guide said there was no heat protocol in the company. I worry about the next group that would have been cycling in +40 C temperatures. There was a bit of discussion every evening about the heat and consequent route modifications, and everyone was offered an e-bike because of it, but the young people in the group (and some of the older ones) mostly wanted to take the preestablished route. That meant that I spent half of the trip on the boat. Why wasn't there a system where the cyclists could leave considerably earlier to avoid the afternoon heat? There were various arguments given why this couldn't happen, but none of them seemed very convincing. On one day it took the barge a long time to get to the destination, so the argument was that we'd be waiting at the other end in the heat for the boat. But from a health perspective, waiting in the shade for the boat would have been safer than cycling through the very hot afternoons. Other days the boat got to the next destination early. We could have done our circuit and gotten back to it early.

The company should have had systems in place to deal with the heat. The only one they offered was an e-bike (I had already paid to hire one, so this wasn't a modification for me). The tour guide was a nice guy but his favourite expression seemed to be 'what can you do?'. I would have much preferred someone who took charge, recognised the dangers, and was more forward in suggesting modifications. Overall I felt quite unsafe.

As an example of feeling unsafe, on one day I was left behind by the group because I faced a large deal of traffic. Even the 'sweep' went ahead of me. Eventually the sweep saw me and waited, but we had lost the group. I was amazed that the sweep didn't have the phone number of the guide or the ship. Why wasn't it mandatory that we all write this down/create a contact, before we embarked on the first day. The tour guide said his number had been on the board since the beginning, but had never urged us to write it down. It would have been such a simple thing to do.

There was also poor route planning. On one day the route took us up a very steep potholed path (to the Sancerre village), and three cyclists came off their bikes, each with considerable bruises and cuts. My friend was one of them. The tour guide washed her wound at the top, but wasn't aware of the catastrophe on the route till we all pushed our bikes to the top. He was quite hard of hearing, so I'm not sure if he didn't hear from others what had happened or was himself too exhausted to descend to give help. On this matter, he wasn't young, and I worried for his health having to ride in the very punishing heat too.  SHOW MORE 

Excellent accommodations. Food was elegant. Staff professional and kind

The trip overall was excellent! The professionalism and organization of the cycling guides was first rate. The bicycles were in excellent shape and very well suited to this trip. The food on board was excellent and the bar/wait staff were first rate and very professional. The tour guides provided for the city walking tours were excellent.

My comments are as follows:

when anchoring for a swim, there should be a life preserver/throwing equipment to assist swimmers who may be in distress. Also, I would recommend ensuring that guests understand if there is a strong current at a swimming location.

As there was gravel involved, and some technical sections, I think some of the guests might benefit from a little cycling lesson, to assist them riding in the gravel properly and understanding the appropriate gear to be in for these conditions. Along the lines of a group ski lesson that you might take at a ski resort, for a bit of a refresher.

Also, I think it would be helpful. If the tipping directions were a little more clear, as the direction we received from our trip preparation package was for a lump sum tip, and when we were on board, we were told there would be two envelopes, provided , one to tip the staff on the boat, and one for the cycling guides.

Quite an amazing trip. Such beautiful sites each day. Each of the islands was different treasure of beauty. The employees were sitting helpful and pleasant to be with.

Trip was wonderful. Tour guides and the staff on the Fluvius were excellent. Unfortunate part was the AC on the ship was not functioning.

The tour director and the entire staff onboard the Vivienne were outstanding, so welcoming, warm and helpful, as well as very professional. The boat facilities are great, very clean and well maintained. The Danube River is beautiful, and the bike route is top notch. Very well marked, lovely countryside and small towns. Exceychoise of stopping points.

Bike rides and fabulous views and sites as we toured the islands

This bike and boat tour was excellent. We chose a guide and ebikes for the biking portion which made us really enjoy the day as we did not have to worry about getting lost and/or making it back to the boat on time.
The ship itself was smaller, so you got to know people and felt like a big family.
The service from meals, to housrkeeping to daily tour briefings was top notch.
This was our first bike and boat tour and we would definately do it again.

I loved this trip. It was a perfect balance of biking to see the countryside and time to see the port cities. The ship had under 100 passengers so it felt comfortable and cozy. The staff was excellent.

Good cycling, food, staff and experience. What fun to meet and make friends with our neighbors from Canada and Europe.

The route was absolutely beautiful and the pace was excellent. Staff were friendly and helpful, accommodation was clean and comfortable, and the meals are very good.

All of the staff were excellent but Sylvia was a highlight! I liked how everyone pitched in during meals.

The people! We had 16 others, all of whom we enjoyed. Appreciated the efforts to help us get to know each other. Also enjoyed the food, the friendliness of staff, the route, the stops... the whole experience!

The two guides emma and august were charming and helpful. All the staff were attentive. The food was delicious. The rooms small and well organized. I enjoyed sailing on the beautiful boat. It was hotter than usual for cycling but the scenery was spectacular.

We recently returned from a memorable bike tour through four countries, and for the most part, it delivered on its promises. The e-bikes were well-maintained, the routes scenic and well-suited to the difficulty level described, and the new navigation app made wayfinding effortless. On board, the service was attentive and the meals were genuinely delicious.
Unfortunately, the experience ended on a sour note. The disembarkation the process was slow and ill-suited to the ship's passenger capacity. More frustrating, our large backpack — correctly tagged for delivery to the parking garage 5 km away — never arrived. We had to return to the ship to locate it ourselves. When we did, staff declined to take responsibility, attributing the error to other passengers. The bag was eventually returned to us still bearing the original garage tag, and with its contents inside, wet.
It's a shame, because the tour itself was excellent. With better handling of the final logistics, this would have been an easy five stars.

Great guide (Paul). Food and cabin only marginal. Dinners were almost always cold.

The culmination of this trip was when our guide brought us high up onto the hillside, on our second to last day, and as we descended, we could see every town and island we had just cycled. It was very moving to look down on the geography of the area, the water ways, the islands, the bridges and cliffs.

Cycling around a beautiful country. Seeing historic cities and understanding how the Dutch overcame the sea and car centric horrors.

The professionalism and compradore amount the entire crew was refreshing. Knowledge of individual accountabilities and task focus were outstanding…as a well- oiled machine!

This was my ninth bike / barge trip and I have enjoyed all of them, but this one was my favorite thanks to the dedicated crew which worked hard to ensure the success of the trip. Diana, Mickey, Virginia and Jeoffrey were all top notch.

The trip was a wonderful journey through several amazing Dutch towns. The riding was as advertised through beautiful countryside and towns. The barge, while having a few small mechanical issues, was a good home for the week. The crew was friendly and accommodating. Lukas, the chef, provided exception al meals enjoyed by all.

I look forward to my next adventure.