Europe Bike + Boat Tour Reviews — 931 to 960 of 5219

It's impossible for me to name a single most memorable part of this trip; it was the total package- beautiful scenery, beautiful boat, delicious gourmet food, excellent cycling equipment, excellent fun guides and ship crew. The size of the group was good and happily we all got along great. We were also lucky with the weather as shoulder season brought some rain we dodged with a slight itinerary adjustment. Despite an initial snag due to a couple of cabins not being what people had reserved via Tripsite, the trip guides managed to sort things out to everyone's satisfaction thanks to kindness and generosity within the group and I am confident in writing that every single person aboard had a wonderful time.

We were paired with a fun couple at mealtime. They ended up cycling with us most days and we shared stories and laughter.

This was the seventh bike/barge tour, in Europe, which I have taken. It was a wonderful tour. The boat, the crew and the guides were among if not the best. In particular the quality and the presentation of the food was outstanding,. I have three suggestions that in my opinion would have made the trip more comfortable. The first is quite minor but most North Americans use a facecloth in the bathrooms, I would prefer this to the two handtowels which were provided for each guest, Secondly, on each of my earlier trips better accommodations were made for guests to dry out light laundry or wet clothing. A clothesline set up on upper patio could work well for this, Finally, my experience is that cycling in a group of 31 is awkward and potentially dangerous. Our two guides worked together very well to control the traffic and allow the whole group to cross major roads safely but two smaller groups would mean shorter traffic delays.
Overall a great trip which I will gladly recommend yo others

The lack of communication on the lack of planning for weather. There should have been plans in place for us to visit all 4 countries that we paid for, or compensation for missing Budapest.

The scenery was beautiful, very memorable. The staff was excellent, accommodating and professional. Thank you for that. The e-bikes were great, and definately made riding fun. Unfortunately, due to flooding on the Danube, we did not get to experience important parts of the trip. The staff did their best to make up for this, but we did miss out on anticipated stops and excursions.

The riding was fabulous. The routes were challenging, yet doable for me (on e-bike,) and the towns and views were just breathtaking. My husband is a strong rider, but opted for an ebike, and enjoyed challenging himself by keeping it at the lowest level.

Beautiful sites but people need to know that even with E-bikes, it was challenging due to hills. Only complaint was due to noise level , dining experience on board was unpleasant

We had the absolute best time on This trip. It was the highlight to our three weeks in Greece and we’re already looking to make plans for another trip Trip site took care of everything, including all transfers, making everything incredibly easy and they were available for questions as we moved around during our vacation We highly recommend them

Hard to pick any single thing - the staff was likely the best part, with great tour leaders, followed by how good the food was!

Meals and staff were amazing! Serving 25 people individually was really done well,

This was a fantastic trip! The Merlijn was absolutely perfect. The crew was outstanding, the chef simply amazing. Our rooms were small but quite nice and always clean. Our bikes were so easy to ride and our guide, well I cannot think of any better guide that we could have had. A simply stunning view of Germany and the most fun way to see it.

Food was good, but I would of liked more vegetables at dinners.
It would of been nice to have some organized group activities ( especially the first night) so people could get to know each other better . Just standing up and saying your name and where you were from was definitely not enough. After dinner, so many people just went to their rooms . If there was an organized fun event to do, then people would of stayed in the main room and participated.

Thalassa is a beautiful comfortable ship,. Even made better by the friendly and helpful crew. Our guides, Mary Lou (aka Lulu) and Demetris were not only competent and friendly, they were fun to ride with! Two weeks later and we are all in touch by way of Whatsapp! They were very a accommodating found time for swim stops once or twice a day and were vigilant. We even sailed for a magical hour. E bikes were perfection as were the meals. Everyone, especially me, gained weight. Of my many trips with Tripsite, this was the best.
As an aside, Santorini is , in my opinion, overated...too crowded, busy and trash every where Try Crete instead. Also switching Whatsapp to Signal for security.

Staff, food and biking experience were all first class. Rooms on Manufique 1 were small and needed more shelf space to put small things. Small round stool should be replaced with a small table with drawers. Air conditioning was broken down for last 3 days of the trip. Small rooms were therefore hot for sleeping. Beverage prices were very reasonable. The staff were really great. Would book again but maybe on a larger boat in their fleet..

The boat was smaller than the others I have been on for other bike trips but the crew was great!! Very friendly and helpful. Dick our guide was the BEST! THEeals were very good too

When weather prevented our captain from sailing to two planned islands on the itinerary, it was Srdan (our guide) who had to revise plans for the day. He did a great job working on the fly!
We had a lovely group of travelers that knew how to have a good time!
The chefs have to be challenged preparing the amount of meals in a confined area. Breakfast was pretty standard every day, with an added boiled egg, scrambled eggs or French toast thrown in as an extra treat. They made an effort to present attractive meals.
It was disappointing not to be able to receive a cup of hot water for tea before bed, and wine is not available by the glass - only bottle.
For the shower you may want to pack a bar of soap. There is only a liquid soap dispenser at the sink.
We read the previous reviews suggesting an eBike. We are very happy we followed this suggestion. One day the ride had an elevation gain of 3K feet and another close to 2K feet.
Overall, we loved this boat/bike tour. Croatia is beautiful and discovering the islands was so much fun!

So many wonderful memories! The boat was very comfortable, the food was delicious, and meeting folks from all over the world was so much fun! The bikes were well maintained and the crew was helpful, courteous and thoughtful. Tour guide Arie always seemed to be on the road where he was needed.

Most memorable: Crossing the Briare Aqueduct was awsome. The barge, Clare de Lune, and the captain, chef, crew, and tour guide made our trip most enjoyable.

Most memorable: The barge, Merlijn, and the captain, chef, crew and tour guide were spectacular. Highly recommended.
Tips: If traveling in September be prepared for cold, rainy weather.

Our guide Ilsa, providing historical information from Ancient Rome to the Middle Ages to Modern Times throughout the ride.
The crew were wonderful. Couldn’t be more pleased with the entire trip.

First day as we cycled to Sancerre it was a trip of high hills, made manageable with ebikes. The views were spectacular! Visits to two chateaus were memorable.

Unfortunately, flooding on the Danube prevented our trip from proceeding past Vienna. Having said that our group still had a good time together. The staff was accommodating and we appreciated all their efforts during an unexpected trip. Communication regarding trip changes, transportation and day-to-day activities could have been much better. Our tour guide was lacking some finesse in these areas.

Fabulous trip! Tripsite personnel were great and the Ave Maria and staff were outstanding!

The scenery while biking and swimming off the boat the first day. If you are going on this trip, you owe it to yourself to try and get in decent biking shape. Even with e-bikes, some of climbs are long and challenging…but definitely worth it!! This is the third bike and barge trip we have done with Tripsite, and the first one that didn’t serve coffee until 7:30 in the morning. We are early risers, as were a few of the other passengers, and not having coffee nor tea available was a disappointment.

This was my third bike/boat, and, this by far was my favorite. The accommodations were wonderful, the crew professional, friendly, and helpful. The tour was fabulous, meals were delicious, and plentiful with lots of variety. I can go on and on, we’re checking out another tour, if this particular ship went elsewhere, I’d definitely consider another booking on it. Friesland was so interesting.

The six “ crew members” , especially Sylvia who’s English was great and energy outstanding! Next the food! Amazing. Finally the biking and scenery and tours along the way.
I would definitely recommend others to plan an extended stay in Venice before the cruise begins as it is such a wonderful place and more time is needed to see it all.

Most memorable was the bike riding on e-bikes and the fun we had with the other people.
Suggestions: - more shelves in the rooms on the boat, more chicken and French food included in the menus, more bike routes that were not in traffic .
Also, more cold cuts available that were not pork- like the ham... more turkey and possibly humus.
Also, it would have been helpful to have mirrors on the bikes... Also, would have liked to know earlier that the route was being changed because of the water level.
Would have liked more information and history on the areas where the boat was docked. Also, it was nice to have a wine tasting - but one was enough- 2 not necessary.