France Bike + Boat Tour Reviews — 421 to 450 of 720

We were in great hands with our captain, Marco, chef, Sylvia and guide, Rob, on the Clair de Lune! We truly enjoyed our week biking along the Seine and L’Oise. We highly recommend this barge and bike experience.

My trip was the highlight of my vacation experiences over the last 15 years. The best part of the trip was the togetherness that developed amongst all the participants over the 2 week trip. I have some true friends for life thanks to your tremendous hospitality and care each and every crew member and of course our wonderful guide showed to all of us.
Thank you Darius

Most memorable-one big friendly group. Chef and Pilot were fine; guide and barge were adequate.

Spent one day on the barge - it was a huge highlight! Through so many locks, off for a walk along the canal, lots of beautiful scenery. Bliss.

Excellent trip, well organized and lots of fun.

The Champagne tour combined the pleasures of riding through vineyards, sampling champagne on both public and private tours, exploring out of the way gems that you would never find on your own, getting to know an extraordinary captain and crew of the Zwaantje, and meeting new friends, topped off with time to explore the City of Light. Although some of the daily rides were difficult, don't hesitate to join this tour because of the hills - get an e-bike and you're guaranteed the experience of a lifetime. It doesn't get any better than this!

We had a wonderful time on our trip from Bruges to Amsterdam, everyone was so friendly and helpful...we have booked another trip next Sept.

The scenery! The food! The guide, chef, and captain were wonderful. Eight cabins, 16 people. The perfect size group. We did the 2 week ride from Bruges to Paris. I would definitely do one of these trips again!

I thoroughly enjoyed every part of the trip, but it was particularly interesting to tour Aigues Mortes and to learn how and why it came about.

The barge Elodie...was just fantastic...chef, captain, guide.

Auxerre to Paris: Outstanding staff on Elodie and beautiful route through French countryside.

Lovely scenery, experiences and meals at the end of the day.

The Bordeaux Wine Country trip was absolutely the best vacation ever! The guides were wonderful, full of interesting information and fun. Doing the guided tour allowed us to take in the scenery without having to worry about where to turn next. The scenery was so amazing. Every other word was "oh my" or "Wow"! A simple review cannot begin to convey how fantastic this trip was. We are already planning another trip with you. Thanks for the wonderful vacation.

Having never done a “biking” vacation before, this was our first experience and I will say that we both felt that this would be something that we would definitely want to do again.
The equipment was in great condition and was properly geared for the terrain that we encountered. The guide on our tour was part historian, part musician, part artist and part entertainer. He made our trip come alive with insightful facts and was always encouraging with all of the clients on the tour. We constantly felt special in the opportunities we had to gain access to sites that we toured.
The crew on the boat was exceptional as well. We were always made to feel at home and quickly realized how much effort they all placed on us enjoying ourselves.
The meals served on board were exceptional as well. Our chef Sara, provided seasonal, and local dishes that enhanced our journey through Provence.
Lastly, we would have to say that biking through Provence was by far, the best was to tour Provence. We often felt more like citizens of the country than tourists. We will never forget the wonderful times we had, especially with the Dropbox videos and photos that our tour guide send us upon our return home.
This was undoubtedly one of the best vacation experiences that we have ever had.

After having had prior positive experiences, I was very disappointed with this trip. The accommodation on the boat was almost to the point of ridiculous! The upper bunk was almost impossible to get into and getting up to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night was treacherous! The staff were pleasant enough and the food was okay. Peter, our guide, was also disappointing. He really seemed to have little interest in whether we were enjoying our ride. He would often head out ahead of us and then a some point realize that we weren't all there and would stop or go back. He did not wear any kind of identifiable clothing so that we knew who or what to look for if we were further behind. Thank goodness there were enough of us with prior experience that we picked up the slack and made sure the first timers weren't left behind. I invited my sister, a first timer, to join me on this trip and found myself apologizing many times that this trip was less than enjoyable. That being said we did see some nice scenery and did come across some stores that were actually open. The general comment was "that's just the French" Another thing to note is that finding the bus that was supposed to take us from Paris to meet the boat ended up being a bit of a fiasco! We waited for an hour in the hot sun and the bus had been there the whole time. There was no identifiable sign to let us know that was our bus. Several times members of our group checked with the driver and were told that it wasn't our bus. Finally one of the members of our group who was more proficient in French appeared to ask the right question as it turned out that the bus was actually ours. Not a good omen apparently! All in all I would not recommend this trip to anyone!

Very enjoyable trip! Great accommodation, great cycling and great crew & guides.

First time I've had an art historian/architecture teacher as a tour guide. Geert was wonderful and enriched every stop.

The scenery and staff on board were the most memorable parts of the trip. Although the tour says easy to moderate, there are 2 to 3 days that there are a few steep hills. You need to be bike ready. Or as an alternative rent an E Bike. As long as you just want to enjoy the scenery, places, vineyards, and not in a hurry, look at the guided portion for the extra cost. The guide we had was wonderful in explaining any questions we had. There are many things said that you would not get by self guided. If you are a wine fan and history and culture, this tour is for you. Stay in the city of Bordeaux also a couple days before or after. Very vibrant city with great restaurants and things to do in the city centre. Enjoy!

Guides had no map, and got us lost daily. They spoke no French, so could ask no one for help. Because of the getting lost daily, we didn't get to see the towns in which we were moored for the night. Kitchen ran out of bread, so I had to buy my sandwich one day. Rooms were not cleaned except for trash being removed once. Boat was moored in Paris 1/2 hour walk away from where the captain said he would be, with not notifying guests. A complete and total DISASTER!!!

Most Memorable Part? Staff on boat, people traveling and the scenery.

Everything was memorable, the other guests, crew, routes, guide, barge and food. 14 days with a break in the middle was just right for timing.

Amazing scenery and locale. The biking maps leave a lot to be desired. Some riders had a trail app and they were lifesavers for those who were left to just the paper map booklet. Very difficult to follow. Maybe more tour guides to help out.

You will not really see France and Belgium unless you cycle. This way you go through villages and towns and farms, see cathedrals, castles and even the grave of Van Gogh. The routes take you on forest, bike and tow paths, roads and cobblestones. Enjoy picnic lunches in church grounds, pubs, cafes and gardens. You will enjoy evening night walks after a delicious three course meal.
If you don't think you can do it, you can!

My main disappointment was that we did not go to Chateauneuf du Pape, that was one off the considerations in picking this tour. I understand the reasoning for the change in itinerary but it should be removed from the description if it is not being included. The gearing on the bikes could be better, higher top gear, lower bottom gear, for this tour. I hope this doesn't sound too negative as we did enjoy the tour. Most memorable sites were Les Beux/Les Carrieres de Lumieres and Pont-du-Gare.

What a great trip! The crew of the Elodie are a tight-knit team who made our tour quite exceptional. The route was spectacular, the food wonderful and the accommodation comfortable. The bikes were high quality and well suited to the varied conditions enroute. A highly recommended tour!

It's hard to choose a most memorable part of the trip. Aigues Mortes was a big surprise -- the history, the walls and the tower, and the special celebration -- the bull games -- taking place while we were there. The Camargue was amazing, with the waterways and the vineyards, the distinct breeds of horses and the bulls. Provence was beautiful with the olive groves and apple orchards, and of course more vineyards. It was exciting to visit the sites where Van Gogh had painted in Arles, and Hugo's commentary was superb. Singing Starry Starry night on deck under the starry night was lovely. The visit to Les Baux, with the spectacular scenery and Les Carrieres des Lumieres in the quarry were fabulous. We enjoyed visiting the Pont du Gard and singing Sur Le Pont d'Avignon as we cruised passed the bridge itself.

Now the areas for improvement: The bikes were not good enough for the Provence segment. We understood that we would be provided with 27 gear bikes, but had an infinite gearing system instead, and the lowest gear wasn't enough for the hills we encountered. Those with electric bikes were happier. Also, through some poor communication between Tripsite and the tour operator, Girolibero, a part of the trip route that our group had been particularly interested in -- a visit to Chateau Neuf du Pape -- was no longer included. Hugo did his best, with a vote (which came out even) to see whether we should go to Chateau Neuf du Pape or take the shorter route that had been promised to the others on the trip. Then he flipped a coin. We accepted the decision as appropriate, but were disappointed that we had not got what was advertised through Tripsite.

We didn't know what to expect on such a small barge/boat: however it was very enjoyable Our hosts were great and always helpful even when we knew it was a busy time for them. Being a small group and despite some language differences, we all bonded and managed to communicate well. Our leader Anna was particularly competent and took us through some interesting situations without a glitch. We will be known as the group who loves limericks as one guy in our group started by writing one for each cyclist...then of course we all started to write them. The last dinner was quite hilarious. You can't beat these tours for economy, traveling through history and spectacular scenery and commaradorie. I left off one star as the rooms and bathroom were super small and hard to manouver in. Everything else, including the meals, were something to write home about.!

We were fortunate enough to have Tripsite founder, Hennie, along, who led half of our group on a terrific cycling adventure between Paris and Bruges. We made wonderful friendships and were treated royally on board the Zwaantje by the crew - and what wonderful meals!

Most Memorable Part? Cycling thru the small Villages of the Somme with good riders lead by Hennie.

Enjoyed the staff, the group we met and the overall tour. I got to visit a part of France I might never have seen. Really enjoyed the champagne bottling winery the last day.