France Bike + Boat Tour Reviews — 421 to 450 of 726

Who knew that pomegranates grew in Bordeaux or the Romans built a coliseum there? Great guides make the trip as you are exposed to knowledge and places you would have overlooked.

The whole crew on our barge was wonderful, helpful and contributed greatly to the enjoyment of the week. The food was excellent, plentiful and culturally relevant. Our tour guide was knowledgeable, capable, experienced and fun ... great assets!

The preparation and presentation of the meals, especially the evening meals was outstanding. And the fellowship with the other passengers was also a great highlight aided by the small number of guests.

The Merlijn & her staff are amazing. Our trek from Mainz to Metz was gorgeous & fully exceeded our expectations. We would’ve turned right around & done it again if we could!!!

Loved every thing about my Bike and Barge trip. Can't wait to travel with you again!

We did the Bruges to Paris on the Zwaantje in September 2018. It was fantastic! The boat was great - clean and comfortable, the crew fabulous - professional and friendly and the food top class. I would definitely recommend (and I have) this trip to others.

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.