France Bike + Boat Tour Reviews — 571 to 600 of 720

Had a great time on this tour through Paris on the Clair de Lune. Marco, Thea, and Weiger were all great. A Dutch boat and crew through Paris! The daily rides were good. Anyone who has cycled around towns and flat trails could do it. Cycling into Paris city centre was a thrill. Food was very good on the boat.

The most memorable part was biking immediately after Fountainbleu, through the park's woodlands.

The most memorable part of the trip was the scenery and atmosphere.

Two items that were not as expected.
The literature states two guides but there was only one guide. This means there could only be one guided ride per day. So provide two guides or change the description of the trip to say only one guided ride per day.
Our pre-trip information provided a location for the where the barge would be moored in Paris. We selected a hotel near this location and planned activities based on this location. The boat did not dock at this location. We were not told that the location was changing. The boat docked. We didn't know where we were at and our guide also didn't know where we were at. Guide was very good. This was an issue with the boat captain.

Needed the second guide as group unwieldy for one. Unlike prior trips, guide gave little info on trip sites/locales, despite being quite personable.

The Captain and crew were just wonderful. While the sights were certainly great, like cheese making, Champagne tasting, visitng the ruins and the WWII cemeteries it was the warm welcome from the Captain and crew that really made this trip. There was nothing they wouldn't do for us including getting fresh baguettes every day, finding out our personal preferences for drinks after a long day in the saddle, and in general giving 110% to keep everyone happy. I strongly recommend the Captain and crew of the Zwaantje! I also must mention a big thank you to Carla and her crew at Tripsite for their assistance in getting us additional e-bikes. Without the e-bikes some of us just wouldn't have made the hills, with them we enjoyed every minute. Thank you!

Ah...The trip was memorable for so many reasons, the people, the sites. Bikes were amazing to ride. Loved the infinity gears. We loved the Soleo, however it sunk due to some submerged metal. The staff did their level best to help the passengers continue vacation, get to their embassy to get new passports, medications, and put us up in hotels. The Estello was brought up to continue our trip. There were some circulation/moisture issues on the Estello so we didn't enjoy that boat as much. One suggestion would be to do a short first day clinic to ensure riders understand basic group riding etiquette. Rounding the city round about would have been better/safer had we all gathered and taken the lane to go as a group rather than single file around in such an extended line. Then resume to single file along country/city roads. The sites were amazing but there were some areas that must have required more city riding. Loved the Carmarge horses, fields of poppies, flamingos, roman stadium and aquaduct. Loved the group of people and the crew. Peter and Sheena did a great job despite their loss of the boat. Marco was awesome, he was our single contact after the barge sunk he helped organize us and processed us thru what had to be done. Arie also was a huge help during this process.. (the owner of the boat was in and out, he didn't even recognize any of the passengers try to apologize for the situation or see how we were doing.. not a fan of the owner of the boat) Oh the folks at Tripsite who I contacted did try to see what they can do. We have separate insurance as suggested but I'm not sure if Tripsite will try to make any reparations for our interrupted trip.. we missed 2 days of cycling.. I wouldn't mind a discount on a future trip.

The scenery , chateaus and winery were beautiful.

We had a very enjoyable trip with beautiful scenery, good rides and pretty good weather most of the time. The Route maps and detailed instructions could be improved upon. There were several mistakes on which way to turn as well as confusing instructions. Luckily, we had GPS with us to help out in various situations.
The food was very tasty, esp. the dinners. Great young chef.
One thing which bothered us was that we were told not to bring any wine aboard the boat - we were to only purchase wine that was available on the boat via the token machine. Odd, since we were traveling and bicycling in Bordeaux WINE country, visiting chateaus daily!! We think that there should be another arrangement in that area. It's apparently a financial situation although it was explained that they didn't want wine spills in the cabin. A damage deposit could be arranged if that's really the issue.
Otherwise, the staff, bikes and experience was great. This was our 3rd Bike/Barge trip with TripSite. Gladly recommend it often to others. We especially enjoyed St. Emilion (tour of monolithic church was amazing!) and riding to/from Blaye and touring the Citadel.

We took this trip from Compiegne to Moret-sur-Loing in September. It was just perfect in every way. There were eight in our group and Marco made us feel like family. The bike ride along the Seine was just beautiful with views one would never see from a car. There is so much activity along the river and in the evening we were guided around the towns where the barge was moored for the night. The bike ride through Paris was personally terrifying for me, but was also a thrill. I would probably do it again. Our guide Yought was full of stories and also very supportive. I could not have done it without him. WE all appreciated Kim who prepared wonderful meals with great variety and was always there to welcome us back at the end of the day. This was the perfect bike/barge trip. We are now thinking about taking a trip in Holland with the Clair de Lune.

Would have liked more time biking. 2 days had less than 10 miles. We were in the guided group and were told the group would decide how much to bike on those days-we were never asked as a group-the guide decided himself we would do the shorter distance. Barge "purser"-a woman-not very friendly or helpful or available. Trip booked as a Bordeaux start and end, but the location of start and end of trip changed and we had to pay extra to get ourselves to Cadillac and back to Bordeaux from Libourne. The boat company should have provided that transfer free of charge. The 2 wine tasting charges should have been included in the trip charge. The boat charged 20 euros for a bottle of wine in the wine country of Bordeaux and we were not allowed to bring on any wine from the outside. You could buy a nice bottle of wine for less than $10.00 in town. Disappointed that we had twin beds-expected a double in the suite room.

I really enjoyed the off-road trails and quiet back roads near Aigues Mortes.

Barge, service, guide, food, comfort, weather and on and on...all great.

We really enjoyed the trip but the self-guided instructions could have been better. We relied on Google maps more than we should have had to; would have been quite lost without it.
We were a very small group and we all got along very well and became friends throughout the week.

Barge was great, crew was excellent, could use more air conditioning, bikes need new pedals with more grip, very slippery especially when wet, boat could review policy of not letting riders use their own pedals.

My companion and I broke from the main group and visited a small vineyard and were given a complete tour including a tasting by the owner

I would rather recommend a trip to Germany or the Netherlands, but that's just my preference. The staff on the Bourdeaux was very nice.

I would recommend the trip if the operator makes improvements to the selfguided route finding; the narrative, GPS, and detail maps were inconsistent with each other and recommended routes were sometimes difficult to find. We had large area maps that allowed us to navigate and a crew member who helped but especially during the first couple days it was a bit challenging. The route narrative should include more information on sites to visit or note along the way. The bikes were heavy in comparison to other trips we have booked.
I really enjoyed the scenery and sites; it is a lovely area to visit and bike, especially during late September. Grapes were cascading from the vines, just pre-harvest. The vineyards, wine tasting,chateaux, churches, fortresses, medieval towns, history and landscapes were wonderful along the routes. Experiencing the tidal surf (the mascaret) was also quite interesting.

Lovely being in the area at this time near harvest but the routes, route preparation in the evening and historical information that might enhance the experience were severely lacking. The GPS devices were difficult to work with and virtually no help was given as to how to correctly operate them.

It was a fun week celebrating my birthday in the heart of Bordeaux with ten friends!

It was fun. I would recommend more bike trails away from the highways. The drivers were very courteous but we did not like riding on the side of highways. It felt dangerous and there was smell of exhaust.
Also, the charge for wine was at least double of what it should have been.

This trip was truly amazing. We cycled through beautiful countryside and visited spectacular vineyards. The only comment we have is that we didn't like using tokens for our drinks on board the ship. Would rather use a credit card. Also would like to have a choice of meals ie fish, meat or veggie rather than only one choice. Food was great but choice is important.

It was lovely being in the area at this time near harvest but the routes, route preparation in the evening and historical information that might enhance the experience were severely lacking. The GPS devices were difficult to work with and virtually no help was given as to how to correctly operate them.

The staff on the boat were terrific, especially Sebastian. The breakfasts were the same every day which really got old quickly. Their new bikes had terrible shifters and were really heavy. The route descriptions led us to be lost on many days and we finally had to rely on Google maps.
The scenery was great and when we got on less well-traveled roads, the riding was great. Unfortunately we spent too much time (IMHO) on roads with a lot of traffic.

This trip was most enjoyable and the cities and scenery were gorgeous.

This was a very nice trip. Scenery, bike routes, side trips were all very good. We had a terrific guide who interacted well with the group. The barge was very nice and the owners/crew were exceptional. The dinners could not have been better - Els is an amazing cook.

The most memorable part of my trip was seeing the brilliant lights on the fabulous architecture of the historic buildings of Bordeaux. I was so impressed with these images against the skyline and the reflecting "mirror" pool in front of the buildings. We spent an evening walking along the boardwalk by the Garonne River and we could enjoy this breathtaking scenery.

The most memorable part of my trip was being asked to push the large domino to start the "domino effect" which was a practice run for the "FAB Festival in Bordeaux". One evening, we walked by the colourful "Water Mirror", which is a famous kind of fountain in Bordeaux, and we stopped to examine one of the large dominoes which was made out of a white limestone substance. One of the organizers of the "FAB Festival" invited me to start the dominoes. I was thrilled to have such an honour. Everyone cheered. I will never forget it!

This Bordeaux trip needs a lot of attention and improvement. It started out badly at the Bordeaux train station attempting to catch the bus to embark. It took us 2 hours to find the place to catch the bus. I understand that the station is being renovated but you know this, yet you post no signs, no information, have no greeters, nothing to help people find the bus. The maps were really bad - difficult to follow especially given lack of adequate road signage at each location. We spent more time lost and trying to find our way around that enjoying the scenery in many locations. We eventually just gave up on biking because we didn't want to get lost any more. I am not sure what the local statutes are but you could post little signs marking the way for bikers to follow. This would not be hard and would help your patrons to find their way. The food needs help. Why would you have the EXACT same breakfast items for 7 days in a row? I understand you have limited staff but it would not be difficult to vary it up every other day. There were a three dinners that I did not even eat because the food was bad. Granted there were a few meals that were good, I was overall disappointed with the meals. Some of the crew were fantastic, but I felt like communication was poor regarding when we would have to leave the port for "le mascaret" (tidal surge wave) - it seemed like they were always an hour behind when they said it would happen or there was a last minute rush to get people off the boat or get stuck on it for the day. The captain seemed impatient all the time with getting people off the boat. Many things could have been better communicated in the evening "tour talks." And the tour talks were really boring....they weren't especially helpful for biking on the next day. They would literally put us to sleep. Also, we spent 3 nights and two days in the village of Cadillac. While it was a very charming place that I enjoyed, 3 nights and 2 days in such a small place was too much. Why not spend 3 nights and 2 days in Bordeaux, where there is a lot to see and do? I am glad I went on this trip but I would not do this trip again, nor would I recommend it. I met people who have been on other Tripsite boat/bike tours who said this one was far inferior to others they have been on. I would like to call out specifically two staff members who were really great - Arnaud and Sebastian. They were always smiling and fun and really seemed to enjoy their jobs. They made the trip so much better.

The scenery in the Bordeaux region was lovely, as were the people we encountered along the way. Some of the staff were extremely helpful and added to our overall enjoyment of the trip.
We thoroughly enjoyed our days of cycling, despite the many problems my husband experienced with his bicycle (locked brakes, flat tires, a pump that didn't work, loose bearings in the pedals...)
More accurate written descriptions and an updated GPS would have helped with the navigation on the our self-guided routes.
Asking for a dinner without red meat resulted in being served an omelette on more than one occasion (not a great alternative).
Overall, a thoroughly enjoyable trip!