Germany Bike + Boat Tour Reviews — 91 to 120 of 1360

Budapest at night. Cycling the the Wachusett Valley and Vienna

The room on the boat was lovely and the food was very good. We did a guided tour and I felt our guide was inexperienced She did not have many safety measures that I have had on previous bike trips. i.e a sweep and ensuring everyone is ready to go before taking off. Also would have been better to be able to visit some cultural places like the Abbey, museums or churches. We were not given anytime on our rides to do this. The highlights was the wine region and wine tasting.

Our guide for biking was not very good. We have taken 3 other bike trips and the guide on them were far superior.

The trip was fantastic! From beautiful accommodations, to the fabulous staff on the barge and the outstanding tour guide! We couldn't have asked for a better trip! We will definitely be back. Thanks Tripsite!!!

This is the 3rd Bike and Barge Trip That my friend and I went on. The problem was that the trip is geared to German speaking people. English was given we felt as an after thought. We also took the guided bike trip which had it perks, but we had the worst guide. The guide was not concerned with our safety and we had to continually ask for English. We were not warned of obstacles or any other dangerous situations. After I spoke to her she was kept checking with me but bit the other 7 English speaking riders. Also the electric bikes were so big and heavy, I would have been better off with a non electric bike. The staff was excellent. The cruise director terrible. Not happy with this trip

The outstanding professionalism by the crew. That includes the restaurant personnel, the administrative staff, the domestic staff and of course the captain and fellow officers. However, there should be more time allotted for Vienna exploring.and some of the very historic and interesting smaller cities along with Danube.

Lots of comfortable cycling over easy terrain, even in extreme summer heat. The cities that are visited are unique and interesting with lots of things to see from cathedrals to the Gutenberg museum. Keep in mind that except for one evening, travelers are not on the boat when it is traveling along the Rhine. Instead, the boat goes from port to port while travelers cycle from port to port. Also keep in mind that this is not the most scenic portion of the Rhine except for the last day, where we cycled through vineyards on the slopes down to the Rhine. Otherwise, the terrain was mostly flat with dikes between the cycle path and the river making it hard to see the river. Once we got out of the heavily industrial cities, the ride was pleasant and flat through wooded areas, grassland, and farmland. Roughly one-quarter of the ride was along the Rhine, one-quarter through cities or industrial areas, and one-half through grassland/forest, and farmland. Food was outstanding; the rooms on the boat were clean and comfortable, but a little worn. Staff was outstanding -- very helpful and friendly. We would definitely do another bike/boat cruise on the Olympia.

The biking was the absolute best. It is a great way to see the countryside, the small villages and the cities. We had an excellent itinerary. The sites were beautiful, the tours interesting and the crew was great. We got a lot of exercise and didnt worry about overeating.

Meeting new friends

Tour Guide was not well trained and did not highlight the sights.

The crew were outstanding. They went above and beyond to ensure we had a fantastic trip. The route was gorgeous. Bikes and barge well equipped.

Cochem to Metz Tour
We are believers! Now we know why so many people love the boat and bike (bike and barge) thing. The boat was excellent, we loved the Princesse Royal. Even more so, we thoroughly enjoyed the personable service of the staff ~ boat crew and the bike guides. All of them "bent over backwards" to make our experience seamless and memorable. The food and drink was excellent and the overall organization of the trip was superb. We will definitely be doing more of these, with the same providers and "Princesse Royal" fleet.

Excellent trip with first class service and facilities
Easy pace for cycling and good quality bikes
Staff and customer experience was exceptional as was the food - A wow every day!

We love bike and barges! Unpack once, meals provided and spectacular scenery exploring new parts of the world on a bicycle. This was the largest boat we’ve been on with 150 bicyclists, but at no time did we feel that it was too many people. We met new friends and overall it was a great experience. Bicycling Austrian countryside and vineyards, Old world Bratislava and beautiful Budapest were highlights of the tour. And the strudel! The chefs on the boat made the effort to provide meals that were characteristic of the area. The Vivienne cruise Director, Leslie went above and beyond in his duties and was a delight! It was a wonderful bicycling vacation.

Just some feedback on the accuracy of the bar tab :

- we had to remind the team that we had upgraded one of our bikes to an e-bike for 3 days; they hadn't put it on the tab !

- subsequent to the trip we have realised that our 1x gluten-free supplement hadn't been included on the bar tab .

All this was (potentially) lost income , for the company &/or the crew .

The crew was great and the barge very clean and neat. Our chef was amazing and food delicious. He even made his own croissants! Our guides were terrific. One of our guides was the owner of the Iris.

Everything was good. The staff who kept our room did an excellent job. The food was great. Director gave good information. Desk staff were very helpful. Because all of this was good
I am certain that all the behind the scene staff were phenominal.

The trip was a great experience - the daily rides, boat, and the staff were outstanding. This itinerary was not our first choice, we really didn't know what to expect, and we were delighted with how it turned out. The boat was surprisingly nice, and it was a "step up" from the boat/bike trip we did two years ago.

The last day of biking was the most beautiful! I would recommend to bring along a mirror for your bike.

I ticked the bucket list of cycling in the rain - lol. The weather was less than ideal, so that was a bummer, but the biking lanes and scenery were fabulous, along with the quaint villages and squares. The food on board was absolutely amazing - kudos to Rutger. The crew Jolien and Daniel were awesome; our cabins and the ship were always pristine; they made excellent drinks and were so friendly and helpful. Our guides were superb - great at making sure every one was comfortable on their bikes and getting us where we had to be and they had so much knowledge of the history of every single place we visited and cycled by. Our captains Andres and Matthias did a great job sailing the Magnifique 1 with help from the sailor Jowel. What really struck me is that everyone worked as a team all pitching in to load bikes, set the tables, do the cleaning, cook the food, secure the barge . . . It made for a very welcoming, cozy atmosphere on board and by the end we were all sad to go home.

Overall great trip. Shout out to Cruise Director Leslie who was wonderful.
Recommendation:
1. Food: Fish entrees & apps weren't very good. Try better please & consider serving more chicken (breast) or turkey (white meat).
2. Coffee served w meals was not good. Thank God for the free coffee from coffee machine!!! Also PLEASE offer CREAM w coffee, not milk.
3. At the very end of the cruise when you introduce the members of the crew. Please tell us a little bit about each one… Where they're from how long they've been with the company, anything else personally interesting. It would be very interesting to us customers & it will really validate the crew. They did a wonderful job and deserve better recognition!
4. Out on the wheels fell off yesterday the very first day, please offer a short tutorial on how to use an E bike. Some of us were new to E bikes and it was hard to learn it when we were trying to jump on our bikes and keep up with everyone. It was a bit of a madhouse!
5. Really loved the daily briefings of the routes we would be taking the next day. Maybe provide a daily handout to summarize the talking points. Some of the routes were a bit confusing, and a handout would really REALLY help.
6. Would have really loved a little more time and some of the smaller (& bigger) towns such as Krems & Bratislava. And was not impressed with Vienna, it was big kind of dirty, a bit overwhelming. Would've liked to overnight in one of the other cities instead. I did speak to other passengers and three other women said they didn't think much of Vienna.

I THINK THOSE ARE THE BIGGIES FOR ME. I LOVED THE DAILY COFFEE HOUR WITH THE DELICIOUS CAKES. I LOVED THE COFFEE MACHINE IN THE COMMON ROOM! I LOVE THE PARTIES.
ALSO, AT FIRST I WAS A LITTLE PUT OFF BY ASSIGNED TABLES AND SEATS… BUT AFTER WHILE I GOT USED TO IT. IF OTHER PASSENGERS DID NOT LIKE THAT, I WOULD TAKE A LOOK AT IT AND SEE IF YOU CAN GET WORTHWHILE INPUT FROM PASSENGERS ON WAYS TO IMPROVE ON THAT.

THAT'S IT GUYS, GREAT JOB OVERALL! BRAVO TO THE CREW!
Elisa Morrell

Cycling through small villages was great as was the scenery along the Danube. The free walking tour through Bratislava was very informative. We really enjoyed our 2 day stay in Passau.

Cycling through the countryside, villages, and taking the bike ferries.

The tour was exceptional and gave us an opportunity to experience a taste of each country. We cycled through the countryside and stopped at all of the major points of interests in the cities. The guides shared both historical and current perspectives. Overall the trip was well organized and the food and service were amazing.

Absolutely loved this trip. Excellent crew, food, cabin quarters. Scenery was among the prettiest I’ve ever seen and optional excursions helped immerse me into new cultures. Thank you!!

The scenery along the Danube was gorgeous, as well as all of the cities and towns.

The trip was exactly as promised and more. The chosen bike routes were very scenic, appropriate distances and gave us a great flavour of Austria, Slovakia and Hungary. The bikes were good quality and in excellent shape - top marks. The food was outstanding! Lots of food choices, special menus to highlight local foods and top quality ingredients. The Primadonna is a gorgeous boat, and our room was just as lovely as the advertising showed. One special highlight was using the boat to do a night tour of Budapest - the most beautiful city I have ever seen.

Most people on the trip were German, with a mixture of Dutch, French. There were only a few Americans and Canadians. The boat staff were mostly Serbian. That meant that there were inevitable language issues. For example, we paid 100 Euros to do a night bus tour of Vienna in English. But some German, Duthc and French travellers ended up on the bus too, so our tour guide ended up having to repeat all tour instructions in 4 languages, which was frustrating and inefficient. In the same vein, every evening we had briefings on the following days cycling trip. Our Serbian hotel manager did his best, but the information was often confusing, and the maps provided by Danau Tours were pretty average. This led to a number of wrong turns and navigation mix ups over the week.

In North America, we are used to having water provided free of charge when dining. So it felt cheap that we were asked to pay 7 Euros for a bottle of water at meals. Considering the cost of the trip, that didn't sit right. To be fair, we traveled around Europe after the trip, and we never encountered free water in restaurants, so it appears that is a European norm.

Lastly, although it is called a 4-country tour, you only cycle in 3 countries: Austria, Slovakia and Hungary. The only time you set foot in Germany is in Passau at the start and end of the week. So if you want to tour Germany, plan in time before or after the trip.

Budapest was the best city we visited during this tour. The room and food were great. The staff on the boat were very helpful and nice. The only thing I would recommend would be better bike route maps. The ones they give during the nightly presentation are not very accurate or detailed.

We had such a great time on our trip & thank Leslie for his leadership & organization to make it fantastic! We had a junior suite as we booked early & it was perfect! The food was very good, the ship very clean and all the staff were friendly & helpful.

The only 2 suggestions would be:
1 - the bike app needs to be upgraded or tweeked as people were having trouble downloading & our phones were dying to quick using the app. Also, everyone should get one for free.

2- please put water bottle holders on the bikes! I drink a lot of water & find it hard to put in blue holder & the water kept leaking (on my phone!)
Also, a nice touch would be souvenir water bottles from the boat owners :)

All in all, a super trip! Thank you

The biking! Be prepared for a quick visit to Budapest and Vienna. More time is needed at these stunning world class cities!

Replace tour director “Leslie” he talked to everyone as if they’re children