Italy Bike + Boat Tour Reviews — 121 to 150 of 389

Excellent trip, ver well organized. The hotels for the first three days were excellent, On the Ave Maria, the crew and the guides made the trip really, really enjoyable. The food was fantastic and the accommodation great. Would highly recommend to anyone.

This was our first barge and bike trip. It exceeded hopes and expectations in all ways, organization, daily planning, leadership and communication by Elena and Alex who left no detail unattended to. They were caring, very knowledgeable and outstanding leaders, showing compassion and support for a struggling participant, while ensuring those struggles did not impact anyone else. Alberto and Elisa provided delicious, very high quality meals changing daily to meet our local geography and always with joy and enthusiasm. Riccardo's knowledge of his boat as captain and ability to immediately attend to any issues was consistently impressive. This experience has made us return home with a strong desire to book our next bike and barge trip as soon as we can.

The food was outstanding. The cycling was very enjoyable.

There were many highlights.
Poppies growing in the fields, fantastic meals, especially the dinners, amongst them. Thanks to the crew for very efficient bike deployment in the mornings and end of day. Captain very skilled.
We are used to boating, so cabins quite good. However some type of screens on the portholes would make sleeping a bit more comfortable without as many mosquitoes and not having to use aircon so much - so a good investment to invent some screens.
On the biking side, keeping the group together was good, but having one day being more free to bike with map and explore on our own might be nice. However we understand the importance of not loosing anyone. Stops in shade would be better than in the sun.
Loved Georgio's sense of humour and depth of knowledge.
Overall a fantastic experience and first time at bike and barge!

Our favorite day was probably our stop in Bergantino - we knew the cheese tasting would be fabulous. The stop at the Museum of the Ride was unexpectedly terrific - a real highlight.

The crew on the boat was very accommodating; any issues with our cabins was readily addressed. The chef was excellent; one of the best we've experienced on the many bike tours we've been on. The menus included regional favorites and we all received a cookbook that included recipe favorites from several chefs.

So hard to pinpoint any one moment. The crew, guides, chiefs, captain and assistant were all so fantastic and knowledgeable.

The only thing I can suggest is heated drying racks in the bathrooms and drying facilities for shoes.

The crew on the boat was fantastic. Hugo the tour guide was very knowledgeable and quite fun. Giorgia was very patient and extremely helpful. They were all great. I loved the food too. Hugo really went out of his way to make sure that we saw things and had a very full experience

The food on board was amazing! I am a vegetarian the chef made sure my meals were amazing!

Despite rain every day
The guides and ship crew were upbeat and wonderful
Nothing dried on the boat so bring rain gear
I was lent waterproof pants and that was a blessing
Need waterproof, not water resistant!!!
Plenty of caffè stops and the guides were very knowledgeable

Our Bike and Barge trip from Venice to Mantova was outstanding. The most memorable and valuable asset of this adventure was our guide Hein. Brilliant mind. His knowledge of Italy’s history, local traditions and culture made his talks fascinating. With his ability to speak 7 languages, no one was left out. Best yet: his sense of humour. He kept us fully engaged and laughing all week long!
But I can’t leave it at that. The entire crew was such a good team and just as much fun. Most important: the food was over the top gourmet quality. Restaurants can’t compete!! Hats off to our chefs and the entire team!! Thank you for making this trip a once in a lifetime!!!❤️

The accommodations on board , the food, and the staff were excellent.

The dolomites were incredibly beautiful. The food aboard was the best we’ve had!

Scenery from Mantova to Venice was agricultural for the most part. A broad mix of surfaces to ride on and some detours on the self guided which could be confusing.

This is an unforgettable trip that everyone should take! The guides, chefs, crew and captain were all knowledgeable, kind and fabulous!

The crew, guides, and food were great - Thankyou for a wonderful time. The Ave Maria is a very well appointed barge. The trip exceeded expectations and we have taken several bike and boat tours with Tripsite.

The food, the guide and the route and biking were all great. Excellent value for a low budget trip.

Our crew and tour guides were fantastic. Not to mention the food onboard was outstanding.

This was a trip of a lifetime for me. Hein and Marjolein were wonderful trip leaders and so knowledgeable about the cities we visited. They made the trip a delight and handled any glitches that arose seamlessly. It helped that they had lived in the area for several years and were familiar with the customs and history of the Veneto.
The food provided by Alberto and Daniele was superb and plentiful, and reflected the cuisine of northern Italy. And Jano was amazing at piloting the Ave Maria through the canals and lagoon. Francesco did a great job anticipating and fulfilling our requests throughout the trip.
The Ave Maria was a perfect vessel for our weeklong tour of the Po River valley of northern Italy. The staterooms were very comfortable and had ample room for two people and their belongings. It was very interesting to hear about the transition of a derelict barge into the sleek Ave Maria that was our home for a week.
I would love to do another trip with this group to explore a new area of Europe in the future.

The trip was awesome. Everything was 1st rate. We loved all of our staff. Each person on the staff went the extra mile to make the tour very special!

This was our second bike and barge with tripsite. It exceded our expectations. The room had plenty of storage, the staff was outstanding and the meals were all excellent. Our tripsite vacation was perfect.

Ave Maria is a beautiful comfortable well equipped boat. The staff was courteous, helpful, pleasant and efficient. The food absolutely the best! plentiful and with great variety. Our tour host Hein and Mayleine were awesome. They were well informed about the historic and local areas that we traveled thru and were humorous, kind and considerable for all the guests needs and abilities.
The tour was a well planned route thru some lovely back roads and small towns and cities. The bicycles were very good and easy to ride. It is very difficult to choose just one memorable part of the trip it was well worth the time we waited to enjoy the Boat/Barge.

Seeing venice on a sunny day from the roof of an historic building.
Biking through the countryside and villages.
Excellent food.

Arriving into Venice on the Ave Maria. In beautiful Lido we turned in our bikes and by the way they were terrific bikes. I even named mine. I hated to to see "Lisa Marie" go into storage but what came next was even more spectacular. To arrive in magical Venice by boat on a glorious fall day with brilliant sun glistening off the buildings and the water was breath-taking. The fact that the crew had arranged pizza and cocktails only added to the experience. And then that sunset! What a day!

For me, the most memorable parts of the trip were the moments our trip guide, Hein, stopped, got us off our bikes and took time to do some interpretation of the landscape, or when he brought us to little known local places. One example was a local museum for traveling entertainers and amusements. In the states we would call this a circus museum. Hein described life for us in the walled and protected castles and the city-states of Italy before there was an Italy, and the power of the family heads in the se little kingdoms. He took us on a tour of one of those castles that is not generally open to the public. I also appreciated the 90-minute guided tours by Christina in Mantova and her counterpart in Venice. Passionate about the cities that they call home, they both really brought these special places to life for me.
Not to overlook the moderate exercise we got on bikes everyday, which was helpful because the delicious food our crew served was difficult to turn down. I would have preferred longer distances, but the biking was as advertised: easy.
A couple of tips: take precautions to protect yourself from Covid. If you choose a water taxi to get you around Venice, ask the boat driver when reserving your ride, and again before you board the boat, what the fare is; the cost tends to inflate when it comes time to pay the bill. And ask your tour guide to reserve tickets in advance to see the interior of San Marco Basilica and the Doge's Palace in Venice. I didn't do this and was unwilling to wait in a long line to get in, so I missed both. But we did see a number of other unbelievable churches from the Rennaissance era all week in Verona, Mantova and Venice.

The food by Sylvia and Irena was delicious and the daily movies by Hugo gave us a sweet memory .

Enjoying all the regions of Italy with the chefs coordinating the evening meals with regional specialities was a delight. Everything was so well executed....bikes..tours...meals....coffee stops...museum and cathedral visits...super fun.

This was an absolute memorable trip! Our guides Sylvia and Francisco did everything possible to make sure we enjoyed. The brought on tours, day an night. The food was great food. The cooks and engineers were great. The quality of the bikes were perfect. Having 31 guests was great because it is easy to get to know everyone. I would definitely recommend

It isn't possible to pick out a "most memorable part." We will treasure memories of it all: the delightful and accommodating crew on the Ave Maria, the extraordinary food (where did those two men train?), the city guides that lead us around Venice and Mantua, the beautiful countryside viewed from excellent bikes, our always upbeat bicycling guides, and the terrific company of fellow bikers. It was the perfect up close and personal way to experience this part of Italy.

Crew was amazing. Everyone helpful. 30 person biking too big. Suggest it be split into 2 15 person groups.

The boat crew, Andrea, Dani, Alberto, Francisco and the two Stefanias were such excellent hosts. They created a friendly community atmosphere that brought all of us strangers together. They worked hard to make sure we were well taken care of on board and on the bikes and taught us so much about the culture, the ecosystem of the Po Valley and history which made the trip an educational experience. The local and regional meals they serverd were culinary masterpieces as memorable as any artwork we saw. I highly recommend this trip to cyclists of all ages and abilities. I would like to do it all over again! Thanks for a fun and exciting trip.