Portugal Bike + Boat Tour Reviews — 1 to 30 of 31

 Country:  Portugal       Tour Type:  Bike + Boat Tours     

 

Lee M.
4 months ago

Verified Reviewer

  Alva Douro River E-Bike & Boat
Portugal

The bicycle rides through the beautiful Douro valley countryside were incredibly scenic and not to be missed.

William B.
4 months ago

Verified Reviewer

  Alva Douro River E-Bike & Boat
Portugal

The most memorable parts of our trip were riding down from high in the mountains through the vineyards to the Douro River each day. Nuno and Matias ,our tour guides, were outstanding hosts and companions for our entire experience.They worked very hard to make sure that everything ran smoothly in order for us to maximize the enjoyment of our bike rides. The views and scenery on each ride were simply breathtaking, as the routes had been very carefully planned to be not only safe ,but stunning for miles and miles at a time.

Greg C.
4 months ago

Verified Reviewer

  Alva Douro River E-Bike & Boat
Portugal

The wonderful Douro River views and vineyards as seen up close via bicycling.

Lynn H.
4 months ago

Verified Reviewer

  Alva Douro River E-Bike & Boat
Portugal

The ship Alva is incomparable to any other boat/ barge tour we've ever taken. It was of equal quality to a Viking Cruise regarding the rooms, food service, staffing
and overall quality. The boat was large enough (120 passenger) to provide nice features such as a small spa, exercise room, sauna, outside and inside sitting areas and pool. The majority of passengers were there to cruise, there were 11 bikers. We really enjoyed te size of our small cohesive bike group.

The biking tour guides were wonderful and so is Portugal. Porto is a great little city with a long history. Go to the WOW cultural district and check out a few of the contemporary museums there if you have time. We enjoyed the E-bikes; a must in this mountainous terrain. My only comment regarding the bike riding
itself is that most rides were too short (+/- 10 miles and 2- 3 hours) and many were mainly down hill. We had to revise the two longest rides due to weather, unfortunately. Not the tour Read More

Kathryn P.
5 months ago

Verified Reviewer

  Alva Douro River E-Bike & Boat
Portugal

This was an amazing boat bike tour. This was our 5th boat/bike trip with Tripsite. Our Guides Nuno and Fabian were great and took us to beautiful interesting rides along the Douro River. We were a group of 11 bikers. 8 were friends from Virginia and the three women who joined us were friends from Montana. We all had a great time together. This is the first time not everyone biked on our trip. This boat was much bigger than our other one. Their were 126 passengers.

Cheri C.
5 months ago

Verified Reviewer

  Alva Douro River E-Bike & Boat
Portugal

The routes were varied and extraordinary. Some villages, some countryside and some off road exploration of ancient trails. The guides; Horacio and Kevin knew their paths and made accommodations for various skill levels. The scenery was breathtaking.

alan o.
11 months ago

Verified Reviewer

  Alva Douro River E-Bike & Boat
Portugal

Nice group of people. I suggest tighter and better organized biking component.

Lynn K.
11 months ago

Verified Reviewer

  Alva Douro River E-Bike & Boat
Portugal

The most memorable part of the trip was the scenery of the terraced vineyards, and olive tree orchards against a clear blue sky. Mountain roads without cars winding through the landscape to the Douro River below.

Food on the Alva Rosa was excellent as was the service, the bar staff, cooks, and servers.

Tips: Use multi use water bottles as part of bike tour. Longer rides with a little more uphill as we had E bikes!

Kevin P.
11 months ago

Verified Reviewer

  Alva Douro River E-Bike & Boat
Portugal

Accommodations on the boat and the food were spectacular. The biking trips were very short and mostly downhill. The guides did not provide much history or background for the sites that we visited.

Katherine H.
11 months ago

Verified Reviewer

  Alva Douro River E-Bike & Boat
Portugal

The scenery both on the boat and during the biking were spectacular. The food was fantastic. The rooms were really comfortable. I really loved the trip.

For improvements, having the guides know where bathrooms are along the way would be nice. A lot of people had to find bushes along the way. On your France barge I took we stopped in towns to walk around and sometimes had a coffee and people used the restrooms. More information on the towns would be gppd. Also, we had a very sick guide and maybe she should have been traded out at some point and not been eating and hanging out with us. She's a lovely person but if I were that sick I would stay away from people as much as possible. We all came home very sick.

1 Reply

Joan-Carol B.
11 months ago

Verified Reviewer

  Alva Douro River E-Bike & Boat
Portugal

The biking was lovely, the service on the boat was excellent.

But, communications between the boat and the bike guides was terrible. There was a lot of second guessing and lost time.

For the biking, more cultural information would have been good. Stops for coffee in interesting places would also heighten the experience.

Linda W.
11 months ago

Verified Reviewer

  Alva Douro River E-Bike & Boat
Portugal

The boat and food were great. Beautiful area along the river. Nice wines. Wait staff were incredible

Kenneth B.
1 year ago

Verified Reviewer

  Alva Douro River E-Bike & Boat
Portugal

We receive several additional outings that we were not aware of that really added to the trip. Our tour guides, Tobias and Kevin were outstanding. We had just the right amount of biking, sightseeing, and relaxing, with good food and beverages.

Kelly L.
1 year ago

Verified Reviewer

  Alva Douro River E-Bike & Boat
Portugal

The bike rides were my favorite part as we saw all kinds of different terrain.
The guides as well made the trip spot on. Very pleasant and knowledgeable about the area. The boat was a beauty very luxurious!

Glen J.
1 year ago

Verified Reviewer

  Alva Douro River E-Bike & Boat
Portugal

The bike tour was everything that was promised in the description. Our guide, Sonia Teh was wonderful. She was knowledgeable about the area, pleasant and professional.

Michael T.
1 year ago

Verified Reviewer

  Alva Douro River E-Bike & Boat
Portugal

This was a river cruise with a biking contingent of 19 people out of 100 people. I would have enjoyed more biking. I especially enjoyed our picnic at Castello Rodrigo, the food and views were fantastic. Later that same day we stopped for a break in a small town where the local townspeople invited us to see their church. Truly magical!

Jodi A.
1 year ago

Verified Reviewer

  Alva Douro River E-Bike & Boat
Portugal

We didn't know a lot about the Douro Valley and were amazed at how beautiful it is!

Kurt S.
1 year ago

Verified Reviewer

  Alva Douro River E-Bike & Boat
Portugal

Beautiful country side.
Excellent guides Sonya and Fabian

Denise K.
1 year ago

Verified Reviewer

  Alva Douro River E-Bike & Boat
Portugal

The entire trip was amazing. The Allura ship was absolutely wonderful. Our bike tour guides, Fabian and Tobias, were the best.

sara r.
2 years ago

Verified Reviewer

  Alva Douro River E-Bike & Boat
Portugal

The biking group was wonderful. However there were not enough biking opportunities. I expect longer rides and rides into small towns to catch the culture. Wine tasting is not what I want?

Beth T.
2 years ago

Verified Reviewer

  Alva Douro River E-Bike & Boat
Portugal

I can't possibly name the most memorable part of the trip. It was all memorable! The boat was beautiful and quite comfortable. The staff was always so helpful, the food was exceptional, and of course, the location was stunning. As being part of the cycling group on board, the Terra Nova group was adept at executing and leading the group to beautiful and unique locations throughout the Duoro River Valley. I felt that the descriptions of each daily ride was spot on and lived up to what was written in the itinerary. The experiences off the boat was every bit as memorable as the experiences on the boat. The on board programs were great, as they provided the passengers a informative view of Portugal, from its history, culture, food, and national pride. Overall, the trip is one that I would highly recommend to anyone considering an immersive experience in Portugal, in this uniquely special manner.

Mark T.
2 years ago

Verified Reviewer

  Alva Douro River E-Bike & Boat
Portugal

Great food, wonderful attentive service, spectacular
beautiful scenery, relatively easy cycling, great trip for our entire family.

Mark T.
2 years ago

Verified Reviewer

  Alva Douro River E-Bike & Boat
Portugal

Great food, wonderful attentive service, spectacular
beautiful scenery, relatively easy cycling, great trip for our entire family.

Jacqueline C.
2 years ago

Verified Reviewer

  Alva Douro River E-Bike & Boat
Portugal

Really enjoyed our trip to the Douro Valley. The staff of the AROSA Alva was very attentive and friendly. Our bike guides Jens, Kevin and Johanna were fantastic! We had a mixed language group of 13 and the guides did such a fantastic job of interpreting and handling any scenario. The only complaint was that the actual biking was not as long as I thought it would be per day. Definitely recommend this trip!

Donna K.
2 years ago

Verified Reviewer

  Alva Douro River E-Bike & Boat
Portugal

The trip was amazing from start to finish. The Douro Valley is too beautiful for words. You just have to see it for yourself to believe it!

Suzanne F.
2 years ago

Verified Reviewer

  Alva Douro River E-Bike & Boat
Portugal

The most memorable both positive and negative :
Having a small biking group aboard the ship we were on- we got to get off and bike through the countryside and explore in a way a bus tour group (like the other people on the boat) we not able to . It was a beautiful experience and great guides .
The most memorable negative was the boat was German and all the people on the ship were German and myself and my friend were the only 2 American and english speaking people. I would have appreciated a heads up that this boat rarely has Americans travel on it as I may have selected a different option for my trip and we were both unable to socialize or understand much of what being said . Being that every one on this boat was in their late 60's and 70's it was an old and old world vibe and I can not say that we were meant to feel welcome by anyone other than our waiter and bartender!

1 Reply

LuAnn L.
2 years ago

Verified Reviewer

  Alva Douro River E-Bike & Boat
Portugal

Cycling alongside the Douro with views of vineyards, quaint villages, and castles. A picnic lunch prepared by our guide at a castle was the crowning jewel.

Larry Y.
2 years ago

Verified Reviewer

  Alva Douro River E-Bike & Boat
Portugal

The Douro River area is absolutely beautiful with a wide variety of agriculture, geography, cities and small villages to enjoy. Biking provides a great experience unlike what can be done on a bus tour. We were a group of twenty two, estimated ages 50 and up, all with reasonably similar skills and fitness levels. The cycling was well managed by a team from Germany (fluent in English) and the equipment was in excellent condition with a few minor issues promptly addressed. The daily tours started with transportation to a drop off point well above the river to begin cycling to the docking location of the Alva, a beautiful nearly new ship. Much of the cycling was therefore downhill and the occasional up hills were easily managed by most with power settings on the E-bikes. We'd consider most of the cycling as moderate and relatively safe on mostly country roads, although there are stretches of downhill with sharp curves, steep drop offs and city biking including cobble stone Read More

Peter A.
2 years ago

Verified Reviewer

  Alva Douro River E-Bike & Boat
Portugal

The entire Douro valley was spectacular with its terraced steep walls. Food was excellent and service was good. We loved the bike tour guides and the rides, especially the one that began in Almeida.

Peter A.
2 years ago

Verified Reviewer

  Alva Douro River E-Bike & Boat
Portugal

First the good review. The boat was excellent. Food and staff were very good. The Terra Nova biking company was terrific. The guides were knowledgeable and each day’s bike ride was really great. We would recommend this bike/boat to anyone.
However we were extremely disappointed in TripSite as a company!! We have now been on 4 TripSite Bike and Boat, but on this trip there were originally 9 who made reservations 4 couples and one single. We all submitted our reservation and our deposit and all received confirmation. Some time later (a couple months) the single member of our party received a notice that her reservation though confirmed was being cancelled even though she had been paid extra for a single room. She also was a two time previous TripSite customer. The remaining 4 couple fully intended to cancel as well but our friend begged us not to and said she would feel worse if we didn’t go so we continued and took the trip. TripSite that was the poorest business Read More

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