Vivienne boat/barge tour reviews — 61 to 90 of 106

The beauty of the cycling route and the relaxed yet active daily schedule

The best part of the trip was the cycle portion through Austria’s Wachau Valley winery district. Truly picturesque!
Advice: Bring a Tupperware type container to pack your lunch. The boat provides a small sandwich and fruit but if you prefer to eat something else or just more than the sandwich, you need to have a container for it. We started packing the hard boiled eggs, and fruit in our bike bags but a container would have made it much easier. There are not very many opportunities to eat lunch at a restaurant while you are cycling, but plenty of gorgeous places to have a picnic. A travel picnic set with a cutting board, an a knife and fork would come in very handy.
We signed up for all the bus/walking tours to give our saddles a break. They were all great but the bus tour in Budapest we could have passed on because the boat docks right in the center of all the tourist spots so it was just as easy to navigate touring there on your own. Friends we met on the boat did the bike tour there and said it was great but I couldn’t face getting on the bike again that day:). Vienna is harder to get around so unless you feel pretty adventurous, I recommend the tour. We also did the trip to the concert and it was gorgeous- well worth it!
The e-bikes were awesome, and very comfortable. We bought gel seat covers and brought them with us which I think helped a lot. Unless you are a seasoned cyclist, it’s a lot of time on the bike and the tush gets tired.
Overall an amazing trip, the staff was fun and helpful. Our tour director was a substitute for the regular person and he was good but cranky. The regular tour director had awesome reviews so I think we just happened to get an off week!
I highly recommend this tour and now am ready to do another bike and boat in a different location!

Leslie, the cruise director made this trip the best one I’ve ever experienced!!!!

The most memorable part of our trip was the ability of the cruise director and crew to adapt to the high waters of the Danube. It was a wonderful trip; the bike rides we did were all enjoyable, even when many of them were ended by flooded back paths or required unexpected detours. The food was great!

Cycling through the Wachau area was incredible! The quaint villages were beautiful. The Danube was unfortunately in flood so we missed out on parts, but the staff did what they could to allow us to cycle and see various sites.

The entire crew was exceptional! The only complaint, and it’s a big one, was lack of communication from headquarters when unexpected flooding altered the itinerary. The boat was not able to land where planned and there should have been an email sent out to inform us that they were working on it and to stand by for more information when they knew more. We had friends on the previous cruise and they knew Saturday morning that they were not going to land in Passau. No messages were sent from headquarters to inform us that things were in flux and we had passengers on our cruise that went to an empty dock in Passau and this could have been easily avoided had headquarters been set up for group emails.

The director and crew were very friendly and helpful. We enjoyed the ride through the scenic landscape and quaint towns. The tours were very good too!

The Vivienne and its crew were all exceptional! I would not change anything. Our guide, Leslie went above and beyond.

This is the perfect way to see the Danube for anybody who enjoys easy cycling with beautiful scenery. The MS Vivienne is a great boat, very recently refurbished with small but comfortable cabins, extremely friendly staff, and very good food. Everything was very well organized and the tour director provided plenty (sometimes too much) information regarding the next day’s ride or city visit. Take advantage of tours offered in Bratislava, Vienna and Budapest as the time in each (especially Vienna) is brief. The biking is mostly on paved trails with just a few places where we had to ride with traffic. We booked e-bikes, but could have easily done this with regular bikes. Our cruise was about half German speakers and half English speakers (with largest group being from US, followed by Canada, Australia, NZ, the Netherlands and the UK). The staff on board all speak English and the tour director is fluent in both German and English, so language is not an issue.

If using the GUIBO app for route navigation, be sure to have an extra battery pack. The app uses up your phone battery.

If this review can be applied to the GUIBO app then, I'd give it (GUIBO) a poor rating. It sucks the phone battery. It does NOT guide you to (or back to) the route. It randomly talks to you (sometimes it tells you to turn, sometimes not). Fortunately, the routes are very simple, but it could certainly be improved. Providing a gpx file for my own device would be great. Even using google to navigate might be better.

The route was a great mix of countryside, nature and village. The cruise director, Leslie, provided invaluable information for route and highlights.

I love that it was an active holiday where you are biking throughout the countries. There was a good mix of seeing the countryside and having a day in cities like Budapest and Vienna.

I don’t have one thing that stands out above the rest. Everything from beginning to end was marvellous . As our tour was 130 ish people it was hard to meet people as we were a group of 6. Just a thought to move dinner seating around a bit?? Not everyone may like this though.

Our second bike/ barge trip booked through tripsite did not disappoint! The ship was perfect, clean and clearly updated.The crew was hospitable and helpful.Our language ( english) was not a barrier on the trip, everyone was very accommodating! The food was excellent and choices were good.Leslie the tour director was superb.

The bike route was well mapped and we downloaded the app which worked well.Sites were amazing, weather which you can’t control good most days.Loved the small ferry rides, Austrian hills, the well appointed stops along the route.E bikes were a good choice for us and easy to manage

Perfect! Don’t hesitate to book this trip!

Every day held something new along our way. Landscapes changed, cities and towns were vastly different, crops varied, castles and palaces were different. Enjoy it all.

At the time we were on the trip the boat assigned a dining table and you had to sit with the same people every meal every day. We were a single couple and were put at a table with one other couple who were thankfully a lovely couple. It would have been nice however to be able to sit with others at least for breakfast and lunch.

We had a wonderful adventure on this trip and got to see some stunning cities along the way. Cycling was wonderful the bikes and e-bikes were in excellent condition. The boat was beautiful and staff were attentive and courteous. Briefings were informative and routes easy to follow on self guided tours. Would and have recommended to friends.

What a wonderful trip! This was our 4th bike and boat trip and our favourite. The accommodations on the boat are excellent and the cycling route was great. The stop in Budapest was a highlight for me for sure!

Fabulous bike trip! Everyday we received a very thorough briefing including a map for our daily ride. Leslie took great care of us along with the rest of the crew! Bring a Tupperware dish to make a salad in for the lunch that you can make to take on your ride. The lunch bag will come with the bike.

Sitting on the Deck eating dinner in Budapest and watching the city lights. Bratislava was also excellent. We did not have enough time in Vienna though.

The best parts were the scenic rides on the first and last day. The ride through wine country was particularly beautiful . I also loved the day in Budapest.
People definitely need to train for the biking part. Although not difficult , time on the seat is important. I would highly recommend bringing a gel seat cover.

The scenery through which we biked. The landscape was ever-changing. It was flat which made for easy biking.
The route was beautifully labelled, which removed all stress of getting lost. It was also away from busy car routes.

10/5 stars! The wonderful crew members , the rides, the quality of the rooms were outstanding!
I have already shared this trip with new and old connections. Thank you so very much!
We made so many wonderful new friends that we will connect with again!

The stars at night from the boat sun deck were spectacular. The bike path along the river had beautiful views and occasionally wonder into small towns. Docked in Budapest across from Parliament which was a special sight at night. Reccommend bike tours of Vienna and Budapest and also eat at lovely restaurants

The whole trip was fantastic despite two rainy, cold bike days which we survived wearing ponchos and smiles. The boat was extremely comfortable and well-appointed. We had the cabin with proper twin beds and big sliding door windows - very nice.

The e-bikes were excellent and although not super high-powered they were perfect for the terrain we were riding. They were very comfortable to ride. Any issue with the bikes was quickly dealt with.

Meals were superb, 5-star dining every day with a good choice. The cruise director was terrific, highly organized, and very helpful and his briefings were detailed and accurate. On 2 of the days, he rode with the 133 bikers because of high river levels to make sure we were all safe.

All city visits had options of bike tour, bus tour or do your own thing. Again the information about the cities at the briefings was detailed. The cruise director really knew the area.

The service on board was, at all times excellent and friendly - waiters, room staff, bar staff, front desk staff - everyone. Rooms were serviced daily including evening 'turn-down' with chocolates!

Bar and tour prices were very reasonable. The whole trip was excellent value for money.

I highly recommend this adventure.

Aside from the beauty, we sell along bike rides, I was totally impressed with how organized the stuff was on the boat. This was his regards to the trip trip information, and the bike set up. The food was phenomenal, the cabin was excellent, and the staff went above and beyond providing outstanding service. The atmosphere was very friendly and jovial. I honestly do not have any tips for others. Already a few of my friends are going to book this trip in the spring and summer next year based on my recommendations.

Great boat, great crew. Great route. Only suggestion would be to mix dinner partners each nigh vs. sitting with the same people each meal. That way you would get to know more people.

Loved the scenic ride on day 1, 3 and 4
Day 2 was a good ride but not much to see much other than the farms….it was also a very hot day and no reprieve from the sun
The crew was amazing, the food delicious and plentiful, the activities on board enjoyable. Leslie is very knowledgeable and hardworking, he plans a very smooth trip! All the details of the trip are well organized
We really enjoyed our week on the Vivienne

Well organized, accommodations, food and crew were all wonderful.

Every single part of it was wonderful! Very comfortable accommodations and great nights of sleep! Absolutely delightful bike rides! Great support for bike rides with maps, GPS download, salad and sandwich bar so we could make our own picnic lunches, delicious breakfast and dinners loved getting to see parts of four different countries And really enjoyed the tour options we were given in the different cities. I Cannot recommend it highly enough!

The bike tour in Vienna was very good. Management did a poor job in communication. We were told conflicting information. We were surprised that the boat did not meet us in Passau and had to take an hour long buss ride. Food was from the region and Germans Austria are not as good as the Italian' s and French. Liver is not popular with us. We are spoiled with the other culture food.