Bolzano-Mantova-Venice Tour Reviews — 31 to 52 of 52

We started out in Bolzano, going from Hotel to hotel the first three nights, and then on the barge for seven more. The scenery of the hotel to hotel was spectacular! The Ave Maria was a fantastic boat, the crew was great and very accommodating. The only negative is- I wish we could have spent more time in each town we went past. But with only ten days, squeezing anything else like more time is impossible.

We loved the beautiful, amazing mountain scenery (with very few hills) of the first three days. The written instructions, though, are of a badness difficult to describe. We rated the tour 4/5, and the lost star were because of the extremely poor instructions. If we hadn't had maps and stickers on sign posts, we wouldn't have been able to make it through. The frustration really distracted from the overall enjoyment of the trip - an English speaker with an accurate odometer really needs to rewrite the directions. For example, they talked about "crossing a railway" (or maybe a "railway bridge"), so we spent about 20 minutes trying to find a way to cross the railway - but really it meant to pass underneath an elevated railway crossing. Also, the symbol used to indicate a warning (I think of a turn easy to miss) is a hand pointing to the right. One not unnaturally assumes that this means a right turn. It does not.

Otherwise the barge, scenery, activities, food, and guides are all exactly what we hoped for and have experienced on earlier trips. No problems with luggage transfers, and the hotels for the first part of the trip were all great.

Most Memorable Part? The poppy fields along the bike ride was especially beautiful. Instructions need some updating.

Superb scenery, boat, bikes and guides. Delightful in every way.

Enjoy, enjoy, enjoy! Piano player and entertainer was a highlight.....food was fabulous.

Most Memorable Parts: the swimming off the boat, out in the ocean after a hot bike ride, were amazing.
The historical information from our tour guides was outstanding.
The food was DELICIOUS.
Sunsets out on the water were glorious

Every aspect of the trip made for a memorable experience. Having done both the hotel to hotel and the guided section gave us a truly great opportunity to see a part of Italy that is so varied in both history, culture, food and landscape.

Outstanding guide, great staff on boat, wonderful food. The beautiful scenery from Bolzano to Mantova was probably the most memorable. Really happy we took the additional 3 days before boarding the barge.

The scenery on the self guided from Bolzano to Mantua.
The expert guide (Hein ), the food and the staff on the boat.
They all went out of their way to make it a very pleasant experience.
We could not have asked for a better crew.

The guide, Hein, was very knowledgeable, entertaining and helpful. A real asset to the trip.
Food on the Ava Maria was the best! Loved the three days from Bolzano through the mountains.

We did the 3-day self-guided tour from Bolzano to Lake Garda to Mantua first and that was a great adventure for us. The food and people we met on the boat was also a wonderful experience.

This Bike and Barge tour was amazing, best holiday ever!

Route guides(arrows)could in some areas(particularly in the Bolzano to barge section when riders on their own) be more clearly marked and better positioned.
Steph,our guide,and the boat crew combined to make this a special experience.

We did the Bolzano to Mantova bicycle trip, what an awesome experience. We loved every moment of it. Thank you for the wonderful trip, the hotels were excellent, the road maps we could not have done without. The signs from Pescheria to Mantova were not as good as the beginning - less to follow but on the whole I trip that we can recommend. The Ava Maria - 5 star, with a crew led by captain Connie and tour guide Helmut, not to mention the excellent food. Well organised and worth every penny

Just completed this trip - we'll summarize by just saying "OUTSTANDING"! Enrico (our guide) couldn't have been better - surely gave us more info (and time!) than we expected. The boat's crew was outstanding too - food couldn't have been better! And we loved the cycling...even with (in spite of?) two days of rain. Our tandem bike was (surprisingly, for a rental tandem) easy to ride and control, even through some of the tight turns in the towns on the tour. Hard to find/fit tandems that are enjoyable to ride for both cyclists - Girolibero did their homework! We're already planning another tour for next year, and what a feast to choose from!

J & B Wilson, 10/23/2013

Great Trip! Directions were clear & detailed for the self-guided portion. Maps could have been better by showing North orientation.

Guide on boat was fantastic! very knowledgeable and eager to please. Took us many places and gave us background info on things. Volunteered to take us on a tour of Venice and showed us how to use the water-bus system to get around on our own. Nicest boat and best guide I have had after many bike & barge trips.

We had great weather which helped make the trip so enjoyable. Heins, our guide, was fantastic.

This was a well planned and orchestrated trip. The self guided part was easy to navigate and beautiful, lodging was great.

The bike and Barge part was excellent. The guide, Hugo, was top notch along with a very great crew. The trip included so much, history, culture and fun. The barge was cozy, rooms good size and the food, excellent and nice variety. This was the best of 7 bike tours we have done.

Myself and 4 of my friends just completed the Balzano - Venice Bike Tour. This was our 7th cycle tour with Trip-Site and as with the previous 6 trips we were not disappointed. The cycling out of Balzano was probably the most beautiful of any cycling we have done. Coming down a mountain road to a spot overlooking Lake Garda was a spectacular site we will never forget.

The Ava Maria has been beautifully re-furbished. The staterooms are roomy with plenty of storage. The dining room comfortabley seated our 28 fellow cyclists. The food was great and the wine reasonably priced. Our guides Flavio and Martina did a wonderful job and went out of their to be accomodating to our requests. The trail markers and directions from Balzano to Mantova could have been better. But, we were never actually lost, just misplaced from time to time. A great time was had by all.