4 Star Danube Bike Path - Vienna to Budapest Tour Reviews — 1 to 15 of 15

Biking along the Danube bend. Beautiful shaded path, interesting scenery. Catching last minute standing tickets to the Staatsopera in Vienna was amazing! Coming into Bratislava while a Trans-Danube Swim was occurring was a unique experience. Great meal at a hotel recommended restaurant (etterum) in Mosonmagyaróvár. The bikes were adequate for our 200 mile journey. I only wish I had a water bottle holder on mine.

The trip was fantastic and well worth doing - highly recommend. The cycle route was wonderful and the hotels were all great.
The paper maps, app and instructions for getting between towns were excellent and very detailed (with one exception, see below), but the instructions for navigating from the end of each day's route to your hotel for the night were not clear or sufficient, and on occasion, missing entirely. This unfortunately meant that after 2-3 hours of relaxed, lovely cycling through fields, castles, ruins etc, each day ended with 40 stressful minutes trying to find the hotel.
The first day's route gave an alternative option for anyone staying in Petronell-Carnuntum, rather than cycling all the way to Bad Deutch-Altenburg on the north side of the river and then 30min back to Carnuntum, an option was given of taking the ferry across the river at Orth an der Donau and then "following the cycle path to Carnuntum" - this advice was not sufficient, as there was no signposted cycle path on the south side of the river. I ended up catching a train to Carnuntum rather than cycle on a busy main road.
I was also given an incorrect time and date for the briefing session, and had to find my way to a different hotel in Vienna in order to attend a briefing session (it turned out all briefing sessions over a 2 day period had been wrongly communicated to all travellers, and the poor driver was having a very hard time of it).
Lastly, the tickets for the train and boat that I was issued were for incorrect dates, but I'm pleased to say that the company sorted this out very quickly and sent replacement tickets for the correct dates on to one of the hotels along my route, which was good service.
I liked the fact that both a map app and paper maps with detailed written instructions were provided, as the app drained my phone battery very quickly so it was good to have the paper maps and directions as well.
I would still recommend this trip very highly, but I hope that better directions to the hotels (and the alternative route on day 1) can be provided to future travellers.

The itenarary was very good. Unfortunately the heavy rains did some of the distances a bit difficult.
I must however point out that the bikes where not up to standard. On arrival several bikes where actually broken. If it had not been for our excellent Guide Victor, it may have been a disaster.

The maps were more helpful than the written directions. All hotels were excellent, rooms, service and food. The bikes were quite heavy for the distances involved. The women did not like the seats, rubbed their lady parts the wrong way. Questions were answered quickly through What’s App. Inform riders than many restaurants in Europe are closed on Sundays. Have a map that shows where the hotel(s) are located. Considering the Danube flooding conditions, the staff responded quickly, but it would have been nice to be better informed each morning about changing conditions.

We were looking forward to enjoying this well-planned out trip, mostly on well-maintained cycle paths, but the weather had different ideas! All started out great in Vienna on a warm and sunny day. Our hotel in Vienna was pleasant and the trip guide / Austrian partner, was very helpful and patient with the many travelers needing his guidance. But then Storm Boris hit with torrential rains and strong winds! We struggled through mostly wet and rainy days. However, we got great support in changing out our bikes, due to mechanical and ergonomic issues when we arrived in Bratislava. There certainly were some very enjoyable moments, especially the hotels and food (we chose the half board option) but we cut our riding short on the fifth day to avoid additional days of rain and cooler temperatures. The local partner helped us with securing a hotel in Budapest a day early and with a train ticket from Komarom to Budapest. We know that our trip would have been totally amazing had the weather cooperated! There was no way to predict the unexpected 10-year deluge in Central and Eastern Europe.

Vienna, Budapest and gyor. There wasn’t much to see along the ride.

The biking was perfect - equipment worked well and was as promised

For the most part, the trail was paved and easy to ride. It was a great trail to do. The Iron curtain monument on the way to Bratislava by Devin Castle was moving and should not be missed. Take some time to visit Budapest at the end if you have never been there, it is a beautiful city.
There was one glitch: one of our hotels from the final list that we had gotten from Tripsite changed shortly before we left. The representative never mentioned this when he gave us our package the night before we started. On the fifth cyclin day, we were supposed to stay in Esztergom but had to stay in Visegrad that night which meant we had to take two trains that day. The tickets for the first train were in our package, but not for the second train. We had to called about this. The tickets were supposed to be with our luggage one day and they weren’t which meant another call. The tickets did come the day before. Suggestion-when you get your package carefully look at the list of hotels and compare it to the list you had received. It would have been better and we wouldn’t have had to waste time calling when we wanted to sightsee.

Biking through the countryside of Austria, Slovakia, and Hungary offers an experience you can get no other way. Our group experienced an "insider's view" of these countries, towns and cities you can't get by car. If you want an immersive experience that leaves you fulfilled at the end of the day, biking is the way to go.

The trip organisation was excellent. The hotels were comfortable and interestingly varied; everything from a pleasant boutique hotel in the centre of an Old Town to a rural hotel with tables and umbrellas on a riverbank in an idyllic setting.
Some of the towns/cities were buzzy and some very sleepy. Additional time - perhaps an additional day - in Vienna and Bratislava would be great, providing rest days and opportunities to explore - and perhaps avoiding some of the quieter destinations.
The cycle trails were, by and large, excellent; some long drags with somewhat uninteresting scenery, but balanced by superb tracks in beautiful countryside.
The bikes were sturdy but heavy and very solid, and this marred the cycling experience somewhat, the most disappointing part of the trip.
Overall definitely four stars.

The trip was great but we were disappointed our room configuration requests were not included in our hotel bookings. When we followed up after the first night the Tripsite employee suggested we follow this up. We didn't think this was very good customer service.

The lodging and breakfasts were terrific, especially in Vienna, Bratislava, Gyor and Budapest. The bikes were very good; in excellent condition with good features. We have biked all over Europe along the main rivers, including the Danube. We expected to ride along the Danube more on this trip, but realize that Eurovelo does not have bike paths close to the river, for most of the trip from Vienna to Budapest. We did the Athletic tour which was good for us, but we did have challenging weather (rain, wind, cool temperatures) on one day.

Great trip. I was hurt on the first day and had to ride to my destinations with my luggage in the van. The van drivers were kind and helpful. I appreciate Tripsite making this possible for me.

One suggestion: travelers are required to pay the city tax when they check out. If would be good if this were included in the cost of the trip.

Each city or town visited was a treasure. Lot's to explore. The hotels were good, many in excellent locations. Breakfast was large. The bike riding was pleasant.

I loved the convenience of all the planning and coordinating by Tripsite which allowed my party to really enjoy the biking, hotels and experience of the trip. I was pleasantly surprised with the quality and care of the bikes which could make or break of this trip. Working with Tripsite was easy and pleasant.