5 Star Europe Tour Reviews — 3091 to 3120 of 4487

Most memorable part? Going off the route to explore little towns

The two-week trip on the Zwaantje from Paris to Bruges was awesome! The crew of the ship and the tour guide were exceptional. The food, prepared by Frank, was consistently top-notch and interestingly varied day-to-day. Our guide, Geert, provided us with an excellent selection of sites, of which he had encyclopedic knowledge. The captain, Martijn, was also very engaging with the guests. Daily rides were easy to occasionally moderate, providing us with a satisfying riding experience. Almost all of the riding was in open country or small, rural towns, which we loved. However, riding in and out of the larger towns, while of necessity, did present some typical urban challenges to the bicyclists. Overall this trip is highly recommended. Pierre and Laurie

The Bruges to Amsterdam BOAT-BIKE tour created memories that will last a lifetime! We really enjoyed the people we met. The staff was very welcoming and accommodating. The guests were interesting and fun to get to know - we hope to keep in touch with several of the couples that we met. The cycling was at a good pace and the frequent breaks for coffee and regional treats added to the experience. We toured through a nice mix of historical sites and local neighborhoods. After cycling, arriving back at the boat to have a glass of wine while dinner was prepared was the ultimate in being pampered. We will definitely book another tour through Tripsite.

We were at hotel Les Magnolias. We had a fabulous holiday, some of our prettiest riding quiet roads and well planned days. Staff were wonderful and always available. Thank you for one of our best holidays

"Taking a vacation aboard the new Magnifique III is a ""must do"" for cyclists in Europe. We received a warm welcome as soon as we arrived and we were invited to a walking tour of Brussels by our guide on the first day. When we returned to the ship for dinner, we were introduced to an amazing team of individuals who went out of their way to ensure our vacation experience was outstanding. The chef announced the menu enthusiastically each evening which we followed with applause as our palates drooled in anticipation. We were never disappointed as the dinners were fantastic. We even had a barbecue on the deck, one evening, with a tasty selection of chicken, sausage, steak, or shrimp available to us.
The competent tour guides led us through the sights of Belgium each day and gave us a host of valuable information. We all appreciated the option to join a slower group or a faster group of cyclists each day. The cycling was well paced with appropriate breaks for beverages, if desired. We liked the format of parking our bicycles in each city and the guide would take us a walking tour pointing out the recommended sights for us to go back and visit at our leisure in the same afternoon. The medieval cities that were spread throughout Belgium awed us and we were fortunate to have ideal weather to spend all day outdoors.
When we returned to the Magnifique III, there was always a delightful treat awaiting such as an assortment of delicious cheese or decadent squares or baked treats served with ice cold flavoured waters to quench our thirst.
Our friends couldn't wait to enjoy the outdoor hot tub on the upper deck after a day of cycling and they found it so relaxing. We enjoyed our comfortable cabin to re-group and get ready for dinner and the social evening ahead.
After dinner, one evening, our guides took us to tour an art gallery in a local town. On another evening, we enjoyed a ""trolley tour"" of Antwerp after dinner.
Thomas, our guide, also hosted a ""beer tasting"" one evening on board and he dressed in costume which engaged us in the event. One of our cyclists downloaded some chanting music to complete the picture and it was an entertaining evening.
On day 6, we had a choice to remain on the boat until 11 a.m. while we enjoyed cruising along the canal from Ghent towards Bruges. It was a wonderful experience to be outdoors on deck enjoying the peace of the countryside as we sailed along. This was followed by scenic cycling beside the same canal.
in the early evening, our guide, Thomas, led us on an informative walking tour of Bruges. This was followed by an opportunity to eat at local restaurant which we enjoyed.
At dinner and at breakfast, we sat at tables of ten in the sunny dining room which gave us many opportunities to meet and get acquainted with the other guests from other countries and provinces making the whole tour so worthwhile. The staff were very friendly and extremely helpful.
On our final evening, the dining room was divided into two tables of twenty. One of the guests suggested each cyclist make a statement about what he/she had enjoyed most about the tour. Each person made a brief sincere presentation or a jovial comment and it was so entertaining. The meal was superb! After dinner, we all chatted for a while and the evening concluded with a spontaneous dance. It was a memorable night! Our whole tour was one I'll never forget and I will continue to recommend to everyone."Tourist tip: There is a nice grocery store in the downstairs of building not far from the Cathedral where you can buy necessities including chocolate bars.  SHOW MORE 

Great experience overall, will do another trip soon!

I broke my wrist while half way through the trip. Everyone was very kind and supported me to make sure I was included in most activities.

Our group of eight greatly enjoyed our experience at Les Magnolias and especially appreciated the personalized hospitality of Claudia, supported by her always-courteous and attentive staff. We really give highest marks to the quality of the food, cleanliness of the rooms and facilities, selection of bikes and, of course, the amazing scenery and sites of interest. Thank you so much for a great week!! We will be back some day!

Bourg / Blaye was a wonderful ride with minimal traffic and enough gradient to make it interesting. The fortified town at Blaye was an interesting diversion from vineyards. In all a well organized tour with excellent staff. The bikes were a little heavy but that gave me an excuse for an extra creme brûlée!

Bike riding in Europe has been on my 'Bucket List' for many years and experiencing the Bike and Barge Tour on the Magnifique from Amsterdam to Bruges was perfect. The itinerary was varied and picturesque; things you never see when you go on typical tours of European countries. The bikes were comfortable and the rides offered the right amount of challenge for my first experience riding in Europe. The Barge was like a 5 star accommodation in your cabins and the common areas were perfect for relaxing and mingling with fellow travelers. The crew and guides Fred and Corrie were friendly, sincerely interested in you as a person, knowledgeable and very hard working. The food was delicious. I still marvel at how the chef prepared such high class meals in a small space and it was served to 30 passengers hot so we could all eat at the same time. I would recommend a Bike and Barge tour to anyone who wants to see Europe in a personal way. If I was to give a tip to people looking to ride a bike in Europe it would be not to be apprehensive about whether you can manage the rides as they are paced with the right amount of breaks. Practice riding at home so you are comfortable on a bike and ride safely. I am already looking to book another tour through Tripsite on a Bike and Barge. Thanks for a spectacular time.

We just returned from a wonderful tour on the Quo Vadis from Cologne to Bamberg. The Quo Vadis is a beautiful little ship and the Captain Rendert Jan and his wife Ina are fabulous hosts. Our chef Franco provided amazing meals every day and our biking guide Peter led us through the lovely countryside with humour and care. This is our fourth barge and bike and we are already looking forward to our next one, hopefully on Quo Vadis.

Number of people was just right. Excellent choice for routes each day and enjoyed the end of day walks into the beautiful cities.

This was a great trip. The bike trail, signage and printed guide was very good on the section from Passau to Vienna. If we were lost it was due to our own failure to read carefully. The section from Vienna to Budapest was not as clear. There was more road riding, confusing or absent signage, and detours due to construction projects. There were also several stretches where the ‘path’ was gravel/sand or old Roman road. We do not regret doing both legs, but learned that most people do only the first segment and we can understand why they make this choice. Luggage transfer was seamless and all of our hotels provided secure, inside bike parking. We also had great weather, which made the ride much easier.

This was a trip of a lifetime. There were plenty of climbs and equal downs. The small towns and seasides were magical. Some tough riding on stone streets in Portugal and some other challenges with fire damaged roads. Overall, the natives were supportive and friendly. Food and wine made the trip!

Fantastic experience...staff could not have been better....the food was unreal!....everyone of the staff went out of their way to help... even through a surprise birthday celebration for me.

Great trip....tour guides outstanding ,more than outstanding....the food was fabulous and all staff were wonderful....first 3 days of self guided biking were well worthwhile.....stay hydrated if it is warm as cramping can occur.

Prague to Dresden, A Tale of Two Rivers (self guided) was an outstanding tour! This was my 5th bicycle tour but first without boat. My friend and I were delighted with every day on tour. Hotels (standard option) and breakfasts were excellent. When I booked I specifically asked if an upright sitting wide seat bicycle (like those on my previous tours) would be available since I physically can not ride in a bent over position. Upon arrival we were presented with the bent over style narrow seat bicycles and told that is all they offered. After explaining my issue and that I would not have booked the tour under those terms, I was provided a bicycle that met my needs. Unfortunately my friend had to ride the other style bicycle. The routes on this tour were scenic and the villages/cities were charming. Day 4 was confusing since written instructions conflicted with map which clearly stated official path was closed and detoured route on to a busy hilly road opposite side of river. Because we decided to ignore the map, we had our easiest most beautiful day. At days end we bumped into the tour guide (same company) who was traveling with guided tour and he said they hadn't updated their maps this season. Extremely poor unacceptable excuse since a simple sharpie mark could have made the important change. Overall, we loved it! Would recommend it! AND would absolutely love to do it again someday. (so please save my upright bike! LOL) Note: Day 1 we took the alternative route beside the river instead of going over the hill and did fine since we are experienced cyclists and could handle following a 10-12 inch wide trench trail path the first part of the way. Be sure to veer in to town where map indicates to leave the river or you end up on a mountain bike trail. If you need a wide path, stick to the hill road. Also note a rear pannier is not included in price. We felt any concerns/problems we had were dealt with quickly and graciously.

I highly recommend a trip on the New Star! We enjoyed everything about the trip!

Fantastic trip!!! Everything went smoothly. Want to return and spend extra days in some of the places!

This trip was much better than we expected. The service on the boat was one of the best we have experienced. The food was very good. The cabins confortable, very good shower. Good and very well adjusted bicycles. Precise information each day of biking. Scenery gorgeous. Completely safe even for children and older people. The cycling distances were appropriate for all. Very tasteful sandwiches for those who were biking. The cities we visited are amazing. Congratulations to the team working on Carissima.

We truly enjoyed our barge, tour guides, barge staff and biking tour through the Netherlands and Belgium. The best way to see a country is through the back roads and trails. We will be back for another bike and barge trip!

This was an excellent experience all around. I Highly recommend this company

Most memorable part? Everything! The scenery, the guide, the nature of the bike routes, the people.

We had many memorable experiences! Starting in the beautiful city of Prague with it's history & culture, biking through the Czech republic was the best way to experience this wonderful country, meet the Czech people & appreciate the changing landscapes. We were extremely fortunate with brilliant sunshine for the entire tour. The side trips provided further insight into this amazing country. Arriving in Dresden & exploring the side streets away from the main tourist areas was also a bonus.

This was a terrific trip. The scenery was outstanding and the bike trails were great fun. More biking would’ve been even better. The MS Arkona was a very nice ship, all recently remodeled and the staff all did a great job. I enjoyed all the breakfast choices. We would make our lunch at breakfast time to take with us for the day. Dinners were good but more salads would be a nice addition.
Our boat was unable to reach Budapest due to low water levels. We were however taken by bus to Budapest and enjoyed a city bus tour. It made for a long day but at least we were able to see some of the city. This gave us more time in Vienna and an opportunity for a really fun afternoon bike ride there. Our tour director gave us excellent instructions for this ride since it was not part of the original tour itinerary. It offered shorter and longer distances that seemed to meet everyone’s needs.
The directions in the map and narrative book were often lacking. I would recommend having turn by turn distances Incorporated. Generally, the morning briefing by the tour director was not much additional help. Questions by us to the tour director were often answered by “it’s in your daily program".
It would be nice to have newer bikes. They were fine for the flat biking paths but would have been very challenging for anything with hills. They were heavy and some didn’t ride very smoothly.
The optional Vienna concert was a bit of a disappointment. Although the music was nice I didn’t care for the venue. It was hot inside, the seats were very cramped and this particular theater was not very impressive.
There is no free Wi-Fi despite an email from Tripsite confirming that there was.
We were offered beverage packages which included bottled water.
I drank the tap water on the boat and had no issues. I do feel that on an active trip such as this, unlimited chilled water should be available. We opted to forgo the beverage package and found the beer and wine reasonably priced.
Laundry service on board would be a nice option.
Having said all of the above, I would still recommend the trip and I would use Tripsite again.

Hard to pick one part...The cycling and scenery each day was stunning. Vienna must be experienced. The staff and the food on the Arkona was outstanding.

A GREAT experience on a bike & barge trip! I LOVE Bordeaux and the bike routes were beautiful !!! absolutely amazing from the start to the end.
The staff members were superb and we had fun !!!
I highly recommend this trip !!!

Thank you for arranging our bike/barge trip on the MS Bordeaux.

We cannot tell you enough good about MS Bordeaux, the Captain and his crew. It was so enjoyable to arrive on board, unpack for eight days, and relax. On other bike rides, we unpacked every night and repacked every morning. I think another bike/barge is in order. Tim LaMonte and I are researching next year’s ride already!

The food was exceptional (except for one night when the chef was off. My red mullet was raw and not cooked. Can you spell Y-U-C-K?). Every day, we packed our lunches (except when we did our walking tour of Bordeaux with Sebastian, see below.) Desserts were yummy!

The bike rides were great and we discovered fantastic wines!

There were 84 passengers on-board. A large group was from Australia, some from Canada, Switzerland and the USA. Even though those of on the non-guided ride tour rode at different speeds, we continuously found each, and other helped each other find our way and found places of interest. The camaraderie with other riders was phenomenal.

I had an e-bike. Ginny had a regular bike. On the last day, she traded it in for an e-bike! She will get one for the next tour! Tim also traded his bike for an e-bike on the last day.

In the middle of the week, we could ride our bikes on a short bike path or take a walking tour of Bordeaux, or both. We decided to have a relaxing day and took the walking tour.

Sebastian, the bartender, had the day off. We asked why he did the free walking tour on his day off. His response was simple. He loved to tell people about his country and take them on tour of his hometown, Bordeaux.

A total delight was our interaction with 19-year old Dorrian (sp?). He was the highlight of the trip. He gave the welcome briefing, the evening briefings on what to expect the next day, and was always available.

1. Dee LaMonte had a flat tire. We called Dorrian and he was there within 15 minutes

2. Dorrian was on different roads where the non-guided riders were, and always got us on the right track.

3. Every time we were not sure of where we should be, Dorrian showed up like magic!

4. Another flat tire, a telephone call, and Dorrian found us again. He took Dee LaMonte and her bike in a van to MS Bordeaux. Dorrian also offered a ride to the rest of us, however, we declined and rode the rest of the way back.

The final night on board, was the Captains Dinner, a party and lots wine flowing and lot of dancing! A perfect way to celebrate the end of our adventure!

Just completed the Prague to Dresden tour and am giving it 5 stars based on the overall experience, although I'm going to lead with some negatives. Our group size was 15. I had asked the question early on before booking about size and was told usually 10-12. With 2 guides and a support van we were able to divide on most days, as part of the group was habitually late. It was also an issue for lunches since a group of 15 slows things down for restaurant service. Our lunch stops often approached two hours. In addition, there were times that we were down one guide apparently due to overbooking issues, plus one unexpected issue with the overnight bike storage that caused a huge delay in the start the second day. That was the Terezin day, and while we got into town, the sites were already closed.
But now for the positive, this is a great ride on mostly good bike paths. If you are in any way concerned about hills, weather, trail conditions or stamina, I highly recommend an ebike. This will mitigate almost all issues and still offers all the benefits of biking. 30-35 miles a day is a lot to cover with the drawbacks of being in a group, so most of the riding was at a pretty quick pace.
Our guides, Richard and Jana, were outstanding. Richard is a veteran guide and a wealth of knowledge. He read the group well and let us divide into two whenever possible. This was Jana's first time on this tour, but she was cheerful and helpful at all times.
The hotels and restaurants were all enjoyable, especially the chateau in Liblice/Melnik. We did enjoy our fellow riders and even with not ideal weather for a couple days, it was a fun time. The positives far outweighed the negatives and made for a memorable, thoroughly enjoyable trip.

On the Liza Marleen there were 6 of us from our family ranging in age from 82 to less than 2 years of age. The staff on the ship was superb, especially the cook who was particularly considerate regarding the granddaughters who roamed the dining area. She was quite creative with her menus and happy to socialize with the participants. Moreover, because it was my daughter's birthday (birthdays are Big Deals in the Netherlands) on the last night of the trip, the cook ignored my request for one cupcake with a candle and instead presented gorgeous cakes for the entire ship. Her English assistant was equally kind; the skipper turned out to be a first-class guitar player and had the entire ship singing along.

It was a wonderful and successful excursion and I am very grateful to the staff on board the Liza Marleen for everything they did to accommodate us and make it a memorable 50th wedding anniversary.