Europe Tour Reviews — 3181 to 3210 of 6857

Crete is a fabulous place - breathtaking beaches, a rich and ancient history, wonderful food, warm, welcoming people. However, the island is rugged and mountainous, and presents some serious challenges for the cyclist. While we were dropped off each morning high in the mountains, there were still many steep sections that were challenging to navigate, and at times the winds at the summits were quite serious. The trip is listed as "easy to moderate", but our experience suggests that it should be in the moderate to difficult category, and - certainly for less experienced cyclists - we would highly recommend renting an electric bike to help with the steeper slopes. In any case, the tour was a great experience - the cycling was rigorous and exhilarating. We enjoyed the chance to ride through remote mountain areas, stopping in small villages, visiting historic sites along the way, breaking for lunch at small taverns with stunning views to the coast. The beaches on the south coast were stunningly beautiful, with crystal clear water and long, sandy stretches of coastline. And the food - indescribably delicious!

The most memorable part of the trip was the people we met. From the crew to the fellow cyclists it was an amazing cast of people and made the experience such a pleasure. Riding with people from England, Germany, Canada and the US led to amazing days in the saddle and wonderful conversations over delicious dinners. When doing these trips the best advice I can give is at dinner move to a different table each evening and meet and dine with the other passengers. The friendships I have made over the years from these rides are truly remarkable.

Many beautiful experiences, met new nice people, a uniquely great crew on the Ave Maria, great food.

Ease of living on the boat including meals, rooms, drinks, comfort etc.
Did not like hybrid bikes as I usually ride a road bike.
Would have liked to have biked or sailed into the wine region

Being in France on a bike with new friends and having a wonderful barge and crew to meet our needs.

Biking town to town is a great way to get to know a country; you see places off-the-beaten trail, ride through tiny towns, national forests and coastal cities, sample local specialties from seafood to wine to dessert. The comradeship, meeting new people was also great.

Suggestions? Drink water and wear lots of sunscreen!

The captain and staff were all very personable and worked well together. Steffi is amazing!

The countryside was beautiful and excursions interesting. Luckily, we had magnificent weather, which made everything feel perfect!

The wine tastings could have included a brief tour, like the cider tasting excursion did.

Riding along beautiful fields of wheat and sunflowers. Enjoying outside. A stress free vacation in nature.
Wine tours: there was not any information/education about the grapes. A missed opportunity I thought.
The first chef on our boat was not very good. Food is a big part of a vacation. That area needs attention we all felt.

We had a wonderful time. The rides were amazing, although some were very difficult. We could tailor our days to fit us best, and it was easy to find a different way if we wanted to shorten or include less hills. The hotels were all beautiful, top notch places, in the very best locations for each city or town. Ignacio and Borja with Iberiocycle did everything within their power to make sure we were well taken care of. They communicated with us every day, fixed what needed to be fixed and got us on our way. We were a large group, 15 riders, and therefore not so easy to accommodate, but they did. The people of the northern coast were so friendly. Drivers were extremely courteous, even on the very curvy narrow mountain roads where it took a lot of patience for them to make their way around us. Because of the pandemic, we waited nearly two years to complete this trip from when it was originally planned, and we had the very best time. Thank you Ignacio and Borja from the Salty Dogs

We had a wonderful time. The rides were amazing, although some were very difficult. We could tailor our days to fit us best, and it was easy to find a different way if we wanted to shorten or include less hills. The hotels were all beautiful, top notch places, in the very best locations for each city or town. Ignacio and Borja with Iberiocycle did everything within their power to make sure we were well taken care of. They communicated with us every day, fixed what needed to be fixed and got us on our way. We were a large group, 15 riders, and therefore not so easy to accommodate, but they did. The people of the northern coast were so friendly. Drivers were extremely courteous, even on the very curvy narrow mountain roads where it took a lot of patience for them to make their way around us. Because of the pandemic, we waited nearly two years to complete this trip from when it was originally planned, and we had the very best time. Thank you Ignacio and Borja from the Salty Dogs

This was a self guided tour and the directions provided were terrible. Spent a lot of time lost

Biking through the small villages was very picturesque. Only regret was not having a GoPro to video as we were riding through.

We liked cycling by the river and seeing the beautiful sights. We were lost a couple of times so would have liked more detailed instructions.
We also liked the places we stopped for the night and some of the side trips like at Hrensko and Terezin.

Our week on the Ave Marie far exceeded our expectations. Hardly words to convey how fabulous it all was. This is the 3rd such adventure for us. Our Girolibero Provence Bike and Barge was absolutely wonderful. Our Loire Valley outing with another company was pretty awful but returning to a Girolibero guided trip erased all those memories. How to praise the comfortable boat, the outstanding meals, and then the crew of 6 who went above and beyond to ensure every day was totally enjoyable and to remember forever. The crew worked so well together taking such good and kind care of all of us. We made new friends, saw so much and learned so much as Hugo and Giorgio shared so much of their vast knowledge of the Po River Valley. We miss all of them so much and wish we lived closer. Thank you Girolibero for making all this possible.

We just returned from this cruise less than a week ago. I cannot express how wonderful it was. The scenery was breathtaking, the staff outstanding. The Swiss Crown was a beautiful boat to call home for a week. The staff on board were delightfully pleasant and accommodating. They made every effort to make it a positive experience for everyone. The dining room was beautiful, and our table had a great location. It wasn't too loud, we could easily hold a conversation with our fellow travelers. We had previously taken this trip on the Charissima and found the dining room was too noisy. The food was tastefully prepared with many regional dishes. At 1600 hr everyday they had a dessert / coffee hour that was very special, the staff were readily available for more coffee.
Though there were only a handful of English speaking travelers, Jergen was an enthusiastic program director. He was very accommodating to locate a bicycle that would fit our very petite daughter, even getting extra bikes just in the event that one didn't fit. He went out of his way to obtain a concert ticket for my husband when he didn't sign up in the required time frame. He did give us good directions and if we had questions he was available to answer them. I enjoyed this trip more because of the staff, boat and riding. Overall better than our previous trip, and I thought that trip was awesome. We constantly talked about the beauty of the river, the birds chirping in the forest, the food and the staff. I would love to travel on this boat again.

This was a fantastic bike trip! The weather forecast for our trip was not favorable but we had only 1 rainy day and we were prepared with rain gear. The route was beautiful and very safe. French drivers are very aware and respectful of cyclists. So many beautiful places to see! We highly recommend on the 5th day to visit the gardens and Benac castle. There is a choice to visit 2 other castles that day but the gardens include lots of walking as does exploring the castle. The optional ride in Sarlat is well worth it but don’t miss the canoe on the Dordogne. We did both. We stayed an extra day in Sarlat in June because high season is July so it was not mobbed. A lovely experience! If you do not speak French just try a few words and you will be well received. If you expect a non English speaking French person if they speak English they will say no and not attempt to help you.

Where to begin for a tour that was wonderful for the easy to moderate rides, stupendous for the foods we were given, joyous for the chance for two 60 yr old sisters to be together for our 3rd Tripsite bike adventure! The tour operator, Guilia, was kind and very prepared so we began smoothly and ended the same. In between we had some easy rides, some challenging rides (weather very hot this July!), 2 flat tires and a whole lot of smiles with breathtaking towns, juicy figs, cherries, olive trees and grapes bordering our riding paths. A cold beer or Rose was our prize at the end of each ride! We were given 4 Tastings: wine, cheese factory, Meat/Cheeses, and more wine!! And dinners to make any who love Italian cuisine salivate! We felt safe throughout our travels. Some of the paths could use some work but we are always the "cup 3/4 full" kind of people, so we plowed through everything and were so happy. We arrived in Matera a day early to enjoy its beauty and would have loved to end with an extra day in Lecce had we known how lovely it was as well. We LOVED the places we stayed!

A sign of a great trip... looking for our next tripsite adventure together before we have finished this one!!

Well organized boat and cycle tour through South Holland. The Poseidon was a super boat with great staff and great food. The tours were well organized by Ingrid. Ingrid is excellent, well informed and very helpful. She provided some assistance and guidelines for our self guided tour. The E bikes were very good. Highly recommend.

Our tour guide Corrie was the best!

Riding through the countryside, stopping for drinks at local bars and of windmills. Stopping at a local farm for cheese making tour was also memorable.

Most Memorable Part: The friendly, helpful, knowledgeable staff.

This tour features food and wine tasting with local proprietors who treat you like guests rather than customers, as well as scenic hiking through olive groves and wildflowers. It is an ideal way to experience Umbria in depth, and much more intimate than a tourist bus tour. The hikes are moderate and you will work up an appetite for homemade bruschetta, pasta, and meatballs, with wine pairings.

Most Memorable Part: Radio Howitt

The most memorable part was the quality of the bikes. Negatively memorable. They were very heavy. Definitely not of the same quality we had on the barge. I recommend a different supplier. Otherwise enjoyed the area and the hotel.

Most Memorable Part: The many and varied biking routes on the tour. Our guide Ingrid van de Grint was fantastic.

Beautiful countryside, wonderful chateau’s. We stayed at the Hotel la Breche which is 2 blocks from the train in a quiet residential area and a short 10 minute walk to town. Included was an unbelievable 8 course meal. It was very fancy and fun to try French cuisine. Breakfasts were wonderful also. Hosts are very hospitable. We enjoyed sitting in the gardens when not in use for the restaurant.
The bike routes were great in that we were mostly on bike trails. It was great to have a focus for the days ride. We found the directions co fusing and had a hard time figuring out which voucher for chateaus went with which day tour. The bikes were also very cumbersome. They had a deep V and there was no room between the V and the water bottle so it was hard to get on and off and to stand. Once on them they did work well.

Best Part: Villages

Most Memorable Part: The castles, garden, beautiful paths for biking.

Best Part? Scenery and trials we traveled on and some of the accommodation we staying at.

The ease of bicycling, bicycle trails, beautiful scenery, people we meant and all of the staff made this trip memorable to us!