Europe Tour Reviews — 3331 to 3360 of 6857

The bicycle ride along the canals and fields of endless tulips! The staff and service was excellent. We highly recommend this trip to everyone.

It was a magical trip. We learned everything about tulips, chesse, windmills and much more. Try the E-bike, you exercise and also you enyoy the ride in a better way.

The attentiveness of Christina and Koen and all the rest of the staff on the boat. The only comment i have is that with 24 riders and quite a varying degree of riding abilities, I think two guides and divide the group into two would have been better.

The crew of the Vita Pugna was first class. Sylvia prepared delicious meals using fresh local items. She gave us a book of the recipes used. Hugo was a fantastic tour guide providing us with a wealth of information and lots of laughs. He woke up early to see our group of three get underway to the airport in Venice safely. Good thing he did because when we got to the marina gate it was LOCKED! Promptly he called the night security guard to unlock the gate and we were on our way once again. Hugo videoed highlights of each day and provided everyone with the link. This was a really special surprise and a wonderful keepsake of the trip.

All of it was wonderful. Guide Michela was fun and a great leader. There was a nice mix of stops for tours and riding. Scenery was beautiful. Also Liked the boat cruises from the deck. Hills and wind made it a little more of a challenging of a ride. Crew and cooks took good care of us. Would recommend.

Beautiful area. The small towns were charming.

The hills were a little more difficult than I anticipated. Suggestion for others would be to prepare for a lot of hills.

Great staff. The staff went out of their way to make all guests comfortable. Our group of 9 fit in well with the 11 others on tour. The close quarters make this necessary. The Staff works hard at making sure that all feel welcome.

Riding through the French countryside and small towns.

Pros:
The tulips were gorgeous, Keukenhof was a highlight and a nice break.
The bike paths were easy, fun and relaxing,
Food was plentiful and the chef did a good accommodating various diets and planned varied and delicious menus.
The other guests were friendly, fun, and interesting.
The crew were all kind and patient.
The hybrid bikes were comfortable.
The guide (Piet) was knowledgeable, and gave historic walks almost every night.

Cons:
Riding in the cities was stressful. There was too much urban riding with many treacherous intersections, bike and pedestrian traffic. It seemed very unsafe.
The e-bikes mixed into the group were a problem. Some of the riders couldn't control the e-bikes. Also, riding up and down hills through the dunes, with a strong head wind was gave the e-bike riders an advantage.
The size of the group (24) was too large for a single guide. He struggled to be present for everyone.
The large gap in abilities of the riders was problematic. This tour was rated easy, but some riders were extremely fit and pushed the pace.
Some of the schedule didn't work well. On the hardest riding day, we started the bike tour very late, after shopping in town and museums. We barely had time to eat lunch that day . But the ride through the dunes was difficult. I'm not sorry we went, but I wish we had left earlier and taken some breaks.
We were close to the end of tulip season and so didn't see as many as earlier tours.

Visiting the beautiful cities of Bruges and Ghent

Since this was our first Bike and Barge experience we have little to compare it with, but found we enjoyed the total package. The accommodation on the Gandalf was clean and the crew made it feel more like at home instead of just a place to sleep. Can't say enough about our guide, Simon, who spent many hours insuring the biking portion was smooth and profession. Even when the unexpected happened he calmly got us up and running again. The little personal touches he added gave the group a great deal of comfort in navigating in a foreign country.
Suggestion: If you are not use to riding 40 km a day, the e-bike option goes along way to improving the enjoyment level. A purchase of a local "SIMM CARD" that has data is very reasonable and give you a local phone # to communicate with the guide and/or the boat. TIP: call your guide on the first day so that he has your phone number registered on his phone.

Staff was wonderful. Hugo was great. Food was delicious. Very enjoyable experience. Would’ve liked to spend a few more hours in Ferrara, that was my only suggestion. Most memorable was the the small things Hugo went out of his way to show us like the nighttime cemetery and the cat house along one of the trails. He was a pleasure to be around. All the staff was. Francisco was a doll. Very nice experience indeed.

We really enjoyed exploring Assisi, Montefalco, and Bevagna on foot.

This was my fourth bike and barge trip. Vita Pugna and it’s team (Samuele, Silvia, Francesco and Hugo) have ruined all future bike and barge rips! Our tour guide, Hugo, went above and beyond everyday and the food was amazing.

Riding through the fields of fruit trees, medieval villages, sipping beverages in the little outdoor cafes, tasting olive oil in the factory, learning to use the bike to it's potential, and enjoying the ambiance back on the boat with spectacular meals.

Visiting the Keukenhof Gardens & riding through the countryside of the Netherlands. Wildlife and Windmills were abundant.

This is hands down, the best way to see Holland. Our guide Piet and the crew were amazing. My husband, brother and I (in our 30’s) as well as my parents (in their 60’s) all had the best time. The rides were relaxed and gave us a chance to really take in the incredible views. I would not hesitate to suggest this trip to anyone.

The guides and crew were wonderful and really made the trip special. Although you will be riding and walking a good part of the day, don't expect to lose much weight as the food is delicious

The leaders stopping along the way to educate us on the history of the area we were biking through.

The biking route was just perfect. The scenery and sights were wonderful. Staff was friendly and knowledgeable.

The new bikes were so great to use. There were 2 smaller people on our trip that had bikes that were too big for them. One had a couple falls and we were always afraid they might be injured.

Another thing that could be helpful is to have some more road safety tips. The shark teeth at intersections, the red path is for bikes etc. While these were explained to us it might be more helpful to see a video with these actually shown. I loved having Lenny as sweep the one day just reinforcing "you are on the right so he will stop " and "he has shark teeth so you can go".

Thank you for a wonderful vacation

The visits to the the lovely villages in our bikes. The great meals in the evening. The great breakfasts in the morning. The wonderful sense of togetherness

My wife and I have just completed our first Bike and Barge tour. Amsterdam to Bruges on the Gandalf. From the Captain Hans, crew and Nishka (the dog) they made a very comfortable and enjoyable trip. We spent a lot of time with our guide, Simon, and I can't say enough about the profession way that he handled his job. Planning of the daily routes, briefing, finding a wonderful spot for lunch break, the evening walking tours(for us that had enough energy), providing city maps and all the little extra personal touches added a great deal to the overall experience.
Since my wife had not been on a bike for a few years, the rental of the e-bike was a very welcomed. The tour is on flat ground but there overpasses and distance that the option of the e-bike should be considered.

The fellowship on the Magnifique IV was wonderful. However, several of our fellow travelers tested positive for COVID right after leaving the ship. More options for testing and keeping the travelers free of COVID need to be provided.

The guides and staff were extremely engaging and accommodating . The chef selection of food and wine pairings exceeded expectations . The guides were knowledgeable and personable . The tour route had the right balance of cycling , exploring and relaxing .
To improve
Rooms stuffy . Better ventilation needed for sleeping . Suggest a check to set the climate control .
Two members of our group required extra small bikes not available .
Face clothes in rooms .

The e bike was a fabulous way for me to be able to keep up. It was of superior quality to mine at home and I’d unequivocally say that almost any riding capability would be able to enjoy this trip by requesting the Gazelle e bike offering. For the barge, we really noticed the lack of air circulation in our rooms at night. They advised us when we got there that ac wasn’t working- they worked on fixing that during our time aboard but it was the one thing that prevents me from giving it an absolutely perfect rating.

When thinking about the trip, the biking is what I thought about most. Once the trip began, I realized the "extra" aspects of the trip were the most meaningful:
- visiting a cheese farm to learn about
- walking through the cities with our guides learning about their history
- fabulous meals on board
- friendly and talented staff

This trip had it all great cycling through gorgeous and historic NL with some fun informative guides, delicious meals prepared by chef Ellen, spending time with great friends and meeting new people. Highly recommend this trip. Lenny is an excellent host.

There were too many memorable moments to really list. What I think was most memorable of the trip was the kindness of all the passengers. It seemed like we all had been friends forever. The other was the professionalism of the entire staff. They were all so KIND, COURTEOUS and POLITE. The entire staff was nothing short of true professionals. They really went above and beyond to make us feel very comfortable. Actually, so comfortable I didn't want to leave. CHEERS to the crew of the Magnifique IV.

Being out on our bikes everyday and seeing the beautiful sights of costal Portugal. Joao and Sergio were very helpful with going over how to use the E Bikes and GPS, and Joao gave us a great tour of Porto.

Had water issues at two hotels. Nothing you could have done. Hotels were great. Anna Caspari the best service.