Europe Tour Reviews — 331 to 360 of 6832

We had the most wonderful group of people on this tour. Our guide, Mateo, and back up vehicle driver, Klodian, took such great care of us, making sure we didn't have to lift a finger. The bikes were in great condition - Liv & Giant. The route was well planned and we road through beautiful scenery, lots of undulating hills and distances never more than we could manage in a day. All of the accommodation was great, the food was just amazing... never a bad meal, and the Albanian people are just wonderful. I would highly recommend this tour.

This was our first bike and barge trip and we had a wonderful time. The Magnifique IV was beautiful and the crew was phenomenal. They were so friendly and they took such good care of us. The food was outstanding! Some advice I would pass on to future guests would be to bring some plastic containers from home to pack your lunch in, containers for sandwich condiments, fruit, etc. for example. We enjoyed getting to know the other passengers but we are a bit more introverted so it was nice having the small seating area in our upper deck suite for some privacy.

Cochem to Metz Tour
We are believers! Now we know why so many people love the boat and bike (bike and barge) thing. The boat was excellent, we loved the Princesse Royal. Even more so, we thoroughly enjoyed the personable service of the staff ~ boat crew and the bike guides. All of them "bent over backwards" to make our experience seamless and memorable. The food and drink was excellent and the overall organization of the trip was superb. We will definitely be doing more of these, with the same providers and "Princesse Royal" fleet.

Excellent trip with first class service and facilities
Easy pace for cycling and good quality bikes
Staff and customer experience was exceptional as was the food - A wow every day!

Biking together in the countryside of Italy along with stopping at the towns small piazzas .

We love bike and barges! Unpack once, meals provided and spectacular scenery exploring new parts of the world on a bicycle. This was the largest boat we’ve been on with 150 bicyclists, but at no time did we feel that it was too many people. We met new friends and overall it was a great experience. Bicycling Austrian countryside and vineyards, Old world Bratislava and beautiful Budapest were highlights of the tour. And the strudel! The chefs on the boat made the effort to provide meals that were characteristic of the area. The Vivienne cruise Director, Leslie went above and beyond in his duties and was a delight! It was a wonderful bicycling vacation.

Visiting the various small ports and seeing the range of the islands, plus a lot of swimming in wonderful waters.

This was an extraordinary adventure. Highly recommend. Great guides! Thank you Christopher and Martina. Wonderful responsive friendly crew. Superb food, modern comfortable boat, solid easy to use e-bikes. You can’t go wrong with this enterprise in Croatia. Bravo.

Beautiful cities and towns, very nice boat, great people and staff to have the adventure with.

Klarà, our principal guide was awesome! She was always handy, solved all issues with a big smile on her face. Martin and Toni also very good but they left us in Vienna. Fine scenery, hotels, food, weather, etc...

Only one pitfall: we got other 2 guides after Vienna. One of them did not have a guide attitude, one example: the group that do not speak the local language was struggling to make the other in a restaurant and he was not helpful at all, he just got a beer for himself and walked out of the place. If you need more detail, please contact me.

Everything about this trip was wonderful. Do not expect luxury accommodations, but do expect a great crew, fabulous guides, fantastic scenery, and great bike rides.

We loved the experience of both being on this magnificent boat and riding along the coastlines on these fabulous islands. This is the way to really see Greece. The food was outstanding and Mary Lou and Esther (the tour guides) were priceless in keeping us informed of excursions and a ton of fun as well. A bucket list trip for sure.

I liked that the lodgings were often local, with a historic flavor of Czech or Poland, rather than bland international chain hotels. Having the breakfasts and dinners included was great, so convenient and we liked all the meals. The riding routes were very nice, with good scenery, small villages and minimum busy roads. Riding surfaces were often bumpy so the Specialized Diverge bikes we rode were a good match for conditions. The GPS routes worked perfectly, loaded onto my Garmin 1040. The phone APP was brilliant, with so much helpful info and the link to RidewGPS was great, even though I was using my Garmin. We wished we had requested a rest day in Olomouc; it is an interesting town and a break from so many consecutive days of riding would be nice.

Excellent trip, very recommended, every day is a different experience. The temperature is nice all the time,and the guides are very friendly.

It was a wonderful experience from the first to the last day. The accommodation was excellent; luggage transport was on time and without any issues and the rental bicycle was great. Will definitely recommend this trip to anyone who likes cycling and exploring new cycle routes. Will be back for another cycling adventure.

Keep me posted on other/new cycling tours!

Thank you!

Stunning and ever-changing scenery, quaint towns, dramatic vistas, history at every turn, overall comfortable accommodations with nice breakfast.
Ride was quite challenging at times, especially Day 1, 38 miles up and down a hill and over a mountain.
I do wonder, as did another bike tour operator we spoke to,
1. why we started rather than ended in Cong - which seemed lovely in the 10 minutes we spent there at the launch of our ride - with an overnight there instead of beginning and ending in Galway
2. why we rode east to west, into the wind, on the most challenging portions of the trip (the other tour operator's route goes in the opposite direction, ending with an overnight in Cong)
3. why 2 nights in Clifden? I think Days 4 and 5 could be rerouted. Day 4 Clifden to Sky Road around peninsula to Roundstone; Day 5 Roundstone through bog to earlier ferry to Aran islands

Just some feedback on the accuracy of the bar tab :

- we had to remind the team that we had upgraded one of our bikes to an e-bike for 3 days; they hadn't put it on the tab !

- subsequent to the trip we have realised that our 1x gluten-free supplement hadn't been included on the bar tab .

All this was (potentially) lost income , for the company &/or the crew .

Daily rides through charming Dutch and Belgian villages and rural areas.

We really thought the GPS could have been updated. We approached a few places where we could not continue on GPS route because there was a new road or bridge built, we had to stop and figure it out. I was injured the first day and ended up in the hospital with 6 stitches in my index finger. Turns out the endcap was missing from the handlebar which landed on my finger when I toppled over.
Portgugal is very bike friendly, which is nice. On the roads or bike paths next to the road it was nice. We also travelled on paths thru farm land that were gravel and full of potholes that we had to dart around.. Not fun. The last day, we were on a path that was very treachurous had we tried to ride our bikes on it. We had to get off and walk our bikes.

We thought the operating company could have done a better job.

Beautiful scenery. Amazing guides. Excellent food and drink. Friendly, knowledgeable, and accommodating staff.

The crew was great and the barge very clean and neat. Our chef was amazing and food delicious. He even made his own croissants! Our guides were terrific. One of our guides was the owner of the Iris.

It was actually Maastricht to Amsterdam. It was a wonderful tour. The history in the towns, cities, and villages is impressive, as are the great bakeries.

The crew and tour guides were fantastic The food was great
The bike ride itself was not for all levels of bikers...lots of city biking that made many riders nervous. A large guided group made it difficult to keep everyone together, causing large gaps
The sites were sometimes great and other days just riding along a dyke with not much to see
The tour guides Hein and Marjoleine were very knowledgeable and interesting to listen to
The unfortunate plumbing issue on the boat upon embarkation wasn't ideal but they moved us upstairs to another room and others were put up in a hotel for 2 nights...they were dedicated to resolving the problem which was done on day 3.

This is our third bike, boat, and barge tour. The barge vessels create a cozy and friendly atmosphere with the crew and fellow cyclists. The Vita Pugna crew offers excellent service. The meals were delicious and freshly prepared with regional products from each area we visited. Michaela, the bike leader, was energetic, meticulous, and knowledgeable. We used e-bikes to enjoy the ride; the trail is flat and suitable for regular bikes as well. Everything was clean. The barge could use a cosmetic refresh, but overall, the vessel is great.

Our week on the Boreas, exploring the beautiful bays and coves of the southern coast of Turkey, was a highlight of our European trip. Our overall impression was how well organised the trip and cycling itinerary was. Every day on the bikes was different, involving stunning scenery, archaeological sites, a picnic lunch, swimming stops and some exhilarating descents. Our guides were super helpful and very accommodating. On the boat we had a very comfortable cabin, lost of space to relax on the decks and the standard of food and service was excellent. A very memorable, active and fun trip.