Europe Tour Reviews — 361 to 390 of 7333

This is such a unique package -- traveling on a gorgeous three-masted wooden sailing ship
AND biking on amazingly beautiful Greek islands. Sometimes you see a majestic ship like the Thalassa, and think "that's so amazing," but on this trip you actually get to LIVE on it. Maria's meals were delicious and plentiful. Chrysa and Dispoina were fantastic guides -- seemingly thinking of everything, even before we thought of it. The crew and the guides worked together to make a seamless and special experience for each guest. I think the island of Hydra was my favorite -- with Spetses as a close second. Swimming in the cave in Spetses is something I will always remember. This was the trip of a lifetime. I loved every minute of it.

This ship is beautiful and the crew and guides were wonderful. The cabins and bathrooms are spacious. It was clear in advance that we wouldn't sail much, but it would really add to the experience if we could have sailed at least a little bit. The e-bike climbs at the islands gave us great views and interesting visits and stories along the way.

From the welcome on arrival, through the entire week, I felt well looked after as a single traveller. The crew and guide were great and went out of their way to endure everyone was catered for and happy. Arie, our cycle guide, was excellent and also took us out every night for a walking tour of whichever city we were docked in.

Awesome, Awesome, Awesome! Accommodation fabulous, food absolutely delicious and gorgeous, crew on the boat wonderful, and tour guides were fantastic. I haven't stopped raving about the tour to all my friends who are now looking into booking.

The Alva and crew were exceptional. while primarily a German tour company the Stewart and staff accommodated we Canadians very well with all services in both languages

Great food and atmosphere and a very pleasant boat cabin experience

The crew who ran the e-bike portion were exceptional with Daniel (a Porto native) and Kevin (a German native) providing an exceptional quided e-bike ride and support service in a very beautiful countryside they both knew very well

A beautiful destination and a well organized tour

We had only one very minor thought

The information from Tripsite re the bike tour was not consistent with the e-bike tour providers. I t would have been very helpful to be able to contact the providers directly prior to the tour

While this did not detract in any way from the excellent trip. It would have made preparing and packing decisions easier as the company does accomodate hybrid ( non e-bike ) cyclists which would have included my younger family members and does provide helmets which would have simplified packing

Positively inspiring! Everything was top notch...the barge, tours, food, crew...just everything. Great trip for the $$

Budapest
Cycling through Wachau Valley
Service and food on Vivienne

This trip was excellent from its start to finish. The staff made everyone feel welcome and communicated each day’s plan very thoroughly. We enjoyed making new friends and our guide, Thomas, helped make our experience so positive. What a great way to explore the four countries and cities such as Vienna, Budapest and Bratislava. The final biking day through the UNESCO valley was outstanding.

This trip was excellent from its start to finish. The staff made everyone feel welcome and communicated each day’s plan very thoroughly. We enjoyed making new friends and our guide, Thomas, helped make our experience so positive. What a great way to explore the four countries and cities such as Vienna, Budapest and Bratislava. The final biking day through the UNESCO valley was outstanding.

It should be mentioned that customers will need to purchase waterbus tickets for travel from Venice to the dock site.

The four of us had a wonderful time!
The route was beautiful, bringing us past windmills, canals, fields of tulips, beautiful villages, lambs, and the seaside. The Guibo app was helpful and we could rely on it to guide us, but it did have a couple glitches and I would have liked to have more trip data: distance travelled, distance left, speed. We hit a couple of unexpected detours and had to reroute, but we were lucky enough to not have to add too much distance to our day.
Our Category A hotels were clean and cozy, with generous breakfast buffets and friendly staff. We enjoyed the location of most of them. Our least favorite city was Papendrecht, as there wasn't much to see and do around the hotel. Had we known beforehand, we would have had a wander and dinner in Dordrecht before taking the ferry to Papendrecht, as Dordrecht had a lot more to see and do. Our bad for not checking beforehand, but we didn't expect it after all the other fabulous, centrally located accommodations.
The luggage service was efficient and our luggage was at destination most of the time by the time we arrived, arriving by 5 pm on the two days they were not already there.
I would say the bicycles were where we weren't totally happy.
2 of us had no issues (one regular men's bike, and one women's electric), and were very happy with their bikes. We all appreciated having the front panier, the cell phone holder and the saddle bag. However, my partner's bicycle was not well fitted for him. At 6' 3", he had to be very careful not to hit his crotch on the bar every time he dismounted. His handlebars were also loose and they slid downwards every time he put his weight on them to get going. Not optimal. We tried adjusting them, but it only made the problem slightly better. For me, the bicycle was just big and heavy, but I'm used to cycling on a carbon road bike. An option for an upgrade to a lighter bicycle would have been great, as well as some mechanism to switch an ill fighting, poorly adjusted bicycle for my partner.
All in all, we definitely recommend this trip. It was well organized and good value for the money.
Dates of travel in early April, between 6° and 20°C, no rain until we got to Amsterdam.

The guides Crysta and Jack were excellent Along with the boat crew They made the trip an excellent adventure

Everything was wonderful! The cabins were really nice, with plenty of storage for our clothes, etc. The food was awesome! We had the best guide, Tammi! She was so knowledgeable about everything, and kept us safe on our bike rides. I highly recommend the Merlijn, and cannot say enough about our trip! I hope to travel with them again!!

From the moment we boarded we were treated like royalty. Everyone was friendly, professional, helpful, welcoming and they remained wonderful for our entire trip. The captain made sure our trip exceeded our expectations. Our tour leaders Chrysa and Jack made us feel like family. They were both good story tellers and made all our adventure interesting and fun. Answered our questions, met our requests with a smile and action. The food was exceptional and plentiful. All members of the ship’s team - Soritis, Georg, Alex, Dimitris, Katerina and Maria were stellar. We will always treasure this wonderful experience

The Merlijn is absolutely beautiful! The crew was top notch and made everyone feel special. The food was delicious and no one was ever left wanting . Completely exceeded expectations.

The Merlijn is absolutely beautiful! The crew was top notch and made everyone feel special. The food was delicious and no one was ever left wanting . Completely exceeded expectations.

It was a great time and everything was perfect.
The crew was very accommodating and Tammy was very knowledgeable and friendly .

A very easy and relaxing ride with a lovely crew and a well-maintained boat. While I’ve done several bike and barge trips, this one doesn’t quite measure up to the others. I find this part of Italy less charming and quaint for cycling through the countryside, more pedestrian. Despite that, it was overall a great experience.

1.The biking in the Dutch countryside was great. and a highlight.
2.The riding in the city was a bit hectic and I enjoyed getting an idea of being a biking commuter. .
3.The weather was challenging at times and that is just the way it turned out for us.
4.The stop at the outdoor museum was not that much fun I would just drive by it and not stop.
5. The guides and boat crew were very nice and made it a great ride.
6.The ride was organized to move quickly even with a lot of people.

The Staff, the Food, the towns we visited were amazing. The rooms on board exceeded our expectations with amenities found in premium hotels. The reason I didn’t give 5 stars is that it’s essentially a 4 day experience with really only 3 days of cycling. IE: Day one board at 2pm with no cycling day 5 disembark at 9am with no cycling. A better description of the actual experience would be my recommendation.

It was a great trip and exactly what we hoped for. Lovely bike rides, a lot of diversity in the towns and hotels. Every thing was easy and well organized.

I wish I had asked to make sure we hit one market in the towns we stayed and visited. Also, wish that one hotel had a hot tub or spa.

We have done 15 bike trips throughout Europe. I saw this barge and bike. It is appealing not to have a different hotel every night and not have luggage transferred. Are all bike and barge guided or can you bike at your own pace? Is there ample time to sightsee along the daily routes and then enjoy a small European town in the evening. I believe all meals are provided on the bike barge. We love exploring the small towns on our overnights. Which trips do you recommend.

Hi,
Great videos on your bike and barge trip. Very informative. We are slated for May 4 through the 17th on this same trip different boat. We’re so looking forward to the trip. Are there any takeaways that you have in regards to travel items to take? We do have the whole packet from the travel company. Any dos or don’ts?
Thanks once again
Jes & Elaine Santos
Vacaville, Ca.