Europe Tour Reviews — 5731 to 5760 of 6247

It was a great way to see the countryside.

We were not able to bike because I broke my arm 2 weeks before our trip but nevertheless had a wonderful time. The accommodations were first rate, as well as the food, matched by the friendliness of the inn keepers. We found plenty of things to do other then biking; hiking along the bike path as well as hikes in the countryside, museums and train trips to interesting towns.

Route guides(arrows)could in some areas(particularly in the Bolzano to barge section when riders on their own) be more clearly marked and better positioned.
Steph,our guide,and the boat crew combined to make this a special experience.

The scenery was spectacular, the challenge was invigorating, the people were interesting, the guides were ever helpful and informative. Loved everything.

The trip included wonderful biking-many bike paths, trails and traffic-free lanes. It was made special -even inspiring- by following the route of St James--the Camino -- a historic pilgrimage route.
Having tour guides made the trip stress-free thus more enjoyable. Their knowledge covered all aspects of the trip: best routes,history of the area, the best places to eat, out-of-the way special sites, translation and more.

Holland is beautiful. The bike route goes through too many urban areas and not enough countryside. The groups are too large. Our group had 28 people and only 1 guide. It was impossible for him to keep an eye on all the people. As an example, it would take 3 or 4 light changes for the group to all cross a main road. Sometimes the group would be spread out as much as 1 kilometer. My wife fell off her bike and broke her hand because the group was always speeding up and slowing down. One day we even lost a rider for a while. The tour guide seemed very informative, but did not explain much, and seemed cold most of the time. That is my honest opinion. Thank you.

1. Food was mediocre - not great...lots of canned or frozen vegetables. Meat was consistently over cooked and dry. There was lots of choices for breakfast and we especially liked the variety to make our lunches. Had to pay for hot water, tea & coffee after 4:00 pm was a ridiculous and cheap policy which angered many.
2. Room service - towels were not replenished each day as expected until the guide told us to put them in the shower to indicate we wanted towels refreshed each day. This was a problem of no signage to indicate this practice and that the guide forgot to tell us until day 4 when someone complained.
3. Maps and route descriptions - we always marvel at the signage for cycling in the Netherlands. Our country should adopt this method. But we were only given one map/booklet per room. Again, a very cheap practice as all travelers are paying cyclists and each want their own maps. Can't guarantee that those who room together actually cycle together. This again angered many in our group all of whom are avid cyclists who have traveled extensively by bike in Europe.
4. Route - Wonderful! Northern Netherlands is so beautiful, the route selected was varied and very picturesque, and towns we visited were charming.
5. Staff - Every staff person, but one, was extremely polite, helpful and courteous, from the kitchen staff, the captain, servers, and bike support fellas. The one exception was our guide who was rigid, rude, impatient and grumpy. He warmed up as the week progressed but his welcoming manner was less than desirable. He didn't seem to like to deal with women or English clients, as we saw that he got along very well with the German clients. It could have been a factor of language and fatigue due the fact that it was the end of the season.

We had a great time, the staff worked very hard to please, and it was a very good trip.

We loved the size of the group. We are now ready for a self guided trip.

We were plagued by hot weather in early June. It was pleasant before and after our trip. Not your fault. The rest was great.

Everything was great. The only thing we didn't like was the guide we had for our guided tour. All other staff were fantastic.

Loved that the trip was flexible enough to accommodate my 8-year-old son who didn't have a lot of biking experience but who was eager to learn! We had an AWESOME time!

At times the trip leading gave incomplete information regarding routes, detours and conditions although the German speaking people received better information - he should use a specific outline when giving such information to be sure it is complete.

The food was great except for the Wiener Schnitzel which was not interesting at all. A real disappointment in fact. (I have traveled to Austria often and know a less than impressive meal when I receive it.)

I had booked an extra night in Passau but could not use it due to airline delays. I called Tripsite which could not reimburse me, which I understand. However, I have twice requested a statement from them that I cannot be reimbursed so that I can use it for my trip insurance - I still have not received it.

Food just okay. plenty of it but several of the dishes were not very good. company was great so not a big deal. our guides were sensational. needed to have towels changed everyday or every other day. twice on the trip not enough. otherwise had a wonderful time. pretty challenging bike trips but we were all in it together. I think everyone had a great time.

The bikes and scenery were great. The guide was terrible. He was not nice to the American travelers.

Tom Stout, the tour guide on the Magnifique is absolutely fantastic at his job. I would go on the same exact same trip again if Tom is the guide :)

The boat was great and we all got the cabins we were hoping for – the food was really good. The girls commented that they weren’t expecting the food to be as good as it was.
• The biking was as easy as we expected, I didn’t like the bikes as much as the bikes we had on the Danube the year before but the bikes were exactly what they said on the web-site. Pretty well all the trails were paved – makes it hard to come back to PEI trails!
• Apparently we weren’t on as pretty a section of the Rhine as we could have been but we saw some great scenery and little villages were so clean, friendly and relatively easy to get around. The crew said they didn’t like this route because it wasn’t as scenic and not as many places to stop. Apparently, they are not going to do the same route next year.
• I don’t think the tour itself was quite as well run as the one on MV Story on Danube IN 2014. I didn’t think the tour guide this year gave nearly as good instructions as the previous year and often it was difficult to figure out exactly which trail to take. The book with maps had a number of errors but guy said that would be fixed. I think they were some translations errors as well.. Last year, the tour guide always biked the route (he would wait until boat left so was always behind us and we knew he’d catch up). This guy said he was always behind us but we only saw him once and very briefly. He didn’t give suggestions of places to eat etc like they did last year. We always found good spots so that was not an issue but not because he provided suggestions. In 2014 the directions were very very clear and the company put arrows on the sign posts to show the directions. That was very helpful but non of that happened this year 2015. Maybe if they had continued the tour they would have done that as well.
• The directions we got for where the boat was docked in Basel were wrong – the directions said to go to West side and that was where the boat was always docked!! Well, it wasn’t there it was on the east side. Thankfully when it wasn’t where it was expected to be, the cab driver knew where it “probably” was. We did NOT feel the cabby took advantage of us as a few other couples has same issue and one of them had taken a bus to the dock!!. Tripsite was very responsive when we explained this and you were very generous in reimbursing us for cab fares (should have been 21 E per cab but was 54E per cab). I saw the meter and he only charged us what the meter said, plus he turned meter off a couple of times. We did give him tip. We took 2 cabs for the 6 of us and they followed each other so we all had same issue.
• We would absolutely go on another Tripsite trip and we all had a great time – just wanted to give you the feedback. If asked, I would recommend the Danube over this section of the Rhine. I would however try a different section of the Rhine and we may look at Holland another year.  SHOW MORE 

I love our leader Michaela and we want to do another trip with her. I have recommended the Pugna boat Mantova-Venice trip to many people.

Scenery was great! A few times the directions could have been more clear.

Excellent tour guide (Albert) after the first two days out I relaxed and thoroughly enjoyed the biking, all the explanations of what we were seeing along the route. The caption and partner were great hosts. Every evening a fantastic meal. After our evening meal Albert always offered to take us on a walking tour, on his own time, which we all did. I would certainly recommend trip site to anyone.

We had a wonderful time on our self-guided tour of the Dordogne this fall. The route was terrific - very scenic with little traffic. The GPS was hard to read in sunlight and I walked up some of the hills, but we never had any real difficulty or had to ask for help. The accommodations were always clean and comfortable, and some were quite spectacular (first and last nights). Fortunately we were happy eating a lot of duck, and a lot of the food was wonderful.

The bikes were a little beat up, but we enjoyed every aspect of the trip. My one complaint about the boat was that they shut off the AC at night and we couldn't open the portholes, so sleeping was not ideal. This year we are heading to Italy with 20 of our closest friends for the Venice to Mantova tour on the Ave Maria!

Trip of a lifetime! My Story boat a bit dated, but the entire staff was wonderful!

Barge was exceptionally good. The bike tour had some very good portions and a couple of sections that were not very enjoyable. Overall it was a great trip.

Cycling a wee bit fast. Most people were in fifties & sixties and I was seventy-nine.

I unfortunately had a back spasm during the trip and needed to be on land half way through the trip, so I had to get off the barge. (Croatia trip) the captain offered to give up his room so I could stay upstairs- so nice- but I needed to be on stable land. ( weather was a bit rough) the entire trip was so nice- would have loved to finish the trip. The crew was wonderful!

We enjoyed our trip immensely and recommend it to everyone! The boat was nice, just vintage. The bike routes were well thought out, relatively easy and well marked. Some meals on the ship were good and a couple were not. We preferred eating out on the sightseeing days anyways. Overall it was a great value for the overall price. Can't wait to do another one in a different country!

The nickel and diming on the boat was annoying - i.e., free coffee until 4 pm but nobody gets back before then; coffee and tea not included with dinner (extra cost); bottled water sold at the same price as a beer (one token worth 2.5 Euros). Our guide, Marcel, was clearly out of sorts and was not someone I would recommend - rude, disinterested, unhelpful, condescending, and refused to answer questions. I trust that other guides are much better.

The four country tour is one of the best trips you offer. Thanks

Road surfaces were rough. Ride routes were hilly. Brought our own bikes.