4 Star Europe Tour Reviews — 811 to 840 of 1188

The highlights were the following:
RIDING - Sergio and his team were outstanding in every aspect ...nothing was too much trouble for him!
We loved every day of cycling except the day from Praia de Mira to Figueira da Foz - I would recommend that you cut this day out of the cycling completely as it is not only ugly due to the fire but it is uncomfortable for 35km. We would recommend that you have two nights in Coimbra ...even if you must transport the cyclists in order that the day is not too long. Figueira da Foz is not as nice as the other towns either.
HOTELS - all hotels were wonderful except for the one in Porto - I would recommend a different hotel - maybe one a little closer to the town (the wifi didnt work and the water was cold and just not the same standard as the rest)
RESTAURANTS- the recommendations were brilliant and we had amazing meals every night
HIGHLIGHTS - We would suggest that as well as the booklet that the guests are given a small"daily highlights" card which they can peg onto the front of their bikes (so that they dont have to get the booklet out of the bag) The card could indicate the "attraction" / "highlight" and the number of kilometers so that they are easy to find.
We have cycled with various companies in France and Italy and these would be the tips which we feel could benefit your company

Briefing by tour director daily with clear instructions on the following days ride. Highlighting and suggestions where to break for coffee and lunch, and points of interest along the way.
Breakfast and evening meal was delicious.
A great range of reasonably priced good quality bike attire, including wet weather jackets ,and bike helmets for sale.

Denmark was incredible! The Baltic and the forests were lovely. The people were good-humored and helpful.

The bike and barge tour was great! The bike route along the Danube was easy to follow but sometimes the days seemed repetitive. We found the last day of riding the most picturesque. The boat crew was awesome- everyone spoke English well except for the tour guide who struggled with communicating the day to day instructions. The food was very good and plentiful.

Riding in the foothills/vinyards in Austria. Stopping for a beer and a slice of homemade cake at a hotel on the trail.
The boat was too slow traveling upstream against heavy current. This meant we were late in docking for our next ride. Yes, the current was heavy but this is likely to happen every spring.

Tour operators were very nice. For example, they gave us ride back to town rather than call a taxi.
Two days were relatively flat, two were hilly, especially the last day when riding back to the farm from Ludlow. Plenty of historical sites. Recommended lunch stops didn't meet our schedule, so be prepared.
Be aware:
-no cyclometer (I had my own Garmin),
-no TripSite water bottles - take your own,
-no detailed directions for optional rides - just a list of way-points,
-only one handlebar bag per couple - for the person carrying the map. (each bike has a pannier)
There is a heavy-duty road map included, which was helpful. I also traced the routes on Google maps the night before to know what landmarks to look for, as many streets and roads are not signed.
Some of the riding is along narrow roads between tall hedgerows. It's like riding in a tunnel - not very scenic.
Overall, we enjoyed the biking experience, the stops, and Ludlow.

All of the scenery, the quiet roads, Trosa, and the adventure and weather on the roads were all magnificent.

The routes probably could use some updating. We were lost on a few occasions, but were able to double back when we realized this. Some of the signage and actual directions needed re-working. I would suggest that the company go out there and check it out. The single accommodation in Mariefred was not up to standards. I had to ask to be moved from the first room as the window was right at street level and did not feel safe, nor could I keep the shades open so the room was very dark. The second room I moved into was nicer, but it also faced a parking lot where people could look in, but felt safer on the second floor. The location was superb otherwise.

The breakfasts at all of the hotels were yummy and the staff friendly.

Highlight: The cycling and the swimming off the back of the boat.

Best Part? The nice people on the boat

Earlier this year (May), my wife and I did the 4 country bike - barge tour, on the Danube. First I have to remark that everything "Tripsite" advertised was delivered at what we thought to be a reasonable price. In spite of unusually cold (damp) weather, our first experience (s) in Passau, Bratislava, Budapest and Vienna were very memorable highlights. However, aboard the "Normandie" we did have some concerns with the overall tour management. There were some particularly disappointing moments with an apparent strategy to keep the English speaking guests, and non-english speaking guests (mostly German) separated? For our part, we were keen to mingle - assimilate with all the guests aboard. That should not reflect our overall impression of the boat crew, who were very courteous and helpful.

Sailing down the Danube at night under the full moon we witnessed the beautiful lighted bridges and magnificent buildings of Vienna. It was magical!

Biking through the countryside of the Netherlands and Belgium at a pace that allowed us to learn about both cultures and their histories was an opportunity not to be missed.

Most Memorable Part: The friendliness and helpfulness of the staff as well as the beautiful scenery.

This was a wonderful way to see Northern Europe, leisurely experiencing a diversity of landscapes, towns, and scenic attractions.

Biking through Belgium and Holland. Great bike paths, lovely scenery, good companions made for a memorable journey.

This was a great experience. Andreas was a wonderful tour director/leader. 2 weeks aloud us to have a great experience. As this was the ship's first cruise of the year we did experience a problem with our room but Andreas resolved the problem promptly and provided some compensation for our troubles. The crew provided excellent service. The meals were better than expected( I am not a gourmet but enjoyed every meal). the bike routes were very interesting. Our only issue was with the a/c but as this was an older ship some things are not always up to modern standards. Great value.

My wife and I did the self-guided Camino tour. It did not start well, as promised reception at airport did not appear, definitely the fault of Trip Site staff, who were barely apologetic. Level of difficulty was billed “easy” to “moderate,” but for this weekend biker it was more like “moderate” to “difficult.” Nonetheless, it was a really gratifying experience. Our e-bikes were top notch, and with GPS we were able to navigate pretty well along the route, some of which was definitely “off the beaten track.” When the description of route says "hard surfaces," implying smooth going, what they often mean are hard-on-the-butt cobblestones Cannot say enough about Sergio and his team in Oporto. Maybe it was because we were older and didn’t look like Tour de France candidates, but he made it a point to check in with us 3 or 4 times during the week to make certain we were ok. If anything had gone wrong, we knew he’d be there in a flash. The accommodations were excellent, and the gratification of making it into the cathedral square at Santiago de Compostela was profound. If your purpose in taking on this challenge is at all spiritual, highly recommend.

We just finished this tour of Crete, and for context I should say we are both in our 70's and ride quite a bit. So, Crete: The scenery, mountains and beaches are beautiful, the people are friendly, warm and accepting, the food is out of this world, and the biking was great for us. Some thoughts about the bike tour itself:
We were provided with new Ideal eBikes that were exceptional.
The routes were varied and generally perfect for us.
Routes were described adequately, but GPS directions were great.
Total elevation gains were substantial, but ok with eBikes.
We were driven to each daily tour starting point, generally at high elevation.
Our driver driver was excellent and extremely helpful.
The price of the tour was very reasonable.
We should have upgraded the hotels - some were minimally adequate.
Overall we give the tour a thumbs-up and are very glad we went. The operator is very competent and provided a wonderful experience.

We recently completed the 11 day Amsterdam to Brugge tour on the Quo Vadis. We really enjoyed ourselves. The boat was very nicely appointed, the cabins are not large and the bathrooms small but very adequate, lots of hot water which is really appreciated after a day of cycling. Food was very good, especially the dinners. The staff did everything to make our trip enjoyable and mixed well with the guests. We had 2 excellent guides who both had extensive knowledge of the history and geography of both countries. The tour itself gave us a really good taste of the Netherlands and Belgium, from the beautiful countryside, through the dunes at the North Sea, over the dams that prevent the floods, past and into windmills, into the cities and large towns like Rotterdam, The Hague, Ghent and a day visiting the World War 1 sites around Ypres. We were very fortunate the on most days the wind assisted our travels and we had very little rain. All and all a great adventure.

This was my 5th bike/barge Tripsite tour and it was just as amazing as my first. The guide was knowledgeable and the group was an interesting blend of former and present U.S. Air Force personnel as well as Italians, Americans, French and Flemish. The weather in mid April was the biggest challenge with hailstorms and thunder, which made the trip all the more memorable.
The bull fights (humane but sad), the aqueducts, and the food, oh the food! As always a nice cross section of people who are like minded in their zest for life and the enjoyment of experiencing Provence at 11 mph at sea level. (Oh, and they do warn you about the hills and the wind, which I glossed over BEFORE we went). The reason I rated this a 4 Star is I'm reserving the top prize for something that knocks my socks off!

Amazing staff and great guide

Meeting the native people from the Netherlands and Belgium. Meeting other cyclists on the tour routes.

The best trip i’ve ever done was through Danubio, from Passau to Vienna. It was perfect, the scenery, the route, the boat. It was my first time in a bike and tour trip. It was in 2016 and since then it,’s the only way i like to travel. A new world for me, I felt like a child recovering my childhood near from nature!

A wonderful way to see The Netherlands. Visiting the tulip fields and flower market was so colourful and informative. Very easy cycling on great roads.

Our bike and barge from Venice was fantastic. The villages were quaint and the opportunity to swim in the Adriatic Sea was a great way to cool down and relax. Our trip aboard the Ave Maria was wonderful. Captain Connie, Enrico, Giuliano, Silvia and Helmut made our trip to be quite memorable! Giuliano and Silvia made fabulous gourmet dinners for us. Our only complaint would be that there were periods of riding on dikes/floodbanks but all the stops along the way were very interesting and full of character. The visit to a Grana Padano cheese plant was followed by a wine and cheese picnic and our ending destination, Mantua was beautifully surrounded by 3 lakes. We would definitely recommend this trip!

Dinners on board were amazing! Our cook, Kuki, was creative and as gourmet as a fine restaurant would be!

Every bike should come with a FPS or Harmon with the route loaded in it. Pulling out a piece of paper at every turn is not an option

The preparation and presentation of the meals, especially the evening meals was outstanding. And the fellowship with the other passengers was also a great highlight aided by the small number of guests.

Sailing Home was a great boat, well finished, very clean, lots of room and nice staff. The trip from Bruges to Amsterdam was very scenic and flat country yet the riding did not offer the flexibility friends had experienced with other tours.
We had expected to ride 30kms (+or- 10) a day and were somewhat surprised to hear the daily ride was 60 kms. That said, on one day, it was possible to ride 20 kms in the morning then 40 kms in the afternoon as the bike route crossed the boats route.
There were nine in our group and to a person we thought it would have been far better to have the boat dock at mid day for people wanting to ride a shorter distance, then head to the overnight stopping point. We would have liked the option to stop in some local villages, had lunch in a cafe and strolled at some of the scenic spots. It is not supposed to be the Tour de France.
Would we do it again, yes, but at our own pace, so we would do it 'self guided' next time as I don't think our guide could comprehend our desire to enjoy all the joys of the ride.

The scenery is beautiful. Some of the hotels -2- were super. We had problems with our bicycles and it took time to have a solution. We enjoyed.