4 Star Europe Tour Reviews — 931 to 960 of 1274

The e-bikes are essential for enjoying the beautiful, hilly terrain!

Awesome experience...biked along canals, by windmills and visited cities...literally smelled the roses. Must do!

Unfortunately left a jacket and pair of arm warmers in the pannier and when we contacted the tour company they said they’d check and get back to us but they didn’t and had to be chased several times and then they eventually said they couldn’t find them. This also applied to my partners pedals, they said there would be someone to remove them at our final destination and there wasn’t. We did eventually get these back but not the coat or arm warmers. Panniers must be emptied and checked for tools, locks etc so surprised these weren’t put in lost property. Lack of responses etc was disappointing after what was a good and well organized holiday.

The tasting opportunities added a different perspective to just cycling.

An amazing experience with great friends

Simple the thrill of cycling through Europe along the Danube River.

We had a wonderful time riding through the vineyards along the Rhine and Neckar Rivers and explore that small, picturesque towns along the way. Our tour leader made every effort to enhance our experience with interesting information and spontaneous adventures. Very much enjoyed the evening walks as extra value. Fine trip. Be aware that road surfaces vary.

The different landscapes in Croatia were awesome. The guides were amazing and the atmosphere, food and accommodation on the boat were fantastic. Being an avid cyclist, I would still recommend an e bike in Croatia to better enjoy the hilly scenery.

The tour guides are the trip. They are the face of your company. Anna and Gabrielle made the trip awesome despite the setbacks due to the weather, being stuck three days in one port and missing out on seeing some of the islands. Those guides were awesome. Tenna and Laura who served us were also awesome. They made sure we had top service delivering anything we asked when we asked and were always there for us when we needed something. And they were cheerful in meeting all our demands. The crew, cook and the staff were invisible to us but we could see there efforts through the results they delivered. The ship was kept top notch and clean the whole time as were the bikes. My bike was maintained and repaired even though I never asked for any changes. New tires showed up one day for instance, it was time for new tires and I never had to ask, they just appeared. The food was good and I had to teach myself to not eat so much! But I still feel a bit sad that we could not complete the full agenda of the trip. The weather is the weather but I wonder what I missed out on. It’s a big world and I can’t see myself doing this exact trip again but I will recommend it to others. And I will be doing more boat and bike trips. Maybe even a mountain bike one.

Riding through the country side of Belgium was like riding through a fairy tale. Picture Perfect!

We really enjoyed the Abbey in Melk, Tulln Gardens and the short walk about tour in Bratislavia

The most memorable part of the trip was sitting on the top deck in the evening, wrapped in a blanket, watching the clouds sail past the moon as the barge moved on to our next city on the Danube.
Ensure you respond to the call to choose a table for meals on the barge if you wish to sit with or close to friends.
Stay an extra night in Passau if you have the time...there is a lot to see and do.
If possible, do some cycling before your trip to prepare you for the daily tours.
If you would prefer to cycle with a guide let your agent know and they may be able to arrange it. It may be an option and worth an extra cost if it would make your trip more enjoyable.

I very much enjoyed the beauty of the Netherlands countryside. Amazed by the extent to which the country is so bicycle friendly!

We found the signage very poor on this tour especially getting out of Verona.We ended up out in the suburbs for 3 hours and wasted half a day,getting tired and frustrated.Please improve this ,it would make the trip more enjoyable.Green arrows need to be much more frequently placed.Sometimes we got to a T intersection and even with the instruction book had no clue which way to turn.
Bikes were great!
Hotel in Padua was not in a nice area,though close to the station.Did not feel safe at night given all the refugees hanging around outside the hotel
Generally the hotels would be better if they were closer to the town center in each city
Scenery lovely ,some great countryside and villages.Enjoyed the trip but stressed out looking for green arrows that we often could not find.Definitely need GPS.

Amazing scenery and locale. The biking maps leave a lot to be desired. Some riders had a trail app and they were lifesavers for those who were left to just the paper map booklet. Very difficult to follow. Maybe more tour guides to help out.

My main disappointment was that we did not go to Chateauneuf du Pape, that was one off the considerations in picking this tour. I understand the reasoning for the change in itinerary but it should be removed from the description if it is not being included. The gearing on the bikes could be better, higher top gear, lower bottom gear, for this tour. I hope this doesn't sound too negative as we did enjoy the tour. Most memorable sites were Les Beux/Les Carrieres de Lumieres and Pont-du-Gare.

The rides were the most memorable, very enjoyable and scenic. However there were a few issues. Disappointed with the bikes, for example the rubber on the pedals were so worn that my shoes constantly slipped on the exposed metal of the pedals. One of the guides switched his pedals with my bike, the guides seemed aware of the problem and it was obvious this issue had been raised before. Our toilet was leaking when we first arrived on the boat and we had quite a bit of water on the floor of the bathroom. Also the generator of the boat was switched off at night making the rooms uncomfortably hot. I don't understand why shore power wasn't utilized.

It's hard to choose a most memorable part of the trip. Aigues Mortes was a big surprise -- the history, the walls and the tower, and the special celebration -- the bull games -- taking place while we were there. The Camargue was amazing, with the waterways and the vineyards, the distinct breeds of horses and the bulls. Provence was beautiful with the olive groves and apple orchards, and of course more vineyards. It was exciting to visit the sites where Van Gogh had painted in Arles, and Hugo's commentary was superb. Singing Starry Starry night on deck under the starry night was lovely. The visit to Les Baux, with the spectacular scenery and Les Carrieres des Lumieres in the quarry were fabulous. We enjoyed visiting the Pont du Gard and singing Sur Le Pont d'Avignon as we cruised passed the bridge itself.

Now the areas for improvement: The bikes were not good enough for the Provence segment. We understood that we would be provided with 27 gear bikes, but had an infinite gearing system instead, and the lowest gear wasn't enough for the hills we encountered. Those with electric bikes were happier. Also, through some poor communication between Tripsite and the tour operator, Girolibero, a part of the trip route that our group had been particularly interested in -- a visit to Chateau Neuf du Pape -- was no longer included. Hugo did his best, with a vote (which came out even) to see whether we should go to Chateau Neuf du Pape or take the shorter route that had been promised to the others on the trip. Then he flipped a coin. We accepted the decision as appropriate, but were disappointed that we had not got what was advertised through Tripsite.

Tripsite is a great idea, my experience was that it need to mature. We did not receive the hotel listed. We did not get a SPA experience either. Surprises is not a positive thing when you are on vacation. Spain and Girona is great places to visit.

We didn't know what to expect on such a small barge/boat: however it was very enjoyable Our hosts were great and always helpful even when we knew it was a busy time for them. Being a small group and despite some language differences, we all bonded and managed to communicate well. Our leader Anna was particularly competent and took us through some interesting situations without a glitch. We will be known as the group who loves limericks as one guy in our group started by writing one for each cyclist...then of course we all started to write them. The last dinner was quite hilarious. You can't beat these tours for economy, traveling through history and spectacular scenery and commaradorie. I left off one star as the rooms and bathroom were super small and hard to manouver in. Everything else, including the meals, were something to write home about.!

Enjoyed the staff, the group we met and the overall tour. I got to visit a part of France I might never have seen. Really enjoyed the champagne bottling winery the last day.

The barge accommodation and the staff are fabulous. Guides were fantastic. Everyone aims to please. Food is plentiful. We didn't see many birds but wind and weather are not controllable. I would have liked more biking and less on rocky paths. The days riding on roads through villages were great but the dike path not so good. I would travel with this company again for sure.

The boat was very tired. In our room the sink tap was not connected the pipe letting water into the toilet tank fell off the wall. The porthole wouldn’t open. Very few of the lights in our room worked. There was no comfortable seats on the boat, and we did not go where the tour was supposed to go because of the boat not being able to handle the weather. The crew was great.

Exciting bike and barge tour throughout Southern Holland. Definitely proclaiming a successful trip in a beautiful Holland. Safe and crew were very attentive and courteous.
Felt mislead by bike insurance offerer by Tripsite. Later found out bike staff on the barge that if the bike was damaged I would have to pay upfront the amount of damage that I caused to the bike staff and then I can put a claim to the insurance by Tripsite which I would be reimbursed at that time This was a minor snafu and I was very disappointed about the misrepresentation when I was told the insurance would cover everything upon needing the coverage for bike damages.

The best part was the Tirol, and the lakes were amazing.

The beautiful bike paths along the Danube and the great food on the MS Arkona. Found the unguided bike tour confusing. Comfortable beds but loud vibrating boat motor at night made it impossible to sleep. Yay sleeping pills.

We loved the varied scenery and warm and friendly Italian people.
The hotel accommodations were very comfortable and more than adequate. We would have been satisfied with a less luxurious hotel in Trento. We would have liked to explore the town and find a different restaurant, but there was no time. That is one of the drawbacks of cycling so many miles between towns; not enough time to explore.
The Ave Maria and the entire crew were first rate. We want to particularly thank our tirelessly helpful and fun-loving guides, Marinella and Stephania. In addition, the food was artfully created and inspired.
Our one complaint is about the poorly written instructions on the 3-day, self-guided part of the trip, which sometimes caused stress. The instructions were not only terribly written, we also had different editions of instructions among our group of 12. The most exasperating time was at Riva del Garda when we cycled back and forth through the town at least 3 times, looking for the correct ferry dock, after asking and being misled several times.

Recommendation...do the riding prior to your trip that they suggest. I did not and had an uncomfortable bum for a few days, lol.

This was a wonderful tour with many interesting & historic stops along the way. The portion in the Czech Republic included challenging terrain while the ride from Vienna to Budapest was fairly flat. The hotels were all unique and very different, from botels to spas to penzione. Locations were great, had delicious breakfasts and were clean with the exception of the last one, which I'll discuss later. This trip would have been perfect if a few simple things had occurred: we received detailed information for the trip the day we left for Prague. Since there were some modifications, I lost half a day in Prague getting those worked out. That easily could've been taken care of before we left if we had the detailed info sooner. When we arrived in Prague, the cycling company sent Maps.me files to load. Because of the types of phones we have, it again took some vacation time to figure out how to download. We discovered that these were imperative to smooth navigating along the routes so I recommend that those files be sent in advance. The only other disappointment was that the hotel in Budapest was very dirty with mold all over the shower floor and walls. We had been told we'd be in a much nicer hotel, but i'm assuming they were unable to book it. Fortunately, we had booked our extra nights elsewhere. Bottom line, I would recommend this trip with the modifications above.

My wife and I just finished this trip with another couple. First of all, remember that you get what you pay for. This cruise is much cheaper than Viking or Avalon or some of the others so you can't expect as much opulence or fine cuisine. That said, everything was fine. The food was good but not great. The walls to the cabins are thin so if the person in the room next to you is a loud talker, you will hear every word. Also, try to avoid the lowest level of rooms - the windows don't open and are noisier as you are close to the engine. The trip it self was great. The cycling was easy and scenic. We had Axel as our guide, and seriously, he ruins you for any other guide. If we went on another cruise, it would have to be with Axel - any other guide would suffer in comparison I suspect. He is Austrian with a very keen sense of humour (He would have to be as he is an Arsenal fan). He went above and beyond.