4 Star Europe Tour Reviews — 961 to 990 of 1189

The most memorable part: The views and experiences we shared together as we ride along.

Having been on several of these bike/barge tours, this was a different area culturally than trips south of Amsterdam. Interesting history of the area. Our guide was excellent and made the trip.

All our needs were addressed. Being a guest on the Merlin was a pleasure. Our guide, Felix was very informative.

Most memorable part: Biking through the small towns and rural parts of our route.

I am very glad that I did this trip: the boat, cabin, food, bike, everything was very good. But there were some challenges, which I would like to mention.
1. The tour guide (Jan, his first name) was not rude, but more like indifferent to your problems. Very often his answer was ""It's up to you. You want this, go this way, you want that, go that way."" Hr didn't try to understand your problem and to find the best solution for your situation.
2. Bike path pavement sometimes was bad and poorly marked. For people with not good vision (like myself) it was a big problem. European bikers are more aggressive speed wise and more comfortable in the crowded environment. It was a problem to have pedestrians and bikers in both directions at the same time. So, for me it was easy to complete 50-60 kilometers physically, but it was stressful psychologically to be in such crowded place.
3. Unguided tour is a challenge: you can get lost, something can happen to you, your bike, and no help is available. One person locked a bike and lost a key. I even do not know how he came back on the boat. I am writing all these problems to give future fellow travelers more real picture before making a decision to take this trip, and moreover how to prepare yourself for the trip. My mistake was that I was thinking that if I can do 40 miles on the bike, I am ready for the trip. Physical part is not enough. You should be ready physically, but also you should be able to function in the crowded city environment at low speed, be able to repair your bike, if needed, to read a map, and not to expect that all people in the world like Americans. Sorry for being so long, but I really wanted to give the most truthful picture of my experience.

Had a great time on this tour through Paris on the Clair de Lune. Marco, Thea, and Weiger were all great. A Dutch boat and crew through Paris! The daily rides were good. Anyone who has cycled around towns and flat trails could do it. Cycling into Paris city centre was a thrill. Food was very good on the boat.

Love the boat ride, also liked the bikes and bike riding as well as our tour guide.
The food was too American, it could have been more European. The scenery was
lovely and the trails terrific. Weather fantastic. Would do it again.

The most memorable part was biking immediately after Fountainbleu, through the park's woodlands.

Needed the second guide as group unwieldy for one. Unlike prior trips, guide gave little info on trip sites/locales, despite being quite personable.

Biking through the Wachau valley and the small towns was most memorable. Staff/guides could be more customer focused and less argumentative with guest/customers. First day of biking was too rushed to complete prior to boat departure ... ride did not accommodate leisurely stops. Guides did not provide enough information on daily routes to assist with historical sites, lunch/rest stops, places to visit or provide assistance on route to ensure guests made it back to the ship. This trip did not meet the standards that previous (5 trips) Tripsite trips offered in the past that we booked.

The itinerary right up to Glendalough is great, except cycling along Dublin's coastline is not much fun having to pass by many parked cars. Take time to enjoy some easy hikes in Glendalough looking out to gorgeous views. From Day 5 onwards, the route is boring -- just riding as there's not much to see and do.
GIANT-brand bikes were in excellent condition as they were supplied from the base of Irish Cycling Safaris in Dublin (Belfield Bike Shop).

Terrific!!! Good ebikes. Love the Turbo to get over hills. First time I have used and still had a great work out at end of day but help in those windy and hilly moments. Friendly service and everything went smooth. Would definitely recommend.
SUGGESTION: Sleep after a long day is critical. The mattress should be good for the rest we need. I will say that the Killin B&B was not good. Bad old mattresses. Slept terrible. And the Double room was so small it was difficult to move around in for 2 people with their bags.
Also, would recommend a clarification of the riding instructions from Aberfeldy to Pitlochry. Not real clear. Be sure to tell them DO NOT take the foot path to Pitlochry.
Overall though would heartily recommend this tour. Much thanks.

The most memorable part was cruising down the river during dinner.

The most memorable parts were Keukenhof gardens and fellow bikers. Disappointed that a week long "tulip tour" ended up being about 3 hours of tulip tour. Primarily focused on 1953 Delta Plan, interesting but spent too much time...days, on it. Enjoyed seeing Kinderdijk windmills. Would have been nice to see more small towns and tulip fields.

My first Tripsite vacation, first bike/barge trip, first trip to the 4 countries.....loved it. Somewhat poor attitudes of hotel manager, Peter and the guides did not spoil my trip...in fact, became a bit of a joke to us. I would not let it stop from booking another trip.

The scenery , chateaus and winery were beautiful.

After sorting out problems with the bikes I was assigned I found the tour through the tulip fields to be amazing. I only wish the biking had been more leisurely with opportunities to stop and enjoy the fields and take more photos.

In relation to overall satisfaction for the trip we felt the breaks for coffee and lunch were a bit long and being in November daylight at the end of the day was an issue so in our opinion the breaks needed to be shorter.
In relation to hotel food overall the breakfasts provided were superb except for the hotel in Alcala La Real (Hotel Terrepalma) where the breakfast was both meagre and unhealthy. If the hotel can't accommodate the breakfast requirements perhaps another location for breakfast could be found for a group of hungry bikers.
In relation to the route descriptions that were written for the bikers to carry they were, at times, difficult to follow and somewhat confusing. For the most part the guide was able to offset the confusion.
The time of the year impacted the scenery as most fields were plowed under and there was a lot of smoke from fall burning making the views hazy however we did have fantastic weather which certainly added to the scenic experience.
Our guide, Jeff Lacey, was amazing! He was knowledgeable and attentive, great with people, excellent bike technician, fluent in both Spanish and English, he was encouraging and overall having him as a guide truly added excellence to this trip.
Thank you Tripsite for all your support prior to this trip. Your support and organization before the trip were truly appreciated, prompt and well executed.
What was the most memorable part of our trip? The variety in the terrain including the scenery!

Del 8 al 18 de julio del año 2016, un grupo de doce personas adultos y ya entrados en años, pues el más joven tiene 54 años y el mayor 70, hicimos el recorrido en bicicleta de las Repúblicas Bálticas. Somos un grupo de cicloturistas experimentados, que ya hemos recorrido medio Europa en bicicleta.
La organización de TRIPSITE del recorrido fue muy buena, pues estaba mezclado la actividad física con el turismo de naturaleza y el cultural. Tanto el guía como el chófer del vehículo de apoyo fueron dos personas encantadoras, atentas y se adaptaron muy bien a las características del grupo.
La actividad en bicicleta, para nuestro grupo, nos pareció corta, pero nos dimos cuenta que no todos los grupos ciclistas suelen ser gente experimentada y los guías y programas se tienen que adaptar a la generalidad de los grupos.
La experiencia fu e interesante, y las Repúblicas Bálticas con sus pueblos, ciudades y pobladores nos parecieron simpáticas y alegres.

A fabulous tour. Friendly countries to cycle in, great history and a variety of terrain. Would recommend an extra night in Znojmo to give you a chance to go discover the catacombs.and a chance to enjoy the magnificent view , wine and delicious food from the local winery. Would check with the tour company to ensure that the bikes will be delivered the night before so they can be checked out.
The Czech Republic, Hungary and Slovakia were places we had never been to and they exceeded my expectations hugely. Accommodation was chosen well and the bike company was very helpful.

I felt that the guide could have put more effort into letting us know what we were seeing. When we came upon a historic site such as a church, castle or such his standard comment was, "here is a church, you can go in and look at it if you want". We sat in front of the Porta Negra in Trier and were told it was a Roman ruin. Nothing more. My e-bike malfunctioned and I had to ride a regular bike the next day. I had ordered an e-bike because I have a health condition and was quite embarrassed that I held the rest of the group up while I walked the regular bike up small hills.

Having a guide for the biking. He was terrific. We had a route change which led to a boring day biking. They do not give you water at the table. Too many people on the boat. Lining up for things to buy tickets. Did not like having to buy a drink package. Too expensive.
Staff was very pleasant. Our guide was fabulous.

The written notes for the trail description were poorly written and not accurate. Our guide made up for this with proper verbal description for each segment.
The hotels were all superb with the the one exception ( Hotel Torre Palma) where the breakfast was lacking, just some pastries, bread, coffee and juice and no fruit, cheese, meat or yogurt.
Overall the trip was excellent and we surely enjoyed our extra knowledgeable guide Jeff.

This was our 2nd trip this year. We signed up for a 3rd already. Barge and bike is wonderful.

Would have liked more time biking. 2 days had less than 10 miles. We were in the guided group and were told the group would decide how much to bike on those days-we were never asked as a group-the guide decided himself we would do the shorter distance. Barge "purser"-a woman-not very friendly or helpful or available. Trip booked as a Bordeaux start and end, but the location of start and end of trip changed and we had to pay extra to get ourselves to Cadillac and back to Bordeaux from Libourne. The boat company should have provided that transfer free of charge. The 2 wine tasting charges should have been included in the trip charge. The boat charged 20 euros for a bottle of wine in the wine country of Bordeaux and we were not allowed to bring on any wine from the outside. You could buy a nice bottle of wine for less than $10.00 in town. Disappointed that we had twin beds-expected a double in the suite room.

Scenic Coastal ride. The most memorable part was visiting and staying overnight in unique and incredible towns and sites.

Overall, the trip was good. There was, however, a disconnect among what our trip itinerary described and what the guide and the captain thought in terms of mileages and what entrance fees were included. The guide used the corner system. That means that the entire group has to ride together and do the same mileages each day. The trip description notes that each participant will receive maps and be able to ride on their own. We did not receive maps and therefore it made it impossible to ride on our own.

Route was easy. We especially liked the fact that the boat stayed overnight where each day's ride ended. Our guide was a replacement so we don't think he was familiar enough with the route to give us the best guidance.

No, I wouldn't recommend this trip. The hotels were not in the best areas of the city (even with paying extra for the nicer hotels) and there was much more biking on busy streets with cars than expected.

Barge was great, crew was excellent, could use more air conditioning, bikes need new pedals with more grip, very slippery especially when wet, boat could review policy of not letting riders use their own pedals.