4 Star Europe Tour Reviews — 61 to 90 of 1274

Chiverney!
The scenery and castles were wonderful. We did have some problems, however. Touring Chiverney and Chamont in one day, plus riding 55k would have been too much! Only one castle a day, please. We did not ride that day due to high winds, so we took Uber to the Castles and back to Blois. The app worked sometimes, and sometimes it did not. Getting to the start point was problematic with the app. We were not told our bikes were in Blois until the guy arrived to bring our helmets and he told us. We could have been better prepared to ride if we'd had access to the bikes before 9am.

We loved the patterns the olive trees made in mountains as well as the peaceful sunrises every cloudless morning. Each town had outstanding scenery and wonderful hosts to greet us. Including the hike at El Chorro was a nice detail to add to the trip. The hotel at Ronda was wonderful; the view from our massive balcony was spectacular. An agent, Jorge, was assigned to our self-guided trip; he executed his job with professionalism and kindness. He texted each day and offered us tips. He bailed me out on 2 specific instances: 1. Day 4 was too tough for me so he provided me a ride. 2. I broke my arm near the end of the last day (freak accident). Jorge adjusted the bike pick up location and ensured my care was complete. I rated this trip 4 stars because the moderate rating was too low in my opinion. I have used Tripsite many times and have grown accustomed to the ratings. I feel this was a moderate-hard.

Most memorable were:
The evening spent with a family-run wine farmer; tasting and purchasing wine from the guys who made it;
Seeing the cathedral in Trier;
The covered market in Metz and other open farmer markets along the way;
The moderate biking through the picturesque Moselle wine country;
Cultural and historic insights and explanations by our guide Wim;
Getting to know other Americans on the same journey;
The great food and wine offered all but one night on the Iris;
A few minutes spent on the bridge with our captain;
And finally, enjoying the hospitality, friendliness and accommodation of the crew of the Iris and our guides Wim and Alice.
On the, "Items in need of improvement" list:
One of our guides was more knowledgeable and willing to share his knowledge than the other; she has good guide skills but is inexperienced and needs to study the route and its attractions and features a bit;
There were several falls experienced by several of our group, which was 100% composed of seniors. Seniors fall, it's a fact of life, and they fall more often on bikes, especially those who don't bike much and are awkward on a bike. Some of these "accidents" can be avoided. A better orientation the night before we depart that clearly states the rules of the road would be advisable, and reminders each night about what the guides saw that day and coaching on what could be doe to assure the safety of guests. That coaching should include: do not ride side by side to have a conversation - single file only; obey traffic signals; signal when you're coming to a stop; move your bike off the path when stopping. This kind of basic rules of the road talk is needed and some direct, private conversations with the violators would go a long way towards increased safety. I was relieved no one needed medical attention. It's unrealistic to think that none of your seniors will ever have a fall on a week-long trip, but many of them can be avoided.
The bikes have seen a long season by a variety of guests and by mid-October they have a lot of wear and tear. Might be time to sell them and replace with new ones.
The Iris is a great boat for 20 guests; I found myself hoping for a space where I could read a book in private. On another bike and barge trip in Italy on the Ave Maria there was a second deck with deck chairs and an awning. Guess I'm saying I would have preferred a larger boat.

Things I liked: great boat, good food, fun guides, good boast staff, Croatia in general and the guests, many of whom were our friends.
Things I didn't like: too many cyclists for the number of guides. two guides is not enough for 31 guests. also a lot of beginner cyclists meant we were at times treated like school children out for an outing. this trip isn't great for experienced cyclists unless you're happy to ride very slowly and take a lot of breaks. I personally didn't feel very safe riding with so many people with marginal bike skills. for me, it would have worked better to have a faster group and a slower group. a faster more experienced group doesn't need two guides and doesn't need to be told how to ride or how to be safe. maybe a self-guided option would have worked best for me.

Great tour leader and staff on board. Interesting itinerary. Accommodated our food preference.

This was our second experience doing something like this. My wife had an e-bike and I had a regular bike. The rides were not long, but the climbs were challenging. Some amazing views. We really enjoyed the boat, the crew, and the guides. I didn't have a bad meal. I got up every morning to enjoy our sail at dawn. Our guides were great. The crew was great and took excellent care of us and the boat. I think my highlight might have been the volcano at Nisyros or the day ending at Knidos.

Great holiday, boat was a good size, crew friendly. A few suggestions for improvements. It bit of hassle with helmets on that no one had the booking for it ?. A lot of smoking by the crew in view of guests. Change of port departure which cost money for guests as pre booked departures were further away.

Cycling along the Mosel River was lovely. The paths are great and the vineyards and villages were quaint and memorable.

The highlight of our trip was the food! Our chef went all out everyday to accommodate those this dietary needs while giving us delicious flavors and variety everyday.

Unfortunately our tour guid had never led this tour before and was unfamiliar with the area. He made some wrong turns that left the group frustrated on rainy days and wasn’t able to lead us on walking tours of the towns we visited.

The crew and guides were amazing. Rooms /beds comfortable. They gave just a blanket that was scratchy - so ask for another sheet. The AC would often be turned off around 3am which made it hot.

Food was great. Hanging out on the top of the boat on the cushions was lovely.

The sites we saw were really beautiful. The bike ride distance were totally doable. If you are heat sensitive- do not do in summer months.

The trip with the boat and bikes in the PELOPONNES and SARONIC islands was lovely...we had perfect weather for cycling on the quiet and safe roads. The boat, Thalassa, was comfortable and the staff were pleasant. It was lovely to see the small cities and marinas as well as some interesting stops along our cycling routes. It was nice not to feel rushed and the balance between cycling, cruising (motoring, as the boat did not sail), relaxing and visiting sites near the marinas where the boat docked was just right for this vacation. Initially, I was surprised that all meals were not provided on the boat, but ultimately happy to go out into the towns to mingle with the locals.
I loved how well the feral cats on the Greek islands were fed, housed and looked after!
My suggestions would be to have a snack provided on board after we returned from cycling and to have more reasonable prices on the bar drinks rather than restaurant prices.
The guides were nice and entertaining as well as innovative when small problems arose with bikes.

Great trip overall. The boat and food were excellent. Unfortunately because we were the last tour of the summer the bikes were in bad shape. Lots of breakdowns and swapping out of bikes, fiddling with batteries, etc each day. To improve the experience the bikes should be maintained between every trip!

Very enjoyable trip. We had wonderful shipmates and both guides were excellent. Bike rides were just right for our skill level. The meals were great and the crew was top notch.
The ship was clean but our cabin was a bit smaller than expected and a few things in the bathroom are in need of repair (broken toilet seat, broken towel rack).. A bit disappointed that we didn't actually sail but rather just motored between ports; apparently not enough crew to work the sails.

The first part of the tour was more difficult than anticipated because of the many hills. Feniks is the smallest of all the boats we have toured with and the accommodation was very cramped. We really enjoyed our fellow travellers - 4 Canadians and 8 Australians - and the boat's crew. Our guide, Seitse, who we have travelled with on a previous tour, is one of the best in the business.

Riding along the Moselle amongst the vines and stopping at gorgeous little towns.

Distances on the bikes were reasonable and allowed sufficient time to enjoy our surroundings.

Best parts were the morning rides (from 9 -11) Also the first and last cycling days, because those were near the see.

The scenery and the historical cities were so wonderful. Especially loved the last day of biking through wine country and small villages. Food was excellent, and accommodation was comfortable. Only complaint would be the lack of clear, English directions during our information sessions each evening. A guide out on the course would be recommended.

The boat was great , all the rooms had windows and a little terrace, and the food was amazing. I would have liked to have more time to visit the cities were the boat docked. Cycling was fun...but we could not visit the interesting sites.

My only issue is the routes gps. The explanation weren’t always good and the routes we downloaded were certainly not updated. On a couple of days they said it was actually dangerous to bike so some of our friends didn’t bike. We had all gone there for the biking.

Scenery was great bikes where good boat was excellent would have been bocce if helmets could have been provided or rented as hard to pack and carry one to Europe .

Our Porto to Lisbon self-guided cycling tour was absolutely incredible. The scenery, accommodation and the Portuguese people were fantastic.
Dianna the receptionist in Porto did a great job of going through everything before we started. This was last minute for her due to the person who was meant to do it not showing up.
We were given a Garmin for the navigation, but the GPS app we found easier to use on our phones.
Our one ask is that some information and times be updated. A major bridge was closed to cyclists, so we had to turn around to get a ferry. Unfortunately, the ferry crossing time was different to the information we had been given.
That said this was a fantastic trip. Easy, mostly flat riding. Watch out for those Portuguese drivers when on the open roads though.

Our guide François and support staff were fabulous. The weather was perfect to see these magical sites and to enjoy cycling across the landscape. The boat staff were welcoming and the rooms very comfortable. The only reason that we are not giving this a 5 star rating is that it only became clear shortly before the trip that most of the passengers on the boat were from 1 country (in this case Germany), what that meant is that we were traveling in France yet having a German experience so more like voyeurs than a French immersion experience. The food on the boat catered to a German diet instead of a French diet (yes there were croissants in the morning and dessert crepes yet that was about it). It also seemed that none of the staff on the boat were from France. We are grateful that our tour guide and all the city guides were French and really made an effort to share the French experience!

Overall this was a fantastic trip! It was very well organized with plenty of communication from Tripsite beforehand and the Carter Company while on the tour. All the logistics were flawless - every transfer was on time and with very friendly drivers (particular shout-outs to Peter in Whitstable and Kristy and her partner in Deal). Leeds Castle and The Rose Hotel were excellent accommodations and we would happily stay at both again. A couple of quibbles, however. One, we think it's a stretch to call The Bell Hotel a luxury accommodation. It was clean but very tired. Two, although the Day 7 route from Deal to Dover was our favorite, we didn't think it necessary to trudge up the giant hill at the end to meet our transfer at Dover Castle. Unless we knew to leave super early that morning, there's no way we would have had time to do the castle and tunnels justice that day. (We went on Day 8 and spent 4-5 hours; it was wonderful.) Perhaps a better end point for that route would be the visitor center at the White Cliffs of Dover National Trust site. Or maybe give two options, one for an early start with time for Dover Castle, and the other to end at the White Cliffs. And lastly, we found out about English Heritage's Overseas Visitors Pass on our last day; perhaps include a note in the travel documentation going forward. (With apologies if it's already there and we missed it!)

Overall the trip was great. Beautiful scenery abounds. I would rate the trip a “moderate” effort vs easy as every day ended on a mountain top- but we did it and earned all the delicious food and wine! E-bikes worked well.
One aspect of the trip that was unacceptable was the person that provided the orientation, “Petra”. She was condescending and somewhat antagonistic. I asked a few questions and stopped asking as she was completely annoyed with the entire situation. During the trip we forgot a critical piece of luggage at a hotel and asked her to bring it, her response was “this is a huge inconvenience”. Although she did it, she never spoke w/ us when we saw her at the next hotel. Really bad PR for Tripsite.
This is our 3rd Tripsite tour and will use them again.

We had an excellent time on the tour. The sites we great, biking path was paved, food and the care on the Iris was excellent.
Biking on the city bridges were not always easy. A little scary with the traffic. Loved the e-bike. Would definitely go on another bike and barge trip.

The first day and last day of biking were beautiful. The route the other days weren’t as nice.
The boat staff were wonderful and the food was delicious.
Only downside was having to be on the boat for a certain time as the boat moved all night long. I prefer the tours when the boat moves as we bike and stays in port all night. Nice for after dinner walk in towns.

Coming down the Seine and seeing the Eiffel Tower from the boat was great.

Guides were great. Trip was very educational. Side tours were great even in the rain. Would to have more time to spend in each city. One day is just not enough to enjoy the local flavors.

Overall a very enjoyable trip which could have been made better with more suitable bikes. The bikes supplied were town bikes which considering the distance we were cycling, some of which was off road, did detract from the experience. The standard of hotels was very good. There was one where the size of the room was not suitable as a twin room with the beds shoe horned in. So we had to book a separate room on that occasion.
We are looking at booking something around Croatia next year.

Hello,

Overall, the trip was very good. The landscapes were beautiful, and the bikes provided were of good quality.

On the other hand, there were some negative points to mention: the absence of water bottles for the group, which had been promised in the contract, and the hotel in Aquileia, which I believe was well below the standard we had expected.

That said, I would also like to highlight the excellent assistance and responsiveness of the local team, which was very much appreciated throughout the trip.