5 Star Europe Tour Reviews — 1981 to 2010 of 4480

My son and I loved our bike tour of northern Denmark. The hotels were great - especially the breakfasts. Christian set us up with the bikes and moved our luggage to the next hotel. He seemed committed to making sure we had a good trip. I highly recommend this tour.

Wonderful. This was our 4th ride of the islands. Beautiful as ever. Great crew and great companions from all over on the boat.

Great biking on an iconic river through the major cities in grand luxury.

The trail was beautiful. Loved going thru the eucalyptus forest the aromas lovely. Being next to the rivers and ocean was great. Most of the trail was covered with shade making the hot days most enjoyable.
Hotel accommodations were nice. Liked having different styles of hotels - each had their own character.
Recommend to have a couple more food recommendations for lunch as some restraints were closed Mon & Tues due to being late in the season.
All our bike were new models- well maintained. Our host made sure several times during the trip that everything was working ok.

Our staff. Hans and Wilfred were exceptional.

The dinners were fantastic.

Riding in our bike entourage through the scenic Flemish and Dutch countryside, from one hamlet to the next village with the beautiful backdrop of peaceful fields will be seared into our memories forever. We did encounter some blustery rain, which makes us regret not having packed better rain gear.

A wonderful experience! Good food, lots of fun. Leslie the cruise director was phenomenal! I'm not sure its possible, but it would have been nice to have a little more time in the major cities. The bus trips were a great introduction for a return trip.

Highlights: Beautiful scenery along the Danube whether you are on the boat or riding your bike. The staff was extremely friendly & helpful. The food offered was excellent along with the service.
Biking: I’m a regular cyclist (Road & Mountain) so I chose to ride a standard (non ebike) bike. The bikes are heavy and geared way too high. Fortunately, the terrain is relatively flat so the number of times needing lower gears were few.

The most memorable part of the trip was creating new relationships and the beautiful canals and gardens!
I would consider booking another bike and barge through tripsite in the future.

This was the best cycling trip ever! A total exhilarating adventure!! The vistas, the terrain, the food , the accommodation were absolutely perfect. It really was a trip of a lifetime. As we rounded every corner there was another adventure. There was a smile on the groups faces constantly as it was a fun and somewhat challenging ride. The e bikes were really appreciated on the steep hills. However it still required hard pedalling,
I cannot give enough praise to Sergio and the crew. They took excellent care of us every minute. The group dinners were very enjoyable. This tour fills fast and I can now understand.
Sign up for this as the spots go very quickly and I can now say I understand why it is so popular

This was the best trip ever, which makes it hard to think of just one memorable part. Truly everything was memorable, the sights, the food, the experience of biking through small towns, the crew especially Leslie our cruise director. If I had to pick one special moment it would be while biking through the countryside we came across a quaint Food truck selling homemade lemonade. We rested, ate our lunch, shot some darts and drank the most delicious glass of blood orange lemonade.
When the trip was over, we all said “let’s do another one next year!”

Our trip along the Moselle River from Metz France, through Luxemburg, to Koblenz Germany was a fantastic adventure! The route was easy to follow, especially with the GPS coordinates we were provided along with the detailed description of the towns. Our group of four travelled along the river following the mostly paved trail through fields and forests, vineyards, and city trails. The September air was crisp and cool and the vines were rich with clusters of grapes. Traveling comfortably an average of 35 miles on well-maintained e-bikes, we arrived at our destinations with plenty of time for exploration and discovery. Each town had its own charming character. Trier, one of the oldest cities of Germany was an incredible architectural experience with Romanesque arches, palaces and cathedrals. We discovered outdoor markets and enjoyed local Luxemburg cuisine as we learned about the creation of the Schengen agreement which led to the EEU. Old Roman castles dotted the terraced mountains and we took the time to visit a few of them, marveling at their size and strength, The small village of Neumagen-Dhron, with its historic and colorful architecture welcomed us with open arms as they celebrated their annual wine festival in the streets. Koblenz at the confluence of the Rhine and Moselle shared its dynamic march through history with monuments and statues. Accommodations were consistently excellent in quality and service.
This was my first adventure with Tripsite but by no means the last. Thanks to all at Tripsite for making this such a memorable vacation!

The whole trip was an adventure! The crew and the guides were great and worked hard every day loading all the bikes on the dinghies as well as keeping us all safe during transport. The bikes and biking was great! The scenery was spectacular! At the end of the day when we returned to the ship we were happy to celebrate with a refreshing swim in the sea followed by a drink from the bar. The guests were an international group . Despite language barriers we mixed well and enjoyed the diversity leaving the ship promising to stay in contact. Great memories!

Most memorable part: Trip into and out of Venice

Our most memorable part of the trip was the lovely riding along the Mosel and Saar with our family. As well as, the wonderful hospitality of the Flora crew (Berthus, Jonne, Christiana, Stephan) and great conversations with our guide, Wieger.

Our suggestion/tips for others would be: be prepared for intimate living quarters with others and enjoy the bike riding through a beautiful part of Germany. It is about the journey, not the destination. And, DO take the tour at Burg Elz!

Every day was a blast. There are several Lake Constance (Bodensee) tours. We selected the 12-day (11 night) package, which had 9 days of bike rides and one day of "rest" at St Gallen, Switzerland. The rest day turned out to be another adventure because we decided to take the Appenzeller Bahnen (Appenzell Railways) to explore Appenzellerland, per-Alpine landscape, where we hiked up to beautiful lake Seealpsee.

Tips for others: don't stress the biking. Take it easy; take a lot of pictures; make a lot of memories

This trip exceeded our expectations. The accommodations and food on the barge were wonderful. We were so comfortable. The guides were terrific, they were so informative and made adjustments as needed to suit weather and safety. The evening tours to special places where we stopped were special. The crew was great. I can’t wait to do it again.

There were so many memorable aspects of our self-guided cycling tour from Porto to Santiago . . . too many to list. It's easier to list the negative parts of the trip because there were NONE, except for wanting to stay even longer! I really have to give a shout-out to Sergio and John at the bike shop in Porto because every aspect of this self-guided trip was extremely well organized and the trip went off without a hitch from the GPS and app directions, the daily luggage transfers, and the wonderful hotels . . . everything was perfect. Thank you for an amazing trip!

Could not have been better. Everthying about it was superb.

Bicycling through the picturesque countryside was magical. We saw beautiful homes and gardens, bridges, small villages, windmills, and night touring the bigger towns to learn a little about the history was a bonus. Staying on a smaller barge gave us an opportunity to get to know the other guests and crew. This too made for a memorable trip. The company is very organized and have a well thought out program. Our tour guide Roseanna was amazing. She had much information to share on our route, kept us together, tremendous patience and lots of fun. Our Chef, Captain and crew made for a comfortable, safe and relaxing trip down the canals after our ride.

Diversity of the scenery, which was beautiful. A good portion of the route is right along the Adriatic, which we jumped in several times. The Adriatic is very nice.The rest of the time we were cycling through forests, vineyards or old train tunnels on our way to mountain/hilltop villages. Stunning views from all of the hotels. The people in Slovenia and Croatia were friendly and often times very engaging.
We also took a day trip, before the start of the cycling journey, to the interior of Slovenia. Beautiful country… very clean. Ljubljana is a very cool city. Would recommend if time allows.

Most memorable parts? Food, people, the rides through the country

The biking throughout was excellent: we had great guides and the barge crew was friendly, accommodating, and VERY professional. Plus there seemed to be a castle on every hill, like biking through a fairytale.

Wonderful trip! We were a party of eight, ages 55 to 72, and did the 8-day self-guided tour. The scenery was spectacular, the e-bikes were almost new (two of them were brand new), the GPS route finding was excellent, the hotels were all very comfortable, and the baggage handling was flawless. Most of the riding was on dedicated bike paths, backroads, or elevated wood paths. There were a few short sections of sand that required pushing the bikes and a few busy stretches of road (all with good shoulders). Two memorable hotels are Parador de Baiona in Bayona which is inside a castle, and Torre do Rio in Caldas Dos Reis which is in a remodeled 18th century textile mill featuring a waterfall pool and spectacular gardens.

The GPS guidance takes you from door-to-door of each hotel on the tour. We got off track at least once a per day with the GPS it is easy to get back on route. I recommend using both the Garmin GPS provided by Top Bikes (the tour operator) and the "Ride with GPS" route that Top Bike will help you load on your phone at the orientation session.

We had a few days of rain near the end of the trip but fortunately is came in short intense bursts that we could wait out in a sheltered spot. We did the tour in early September so it was quite warm. I recommend taking a bike rain coat and possibly a helmet cover. The panniers provided by Top Bike are water proof.

We are already planning our next self-guided bike tour!

I was very impressed with the ship, food, crew and all around organization of everything. I expected the photos from the website to enhance the appearance and size of the ship, but in person it was just as impressive. I wouldn't say our cabin was large, but it offered all that we required. There were multiple storage areas, a safe box, refrigerator, coffee station and the outlets were where they needed to be.
The ship was very clean. All cleaning seemed to be done while passengers were at meals or on excursions. I did not see anyone pushing a vacuum or hauling trash, but yet the carpets were free from dirt, and all public spaces were tidy and well-tended.
The crew were helpful and friendly. We got to know a few of them (Patrick, George, Samwell and Dida) and have fond memories of them. I hope we didn't pester them too much with our questions and demands.
The meals were wonderful - well presented and more than enough to satisfy any appetite (I now need to diet to make up for all my indulgence). Some dishes I preferred more than others, but it was good to get a taste of the local cuisines. There were generally options for vegetarians, seafood lovers and meat eaters, and always a choice of a tasty dessert.
We chose a Bike and Barge excursion, so we got to explore the area on bike. We had reserved electric bikes. These were easy to get the hang of, well maintained and easy to peddle. The scenery was beautiful and most of the biking was on bike paths although there were some challenging areas involving traffic and finding our way. The afternoon before each bike day, we were given a presentation detailing the path we needed to take and what we might encounter. We were also given a booklet with maps, points of interest and more details.
I would highly recommend choosing Tripsite for your next vacation.

The scenery was fantastic, especially from the high points and we were fortunate to have dry sunny weather all week.
The guides and crew were great and once you had adjusted to the compact cabins it was thoroughly enjoyable.

Outright tip: the e-bikes really take the sting out of the challenging climbs

The riding was relatively easy given the flat countryside. The rides along country lanes and through farmland was magical. The stops in towns were a great opportunity to experience small town life in the Netherlands. The food on board the sailing home was wonderful, and the staff were great--attentive, available, friendly, enthusiastic. So few people did so much--it was remarkable.

The one thing I forgot to mention in the survey while I was still on the barge ( while still basking in the glow of such a wonderful trip), is regarding the first evening. The plan was for a short "shakedown" bike ride to check out our bikes, and get used to them. By the time we got outside, it was nearly dark. There were some bikes that needed some attention and the short ride through town was difficult in the dark. It was a frustrating and anxiety provoking first outing. I think the solution would be easy---either make dinner that night earlier, and/or, at the least, postpone dessert, head out to the bikes with more daylight remaining, and then have a post-ride dessert available. It could be something simple like pastry, cookies, or fruit so that the chef doesn't need to stay on any later (she works hard enough as it is).
My high ratings overall for the trip are not inclusive of that first evening, which wasn't a good experience, but then faded into the background since everything afterwards went so well. Thank you for taking this into consideration.

I really enjoyed my trip on the Swiss Crown. The boat is beautiful, the food is fabulous, and the staff is amazing. Everyone was very friendly and helpful. I especially loved the city tours we took. I highly recommend this trip to anyone who wants to see a variety of places and people. The Danube is gorgeous and was surprising sparsely populated in places. Gliding along with a drink on the sun deck is a wonderful way to experience the river itself. I did not ride the bikes, but my entire family enjoyed them and said they were easy to ride. Please take this trip. You will have a great time!

Beautiful vistas daily as we cycled along the Danube