5 Star Europe Tour Reviews — 2191 to 2220 of 4485

The whole trip was great. The evening events on board were really special - the barbecue with the toast for the 30th anniversary couple, the beer and chocolate pairing with Peter and the farewell dinner with the toast for our 50th anniversary and Hester’s wonderful oboe concert. The whole crew was terrific but our guides were outstanding. The atmosphere was always convivial and we made many new friends.

The bicycle ride along the canals and fields of endless tulips! The staff and service was excellent. We highly recommend this trip to everyone.

It was a magical trip. We learned everything about tulips, chesse, windmills and much more. Try the E-bike, you exercise and also you enyoy the ride in a better way.

The attentiveness of Christina and Koen and all the rest of the staff on the boat. The only comment i have is that with 24 riders and quite a varying degree of riding abilities, I think two guides and divide the group into two would have been better.

The crew of the Vita Pugna was first class. Sylvia prepared delicious meals using fresh local items. She gave us a book of the recipes used. Hugo was a fantastic tour guide providing us with a wealth of information and lots of laughs. He woke up early to see our group of three get underway to the airport in Venice safely. Good thing he did because when we got to the marina gate it was LOCKED! Promptly he called the night security guard to unlock the gate and we were on our way once again. Hugo videoed highlights of each day and provided everyone with the link. This was a really special surprise and a wonderful keepsake of the trip.

All of it was wonderful. Guide Michela was fun and a great leader. There was a nice mix of stops for tours and riding. Scenery was beautiful. Also Liked the boat cruises from the deck. Hills and wind made it a little more of a challenging of a ride. Crew and cooks took good care of us. Would recommend.

Riding through the French countryside and small towns.

Since this was our first Bike and Barge experience we have little to compare it with, but found we enjoyed the total package. The accommodation on the Gandalf was clean and the crew made it feel more like at home instead of just a place to sleep. Can't say enough about our guide, Simon, who spent many hours insuring the biking portion was smooth and profession. Even when the unexpected happened he calmly got us up and running again. The little personal touches he added gave the group a great deal of comfort in navigating in a foreign country.
Suggestion: If you are not use to riding 40 km a day, the e-bike option goes along way to improving the enjoyment level. A purchase of a local "SIMM CARD" that has data is very reasonable and give you a local phone # to communicate with the guide and/or the boat. TIP: call your guide on the first day so that he has your phone number registered on his phone.

Staff was wonderful. Hugo was great. Food was delicious. Very enjoyable experience. Would’ve liked to spend a few more hours in Ferrara, that was my only suggestion. Most memorable was the the small things Hugo went out of his way to show us like the nighttime cemetery and the cat house along one of the trails. He was a pleasure to be around. All the staff was. Francisco was a doll. Very nice experience indeed.

We really enjoyed exploring Assisi, Montefalco, and Bevagna on foot.

This was my fourth bike and barge trip. Vita Pugna and it’s team (Samuele, Silvia, Francesco and Hugo) have ruined all future bike and barge rips! Our tour guide, Hugo, went above and beyond everyday and the food was amazing.

Riding through the fields of fruit trees, medieval villages, sipping beverages in the little outdoor cafes, tasting olive oil in the factory, learning to use the bike to it's potential, and enjoying the ambiance back on the boat with spectacular meals.

Visiting the Keukenhof Gardens & riding through the countryside of the Netherlands. Wildlife and Windmills were abundant.

This is hands down, the best way to see Holland. Our guide Piet and the crew were amazing. My husband, brother and I (in our 30’s) as well as my parents (in their 60’s) all had the best time. The rides were relaxed and gave us a chance to really take in the incredible views. I would not hesitate to suggest this trip to anyone.

The guides and crew were wonderful and really made the trip special. Although you will be riding and walking a good part of the day, don't expect to lose much weight as the food is delicious

The leaders stopping along the way to educate us on the history of the area we were biking through.

The biking route was just perfect. The scenery and sights were wonderful. Staff was friendly and knowledgeable.

The new bikes were so great to use. There were 2 smaller people on our trip that had bikes that were too big for them. One had a couple falls and we were always afraid they might be injured.

Another thing that could be helpful is to have some more road safety tips. The shark teeth at intersections, the red path is for bikes etc. While these were explained to us it might be more helpful to see a video with these actually shown. I loved having Lenny as sweep the one day just reinforcing "you are on the right so he will stop " and "he has shark teeth so you can go".

Thank you for a wonderful vacation

The visits to the the lovely villages in our bikes. The great meals in the evening. The great breakfasts in the morning. The wonderful sense of togetherness

My wife and I have just completed our first Bike and Barge tour. Amsterdam to Bruges on the Gandalf. From the Captain Hans, crew and Nishka (the dog) they made a very comfortable and enjoyable trip. We spent a lot of time with our guide, Simon, and I can't say enough about the profession way that he handled his job. Planning of the daily routes, briefing, finding a wonderful spot for lunch break, the evening walking tours(for us that had enough energy), providing city maps and all the little extra personal touches added a great deal to the overall experience.
Since my wife had not been on a bike for a few years, the rental of the e-bike was a very welcomed. The tour is on flat ground but there overpasses and distance that the option of the e-bike should be considered.

The guides and staff were extremely engaging and accommodating . The chef selection of food and wine pairings exceeded expectations . The guides were knowledgeable and personable . The tour route had the right balance of cycling , exploring and relaxing .
To improve
Rooms stuffy . Better ventilation needed for sleeping . Suggest a check to set the climate control .
Two members of our group required extra small bikes not available .
Face clothes in rooms .

The e bike was a fabulous way for me to be able to keep up. It was of superior quality to mine at home and I’d unequivocally say that almost any riding capability would be able to enjoy this trip by requesting the Gazelle e bike offering. For the barge, we really noticed the lack of air circulation in our rooms at night. They advised us when we got there that ac wasn’t working- they worked on fixing that during our time aboard but it was the one thing that prevents me from giving it an absolutely perfect rating.

When thinking about the trip, the biking is what I thought about most. Once the trip began, I realized the "extra" aspects of the trip were the most meaningful:
- visiting a cheese farm to learn about
- walking through the cities with our guides learning about their history
- fabulous meals on board
- friendly and talented staff

This trip had it all great cycling through gorgeous and historic NL with some fun informative guides, delicious meals prepared by chef Ellen, spending time with great friends and meeting new people. Highly recommend this trip. Lenny is an excellent host.

There were too many memorable moments to really list. What I think was most memorable of the trip was the kindness of all the passengers. It seemed like we all had been friends forever. The other was the professionalism of the entire staff. They were all so KIND, COURTEOUS and POLITE. The entire staff was nothing short of true professionals. They really went above and beyond to make us feel very comfortable. Actually, so comfortable I didn't want to leave. CHEERS to the crew of the Magnifique IV.

Being out on our bikes everyday and seeing the beautiful sights of costal Portugal. Joao and Sergio were very helpful with going over how to use the E Bikes and GPS, and Joao gave us a great tour of Porto.

The trip was very enjoyable , the boat was excellent in every respect, the crew was superb, and the food was top notch. We enjoyed ourselves immensely, and I would recommend this tour.
The bikes were great, the cycling routes themselves were not overly difficult and perhaps a bit lacking in scenery, but nevertheless enjoyable.

I also think that the tour leader Hein and his spouse added much to the enjoyment of the trip by all.

Sergio and John (Joua) were helpful and accommodating; organizing everything that we needed. Great itinerary from Porto to Obidos!!! We loved seeing the Portugal coast; it was beautiful. Accommodations were excellent as were suggestions of where to eat.

The Merlijn, the captain, chef, crew and guides were absolutely fantastic - our third bike and barge with Tripsite and by far the best. The most memorable part for us was riding into Ghent where we lived 15 years ago as a family for a year - spent the afternoon with the group showing off our home away from home.

Fabulous trip. Sergio and Jaoa at Top Bike Tours were terrific. They made sure the bikes were the right fit, in excellent working condition, and spent the time to train us on their use. They supported us throughout our self-guided 6-day trip. Each hotel was clean, comfortable and centrally located (mostly near or on beaches). Hotel breakfasts were excellent.
The GPS guided us without any problems and the route took us through beautiful landscapes, vistas and scenery. Jaoa took us on a wonderful walking tour of Porto when we arrived and is very knowledgeable.
This is our 4th trip using Tripsite and every one of them have been great. They are very professional and easy to work with. I highly recommend Tripsite and this Porto-Lisbon tour. We were a group of 5 people, between 67-72 years old, and all used e-bikes (a must since the terrain is rather hilly).
When we got to Lisbon, we hired HiLisbonTours for a private 3 hour walking tour of the city. Our guide was the owner - Kleiber - who did a great job.

We recall every day was an adventure the huge success was everyone enjoying riding the e-Bikes which made the trip very rewarding.
We are also very proud of the hotel stays as we were always greeted with joyful hotd and hostesses and the breakfasts were very tasty and delicious.
Upon reflection a two day stay in each of the 11 cities would have made the discovery a little more knowledgeable.the guides for the self guided trip were easy enough to follow but a quick review before entering a city is a good idea as the general direction is important. The generalization for the hotels included in the tour guide can be miss leading if you get disconcerted so make 110% you know the name of the Hotel your staying at.
Thanks for all the wonderful folks who did the research for the 11 city biking trip it was fantastic!

Sincerest regards,

John Wynia