5 Star Europe Tour Reviews — 2821 to 2850 of 4485

A fantastic bike tour. Very well organized and executed. Sergio and Enrique went above and beyond to make sure we had the best of the time while staying safe. The scenery was amazing, the hotels were top notch, and food was wonderful.
This was the best bike trip we've had so far, and we highly recommend it to fellow bikers.

I did the Paris to Bruges last year. It was the most amazing trip. Aboard the Feniks with a small number of fellow travellers. This is the only way to go, looking to 2021 as my next cycling/barging trip. A great way to see Europe, and my favourite country was Belgium.A gem of a country and most of all a cycling paradise.

Whole trip end to end was fantastic! Sergio and his crew of Tiago and John were amazing ensuring that we had what we needed including a tour of Porto. Sergio in particular was extremely responsive and went above and beyond to provide a great experience.
The views were incredible, nice camaraderie with the walking pilgrims and the accommodations were incredible really augmenting the trip experience. Highly recommend this trip however, just know of the hills and elevation changes as you train pre-trip.

The Portugal Silver Coast bike tour was one of my favorite vacations ever! I and 7 other people took the guided version of the tour in early June 2019. The more urban sight-seeing highlights included the city of Porto, with its very unique architecture and charming neighborhoods and cityscapes that cascade down the walls of both sides of the beautiful river valley, providing memorable photo-ops everywhere you turn. We toured a port distillery and tasted. Also noteworthy was the town of Aveiro, with its canals inhabited by gondolas and its colorfully tiled town center. And finally the university town of Coimbra, with its extraordinary 16th century library and its charming town square where groups of university students wearing darkest black perform splendid music (instruments and vocals) in various Portuguese traditions, such as Fado. Rural high-lights included beautiful beaches, pine forests, and amazing villages of stork nests, some constructed on high-voltage power distribution towers.
Food highlights included a seafood and rice stew served at a little café in Miramar right near the chapel on the beach. Also, standout was a sports bar named Núcleo Sportinguista in Figueira da Foz where we feasted on sardines. Our server was a gem! She was so friendly and patient with our rowdy group that she deserves some sort of prize! And on the final night, we enjoyed a really extraordinary meal of lovely tapas and wines at Taberna Urbana in Coimbra. Just excellent!
Many thanks to our guides, Sergio and Henrique, for their generous hospitality and flawless attention to detail. It was a joy to have them along on the trip!

We just completed this trip in last week of May 2019 & had so much fun that I’m ready for one more right away. The process to book this trip was so easy & quick with excellent communication at all times. Once we landed in Lisbon Sergio picked us up at the airport & gave me a ride to the hotel which was excellent. The bikes they provided were really in good
Condition. Before we began our trip they gave us GPS route info & guidance which helped us tremendously in ensuring our trip was safe, enjoyable & exciting. I highly recommend this. Have fun.

My wife and I thoroughly loved this "bike and sail" with Cap't Joris and his delightful crew. The meals were excellent, the support for the cycles routes very helpful, and the camaraderie among all the guest and crew made for a wonderful travel experience. We highly recommend this travel for anyone looking for an active holiday, flavorful beers, wonderful scenery, friendly locals, and superb food.

Just completed the inaugural tour of the Elodie from Maastricht to Paris. This was our fifth barge and bike and was certainly one of the best ever. The Elodie is a charming barge, spotlessly clean and well maintained with a comfortable salon where we had our meals, sat drinking, reading or playing games. The crew of Captain Chango, Chef Hans and guide Nina were outstanding in every respect. Our meals were amazing and the weather forecasts from Chango always entertaining. We were lucky enough to enjoy some nice weather where we could sit out on deck under the largest umbrella I have ever seen! A wonderful itinerary but being new the first couple of days we had a few miss turns but no one minded and we always called it an adventure. Our guide Nina made it all so enjoyable. We are already looking forward to another trip on the Elodie.

I wanted to let you know how much I enjoyed the “Heart of Holland” Bike and Barge Trip aboard the Lena Maria. I was a party of four ladies (3 Canadians and 1 USA) whose trip began on May 11. We had a fantastic trip.

Our guide, Francien, was excellent! She did an excellent job of leading the biking events...stopping for breaks when needed and keeping us moving at a comfortable pace. The evening “Next Day” sessions gave us a good idea of what to expect the next day. The stops at the 17 windmills, the cheese factory, and the flower auction site added to the day’s plan. The two evening guided city walks gave us time to explore onfoot, too. Lastly, Francien kept close watch on her biking group while leading us through city traffic and country roads. The biking trip was an excellent way to see the countryside.

The crew on the Lena Maria was excellent...the food was wonderful (great Chef!) and the hostess was very welcoming. The barge was a very welcome sight at the end of a day of biking:-)

I am pleased to say that this 72-year old lady biked every day of the trip without needing an electric bike! In fact, I just might take another bike and barge trip. Many of my friends have expressed interest in joining our next adventure!

Thanks again!

We loved our bike trip and will definitely go back to Portugal. We would love to do another bike trip supported by Sergio and his team - we highly recommend them!
Our trip was in April 2019 and from the moment we arrived we were warmly welcomed - with an airport pick up. We were given the best walking tour we have had which was done in conversation style allowing us to both learn about the rich history of Porto and to ask questions vs. being "talked at". A port tasting and tour was also included and was equally well done. Sergio and his staff treated us with incredible care all along the trip even though we were self guided. The bikes and Garmin GPS were top! The suggested restaurants along the way provided delicious food (that says a lot because we live in France and we are quite selective). Hotels were very comfortable some with spa facilities which were appreciated after being in the saddle. The route was varied - mostly coastal yet some forests. We enjoyed the visit to Vista Allegra to see the porcelain factory including the artists at work hand painting porcelain. We saw many birds along the route including nesting storks. The surface for cycling varied from paved bike routes, dirt trails and sometimes a bit of sand covering the route due to some wind. We strongly encourage you to treat yourself to this trip!

As my family of five and I embarked on an 8-day bike tour. We started in Dublin. Landed in Enniskerry, Aughrim, Laragh (Glendalough) and back to Dublin. I would have to say the Irish emerald green countryside is the most beautiful I have seen. Our favorite place would have to be the stop in Laragh. We walked to Glendalough a whopping 10-minute jaunt. We were awestruck by the amazingly preserved Monastic City. This city was founded in the 6th century and what a sight to behold. There was St. Kevins cathedral, tower, cemetery, and an old copper mine. These were all nestled in between two mountains with a lake at the edge. Worth the trip.

May 2019 - Review of the Salzburg & Bavaria Bike Tour, or "Mozartradweg". With a really varied cycling terrain, but with the Alps on constant display, this was an extraordinary choice for a bike tour. It was a joy to cycle this part of Europe. Highlights for me were the towns of Wasserburg, Berchtesgaden, Kufstein, and Salzburg. The landscapes connecting these towns were just breathtaking. My only complaint would be that due the amount of time required on the bike, there was little time explore many of the sights along the way, such as the islands in the Chiemsee, Seeon Abbey, the Eagle's Nest, etc. I really enjoyed my few extra days in Salzburg and would have added another day or two in Berchtesgaden if I were to do it again. For the practical points, the bike was good, as were the hotels. And while the path itself was signposted extensively, (as "mozartradweg"), I would not want to rely on the maps and directions provided. I paid the thirty euros for the GPS tracks for the Komoot app (which easily transferred to my Garmin). I would really highly recommend this, and Komoot app turned out to be great. I chose early May with the intent of experiencing the Alpine meadows and chestnut trees in full bloom. And while they were, there was near constant rain, and even one day that it snowed. I was lucky I had packed thermal gear, but even so, the weather wore me down and I cheated and took the train the last day (which was easy to do, and the bike was free). I would go later in the Springtime or in the summer were I to do it again.

We toured Barolo wine country. This is a prosperous part of Italy but the young women wore tattered blue jeans. We had great food and wine. The countryside is beautiful. There were some parts of the route that were on roads with big trucks and others on gravel or dirt (in our case muddy with rain) road. There were long uphill climbs with 16% grade, thank goodness for the excellent bicycles. It was a great experience that I recommend. We have done multiple trips with Tripsite and all have been wonderful.

This was my first bike and barge trip. The most memorable part of the trip was the constant attention and effort of the staff, from the captain down, to make the trip special. Entertainment (they have abundant talent), tours of the engine room, attending to the passenger's needs - were all beyond my expectations. For example, while sitting on the deck on a chilly night after everyone else had gone in, a crew member brought us blankets. I am definitely looking forward to our upcoming trip!

Our fabulous 2019 vacation was aboard the Vita Pugna (very clean and comfortable) biking from Mantova to Venice. We were well taken care of by Captain Edoardo, crew/chefs Silvia and Barbara (delicious meals and afternoon snacks plus breakfast!) and our wonderful guide Fabio. I can’t say enough about each one of them, the patience of Fabio is extraordinary. He went above and beyond to make sure each guest was comfortable cycling and informed of routes/plans throughout the week. At the end of the tour he went out of his way to assure that each person knew exactly how to get to their destination when departing the barge. The biking (the bikes were in great shape!) was fun/well organized, the food was outstanding, the landscape/pubs/villages/museum/cheese factory/cappuccino stops, etc. were wonderful. We loved the night walks and the walking tours by local guides. Tripsite provided second to none customer service through our booking process. They were quick to answer any questions/concerns I had, and I love the online chat feature! We are looking at another bike/barge for 2020 and after going through another company a couple of years ago, will only use Tripsite now. Kudos to all and thanks so much for making our 2019 vacation one for the books!

My wife and I really enjoyed this bike tour; everything from the hotel in Porto, to the gps guide, luggage transfer and our final transfer to Lisbon was excellent. Carlos briefed us about the tour, introduced us to our bikes and our gps "tour guide"; actually made us do it before he left us. Since we had an extra day in Porto we practiced using the gps by doing its walking tour of Porto. Appreciate the Emergancy phone provided, even tho we did not use it. Weather was perfect. The only downside is the tour goes thru areas that were burned a couple years ago; very sad; made us really appreciate the beautiful unburned forests we rode thru. The tour booklet provided a good overview of each day's ride; there are some sections where finding food & water at mid day may be a challenge. A good tour

We loved the whole experience but one favorite highlight was the Hungarian Folklore show and being selected to dance with the troupe! We made great friends with our tablemates and are planning to visit them next year in Canada. We have shared our experience with so many friends at home that they want to do the trip too. Truly an amazing experience! I would be remiss if I failed to mention the value of the entire experience for the price paid. Very affordable!

My wife and I have done several of these bike tours. They've all been amazing, Umbria, Sicily, Dali Country, etc. Mallorca was the most relaxing. You are on beautiful country roads nearly the entire time. Coming from California where you are constantly dealing with cars, this was a huge treat. The weather in May was perfect. The inns and food were spectacular as well. A truly great trip. Sean

The sheer amount of interesting things to see and do along our route, so much so that we did a lot of hiking in wonderful scenic countryside. My tip for others is that this is a cycle route that you must do! We plan to revisit it again in a couple of years. It was that good.

Most memorable parts: The guided cycle tour around Prague and then the Elbe Sandstone Mountain Range and the region around the border between the state of Saxony and the North Bohemian region.

Best Parts? The spring landscape & scenery. The mix of sights and history along the route.

Prague guide was fantastic, was very interesting and could not do enough for us

We took the self-guided "Sport" tour from Passau to Vienna, starting on 2 April.

A. Here are our suggestions for anyone looking at the tour options for Passau to Vienna.
1. Don’t ever sign up for the “Sport” version of the tour because it requires 50+ miles every day, and leaves no time for exploring or resting.
2. If you are doing the self-guided trail, do yourself a favor and get the e-bikes. The bikes given to us were really inadequate for the distances.
3. Consider doing the bike & boat option rather than biking the whole way. The reasons? If on a boat, you won’t have to pack and unpack every day; You won’t have to search for the hotel in the evening, and you can look forward to relaxing on a boat every night. Another big plus is that from the shoreline, you often cannot get a good perspective on the scenery. When the cliffs rise overhead and you are below, you can’t see them at all. And you may be able to avoid some of the on-road biking that we encountered.

B. Here are the things we liked about the Tripsite planning and execution:
1. They booked all of the hotels and moved our bags every day. The hotel choices were excellent and the hotel owners all served good meals and provided nice rooms.
2. There were no surprise expenses.
3. Tripsite pretty much delivered what they promised.

C. Here are the things we did not like about the Tripsite planning and execution:
1. The materials and the bikes were delivered on the first morning of the trip. The trail book has lots of detail and routes on both sides of the river. Receiving the book as you are departing for a 350 mile journey is ridiculous. The company who publishes the maps (esterbauer.com) probably could provide a PDF far in advance.
2. The trail map was outdated. We encountered sections, starting on day 1, where the trail signs said the trail ended. Several times we were traveling on busy highways with no bike lane, no shoulder, and with semi-trucks screaming past us. On one section, we had to peddle for several km on soft sand past the trail closed signs, because the alternative was riding on an autobahn-type highway.
3. We purchased the Komoot iPhone app with the trail, thinking it would help us. Sometimes it did help. Other times, it tried to route us onto busy roads. It does not work well for this kind of trip, because the hotels are not on the route. We used Komoot to help get us from the trail to the hotels and Google Maps worked at least as well. I think Komoot is a good product, but not implemented well for this application.
4. During our entire trip, we encountered very strong headwinds that made progress painful. We expected that 21-speed bikes would be ok, but the gearless bikes performed very much like 7-speed bikes and is the source of complaints from others too. We concur. We should have ordered E-bikes.
5. On the second day, we called and asked to replace our bikes with e-bikes. Rad-Reisen called back and essentially said it would not be convenient for them to make the change. Trying to ride 50 miles into a strong headwind with the equivalent of a 7-speed bike is not good. I was sometimes limited to 11-14 km/hr (7-9 mph) because of the wind.
6. We signed up for a bike-tour of Vienna and stayed an extra day in Vienna. That day there were 25,000 runners in the Vienna Marathon, so we asked to cancel the tour. We found that the tour had already been cancelled for us, but we did not know it.  SHOW MORE 

Just completed this tour - May, 2019. We were a group of 12 (Canadians) and were looking for a reasonably easy bike journey. The terrain was - as advertised - very flat and never strayed very far from the beautiful shorelines of Portugal. (one significant hill - character builder) Early to mid-May worked well and we could only imagine how crowded the beaches and communities would be if the trip were taken in high summer months. Many of the small towns we passed through were almost dormant - very little life or activity, and many shops seemed closed . If you take the trip - be aware of Sunday closings and fewer selections of restaurants in Portugal. Sergio, the organizer and supporter, was helpful in every way with the organization of the trip, gps devices and bikes. He was available at all times if needed. We did not require that sort of support - and we were non-guided. The actual surfaces of land that we biked upon were variable - ranging from excellent bike paths to rural, remote dirt roads - but all very passable.
Not enough can be said about the hospitality and consideration of the Portuguese people we encountered. Bike travel is not as abundant in Portugal, and not as much a part of the culture, as elsewhere in Europe - but the gentle ways of the Portuguese are a pleasure to encounter. lb

Our guide Cornel was great with fun stories and historic information provided throughout our trip. Loved the digestive walks after dinner of the various towns we were docked at. The staff of the Merlijn couldn't have been nicer or more professional and the boat was very clean and comfortable. Food was pretty basic and could be improved, but that was not a high priority to me. Overall great trip and have already recommended it to many people.

"It is difficult to say what the most memorable part of the trip was as each and every day brought wonderful new sights and experiences. Biking along fields filled with tulips and a stop at the Keukenhof Gardens would certainly rate as one of the highlights of the trip. The staff and bike guide definitely made the trip special as they went above and beyond to ensure we were satisfied. Food was great with a plentiful breakfast buffet and a different menu each night. Our lunches were made and packed each day and boy, theses sandwiches and treats sure tasted great after putting some miles in. The dining/lounge was large and spacious and made for a great place to interact with the other guests. Bedrooms/bathrooms were nor overly spacious but were very clean and the beds were comfortable.
This was our first trip of this kind and also our first trip to Europe and the Crew of the Merlijn made it a wonderful experience we will never forget. Thank you Coen, Cristina, Klara, Luliana, Lili and our tour guide Cornel. Memories to last forever.

I highly recommend this trip. We were on the Merlijn. It was a charming barge with a very friendly and helpful staff. I was amazed just how comfortable the beds were and how roomy the bathrooms were.
Our guide was very informative and had a great sense of humor. The guests, even though all so different , became friends. Leaving the barge was bittersweet. I cannot wait to go on another. The only thing I wish was a bit better, was the food. But then I consider myself a bit of a foody and so my expectations might be too high.

The biking was wonderful, the digestive walks in the evening were great and the camaraderie of the group was fantastic.

A wonderful way to experience the Netherlands. Our guide Cornell was informed and professional. Captain, mates and staff provided all the conveniences of home.

The expected/promised highlights on our 8 Day - Tulip Tour (Keukenhof Gardens, the Royal Flora Holland Auction, Zaanse Schans and a visit to a cheese farm on an island in Rijpwetering) were wonderful. But it was the unexpected stops introduced by our guides that were most memorable. The visit to a windmill making paper from recycled rags, watching the release of cows for the first time in the spring near Spaarndam , the stop at the Aalsmeer Crash Museum and a visit to the Hortus Bulborum in Limmen made our trip extra special.

What a great trip. Would like to do another.