France Tour Reviews — 1 to 30 of 964

Except for one day of peddling through a very industrial area, the scenery along the Rhine was beautiful. For the most part off road on dedicated wide cycle paths. Each evening the tour director/convenor provided an orientation for the route the following day. The food on the barge was excellent. No complaints at all. Very good value.
Note: The cabins at the back of the barge seemed a bit more cramped and noisy.

The staff and the tour guides made this trip awesome. I would have given it a 5, but we were stuck on the boat in Auxerre for the week due to a broken lock on the Yonne river, so I can't rate what we didn't see. That said, our tour guides developed a beautiful series of bike rides based in our near Auxerre (all on the fly). The staff on the boat were awesome too - working together as a team and making relationships with all the guests. I can say with certainty that all 22 guests had a fantastic week.

Kristen did a wonderful job helping us plan our trip and then executing the logistics. The bikes were first-rate, and when we did have a problem with one, it was quickly swapped out.

Three things impressed me that were different from our last trip with Tripsite.
1. The Tripsite app was superb and quickly replaced a paid bike app I had planned to use. We also liked the local city tour guides in the app.
2. We chose to take a day off every 3 to 4 days and upgraded our lodgings for those double-night stays to Deluxe Accommodations, which we found very nice and greatly appreciated. I want to clarify that you offer two accommodation levels: deluxe and superior. To me, the wording seems reversed: "superior" typically implies a higher level than "deluxe," but here "deluxe" was the better accommodations.
3. The food was delicious throughout the trip. At times, it felt as much like a food tour as a biking adventure, making the experience very memorable.
Thank you for making our trip stress-free and enjoyable.

Everything on his trip was wonderful! The boat was the best one we have been on, the cabins were large and they had sliding doors that opened to the river, the food was gourmet quality. The rides took us to wonderful cities which we walked through and toured from canal boats. The scenery was delightful and changing every day from river views to farmland and small towns. When we got to Paris one of the guides stayed there and was so helpful in getting us to the places we wanted to see.Like our own personal concierge.

Our group of 10 cyclists enjoyed a lovely self-guided tour from Tours to Angers thanks to Tripsite and their local tour operator. Kirsten with Tripsite was very attentive to our needs and spot on in developing a tour package that worked for our group, including merging this tour with the Tours-Angers leg. The scenery was breathtaking, the cycling was varied and fun, and the selected hotels and restaurants were memorable. We highly recommended selecting the chateaux and restaurants packages if you are traveling with a large group.

Our group of 10 cyclists enjoyed a lovely self-guided tour from Tours to Angers thanks to Tripsite and their local tour operator. Kirsten with Tripsite was very attentive to our needs and spot on in developing a tour package that worked for our group, including merging this tour with the Orleans-Tours leg. The scenery was breathtaking, the cycling was varied and fun, and the selected hotels and restaurants were memorable. We highly recommended selecting the chateaux and restaurants packages if you are traveling with a large group.

Memorable points or cities were: Châteauneuf-du-Pape wine tasting . After lunch at the very good Aubergue de Tavel restaurant; memorable cities like Gordes, Venasque (in this hilltop town we had lunch at Les Reparts with a wonderful view); Roussilon the orange and yellow city and to close the trip with the feeling of visiting incredible places, Le Baux-de-Provence. In this town you need to leave the bike aside and walk around it, understanding the history that took place there. The whole way to get to Le Baux is beautiful, as is the return to Saint Remy.

Unusual and excellent itinerary starting in Amsterdam and ending in Paris. Beautiful barge with lovely accommodations and amazing, stunningly presented food. Nice group size.

We had an excellent on-barge experience. The crew—Didier, Omar, and Sara—were fantastic. Our captain, Didier, a fifth-generation (!) barge captain, was delightful and engaging. Omar anticipated every passenger's need, whether spoken or unspoken. Sara was an inventive chef who brought fantastic energy to the boat; her nightly descriptions of the menu made every meal feel like "dinner and a show."

Additionally, we were lucky to have an exceptional group of passengers. Our four-person group from Boston clicked immediately with the travelers from Canada and Florida. In addition to enjoying our time with them on the barge, we collaborated well during our rides to ensure everyone stayed safe, which truly enhanced the trip.

While our experience with the tour guide—an experienced biker but not a natural tour leader—was less positive, it was not enough to dampen our overall enthusiasm for the journey.

Out cycle guide was excellent! We were less satisfied with the Arosa Stella. Promised free internet was not provided and paid internet was poor. Some issues with no AC in rooms, and intermitent hot water. Food was good but were expecting more local French meal options. The food was very German, probably because of large Swiss German and German numbers on the boat. Just seemed to be less of a Provence France experience with very German buffets.

Being the Madian voyage with the crew was a fabulous experience. Great guides, amazing food and wonderful experiences.

Everything was top notch. The quaint hotel in a charming little French village had great accommodations. The grounds were beautiful. Breakfast included meats and cheeses, yogurt, cereal, breads and croissants. Very hearty meal before heading out to ride. The evening meals were varied and all prepared by the restaurant's chef. We enjoyed every meal and the interaction with the staff. Claudia, our host, fitted us for our bikes and met with us each morning after breakfast to go over the routes. She was very thorough and we had no trouble finding our way. The routes were spectacular as they traversed the French countryside with beautiful views and a couple were Tour de France routes. Recommendations for lunch stops were excellent and we enjoyed meeting the local residents. Even though our trip was self--guided, Claudia was always a phone call away if needed. Will definitely return again.

Our bike-barge trip from Aigue-Mortes to Avignon was fabulous. We rode through beautiful countryside and could see why the great painters chose to create their masterpieces in Provence. The wildflowers, farms, vineyards, and white horses were spectacular. Our guide, Gabo, was excellent and shepherded us very well through all kinds of terrains and experiences. He was knowledgeable and prepared. Sara, our chef, made wonderfully delicious, creative meals that we greatly enjoyed. The boat, L'Estello was comfortable and a great place to relax after our long rides. Omar attended to all the details and the captain managed the boat well. The bikes were in excellent condition and were well equipped. We felt it was a great experience.

The cycling was great. It was hard to say which day as each experience was great. I did love seeing the Carrière luminaries.

Biking the back roads in Provence were the highlight of the trip for me. Stella is a comfortable boat and rooms were comfortable. Crew on the boat friendly and efficient. It would help the breakfast lines if there were two grills cooking eggs because that area became a bottleneck. The WIFI on the boat was terrible. It's one thing to have poor and inconsistent WIFI but to be charged for it is bad business practice.

The trip was everything we expected and more, a special shout out to the crew of the L’Estello who went above and beyond to make our trip such fun! Our guide Gabo was both knowledgeable and entertaining.

My stay in the Loire Valley was very satisfactory. The arrangement of staying in a single hotel while visiting the region's iconic castles provided a high level of comfort and convenience. To ensure constant connectivity and to manage my travel logistics between sites, I relied on WingReserve.com website. This approach is an excellent option for those looking to explore French heritage at a steady and well-organized pace.

This was a great trip because of the great guides, great crew, and great cook.

I really enjoyed the peacefulness and beauty of the route and the way the app kept us on track. The castle visits were lovely. I do think the final day ride (55 km) paired with two castle visits was unrealistic. We ended up not doing the ride due to high winds, and even using taxis to get to the two castles, the trip took all day. I really appreciated the responsiveness of the tour operators--promptly getting us a new bike when one malfunctioned and being flexible about the bike pick-up at the end of the trip. However, I think communication could have been better and clearer. For example, we were told that the bikes would be available on Sunday and we were waiting for them to be delivered when in fact they had been put in the hotel's bike garage the day before. Instructions on how to access extras included in the tour (e.g., a wine tasting) were not provided. Thank you for facilitating a wonderful trip!

Our bike/barge trip surpassed our expectations. The crew was great: the captain, the crew who took care of us on the boat, and our two guides. We really enjoyed the bonus of stopping along the route to see interesting sites or to have a treat and tea in a pretty spot. The Moselle Valley is so beautiful, and in October the colors were unexpectedly beautiful. We would definitely recommend this!

Enjoyed the camaraderie knowledge of the staff. Iris had a wonderful layout but maybe not a round sink in bathroom w faucet in center so when washing your face water goes all over

The wonderful boat, delicious food, fantastic scenery, and amazing crew and guides made for an outstanding trip!

Hein was an absolutely amazing and interesting guide; the crew was fantastic. Special kudos to the chef (Geovani): best food by far of any of our 3 tripsite boat/bike trips so far. And we LOVED Alicia (our overall helper etc). So personable and friendly and wonderful that she shared her artwork with us! And a great group of fellow travellers/bikers to share this with. Just a fantastic trip!

Overall the trip could have been better. Our tour guide and the staff on the barge were outstanding! Knowledgeable, attentive and friendly. But the barge is too small for the 21 people on the tour. There is not enough seating in the common area for everyone. There is no wifi in the cabins, only upstairs in common areas, where again there is not enough room. We packed our lunches everyday and brought them with us but I would have liked more variety in the offerings. It was the same thing every single day. More variety in the breakfast would have been nice also. My biggest complaint is that there was no tour sweep rider provided on our bike outings and there should have been. Someone had to volunteer each day for it. Not having a professional tour sweep caused many problems.

My trip was Cochem to Metz and it was excellent! The Iris is a beautiful, well furnished barge that had a fabulous welcoming, friendly crew and two fun guides to show us the historical sights along the Moselle River. Extra activities for us were delightful. Fun to be with a smaller group of people on this bike and barge trip. I would definitely go on another excursion!

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.

The boat, bikes, routes and crew were all wonderful aboard the Magnifique 1! Everything exceeded our expectations. I would absolutely recommend this trip. In mid-October, we had to wear a few layers most days, but the fall colors were beautiful and we got to experience most things without any crowds.

My recent bike and barge trip "Cochem to Metz" was by far one of the best I have done. The whole process from initial inquiry to disembarkation was handled wonderfully by Trip Site. It so nice be able to speak to a real person whether just calling for information or making sure that the initial booking is in proper order. That process was handled professionally and pleasantly by one Kirsten Hollister. Kirsten was always there to help and advise. I can't thank her enough.
We chose the ship the Iris. Its an intimate barge which holds a maximum of 24 passengers. On our trip there were 19. Our rooms were spacious with two single beds and ample room for storage. The bathroom although small was everything one needed. We were quite comfortable. Above deck there was a spacious lounge and a lovely dining area. Additionally there was seating out of doors on the front deck. Temperatures were a little cool in mid-October so we didn't spend a lot of time there.
The crew consisted of 4: a captain, 1st mate, house keeper and a cook. All were extremely cordial , friendly and professional. The ship ran smoothly. The cook Joost did an excellent job . Cuisine varied from day to day featuring many regional dishes. All delicious. We were well fed. A nice touch were the included wine parings with dinner. It was great sampling the wines for which the Mosel is famous especially after we had cycled past the vineyards from which they were born.
Two guides were there to lead us along the bike paths along the Mosel. We were divided into two groups each with nine or ten. Its was pleasant to be in such smaller groupings. Our guides were experienced, knowledgeable and a whole lot of fun.
I can't say enough about the itinerary. The Mosel is a beautiful meandering river much smaller than the Rhine. Cycling along it was more than enjoyable. The frequent stops whether to have a coffee and pastry or visit a castle were well worth it. We saw and did a lot with memories to last a lifetime.
The itinerary along the Mosel in addition to being intimate and quaint was diverse. The trip begins in charming Cochem with its German heritage and ends in the quintessentially French city of Metz. We did as well venture into tiny Luxembourg to taste the local bubbly. Quite delicious. Thus we experienced three countries and we haven't even mentioned the Romans who were there long before the others!
Cochem to Metz is a great tour. I heartily recommend it. It will be one of your favorites, too.

John L.

Nice boat, crew and guests xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxx xxxxxxx

The trip exceeded my expectations. The staff were wonderful and the meals were amazing.