3 Star France Tour Reviews — 1 to 30 of 61

The bike rides through the country were terrific. That was the reason for selecting this trip.
Although the food was well prepared, the selection of dishes was mediocre.
The staff were great and made the trip enjoyable. The guide was knowledgeable.

The bike excursions were well organized, interesting and very challenging.

Arriving in Paris early evening along the Seine. Food was great-Frank did a fantastic job.

We traveled as a group of 6 adults on the L'Estello. Four of us are very experienced cyclists and have used Ride with GPS many times with 2 other companies. Since there is no van support on this trip we opted to do the group ride.
Unfortunately we had a large group of guests that were not familiar with proper bike edicate and that caused problems during the rides.
I would not choose another trip like this one.
We were

I loved riding through the vineyards at harvest. The ride was mostly along the river and not on roads! The guides and hostess personnel were the best! So helpful and friendly, They were cheerful and fun every day. I must admit this trip was a bit of a disappointment: 1. Bikes were not very good--It is a bike trip (the bikes must work!). 2. Our room had recently flooded and it smelled of mold and mildew. 3. I had requested a vegan diet and they did not let me know they could not accommodate this request until I was already in Europe. The cook tried, but he didn't understand the difference between vegan and gluten free. I took another tour in Italy and it had none of these issues, so I would like to give Tripsite another chance. Spend money on bikes, it is important. I am a plant-based dietitian and published author--I would be happy to consult with your cooks to assist them in making quick and easy delicious vegan meals.

We didn't receive information soon enough about your recommendation to fly in and out of Frankfurt - our travel time was more difficult and longer than necessary. The information you sent was great but way too late to impact our travel.

We loved the trip and were only well prepared for weather because of information we received from someone who had done it this time of year before. Again more information sooner than a month before....

In my opinion, trip should not have been classied as EASY TO MODERATE
Rather. Moderate to difficult. Riding on major highways, small villages with car parking on both sides of road, little room to navigate. Very few actual bike lines especially along busy roads

Meals were great
Barge was perfectly updated
Tours were so-so

Bike and ferry to Porquerolles Island. Nice riding, fun ferry ride and beautiful island.

Arriving in Nevers I was surprised at how difficult it was to get a taxi at 4:30 pm and no ride share companies, took well over an hour.
Was pleasantly surprised at how good the food was, Chris has a great personality and a fabulous chef. Sara, served us well and the bike/barge trip was good. It was slow season so towns we rode to were pretty but desolate.

Crew was engaging and friendly.
Hats off to Chris the food was delicious.
Bike maintenance was sub par. My front bikes never worked. Some riders had Saddle issues, chains/derailers not shifting correctly. One of the e-bikes was broken and the guest was forced to ride hybrid bike. Another ebike should have been offered to her.
Ed, our guide did the best he could regarding the route since he was not familiar with the area. Most of the ladies were under the impression there was going to be more wine tastings along the way. I was there to cycle and easily could’ve done 60 miles a day or more. I realize there was many different cycling levels in the group. I personally own Mtn ebike and an analog mountain bike. I wasn’t too impressed with the e-bikes provided.

Riding through the Belgium and France country-sides on our bicycles..

Pack lightly. Rooms are extremely small but well air conditioned.
I really don't have a favorite part. It was not a relaxing trip as the bruge to Amsterdam tour was. This took us through more crowded towns that were difficult to navigate due to traffic. It was extremely hot which added to the difficulty. Food on the boat was great but breakfast and lunch were repetitive. Crew was awesome and very accommodating.

Places we visited like Sens and Auxerre.

The crew was the best! A definite ten + in every way. Dinners were excellent and crew always available to us. Nelleka lent us her fan at night! Harm great guide. Fiona excellent skipper and Reinier always helpful. Great atmosphere. It would have been nice to have some special stops, maybe a cooking class, winery and more info about special sites would be good. Tour description clearly stated that barge has Wi-Fi and air conditioning. It was very hot and ac very spotty and not available at night. No wifi.

There were several memorable parts:
Both Strasbourg and Nancy are beautiful cities with a great deal of medieval charm; the Valley of the Locks with its dried abandoned channels and locks, and of course, the St Louis-Arzviller lock, where lock, water and boats are lifted (or lowered) 42 m, replacing 17 locks we saw abandoned; our boat, the Clair de Lune and its friendly and competent crew, the smallest barge we had ventured in till then, but that it showed us the efficiency of its cabin layouts to remove previous concerns about barge size to the point that we are booking another trip on a similar sized barge next year.

Reik welcoming and friendly nature & Omar's cooking.

I learned never to be on the last trip of the season, the exterior of the boat was kinda 'sad' looking.

Guides should actually know where they are going and put safety of riders at the top of their concern. Paul was so careless he was dangerous.

I don't think I would've gone on this trip if I would've known that I wasn't free to ride/stop when I wanted to or even provided the route information. I've been on several trips with Backroads and this did not measure up.

I have used Tripsite for 10 bike trips and have always enjoyed the concept, scenery and people I have met. Nothing I am about to say has anything to do with those qualities I have come to expect and love about bike/barge experiences with Tripsite.

However (and there's always a "however") this tour, which was described on your website as "easy" was anything but.
I am 68 years old and have never used an e-bike on any tour, including the hills of Provence, but the hills encountered on this trip were challenging even for the riders half my age. The tour description was erroneous and misleading. I say misleading because looking at the tour guides' maps, the elevation levels were clearly labeled but not communicated to the guests. So those on e-bikes had a much different experience than those of us (4 out of 10 guests) who did not. Those of us who did not struggled.

The other complaint was a lack of things to see in the middle of the tour, unless churches are your thing and that's all I seemed to see in the form of tours, which got repetitive.

Nothing I have complained about here would prevent me from traveling with Tripsite again, as I am a true believer in this experience. BTW, the crew and the culinary staff were superb, as always.

The boat elevator.

The boat was wonderful as was the staff. Food too was excellent. There were two central problems with the trip. The first is the route. We had anticipated that the trip down the Rhine would be in beautiful sections building t instead we spent a week in heavily industrial areas where there was little along the river that was beautiful at all.
The second problem was that it appeared that no one from the company had checked out the route of the biking since it was first established since roads had closed and there were continuous diversions. As a consequence we (and when I say we i mean many of the bikers) were lost within 15 minutes of departing every day. While the trip was billed as "self guiding" clear and accurate maps are needed

The guide, the itinerary and the chefs were superb!! 5 stars for them!! But the boat, and specifically the boat owners, get a 1 star. How cheap can they be??!! They didn't even provide a plastic bike water bottle. And they charged a hefty fuel surcharge, even after the price of fuel had plummeted. This was my third bike and barge, and I will never go on another barge owned by this company.

On the whole it was a great trip and I would like to do something like this again. But as with most things in life it could be improved. I would leave out Azay le Rideau. It was not much of a town and the hotel was below par. I would include “rest days”. For example I would have loved to spend more time in Chinon. So cycling all the way to chinon on day one then a rest there. And so on… For mid summer I would include an option not to have a hotel breakfast. On the really hot days (40c) we tried to get away at 6am to avoid the heat and have our cycling mostly done by lunch. It also means less traffic on the road. We had some good hotels and some rally poor ones. I think tripsite needs to work on consistency.

Being in France on a bike with new friends and having a wonderful barge and crew to meet our needs.

The most memorable part was the quality of the bikes. Negatively memorable. They were very heavy. Definitely not of the same quality we had on the barge. I recommend a different supplier. Otherwise enjoyed the area and the hotel.

Staff and food were wonderful. Caprice barge has nice upper deck and dining facility. But cabins are beyond tiny, which we could have been happy with (and given 5 stars) if not for the following: Each guest is issued one towel set to be changed only once during the 8 night stay. The problem is during a humid or hot athletic trip, there's no way to dry the towels or to wash or dry athletic clothing, no place to hang them in ventilated area. We packed light with intent to wash, and couldn't. Clothing was "toxic" by end of trip! On an active trip, there needs to be laundry available, even if guests do it themselves. We found out on last day of trip there was full size washer/dryer on boat, but not accessible to guests.

Compared to our other trips, the Caprice felt very cramped i.e very limited on deck room for groups. Probably should add a Caprice clothes line to dry clothes, minor but very handy
breakfast was ok but repetitive, other trips had a buffet and especially cooked hot items
suppers were hit or miss, I thought ok but most of our group thought mediocre
guide was excellent as were bike stops, especially the Aqueduct-Pont du Gard, Palais des Papes, swimming in the med, light show. Probably should add a visit to a winery. Consider precharging for some events i.e. colosseum, light show kamisky and Cezanne) , museums,--Palais des Papes, Van Goughs asylum etc) rather than make them optional as some folks are tightwads and really miss out on a fuller experience.
Cycling guidebook is excellent

Good crew

Not moving and sitting next to a mud bank and a muddy river made the first couple of days disappointing. The rest of the trip was very good with Bordeaux and St. Emilion being the highlight of the trip. The staff and food was exceptional!

The bike routes were good and some of the stops at vineyards were excellent but other vineyards were not really interested in providing tastings even when they had been pre-arranged by the boat company. The old bikes were in bad shape but the new bikes were of excellent quality. The e-bikes were a godsend to riders that struggled with the hills on the second day. Unless you are are a fairly strong rider the e-bikes were needed on 2 of the days. The bike mechanic was great and the GPS was helpful when it worked but it was not reliable. Paper maps were needed as a back-up. The rooms on the ship were cramped but OK overall. Our biggest concern was that the food was really BAD. We could not eat several dishes and they sometimes ran out of the main course.
Overall, given the steep price, we would not recommend this tour. Other barge and bike tours are much better value.

The castle tours were amazing. Sophie (coordinator on the Anna Marie IV) was adorable. Really enjoyed her and her nightly meals. The trip was not the Loire, because of water levels and sorry to say that it was just OK, but not much more. The main thing missing that I had expected was a trip to a vineyard. That would have made a big difference.

The best memory of the trip was a spectacular meal at Auberge de la labourer in Chenonceaux. They were fully booked but set up a table in the bar and gave us the full restaurant menu. It’s a great restaurant and the extra work the staff put in added to the experience.

We had two complaints. First, neither of our odometers worked so we had no way of measuring distance. This meant constantly stopping and checking to make sure we were on the right way.

Second, the directions to get to Cour Chevigny had one massive error. When we came off the trail and onto Route 52 the directions said to turn right, go to the roundabout, and follow the sign to Route D102. There is no such sign. The only sign to Cour Chevigny is for Route 52, the road we were already on. So, thanks to some help, we turned around, followed route 52 for five kilometres and came right to our hotel. THIS SHOULD BE FIXED.