France Tour Reviews — 31 to 60 of 964

Most memorable were:
The evening spent with a family-run wine farmer; tasting and purchasing wine from the guys who made it;
Seeing the cathedral in Trier;
The covered market in Metz and other open farmer markets along the way;
The moderate biking through the picturesque Moselle wine country;
Cultural and historic insights and explanations by our guide Wim;
Getting to know other Americans on the same journey;
The great food and wine offered all but one night on the Iris;
A few minutes spent on the bridge with our captain;
And finally, enjoying the hospitality, friendliness and accommodation of the crew of the Iris and our guides Wim and Alice.
On the, "Items in need of improvement" list:
One of our guides was more knowledgeable and willing to share his knowledge than the other; she has good guide skills but is inexperienced and needs to study the route and its attractions and features a bit;
There were several falls experienced by several of our group, which was 100% composed of seniors. Seniors fall, it's a fact of life, and they fall more often on bikes, especially those who don't bike much and are awkward on a bike. Some of these "accidents" can be avoided. A better orientation the night before we depart that clearly states the rules of the road would be advisable, and reminders each night about what the guides saw that day and coaching on what could be doe to assure the safety of guests. That coaching should include: do not ride side by side to have a conversation - single file only; obey traffic signals; signal when you're coming to a stop; move your bike off the path when stopping. This kind of basic rules of the road talk is needed and some direct, private conversations with the violators would go a long way towards increased safety. I was relieved no one needed medical attention. It's unrealistic to think that none of your seniors will ever have a fall on a week-long trip, but many of them can be avoided.
The bikes have seen a long season by a variety of guests and by mid-October they have a lot of wear and tear. Might be time to sell them and replace with new ones.
The Iris is a great boat for 20 guests; I found myself hoping for a space where I could read a book in private. On another bike and barge trip in Italy on the Ave Maria there was a second deck with deck chairs and an awning. Guess I'm saying I would have preferred a larger boat.

Great tour leader and staff on board. Interesting itinerary. Accommodated our food preference.

A terrific trip on all counts: excellent boat, great crew, wonderful food, a beautiful itinerary, and excellent trip leaders. I especially enjoyed the fact our biking was interrupted with frequent stops to enjoy local sights, learn about regional customs and cuisine and history. Not only did we get some great exercise but we leaned and experienced much more. Wundebahr!

The crew, the food, the beautiful scenery. Very nice time. Thank you

Too much bike riding and not enough visiting sites and relaxing

The first part of the tour was more difficult than anticipated because of the many hills. Feniks is the smallest of all the boats we have toured with and the accommodation was very cramped. We really enjoyed our fellow travellers - 4 Canadians and 8 Australians - and the boat's crew. Our guide, Seitse, who we have travelled with on a previous tour, is one of the best in the business.

Riding along the Moselle amongst the vines and stopping at gorgeous little towns.

Distances on the bikes were reasonable and allowed sufficient time to enjoy our surroundings.

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.

Fabulous trip on L'Estello. Food was the best so far on a Tripsite adventure. Hein, our guide was politically incorrect and was fabulous. Our group of 8, in our 60s and 70s rode city bikes. The other 10 in our group rode eBikes. We had no problem but unless you are a strong, confident rider, I'd recommend eBikes.

The crew and guides were awesome! Frank was an incredible Chef, we looked forward to every meal. We had a couple of glitches and the guides handled each situation like a pro!

Crew was great, food good but the hybrid bikes were terrible. They were old and meant for city riding not longer bike tours. Unforgivable considering the high price for trip. We also find it strange that our bike guide never wore a helmet.

Very well organized, lovely trip with great guides, nice barge. The weather conditions were a bit challenging for the daily bike rides. But the group and the guides were flexible and arranged great trips.

Pedaling the beautiful paths along the Loire and Cher Rivers. The Chateau's were amazing to see and we learned so much about French history!

Our guide François and support staff were fabulous. The weather was perfect to see these magical sites and to enjoy cycling across the landscape. The boat staff were welcoming and the rooms very comfortable. The only reason that we are not giving this a 5 star rating is that it only became clear shortly before the trip that most of the passengers on the boat were from 1 country (in this case Germany), what that meant is that we were traveling in France yet having a German experience so more like voyeurs than a French immersion experience. The food on the boat catered to a German diet instead of a French diet (yes there were croissants in the morning and dessert crepes yet that was about it). It also seemed that none of the staff on the boat were from France. We are grateful that our tour guide and all the city guides were French and really made an effort to share the French experience!

Riding along the Mosel and the bike tour guides, Hetty and Corrie

The bike and boat along the Moselle River was beautiful. The boat, the Magnifique III was spacious and comfortable and crew happy and very helpful. The bikes were well maintained and easy to ride. The stops were well planned and the guides informative. one guide, Hetty, was exceptional. The pace was relaxed and enjoyable. The dining was plentiful, varied and very good.

We had an excellent time on the tour. The sites we great, biking path was paved, food and the care on the Iris was excellent.
Biking on the city bridges were not always easy. A little scary with the traffic. Loved the e-bike. Would definitely go on another bike and barge trip.

Most memorable was the 2 night stay in Carcasseronne, France. We opted for a Rest Day and did not do the scheduled In & Out Ride.
Upgrading to Deluxe accommodations was a really great value.
The 'Rails to Trails' In & Out route to Mirepoix, France was a great alternate from the towpath. Consider providing tours linking these well maintained trails. This one went way beyond Mirepoix. Other riders said there were many in Spain.
The condition of the tow path varied with the cities (Carcasserronne, Baziers and Narbonne having the worst maintenance (except in town)) and the long remote area between Baziers and Agde. Toulouse and surrounds were well maintained.
30 gear bicycle upgrades were a must for my group of 70 something year old men. My eBike was sturdier than other rentals I have had and it's Bosch drivetrain performed as well as my own.
There was miscommunication somewhere for our stay in Mirepoix. The manager showed us the reservation requesting two double rooms, but there was no mention of 2 beds in the two rooms. The hotel was full and only one of the rooms had two beds. He was able to book the two men in a nearby hotel.
Throughout the entire reservation process I found TripSIte to be professional and easy to work with with excellent communication and advice. One thing, the vests were fit larger than indicated size...
Thank you so much,
John J Kaib

Coming down the Seine and seeing the Eiffel Tower from the boat was great.

All parts of the trip exceeded our expectations. The hotels were lovely, the meals absolutely delicious, and the areas we rode through were beautiful. Our guide, Antonio, was calm, cool, and collected the entire time even while riding with the group on busy streets. We had a group of 8 on our tour, and Antonio quickly became one of our friends. He is a very kind person and handled all aspects of the tour extremely smoothly. One small improvement would have been to receive a little more information about some of the small villages and sites we visited along the way. I definitely am recommending Tripsite to friends and family.

Riding on the canal was very pleasant but the diversions from it added something extra. In particular the cycling on quiet country roads and cycleways. We enjoyed the ride to and from Mirepoix in particular.

Our trip had to be re-routed due to a bridge collapse, which is understandable yet the new route disappointing. This was not a Champagne tour -- just one day via bus to a cave. It was more of a WW1/11 site trip...which was interesting and we enjoyed that bit but not what we signed up for. The new route was 30% lovely, the rest mostly through industrial areas and unattractive routes; the guides were not well experienced with the new route and we frequently got lost. The lead guide was rather defensive when route etc suggestions were offered. The boat was lovely, though some people had trouble with power and leaks in their room; the owner did fix after a few days. The chef was excellent...food was 5 star. The captain and crew were helpful and delightful. Again, we understand that things happen...but the trip was not what we had booked and tripsite did not offer the option to rebook to a different trip or future date. We'll likley travel again with tripsite as we've had great experiences in the past (Croatia and Mosel), but wish they had offered options with such an extreme trip change.

Excellent tour with perfect hotels and meals to complement the Provence countryside. Our Tour Guide, Antonio Cimmino was a great addition with his helpful and fun nature. He was knowledgeable, attentive to our issues and meshed very well with the goal of our group to have a fun week. The biking was a challenge, but was managed with a pace that was perfect for a group with various levels of biking experience. All in our group mentioned having a great experience.

This was our 4th Bike & Barge trip with Tripsite; all memorable & enjoyable. The 2 guides we had on this trip, Weiger and Hetty were phenomenal. They were very helpful and knowledgeable about so many of the sights along the Moselle River. We had 20 guests on this trip. Most of the 6 biking days, our guides had us split up in 2 groups which worked out perfectly. The weather was great 95% of the time; great Barge Captain and crew. Beautiful scenery and nice barge.

Chef Sara was fantastic!! The food was wonderful every single night. Our guide Giorgio was informative and fun, which made our rides very enjoyable.

I well guided tour with beautiful sites! we could not be happier with the accommodations, food and hospitality we found on this tour. Highly recommend.

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

We have taken other bike trips; however this experience was the most fun and memorable! Georgio our guide, his knowledge of the area was amazing. He packed in as much or less as our group wanted. His dry humor was really fun to be around. We miss him already! The food, amazing! Sara was our chef; the meals were perfect. The care she takes, and what she can put out in a 12 hour day is crazy. A fresh baked tart every morning, fruits, cheeses, meats, homemade granolas and yogurt. The deserts each night, were so....good! Sarita was the house manager. It being her first week, she did an outstanding job! The entire team acted as if they had been working together for years. We felt so lucky that we had such a great crew. Because it is a small group of 20 guests, you become friends fast. Each night a couple of guests would stand up and roast some of the other guests, it was so fun! We sang songs and played games after dinner every night. It was like summer camp for adults, a big sleep over. We will definitely be booking another trip!

Everything was excellent! Staff, guides, food, the boat, bikes, and the itinerary. We loved the small group experience -25 guests. We got to know everyone:)