France Tour Reviews — 661 to 690 of 739
Donald Stockwell
8 years ago
Verified Reviewer
La Belle Fleur Lorraine Tour
France, Germany, Luxembourg
Our guide was not good, would ride off too fast, often the tail end riders were lost and confused as they could not keep up. Everything else was excellent!
Leslie Lami-Reed
8 years ago
Verified Reviewer
Provence - Van Gogh
France
Staff was wonderful. Weather not so good but we had a great time.
Sharon Robers
8 years ago
Verified Reviewer
Mosel Bike Tour
Germany, France
Mosel trip was excellent. Danube trip, the map and instructions were worse than useless because they were actually wrong in places.
Carmel Manley
8 years ago
Verified Reviewer
Anna Maria IV Loire Valley Bike and Boat - 2019
France
We are return users of Tripsite, we have found both the service from Tripsite and the tours (now 3 in total) have all been excellent. Great tours because of the combination of places, organisation and staff. Am looking forward to taking part in more in the future.
Julie • 6 years ago
Hi, as far as scenery goes, what has been your favorite trip?
Barbara Berling
8 years ago
Verified Reviewer
Merlijn Mainz to Metz
Germany, France
Loved the trip and the Merlijn. Hoping to do another tour in 2017.
Howard Jay
8 years ago
Verified Reviewer
Soleo Provence - Wilderness of Camargue
France
Our guide was awesome!
Letha Denese Anderson
8 years ago
Verified Reviewer
Fleur Montargis to Paris
France
Loved the crew, but Clive (our chef) was the best. I have since done another bike and barge trip with another company and was totally disappointed with the food we were served. I am looking forward to doing another bike and barge trip this year.
Susan Miller
8 years ago
Verified Reviewer
MS Andante Mainz to Basel
Germany, Switzerland, France
The guide was not well prepared with maps and the boat kept changing docking locations. The Rhine is very industrial from Basel to Mainz. The rides were not very interesting or long. It was not one of your better offers.
Christel Mikelic
8 years ago
Verified Reviewer
Soleo Provence - Wilderness of Camargue
France
The bike part was more challenging than in the discription. You have to be a strong biker used to hills. There are many hills and one very challenging hill. So I would not consider this an easy tour as in the description. However it was well worth the effort if you are well trained. Our guide Wiro was awesome and kept us together and on time which was very much appreciated. I would recommends this trip in spring or early summer. By the time we went end of August the vegetation was all dried up and there were no flowers because they had such a hot dry summer. I prefer a comfort plus boat as you have more space in your cabin. These cabins were very small. However all in all it was a beautiful, historic and worth while tr which I would recommend to avid cyclists.
Marcus O'Neill
8 years ago
Verified Reviewer
Pearls of the Alsace Wine Route
France, Switzerland
Only real complaint was the signage throughout the route. More route markers would have been very helpful and prevented us from getting lost several times.
Suzanne Triplett
8 years ago
Verified Reviewer
Soleo Provence - Wilderness of Camargue
France
Everything about the trip was as described, well planned and executed.
Bruce Belman
8 years ago
Verified Reviewer
Anna Maria IV Loire Valley Bike and Boat - 2019
France
Great trip. Everything we were hoping for.
Kenneth Larsen
8 years ago
Verified Reviewer
Pearls of the Alsace Wine Route
France, Switzerland
We started with the book with maps and directions. Although it was pretty good, we got lost a couple times with that. I think on the 3rd day we met the woman who wrote the directions and she got us the file for my Garmin. That gave us turn by turn directions with no mistakes. Everyone we met was very pleasant. The trip was great. The bikes were a bit heavy.
Susan • 5 years ago
My husband & I are taking this tour in September . Do you have any recommendations for places to stop along the route ? Wineries !pubs! Sights !etc.
Thanks
Terry Benson
8 years ago
Verified Reviewer
Iris Metz to Cochem
France, Luxembourg, Germany
Had a wonderful time. Only problem was the weather, very very cold.
Lois Requist
8 years ago
Verified Reviewer
Iris Metz to Cochem
France, Luxembourg, Germany
The guides are young and very athletic. People who sign up for this level of bicycling aren't usually top bikers, unless they are doing it to be with friends or spouse. I think a bit more thought could be put into the introductory ride the first day, bridge crossings, sudden merging into traffic, sudden turns to go steeply uphill. I've done much longer bike rides, but at this age, I didn't want that much challenge.
Eileen Schuler
9 years ago
Verified Reviewer
Heart of Alsace
France
Our room was on the second floor with a balcony and was very spacious, especially by European standards. Bathroom, Read More sitting area, beds, everything comfortable, clean and very quiet. Our hosts could not have been nicer. They offered to pick us up and bring us back to the train for a small fee and took us to an amazing modern museum in Erstein. All in all a wonderful vacation!
Jessica Kiedrowski
9 years ago
Tripsite Staff
MS Andante Mainz to Basel
Germany, Switzerland, France
I was pleased with the points of interest on the tour (Strasbourg, Heidelberg, Colmar, Breisach), however, the route was very industrial at times and there was just nothing special about it. The maps and route descriptions were terrible and I'd say that was the number one complaint of fellow passengers. I talked to the guide and he said they will redo the route for next year so hopefully with some changes, it will be much better.
Anna Zdancewicz
9 years ago
Verified Reviewer
MS Andante Mainz to Basel
Germany, Switzerland, France
The boat itself is nothing remarkable, but quite comfortable and clean. The staff was amazingly friendly. Route descriptions were sparse in some sections so there was some guessing involved. The maps themselves didn't have any road names on them if you did get lost they were of no use. We honestly didn't rely on the maps/route descriptions as much as the info from our daily meetings with the tour guide. There were good and bad days as far as scenery on the rides, a few days were pretty boring with not a lot to look at, while others were quite beautiful. We docked within walking distance to town on all days except one (where you had the option of one lonely restaurant). On board you are provided with maps and flyers for each overnight town. The bikes were super heavy and cumbersome (not bikes I am used to) but this is the norm in Europe. The food on board was excellent. I would recommend this trip as I know the routes are being reviewed and descriptions/maps updated.
Laurie Frarey
9 years ago
Verified Reviewer
Anna Maria IV Loire Valley Bike and Boat - 2019
France
There seemed to be tension between the owners of the barge and guy doing the cooking, cleaning and maintenance. The guy was trying to do the job of more than 2 people by himself. One day when he needed help with a cranky generator the captain was in a bar. We did not get clean towels half way through as promised. I have been on 2 bike and barge trips and this had the worst staff. The guide was good but left slower riders at several critical junctures. It did not happen often. Seems the system works best when the owner is captain. Means he is present and accountable.
Julie • 6 years ago
Hi. In terms of scenic rides, what has been your favorite tour?
Gordon Maze
9 years ago
Verified Reviewer
Elodie Bruges to Paris
Belgium, France
We highly recommend the Paris to Bruges bike and barge on the Elodie but one must be a strong cyclist as there are hills. The food was really excellent. Comradery among the group was high, and that's one of the great aspects of the trip.
Karen Picard
9 years ago
Verified Reviewer
Clair de Lune Around Paris
France
This was the first trip of this type that we have ever done and my first time to France. It was a great way to experience the country and it was nice to see rural areas, historic small towns, castles and the big city of Paris. The crew was wonderful-- friendly, accommodating, knowledgeable and thoughtful. The trip price was a great value for all that we received and experienced. It was great to get so much exercise while on vacation-- walking and biking makes it possible to see and do so much in the fresh air and to burn off the great food and wine we enjoyed. I highly recommend this trip!
Vic Lumby
9 years ago
Verified Reviewer
Iris Metz to Cochem
France, Luxembourg, Germany
One of the best holidays we have ever experienced. Great cycling along the Moselle with excellent and knowledgeable guides and then returning tired but exhilarated to an most welcoming environment on the barge - the IRIS. Meals were excellent and entire crew and owner went out of their way to ensure we enjoyed the total experience. Would recommend this trip to anyone. We will be back for more.
Margaret Munro
9 years ago
Verified Reviewer
Iris Metz to Cochem
France, Luxembourg, Germany
Even for a novice biker I was looked after and given the opportunity to cycle shorter legs and enjoy the sailing on the boat. Bikes - we had a couple of bikes that had gear problems, otherwise they were fine.
David Miller
9 years ago
Verified Reviewer
MS Andante Mainz to Basel
Germany, Switzerland, France
Garrit, our bike tour leader, was a novice on this route as well as a poor communicator to the english speaking clients. The docking area changed at each stop from the printed instructions, and the maps and turn-by-turn instructions were only partly correct! Everyone got lost at some point in the trip!! I had asked for GPS routing for my bike Garmin GPS but was told the route was to new and that it was not available! I think some accurate preparation would have made the trip more pleasant.
Second - the route along the Rhine is not scenic (as on the Danube) with few small towns to stop and look/snack on the way. The most notable sights were gravel pits and cement manufacturing. Of course, that is not the fault of the tour operator, however, they should have provided a detailed description of the small towns on the way (although not on the river) to give us the option of exploring the interesting ones and forgetting about the towns with 3 streets and no interesting sights.
Norbert Glatt
9 years ago
Verified Reviewer
MS Andante Mainz to Basel
Germany, Switzerland, France
Boat staff need to learn how to be more polite and friendly. The management seems to be in the military service.
Alan Bartlett
9 years ago
Verified Reviewer
Provence - Van Gogh
France
We found the map directions confusing at times--i.e. Cross bridge and 3 streets and turn right. Sounds easy enough, but actually it meant 2 major streets and a round about. We usually solved this by using Google maps. But it added stressful tens of minutes to resolve. It pretty much meant that we slightly dreaded arriving at even a little village, due to the almost guaranteed confusion. Having the route available as a google map path would have been much much much better.
It's the service we pay for, not the specific route. It also made it feel like the route had not been retested for a while. Getting a bit lost wasn't all that bad, and we found some nice paths near Arles. The bikes were state of the art and high quality. None of our group liked the automatic transmission on the Bosch drive. It would frequently incorrectly shift in the middle of a climb and caused a bit of needless suffering. All in all it was a fun time. We couldn't have achieved the ride without the e-bikes.
Gregory Akin
9 years ago
Verified Reviewer
MS Andante Mainz to Basel
Germany, Switzerland, France
Francis Duckworth
9 years ago
Verified Reviewer
Soleo Provence - Wilderness of Camargue
France
Not my favorite part of France. 6th bike tour there and the least scenic and inviting.
Paula Birch
9 years ago
Verified Reviewer
MS Andante Mainz to Basel
Germany, Switzerland, France
I really enjoyed the bike/boat tour on the Rhine. Accommodations on the boat were very good and the meals were excellent. On our arrival we found that our boat was not at the dock as listed but had changed locations and was on the other side of the river. This created a longer taxi drive thus a much bigger fare (54 euros instead of 21 euros) for the 3 of us in each taxi. We had a briefing each morning by our tour guide and on almost every day, the directions were not detailed enough. One of the people we biked with had a GPS and with that and along with discussions among all of us, we managed to find our way back. I really feel this was a big gap and should be rectified before another tour. However it was a wonderful experience and we met many lovely and
interesting people. I would love to do a different bike/boat tour at some time in the future.
Edward Nyland
9 years ago
Verified Reviewer
Famous Villages of Provence
France
1. Here is the quote from the tour operator after we asked for the directions in advance: “Tell to clients that they don’t worry, the welcome meeting will be on Saturday p.m. and they will have all the time to study the route before they leave, the day after in the morning.” We did have the welcome meeting but it was a bit rushed and we really didn’t have time to ask questions. We were warned not to be late and arrived on time. They indicated that there was not enough time that evening.
2. We did not get our bikes at the welcome meeting. One Ebike had not yet returned on Saturday afternoon. We were told to return in the morning but not before 9:30 AM. When we arrived, we felt rushed and really didn’t have time to test the bikes. Mine (Ed) was a bit wobbly but I was Read More told that there was nothing wrong. I did get used to it as we went along but my complaint was valid, further verified when I returned home to my own steady bike.
3. All of the bikes had problems with how they shifted and how they meshed with the electric function. Maybe it was our lack of familiarity with the Ebike but we really didn’t have time Sunday morning to ask questions.
4. We never got an explanation on how to engage all of the 27 gears, only could use nine. We were told that they shifted automatically and “don’t worry about it”. The automatic shift stopped working on two bikes after the second day.
5. The directions were very confusing and hard to follow. Last year we had the “E’s” to follow but this year nothing but the somewhat confusing directions.
Jehiel • 7 years ago Tripsite Staff
Hello Edward,
Thank you for sharing this feedback! We are very sorry you felt rushed in the welcoming meeting and bike fitting. We have spoken to our local operator to prevent this from happening again. I can assure you that the bikes have been tuned and are maintained to the highest quality!
Best,
All Tour Reviews by Country
Boat/Barge Reviews
- Magellan
- Magnifique I
- Magnifique II
- Magnifique III
- Magnifique IV
- Mare fan Fryslân
- Merlijn
- Florentina
- Normandie
- Princess
- Olympia
- Panagiota
- Pape Prvi
- Primadonna
- Princesse Royal
- Prinzessin Katharina
- Romantica
- RV River Kwai
- Sailing Home
- San Snova
- Sarah
- Stella
- Sundial
- Swiss Crown
- Thalassa
- Flying Dutchman
- Vietnamese Junks
- Vita Pugna
- Vivienne
- Wending
- Zwaan
- Zwaantje