4 Star France Tour Reviews — 91 to 120 of 226

Everything was good.
The guides gave us total support and the tour was in total security.
Unfortunately I had some problems with the weather, for me was to cool at second day, and I was ill after this day, but I enjoy the tour others days , together our group.
Thank you Senad for your attention during all the tour.
Thank you Reinhold for the support

The bikes were a problem everyday- not well maintained or just end of season but not good
The barge was very warm- esp with comforters- suggest availability of a sheet for these conditions. A soap dish is needed in the shower, the hair dryer was very inadequate. Need to have some sort of wax paper or plastic bag for the sandwiches- wrapping in napkins does not work. The barge should offer/highlight local wines!!! The whole point of this trip is particular.
Our guides Heddy and intern Micah were fabulous.

Great scenery, great chef on the barge, nice boat, and great guides! Overall a great experience. However if I must find something that needs a bit of upgrading, it’s the bikes. They were getting pretty tired and needing tune ups. Some had bald tires and most lacked correct air pressure in the tires, on previous Boat Bike trips the bikes were much better maintained. It was the end of the season and the bikes had gone through a lot over the year was the reasoning, but I paid so I expect good bikes regardless of the time of year.

Traveling on the IRIS was nice. Highlights: Bike ride from the extinct volcano down to the Mosel was a great 40 mile ride (almost all down hill). The wine tasting excursion was set up by our guide Paul. Quite different than others I have been to. It was an intimate meeting with the owner of the winery that had been in his family since the 1600s. It rained (really just a mist) during 2 of our rides but with rain gear, it didn’t effect us.

Give me a call if you would like to hear some minor suggestions for improvement.

Biking from Noyon - Compiègne, the Compiegne forest was very beautiful to bike through.

As we neared Paris, the biking was sometimes more difficult due to traffic on some sections of the route.

The trip was very well organized. There were no glitches and the people we were in contact with were very friendly.
On the other hand, I totally recommend the route, on the banks of the Loire river, with wonderful landscapes and very picturesque villages, all complemented by good French gastronomy.
In short: totally recommended.

Our first trip was canceled, frustating all group. The other was good because Mosel River is beautiful. The route description was awful and terrible for guide. We were lost sometimes because Tripsite don’t indicate a confiable app for route cycling . My bike was blocked with a different locker from others. The combination was written in a paper separately. We are so diappointed with Tripsite

Enjoyed all aspects.Nancy and Strausburg really nice to visit at beginning and end.

Captain and crew of Clare de Lune were great. Enjoyed time aboard piloting down canal and through locks and down canal elevator, (not kidding... elevator). Barge cook delivered top-notch meals. Biking along canal was easy... but would recommend taking some of the more difficult routes away from the canal for beautiful rural scenery and panoramas. Enjoyed Nancy and Saverne and loved Strasbourg.

The start (Nancy) and the end (Strasbourg). In between, we biked a lot but did not visit much...

The crew was fantastic. The chef made delicious farm to table foods daily. The first mate was personable and fun as well as the captain and hospitality director.

Bikes are as described and worked well. Scenery was also interesting.

This was our sixth bike and barge trip. Our over-all experience was great!! The food was fantastic, the service from staff was excellent, and the bikes were better than our own. The Caprice is older and very tight quarters, both in the cabins and in public areas. This was a small inconvenience compared to the total experience.

The amazing crew, some of the key sights, the cycling (despite some rain storms), and the Clair de Lune overall. While rooms are small, they are fine and efficiently appointed and always clean. Marco was a great skipper, and Jen was a superb chef. Great food; happy clients! A combination of electric and hybrid bikes which allow all age groups to ride.

The crew made this trip, a wonderful group of people!

4.5 stars. If the gorgeous scenery, quaint towns, and efficiency of bag transfer were only being rated, it would be 5 stars. We’ve done 1 other European bike trip, and 6 bike and barge trips. We prefer the bike and barge for primarily 2 reasons: 1. You can drop your bags, unpack and call the boat home for the duration. 2. Great meals and camaraderie with boat mates is fun! Packing and unpacking is no fun. The Mosel was gorgeous, hotels were good, other than a few exceptions, and Tripsite always makes booking easy with friendly staff and good communication ;)

Arles (Van Gogh & Roman buildings), Barbegal Acqueduct, Les Baux, olive oil mill visit, Pont du Gard. Camaraderie on board the Caprice and while riding. The hospitality and warmth of the Caprice crew. So many other great sites and experiences too. Our guide Miki was great; bike routes were pleasant and relatively free of traffic interference. I felt safe while riding and saw a lot little things along the ride that interested and pleased me - things you don't see from a car, train, or bus.
One area needing improvement: Poor WIFI aboard the Caprice. Higher capacity and more reliable WIFI would have been appreciated.

We really enjoyed our trip through the Provence region of southern France! Our guide, Michaela, was very knowledgeable of the history of the area, kept us on low trafficked roads on our bicycles, and was in general a lot of fun. Additionally, our eBikes were in great condition and we enjoyed using them throughout our tour. The only downside was our cabin on the Caprice as we both have allergies and there was a persistent mildew/mold smell which necessitated keeping the A/C on relatively high to dissipate it. The cabin was also quite small for us traveling as a couple—one of us literally had to crawl over the other to use the bathroom. The hardworking staff is to be commended.

Great aspects=the guide, food, staff
Less were the comfort of the beds and space in the bathroom

Our guide, Michaela, started each beautiful ride through the country side with such a positive attitudes and great information!
Loved the trip up to Le Baux!

Bicycling to Chenonceau, going through vineyards, stopping to taste wines at a small private chateau with terraced gardens.

Nice route, much of it on dedicated bicycle paths. The gravel bikes we rented were good - no mechanical issues of any kind. The biggest problem was that when we arrived at Perouges, a beautifully preserved medieval town, we found that ALL of the restaurants in town were closed that (Wednesday) night,. The tour required a Sunday start, thereby guaranteeing a frustrating visit to Perouges on Wednesday.
One other suggestion. It was pretty hot and it would have been nice if there had been 2 bottle cages on each bike.
We did enjoy this tour.

Pedaling through the fields of France was magnificent. Loved hooping off for a quick wine tasting or a leisurely tour through a chateau.

The cycling trip is most enjoyable amid stunning scenery and charming towns.
Please be transparent about your costs. I booked the chateau experience and paid more than I expected for the trip only to discover the Tripsite did not include the chateau experience in my vouchers. I received several emails in response to my queries re cost only to be given different answers re bank charges, currency conversion and hidden credit card charges, despite the fact I paid with a debit card. This is an American company that uses the dollar to suit it figures. I urge anyone using this company to get a detailed invoice before starting out. We were over charged for our trip but the company was not willing to accept this.

Ease of living on the boat including meals, rooms, drinks, comfort etc.
Did not like hybrid bikes as I usually ride a road bike.
Would have liked to have biked or sailed into the wine region

Riding along beautiful fields of wheat and sunflowers. Enjoying outside. A stress free vacation in nature.
Wine tours: there was not any information/education about the grapes. A missed opportunity I thought.
The first chef on our boat was not very good. Food is a big part of a vacation. That area needs attention we all felt.

Beautiful countryside, wonderful chateau’s. We stayed at the Hotel la Breche which is 2 blocks from the train in a quiet residential area and a short 10 minute walk to town. Included was an unbelievable 8 course meal. It was very fancy and fun to try French cuisine. Breakfasts were wonderful also. Hosts are very hospitable. We enjoyed sitting in the gardens when not in use for the restaurant.
The bike routes were great in that we were mostly on bike trails. It was great to have a focus for the days ride. We found the directions co fusing and had a hard time figuring out which voucher for chateaus went with which day tour. The bikes were also very cumbersome. They had a deep V and there was no room between the V and the water bottle so it was hard to get on and off and to stand. Once on them they did work well.

Most Memorable Part: The castles, garden, beautiful paths for biking.

Just returned from this cycle tour and had a wonderful experience. The castles just kept getting better each day. Our favourite was the Leonardo portion. We stayed at Le Breche which was very comfortable. Our one dinner there was amazing and have never eaten like that before! The court yard was beautiful, large and private and the owner allowed us to being our own wine and snacks to enjoy before the restaurant opened. Our only complaint was the bikes! They were extremely heavy and way to large for our lady group. The water bottle holder caused a lot of leg bruising and after the first day we had to remove it. Once we were able to get up in the saddle they rode ok. Countryside was lovely with all sorts of crops and vineyards. The instructions were ok and only had a couple hick-ups. The roads wondered through small villages and roads with very little traffic. Over all a good trip.

The garden festival at Chaumont-Sur-Loire was probably the nicest surprise visit for us all tho there were lots of high points and each person of our group would have slightly different takes different.
Quality of routes and ease of following was wonderful.
Canoe and wine experiences could have been better.
Better indications of facilities for coffees and sandwiches en route would have been helpful as well as advising impact if weekends and bank holidays.
Hotels quite variable - one excellent, two good albeit rooms not great, one disappointing - I had to generalise in giving rating below but Amboise for example would be very satisfied on all and Cheverny ‘neither’ apart from food which would be ‘satisfies’
All in all a great trip

The weather was perfect and the food out of this world. Just be aware that off season means just that. While not a huge issue but some of the restaurants etc were on reduced hours.