France Tour Reviews — 181 to 210 of 943

This was my first bike and boat tour. It was wonderful! From the daily biking through the countryside of France, the delicious, healthy meals provided on the boat, and the friendly, helpful staff and tour guides, I totally enjoyed the experience. Our last afternoon and evening was spent in Lagny-sur-Marne where the summer solstice was being celebrated - Fête de la Musique. We had our own private viewing/listening area on the sun deck and were able to wander the streets and enjoy the festivities.
Remember to take rain gear (including waterproof pants). Cycling in the rain is its own unique experience!

The Provence region of France is exquisitely beautiful, and biking is very much a part of French life. Everywhere we went, we saw beautiful medieval villages and gorgeous countryside. However, my strong suggestion would be to encourage E-bike rentals. Although we are strong bikers, the hills we encountered made it very difficult to get to some of our destinations. Also, the App we used in order to access our daily riding maps was not user-friendly and we had a difficult time following it.

Travelling through the countryside of France and the champagne house tur

the tour guide and her wealth of knowledge and her surprises.

The crew was great and the food was excellent. The bikes were good.

The route, due to detours had its challenges

The loveliness and peacefulness of biking by the canal. The GPS tracks were spot on as was the support from Robert. The bikes were outstanding and the accommodations were perfect!

The scenery was spectacular and the barge crew was excellent

We cruised with the crew of the Zwaantjze from Epernay to Paris. The captains (Barry and Eric), the chef (Frank) and first mate, Brendo were friendly and highly competent. The cabins are tiny, but comfortable. The quality of the bikes was excellent to poor. My bike was fine, however, the bike my husband had, which was a large frame, had no rear brakes. Even though there were only 7 guests, there was not another bike available for him larger than a small. The small bike had faulty electric assist, it did not work consistently. He was not happy about that. Our guides were wonderful people, but we do not understand the decision your company made to assign three people who were not familiar with the route or the history of the area. On two previous tours we have taken with your company, the guides offered extraordinary insights about the history and architecture of all the towns we visited. That info was not offered on this tour. We suggest you prepare a short video to be shown each night describing the towns and the types of roads that will be ridden on the following day. That would greatly enhance the experience.

Not many memorable parts of the journey.

The information provided about the mileage each day was inaccurate. The rides changed and the downloaded GPS maps were useless.

The guide lost members of the riding group and we had to wait long periods of time.

I requested fish and had vegetarian meals instead

I could go on. Very unexpected experience and very disappointed

The daily rides were wonderful. We saw lots of the French countryside plus the use of the canal locks. Advice: be sure you are comfortable on a bike, touring or e-bike. We left the boat at 9:00 and returned by 4 or 5, so we're riding all day. Some in our group hadn't ridden in decades and it was rough. There is always an option to cruise the canals on the boat, which is great!

We recently completed the bike and boat trip from Briare to Nevers , it was an excellent vacation. The Claire de Lune was the perfect size, very clean and Captain Marco did an outstanding job navigating the boat through the locks and canals. The bicycles worked perfectly and our guide Annita led us around for 165 miles through the French countryside seeing farms, small villages, castles and chateaux's. There was a surprise stop every day and we even visited a small goat cheese farm. The food was excellent every day, breakfast and dinner were well prepared and we had fresh baguette's daily with ample cold cuts and condiments to make lunches and the kitchen also provided a nice container to carry the lunch on our bikes. Every morning we had an optional yoga class from our hostess Dita and we also did outdoor stretching before we started our ride The tour slightly deviates from the itinerary because some places are closed on certain days and there can be road issues. Sancerre was a nice place to visit and the hill climb to get there can be challenging but well worth it . I highly recommend this trip if you are looking to do a relaxing bicycle ride through the quiet French countryside and seeing the canals and bicycling the cycle paths , this was a first class trip on a first class boat

Its May; pack for all weather, it'll happen within your 4 hour ride, yes there are hills - spend the money, get an ebike! Such great guides McEel & Marcel. So glad to be lead by them, their knowledge, trail guidance was reassuring, you felt safe with them knowing where the group was going and looking out for you. Stopping to enjoy coffees and "should see" items. Steffie; owner of the boat and also our chef made such delicious dishes; duck, salmon, sea bass and lovely bought the day of vegetables...did I mention the the morning cheeses and breads, yum, yum. It would be nice to know the name of the cheeses...sadly, can't remember them now.
We hesitated taking a smaller boat but thoroughly enjoyed learning how canals work, river tunnels, felt like we part of the water system way, not knowing where the Fleur was going to park added to the excitement of finding her.
Absolutely loved it. Great way to experience the waterways of Europe as they did hundreds of years ago, though with a shower and warm bed...

Food on boat (ship ) as they refer to it was wonderful. Chef was full of energy and very creative

Cycling through farmland and so many small towns and villages, stopping at a bar/cafe, this is a great way to see a place. The other cyclists were kind and friendly, the staff was attentive and lighthearted.

We love this region and this trip so we decided to do the trip again with friends and ride from Avignon this time .... It is a pretty easy ride except for a few huge hills - but so worth the effort to get to the top and see the town the quarry and the show - so worth the effort....just saying ....This trip takes you through many little villages filled with jasmine - stopped for quite a few pastries and beers and coffees and pain au chocolat.... besides all these sensory overloads of jasmine and and fields of poppies - you are riding through so much history ...... the camaque - Aiges mortes - the crusaders - the roman ruins everywhere - and then the marshes the salt flats and flamingos - great ride - great barges - the food always amazing

Beauty of the Dordogne region. Great pull-offs for picnicking every day. Lascaux caves and museum, brilliantly well done!! Don’t miss it. Also, a last minute side trip to Les Eyzies prehistoric museum! Also fantastic!

Great Crew
Group
Guide
Bikes
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Lascaux Caves were unbelievable, as were the cliff dwellings and Natural History museum in Les Eyzies. Sophie was inccredible, always responding in a timely fashion with our questions and concerns. My bike seat kept sliding down, and I had to stop many times a day to raise it again. The biggest dissatisfaction was not having audible cues with our road navigation system. And it wouldn’t tell you that you were off course right away, so often we found ourselves turning around. The food was very difficult if you were a vegetarian and after riding bikes all day, we would have liked to have eaten before 8 o’clock at night. I know you don’t have control of that, but, just saying…

The biking itself and the dinners and stay at L’ostal de Pombonne
We were glad we took an e yea day in Bergerac.
We would have liked to receive the detailed booklet with information about sites to see on the route much earlier than our arrival in Bordeaux! We would have planned differently
For others: be aware you have to reserve a spot at each Lascaux cave. We didn’t know this, and unfortunately we’re not able to go to any of them.

1. The excellent, cheerful leadership by Helmut
2. The meals
3. The many fine trails, especially around Avignon. Wonderful biking.

The memorable part of the trip were the WWI sites including the beaches, American cemetery, and the German fortifications. If you plan to go to Point du Hoc to see the cliffs the army rangers climbed, note the navigation tool does not include this add on. We traveled on some scenic roads to get there and then heading to Omaha Beach found a bike path along the cliffs that took us right to Omaha Beach. This was actually backwards because we did not want to be at the beach at high tide. So if you are traveling the route the suggested way you will find the path to Point du Hoc at the end of Omaha Beach. We stayed in Bayeux and loved the town with its great restaurants. The navigation tool was a bit of a hassle because had to keep going out and coming back into the ap to see whether or not we were still on the route. Even so it was a great trip. Oh and highly recommend the e-bikes because where most of the ride was fairly level, we encountered some pretty long hills several times.

How many castles and what is the schedule for this tour?

This is a beautiful region and accessing it from the river trails is wonderful . The boat was very comfortable and the wonderful staff met our every need with a smile . We had rainy days , and closures due to local holidays which impacted our visits to small town restaurants and shops . I would avoid national holiday weeks in future .
My suggestions to improve this already wonderful trip :
- have bike storage racks that allow a little more deck space for sitting out .
-eliminate the hot tub , it’s only used by a few and takes up too much deck space .
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Great way to see Normandy and learn about D-Day. Some of the museums are a bit redundant, so pick carefully to avoid repetitive experiences.

The hotel selection was wonderful. The bike route was designed perfectly. The local travel agency staff is super easy to work with and very helpful.

This was our first experience on a bike and barge tour and it left us looking at more in the future. We enjoyed everything about the trip- the most memorable part? The friendships formed and our absolutely spectacular meals. The crew [Claudia, Lyla, Stephania, and Didi) worked so well together and provided us with memories we will cherish. We opted for E-bikes although we would have been ok without them- it provided a more relaxing pace. The only suggestion I would make is to have the free dinner on your own to be a day other than Sunday. I had planned ahead when first notified and made reservations at a nice place in Avignon but many struggled to find a place open on a Sunday night. Midweek would have been better, possibly in Arles. All in all, it wonderful and everything we hoped it would be.

So many to choose from, but the routes were amazing. Beautiful towns, lovely scenery.

Scenic ride along the Loire using quality bikes. Overall accommodations were comfortable enough, and breakfast were adequate but basic.
Looking back, I wish we had downloaded the Road to Discovery App beforehand, as we were tired after travelling down to France and it would have been more seamless if we'd have had all road info in front of us.

This trip was amazing! The directional app was excellent— we were always able to find our way. We purchased the dinner package and the cuisine was fabulous, especially in the small restaurants along the trail. The people who assisted us were incredibly patient, helpful and courteous.
Overall our experience was wonderful and unforgettable ! Thank you!

My husband and I loved the trip, our first bike/barge adventure. The boat, captain, crew, chef, and tour guides were wonderful. We enjoyed the other guests as well, which included couples and singles from the USA and Europe. The miles and miles of bike trails and visited sites were beautiful and memorable. Since experiencing the biking adventure, I have the following suggestions for potential guests. Bike riders should already have good bike riding skills. There are many path twists and turns to navigate, including sometimes in metropolitan areas. Before the trip, find out how many guests have selected e-bikes. If the majority are on e-bikes, it will be hard for the average bike rider on a regular bike to keep up with the group, even when the tour level is stated as “easy.” And, "easy" does not mean there are no hills or quick elevation gains. The group stays together. The tour is not at your own pace. We look forward to booking another tour through tripsite.