3 Star Germany Tour Reviews — 1 to 30 of 91

Wonderful scenery , small villages , the Danube River, the accommodations on the Vivienne were satisfactory .
The staff were friendly and accommodating, our dining room waiter Canon made us feel welcomed and looked after all our needs.Dietary requests were not completely met compared to previous tours.
If we were to compare this tour to a tour on a smaller barge ,as opposed to a larger barge we would definitely opt for a smaller vessel after this experience .

The places where we cycled were great, although the bike and e-bike weren’t very good and to complete we almost lost the boat cause nobody told us that the place where we were supposed to board had changed!

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.

The vegan meals. The bike routes were great. The guide was accommodating and the group was able to stay together.

The Sept 2025 tour on the Moselle was my third trip using Tripsite.com. The first two were on the Danube and the Po (Italy).

Love the enduring beauty and grandeur of Europe (especially its architecture and art), and, in that regard, the Moselle experience was first-rate. That said, a few minor concerns tempered my overall assessment of this latest trip.

The boat experience (aboard the MS Olympia) was generally comfortable, the staff very accommodating and the food excellent; however, a significant build-up of mould in my cabin's shower stall was a concern, as was a pervasive "machine oil" smell coming from the cabin's A/C-Heating vent. And I was disappointed that, while my experience aboard the "Vivienne" (on the Danube) and aboard the "Vita Pugna" (on the Po) featured complimentary coffee dispensing machines available to guests on a 24-hour basis, no such machine was available on the "Olympia". Save for the breakfast meal and the late-afternoon "coffee and cake" serving, any coffee requested was charged to my cabin. I'm not a big coffee drinker, but the generally cool and rainy conditions experienced on the Moselle cried out for the occasional supplementary cup of coffee . . . which I didn't welcome having to pay for! A small problem, to be sure, but irritating nonetheless.

Lastly, I was impressed with the evident knowledge and politeness of the on-board Cycling Tour Guide; however, his "minimalist" briefings (ahead of the day's cycling) were of limited value. Whereas previous trips had featured detailed and informative briefings of considerable value and interest to cyclists with no familiarity with the routes, the morning briefings on "Olympia" were bare-bones affairs that would have benefitted from a more fulsome explanation of the cycling routes, what to look out for, what sectors could be confusing and might lead one astray, etc. To be clear, there was never any danger of getting "lost" whilst cycling; however, with some parts of the route(s) being poorly signed, some additional cautionary comments and advisories would likely have helped some of the guests with their navigation of the route.

The above comments are acknowledged to be relatively inconsequential; however, I thought I'd take the time to pass them along. Overall, a good trip and one that was worth the time and expense.

Thank you!

I loved being on the boat, but there was not enough time to bike.. Too much Barge and not enough biking . I always felt like I was on too tight of a schedule. In retrospect, I would not have done the optional tours on the bus. They were informative but ate up too much time.
I loved the food, and all the staff was great! I wish we could have moved around our seating on our table, we were a group of 10. bu we had to sit in the exact same seat every meal, why not have room numbers we move to where we are seated?
I loved seeing Budapest at night also from the boat. The bikes were fine. overall I liked, it I just felt like we did not have time to relax and explore when we were biking. I wanted to check out more towns.

Our guide for biking was not very good. We have taken 3 other bike trips and the guide on them were far superior.

Meeting new friends

Tour Guide was not well trained and did not highlight the sights.

The most important element is that we were in Constance on likely one of the busiest biking weekends of the year. It was a holiday weekend, the weather was awesome and everyone and his dog and baby and family and cart and wagon was on the path. With all the traffic, I found the biking quite stressful.
The hotels and were good, especially the Rheingold in Uberlingen. The days were longer than expected with two of the days being 60 km. And I would not describe the route as “easy”. There were some steep climbs and with the heavy electric bikes, it was a struggle for me at 75. (We did a tour in Croatia a few years ago and I am pretty sure those bikes were much lighter and more manoeuvrable. Is this my imagination?) The other disappointment was that we were in Arbon on a Monday and everything was closed. It was a real struggle to find a restaurant that was open. The little inn where we stayed was impressive though and the breakfast was lovely. We had some difficulty with directions, finding our way in and out of cities. Anyway, the tour was more of an endurance test than a leisurely bike around a lake but we did succeed in the end. The bike shop in Constance was great and the people were very helpful.

Replace tour director “Leslie” he talked to everyone as if they’re children

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.

The entry into Budapest with the sun setting on the Parliament building was a once in a lifetime experience.

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....

Unfortunately, we did not travel far because of flooding although our cruise director tried to give us new options. The one thing you should do is maintain the bikes better. The chains were rusted and the tires very low. Some of the gears did not work. The food was fantastic.

Ended up being a Two-Country Tour due to high Danube water levels. It got a bit chaotic at times trying to understand where we were headed, when/where we would be riding, etc. While I think the onboard crew did a decent job of trying to adapt to the situation, I think boat operator should have had better contingency plans in place before ever leaving port. Watching/reading news reports the day the boat left Passau, water conditions were not unknown and it was predictable that the boat wouldn't make it to Budapest.

The bike rides we did get in were beautiful and the Danube area is definitely worth seeing. We were fortunate that most of the bike paths that had been affected by the flooding had been cleared and so only a few routes were detoured due to silt/debris on path. The bus rides we took to see a couple of the destinations we couldn't reach by water were longer than the time at the destination, but the time at the destinations was enjoyable.

Since we had anticipated it being the highlight of our trip, I wish we had made it to Budapest!!

The best part of the trip was seeing the different towns with their beautiful historic buildings. Unfortunately because of the prior week's rains which caused high water along the river, we weren't able to visit Budapest.

Unfortunately, flooding on the Danube prevented our trip from proceeding past Vienna. Having said that our group still had a good time together. The staff was accommodating and we appreciated all their efforts during an unexpected trip. Communication regarding trip changes, transportation and day-to-day activities could have been much better. Our tour guide was lacking some finesse in these areas.

The ride was always a. ‘bucket list’ item, & the scenery was outstanding, & the GPS was very beneficial. However, I wouldn’t rate the ride as our best experience, as there were a few disappointments. The Augsburg hotel was not very good. At the outset (day 1) the instructor was briefing a large group of German speaking cyclists, (for ~20 minutes) & advised he’d brief the English speaking cyclists afterwards, but he just came over & said we could start the ride, but we mentioned that we were advised to go to the Dom Hotel for instructions, & he just said - ‘what do you want to know?’, & it was annoying that we had to wait ~1 hour & cycle an additional 2km to get that instruction. Plus, the bikes did not have drink bottle cages, which would have been beneficial. I acknowledge the advice regarding 20kg weight restriction on luggage, & when we left Australia, our (3 pieces) luggage were weighed at the airline checkin at 19kg, 20kg, & 21kg, & we redistributed some luggage to the bike panniers, & then received notices on the end of day1 that out luggage was overweight 1 x 23kg & 1 x 21kg, & that we had to reduce the weight or the luggage would be left behind (we relocated the required amount to my backpack), but I suggest your partner recalibrate their scales (plus it surprises me that 20kg is OK, but 21kg is not). Additionally, we were only provided 2 luggage tags each, so we couldn’t buy another piece of luggage, to redistribute the weight (despite the instructions provided that we’d receive 3 luggage tags each). Additionally, once we arrived at our daily destination, there was no directions given to our accommodation hotel, which resulted in additional cycling (I had to use my Australian iPhone to access GPS, which was costly). Occasionally, there was a few trail signs that conflicted with the GPS, & a couple occasions when the written instructions provided a 3rd point of view.

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

The rides were wonderful, and the hotels spectacular !
This was my 6th cycling trip and the first time that my group did NOT receive a welcome package upon our arrival to the first hotel. No maps and no codes with which to unlock the bikes. We got underway that first morning two hours late and without any maps! Thankfully one person in our group had a cell phone with him so he could use it for directions. The packages eventually arrived but by then many in our group were not happy. The ride into St Gallen was not properly described. None of us could cycle it, even those with e-bikes and they are very heavy to push! Where were the map holders?? All of my other trips had something on the bikes to hold the maps, covered in clear plastic. We did not have those and so we had to stop to pull the map out of our bags to see where to go. Of the 6 trips I have done, this one was very frustrating.

Biking in the Wachau Valley was the most memorable part of the trip.

Suggestions - instructions on bike etiquette and traffic rules in Germany and Austria would have been useful.
There were numerous intersections on the five biking days when it was unclear the direction to take. During the briefing for the next day's ride it would have been helpful to have a powerpoint presentation or some other method of detailing the next day's route.
It would also have been helpful to know that ferries were not included in the cost of the trip. It was also a surprise that renting a bike helmet was 45 euros. It was a surprise that helmets were included in the cost of the trip. Finally, I also was a surprise that WIFI cost $15. All of these things should have been communicated to the riders before the trip.

Climbing the very steep road through the vineyards to the view point.

The small towns and inns we stayed in were lovely. The people we met in these areas were warm and friendly. Not everyone accepted credit cards or cashless payment so it is necessary to bring cash along to these areas. The bike path was very well marked and easy to ride. The company in Austria that facilitated the ride was less than helpful. We used there app but it was not setup with our exact ride so finding hotels and restaurants was a challenge. We also did not get a proper first night introduction about our itinerary and therefore we were missing critical train tickets and boat information.

One of the guests arrived on the barge not well. Instead of isolating himself in his cabin until he was better and or testing himself for covid he carried on. Within a few days a number of guests came down with covid.Even though the captain suggested covid is just like having a cold a number of guests were very sick , were unable to cycle, and obviously had a horrible time.

The Mosel River valley is quite beautiful and made for a great cycling trip. The Allure staff were great. Very helpful and cheerful. That said the boat is in need of a refresh including maybe at least fans in the cabins which gif hit and stuffy. The cycling guide seemed I’ll prepared to work with a group of various cycling tour experience.

The scenery was so beautiful and all the hotels were very nice. The signage around the lake was confusing at times. There should be an option, for an extra fee, to have quality helmets provided along with having bikes delivered and picked up at hotels at beginning and end of tour.

- Update your bike tour description - there's a route that is not active since 2021 and you put it in the programme
- We received 5 day programme with no proper descriptio, additional info from the hotel did not correlate exactly with the programme
-Every route on paper, no gpx track, not even pictures. Impossible to follow.

I feel you should do much more effort of you are selling a bike route experience. We ended up going up and down the Rhine using trains and not following the routes.

The bike tour in Vienna was very good. Management did a poor job in communication. We were told conflicting information. We were surprised that the boat did not meet us in Passau and had to take an hour long buss ride. Food was from the region and Germans Austria are not as good as the Italian' s and French. Liver is not popular with us. We are spoiled with the other culture food.

It would have nice to have access to a tire repair kit or at the very least, a way to contact bike repair shops that are open. It would have been nice to be able to order water and not have to pay $7 for a bottle. It would have been nice to have shorter rides so that we'd have time to stop and see the sights along the way.

This was a nice trip. The boat and staff were amazing. The scenery of the Danube was spectacular but the most memorable part of the trip were the other passengers!