3 Star Germany Tour Reviews — 1 to 30 of 82

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

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!

Reik welcoming and friendly nature & Omar's cooking.

I learned never to be on the last trip of the season, the exterior of the boat was kinda 'sad' looking.

Guides should actually know where they are going and put safety of riders at the top of their concern. Paul was so careless he was dangerous.

I don't think I would've gone on this trip if I would've known that I wasn't free to ride/stop when I wanted to or even provided the route information. I've been on several trips with Backroads and this did not measure up.

I liked the app showing the tracks, it would be even better if it automatically zoomed in around intersections. The bicycles are good (we used the non-electric enhanced ones), smooth gear switching, adequate gear ratio.

I am not sure if this is obvious to others, but a large part of this route (60km give or take) goes over gravel trails, which is not fun to say the least.

While hotels along the route are generally good, one night accommodation was a real dump, I did not expect that, and it was very disappointing.

A couple of suggestions:

- bring your own phone holder to make sure the phone with the map is mounted properly
- sometimes the luggage is left in the reception area, and sometimes put away in a storage room. Ask the receptionist if the luggage arrived to be sure, to avoid wasted time.

The reason we booked this trip was the I wanted to see a European rail-trail. It for us, was the highlight of the whole week.

The boat was wonderful as was the staff. Food too was excellent. There were two central problems with the trip. The first is the route. We had anticipated that the trip down the Rhine would be in beautiful sections building t instead we spent a week in heavily industrial areas where there was little along the river that was beautiful at all.
The second problem was that it appeared that no one from the company had checked out the route of the biking since it was first established since roads had closed and there were continuous diversions. As a consequence we (and when I say we i mean many of the bikers) were lost within 15 minutes of departing every day. While the trip was billed as "self guiding" clear and accurate maps are needed

Biking through the vinyatds.

The ship and the food were a very favorable part of the trip, lovely.

The bike tours were boring and ill described by the guide. Less farmland and more quaint villages would have met our expectations. The last day was the best.

Ship was very nice and staff were friendly and helpful. Everything was spotless clean and bed was comfortable. Dinner meals were pretty mediocre and some of sack lunches included greasy deep fried items. Bikes were in excellent condition and the bike routes were fine, but the written descriptions for navigating the routes were indadequate.

Different city tours were the memborable part both positive and negative. We loved our tour with Peter in Vienna on bikes we did not like our tour with a different Peter in Budapest, he was rude to one of our rides, very opinionated against the West defense of Ukraine, and then left us in the middle of town since he had another tour to go to.

the communication about the departure from the very beginning was a fiasco and then throughout the German presenations were about 50% longer than the English ones. BUt Leslie the Tour Director did a great job overall.

The Moselle-Maar Cycling Trail offered a lovely change of scenery from the also beautiful Mosel River paths we followed most days.