4 Star Germany Tour Reviews — 1 to 30 of 361

1st 3 days really great cycling, quiet and beautiful, but it's hilly if not on an ebike particularly day 2.
Better to visit Neuschwanstein first thing day 4 rather than at the end of a long day 3.
Nearly all of the recommended gasthofs were closed during the day, one looked shut for sometime. Take food and drink with you for lunch, dont rely on finding it en route.
App glitchy in towns navigating to the hotel and when off route.
That said, we really enjoyed this trip.

We recently returned from a memorable bike tour through four countries, and for the most part, it delivered on its promises. The e-bikes were well-maintained, the routes scenic and well-suited to the difficulty level described, and the new navigation app made wayfinding effortless. On board, the service was attentive and the meals were genuinely delicious.
Unfortunately, the experience ended on a sour note. The disembarkation the process was slow and ill-suited to the ship's passenger capacity. More frustrating, our large backpack — correctly tagged for delivery to the parking garage 5 km away — never arrived. We had to return to the ship to locate it ourselves. When we did, staff declined to take responsibility, attributing the error to other passengers. The bag was eventually returned to us still bearing the original garage tag, and with its contents inside, wet.
It's a shame, because the tour itself was excellent. With better handling of the final logistics, this would have been an easy five stars.

The entire trip was well organised with a great route. The path was exceptional albeit a bit flat at times which allowed the daily distances to be covered very easily. The route was punctuated by historic towns and natural beauty around every corner.

I would recommend this trip to anyone, even people with limited fitness.

Despite the chilly weather in mid-May 2026, my partner and I thoroughly enjoyed our cycling trip, a first for us. The scenery was beautiful and varied, as the river is often winding. The accommodations were very good, although sometimes the rooms were a bit small for a 4-star hotel.
We opted for electric bikes, which was a good idea. However, they were quite heavy to handle. We also would have appreciated instructions on how to lock the bikes together and how to remove the battery to charge it in the room, as one hotel didn't have an electrical outlet in its garage. The Pedalo app, which served as our guide, was truly amazing; it's very well designed. However, the route really needs adjusting when there are detours that last for months due to major construction. The signs on the ground were difficult to find.
That said, we would be happy to repeat a similar experience with TripSite.

Bratislava was most memorable, as well as the scenery along the way.

Discovering the Danube and surrounding countries and the extensive history leading up to their current status. I wish you had more time in Vienna.. like maybe an overnight since the barge was parked so far away from the center of town and it was a holiday (May 1), our visit was less than satisfying.

The friendships made on the trip were wonderful. The organising of the bikes was excellent. The waiters and waitresses were lovely and all so professional.

Lukas managed to provide great guidance, historical insights and an overall enjoyable experience. Some hotels were marginal on comfort but that did not diminish our impression of a very well organized tour. We are seeking him out for our next tour to Budapest!

We had so much fun! This trip is great for a variety of mobility and fitness, as the trails are straightforward and easy terrain. You go past castle upon castle and through timber home towns. We went during the fall, so got to enjoy the crisp air and leaves changing. Very glad we planned ahead with the right layers. There were great options for activities and sights to see along the way. Make sure you do your research around operating hours, tickets, and what options there are to get there. We loved Eltz Castle and Cohem Castle. Some required hiking to get to. The tour operator offered a lot of additional activities as well that were really fun like a historical walking tour, wine tasting, and etc. They were very thoughtful to accommodate a variety of languages for us to join.

Most memorable were:
The evening spent with a family-run wine farmer; tasting and purchasing wine from the guys who made it;
Seeing the cathedral in Trier;
The covered market in Metz and other open farmer markets along the way;
The moderate biking through the picturesque Moselle wine country;
Cultural and historic insights and explanations by our guide Wim;
Getting to know other Americans on the same journey;
The great food and wine offered all but one night on the Iris;
A few minutes spent on the bridge with our captain;
And finally, enjoying the hospitality, friendliness and accommodation of the crew of the Iris and our guides Wim and Alice.
On the, "Items in need of improvement" list:
One of our guides was more knowledgeable and willing to share his knowledge than the other; she has good guide skills but is inexperienced and needs to study the route and its attractions and features a bit;
There were several falls experienced by several of our group, which was 100% composed of seniors. Seniors fall, it's a fact of life, and they fall more often on bikes, especially those who don't bike much and are awkward on a bike. Some of these "accidents" can be avoided. A better orientation the night before we depart that clearly states the rules of the road would be advisable, and reminders each night about what the guides saw that day and coaching on what could be doe to assure the safety of guests. That coaching should include: do not ride side by side to have a conversation - single file only; obey traffic signals; signal when you're coming to a stop; move your bike off the path when stopping. This kind of basic rules of the road talk is needed and some direct, private conversations with the violators would go a long way towards increased safety. I was relieved no one needed medical attention. It's unrealistic to think that none of your seniors will ever have a fall on a week-long trip, but many of them can be avoided.
The bikes have seen a long season by a variety of guests and by mid-October they have a lot of wear and tear. Might be time to sell them and replace with new ones.
The Iris is a great boat for 20 guests; I found myself hoping for a space where I could read a book in private. On another bike and barge trip in Italy on the Ave Maria there was a second deck with deck chairs and an awning. Guess I'm saying I would have preferred a larger boat.

Great tour leader and staff on board. Interesting itinerary. Accommodated our food preference.

Cycling along the Mosel River was lovely. The paths are great and the vineyards and villages were quaint and memorable.

The highlight of our trip was the food! Our chef went all out everyday to accommodate those this dietary needs while giving us delicious flavors and variety everyday.

Unfortunately our tour guid had never led this tour before and was unfamiliar with the area. He made some wrong turns that left the group frustrated on rainy days and wasn’t able to lead us on walking tours of the towns we visited.

Great trip overall. The boat and food were excellent. Unfortunately because we were the last tour of the summer the bikes were in bad shape. Lots of breakdowns and swapping out of bikes, fiddling with batteries, etc each day. To improve the experience the bikes should be maintained between every trip!

Riding along the Moselle amongst the vines and stopping at gorgeous little towns.

The scenery and the historical cities were so wonderful. Especially loved the last day of biking through wine country and small villages. Food was excellent, and accommodation was comfortable. Only complaint would be the lack of clear, English directions during our information sessions each evening. A guide out on the course would be recommended.

The boat was great , all the rooms had windows and a little terrace, and the food was amazing. I would have liked to have more time to visit the cities were the boat docked. Cycling was fun...but we could not visit the interesting sites.

My only issue is the routes gps. The explanation weren’t always good and the routes we downloaded were certainly not updated. On a couple of days they said it was actually dangerous to bike so some of our friends didn’t bike. We had all gone there for the biking.

Scenery was great bikes where good boat was excellent would have been bocce if helmets could have been provided or rented as hard to pack and carry one to Europe .

We had an excellent time on the tour. The sites we great, biking path was paved, food and the care on the Iris was excellent.
Biking on the city bridges were not always easy. A little scary with the traffic. Loved the e-bike. Would definitely go on another bike and barge trip.

The first day and last day of biking were beautiful. The route the other days weren’t as nice.
The boat staff were wonderful and the food was delicious.
Only downside was having to be on the boat for a certain time as the boat moved all night long. I prefer the tours when the boat moves as we bike and stays in port all night. Nice for after dinner walk in towns.

Guides were great. Trip was very educational. Side tours were great even in the rain. Would to have more time to spend in each city. One day is just not enough to enjoy the local flavors.

This was our 2nd self-guided bike tour in Europe. It was a little different than our first where everyone leaving from our hotel was on the same schedule. With this company, you are basically customizing your tour by chosing to stay extra nights in some cities. The route chosen by the local company was qood. We had a variety of small villages and towns, crop fields and forrests. Lodging in the Category B hotels was good to excellent. The cycle paths were very good most of the time with little mixing with cars. We did this in Sept and it seemed alot of restaurants/cafes along the route were closed, so you might bring a lunch with you. The bikes were good, but do not have mirrors, which I had inquired ahead about. We did bring our own.

Liked the disco night. The fourth ride was beautiful.
Meals were also good and super service.
My e-bike was too heavy for me- suggest a more compact and less heavy bike for smaller women. Also, we had wanted to book a guide for the 9 of us and there were only 2 on this boat. We would have enjoyed having one to eliminate getting lost and also helping us find fun locations to stop enroute. We did this on our Italian trip and it made a large difference to our enjoyment.
Your staff are very helpful and pleasant. Well done overall.

This was a spectacular time to tour the German countryside. While biking the countryside, we took in castles, churches and farmers markets. We watched the amazing grape harvest, talked to the vineyard owners and tasted great wines. I would do it again!

Staff was amazing, wanted to help and please you al the time. Food was good. Meat portions could have been a bit bigger since we need lot’s of protein to bike. We need non guided and I would not do that again, missed the knowledge of the area that a guide provides.

I would strongly recommend taking the guided tour as opposed to non guided. The app to use is very average and doesn’t give you any information along the ride.

the boat, service and routes. we'd have preferred to have more time in viena and budapest

Our group truly enjoyed the week on the Vivienne. The bike trails were well maintained and routes well marked which enabled us to enjoy the amazing scenery each day. The staff on Vivienne was incredible.
Two complaints were the e-bikes were very heavy
and there were no water bottle holders on the regular bikes.

The riding was both beautiful and challenging in places and the food was excellent, including the breakfasts. The premium hotels were not up to four star standards and could have been planned better. The bikes did not appear to be well maintained and required maintenance along the way.

Biking the Wachou valley, outside Vienna. It was an incredible ride, with great places to stop along the way. The trip was great, the crew handled all those bikes great. Would have liked more time in some of the cities, and more diet options.
But, that’s being kinda picky, it was a great trip and would recommend.