4 Star Germany Tour Reviews — 271 to 300 of 349

Most Memorable: Arriving in Budapest just at dark and seeing the city all lit up and riding through the Wachow valley. The visits to the cities, Vienna, Budapest, Bratislava, were too short and left us wanting more. This particular boat was geared more towards German speaking guests and English was a poorly translated afterthought.

Excellent friendly guide. Pristine boat. Great route. Some of the docking locations were in industrial sites. We had a good time overall in spite of a rough start when we asked to self guide and to use the bikes after 6. We needed to double check Tripsite website when we were initially told the tour was guided, but our requests were accommodated in the end. Great value.

All our needs were addressed. Being a guest on the Merlin was a pleasure. Our guide, Felix was very informative.

Most memorable part: Biking through the small towns and rural parts of our route.

I am very glad that I did this trip: the boat, cabin, food, bike, everything was very good. But there were some challenges, which I would like to mention.
1. The tour guide (Jan, his first name) was not rude, but more like indifferent to your problems. Very often his answer was ""It's up to you. You want this, go this way, you want that, go that way."" Hr didn't try to understand your problem and to find the best solution for your situation.
2. Bike path pavement sometimes was bad and poorly marked. For people with not good vision (like myself) it was a big problem. European bikers are more aggressive speed wise and more comfortable in the crowded environment. It was a problem to have pedestrians and bikers in both directions at the same time. So, for me it was easy to complete 50-60 kilometers physically, but it was stressful psychologically to be in such crowded place.
3. Unguided tour is a challenge: you can get lost, something can happen to you, your bike, and no help is available. One person locked a bike and lost a key. I even do not know how he came back on the boat. I am writing all these problems to give future fellow travelers more real picture before making a decision to take this trip, and moreover how to prepare yourself for the trip. My mistake was that I was thinking that if I can do 40 miles on the bike, I am ready for the trip. Physical part is not enough. You should be ready physically, but also you should be able to function in the crowded city environment at low speed, be able to repair your bike, if needed, to read a map, and not to expect that all people in the world like Americans. Sorry for being so long, but I really wanted to give the most truthful picture of my experience.

Biking through the Wachau valley and the small towns was most memorable. Staff/guides could be more customer focused and less argumentative with guest/customers. First day of biking was too rushed to complete prior to boat departure ... ride did not accommodate leisurely stops. Guides did not provide enough information on daily routes to assist with historical sites, lunch/rest stops, places to visit or provide assistance on route to ensure guests made it back to the ship. This trip did not meet the standards that previous (5 trips) Tripsite trips offered in the past that we booked.

The most memorable part was cruising down the river during dinner.

My first Tripsite vacation, first bike/barge trip, first trip to the 4 countries.....loved it. Somewhat poor attitudes of hotel manager, Peter and the guides did not spoil my trip...in fact, became a bit of a joke to us. I would not let it stop from booking another trip.

I felt that the guide could have put more effort into letting us know what we were seeing. When we came upon a historic site such as a church, castle or such his standard comment was, "here is a church, you can go in and look at it if you want". We sat in front of the Porta Negra in Trier and were told it was a Roman ruin. Nothing more. My e-bike malfunctioned and I had to ride a regular bike the next day. I had ordered an e-bike because I have a health condition and was quite embarrassed that I held the rest of the group up while I walked the regular bike up small hills.

Having a guide for the biking. He was terrific. We had a route change which led to a boring day biking. They do not give you water at the table. Too many people on the boat. Lining up for things to buy tickets. Did not like having to buy a drink package. Too expensive.
Staff was very pleasant. Our guide was fabulous.

Overall, the trip was good. There was, however, a disconnect among what our trip itinerary described and what the guide and the captain thought in terms of mileages and what entrance fees were included. The guide used the corner system. That means that the entire group has to ride together and do the same mileages each day. The trip description notes that each participant will receive maps and be able to ride on their own. We did not receive maps and therefore it made it impossible to ride on our own.

Route was easy. We especially liked the fact that the boat stayed overnight where each day's ride ended. Our guide was a replacement so we don't think he was familiar enough with the route to give us the best guidance.

The ride through the Wachau valley was by far the most memorable. We were happy with the overall trip. The staff were very helpful and cheerful. The one disappointment was with the info from the cruise director on the trip. At times it was inaccurate. This trip could be improved by updating the notes in the bike route, providing information and maps on side trips to the villages we biked through. Many bikers were concerned to vary from the route to find other attractions for fear of getting lost. One section of the trail was on a small sidewalk yet the cruise director and the printed information did not mention this. A lot of bikers were confused. It seems like the cruise director never biked the route or it has been too long ago.

Two ladies and I ( all in our 60's) just finished this tour on My Story. Having no experience with bike/barge I was not sure what to expect. What we got was a fabulous trip through some of the most scenic and beautiful country I've ever seen. Our tour guide, Stephan, was charming and informative. This tour was run by Rad and Reisen. They did a great job of marking the routes, although a few times we did get a little turned around. The food was top-notch and the staff did an excellent job of entertaining the travelers. I was impressed by the over-all professionalism. The riding was easy and on mostly asphalt with very few inclines. Only draw back was the size of the cabins. The pictures are a little misleading. When the second bed was lowered there was almost no room to walk by each other. You needed to be a contortionist to use the bathroom. But, since you really didn't spend a lot of time in the room it was tolerable. All in all would highly recommend this trip.

The scenery was amazing! Crew were excellent! Food was delicious! Can't wait to go again!

The boat was well maintained. Beds were comfy for bunks. Our cabin [#9] had huge bathroom. With the hot Aug temps, a fan would have been appreciated. Bring a small personal 4" or 6" USB fan if you can find the space in your luggage. A small soaking pool on the deck was a welcome relief from the heat.

Meals were basic, but tasty and filling. Els did a nice job of accommodating my dietary restrictions. Ample cooler filtered water was available on the boat - remember your water bottle. Lunches were packed in zip lock baggies. Bring your own insulated lunch bag / Tupperware to keep your lunch fresher.

GIANT bike were like new and well maintained. I was disappointed we could not use the bikes during the city stops that were part of the day trips or after dinner when we returned to the barge. Even though the bikes have locks, Sander and Els don't allow this to minimize theft risk. Besides my husband and I, all participants were in there mid-60s to mid-70s and didn't seem to mind.

Our guide, Weiger, did an outstanding job of leading our daily tour as well as guiding us through the cities we were docked in at night. He managed the multiple languages within our group with ease. The participants on our trip were German [6], Spanish [3], Austrailian [2] and American [2-us]. By the end of the week, our group had bonded even though our shared vocabulary was easily less than 50 words!

The countryside between Thionville and Wasserbillig was very beautiful and what I had envisioned - river and hills covered with vinyards. The other days were nice paved bike trail with the river on one side and trees on the other. I could have taken a picture and convinced friends that I was still in the US Midwest. I guess that is why there are so many French and Germans in Wisconsin and Iowa! I think I would have preferred more time off of the trail and in the countryside, but perhaps if we did do that, the car traffic would cause me to have a different opinion. Certainly the cities we stopped in were old and had a quaint European feel.

The most memorable part was Day 6 Rossatz - Pochlarn was the most scenic part of the trail. Magical small villages - wish the whole route could have been like this. Most of the trail was uneventful, some of the trail was in poor shape and rough riding.
Unfortunately, there was a language barrier between the Americans and the tour guide, so instructions were not always clear, and we needed to fend for ourselves most of the time. Certain sections of map were confusing and trail was not well marked. We made it though, and enjoyed the adventure!
Beautiful cities and villages to visit - wish we would have had more time to explore! All in all very good trail ride and good trip!

Overall a great trip and experience. The Mosel exceeded my expectations.
Collaborative and friendly staff; very good chef, very good captain and crew. Host was efficient but not overly friendly. Bike tour guide was ok but not very organized.

This was my 4th cycling holiday but this year the quality of bikes was poor, only had 7 gears, had 21 gears every other year and did not like the back pedal brake.

Most memorable part was Stein am Rhein, and also liked the fact we could stop cycling and jump into the lake whenever we wanted.

Fantastic dinners & wonderful guide, captain, staff!

Loved the Netherlands countryside. Beautiful flowers and farmland and great trails.
Also the friendly and professional staff.

We had a lovely time. The barge and entire crew were wonderful. We were very disappointed with the bike guide though. She was not at all knowledgeable with her directions and we many times retraced steps on the bike. We feel we could have seen much more but her choices for stops were terrible. We would spend way too much time at a stop when we could have been seeing a lovely park nearby. Her choices for stops were not well planned out and some were just very disappointing. The captain, in our opinion should consider another guide for this trip. There is much to see in this area and easily done so on a bike. The guide was not good with directions and perhaps a bit more planning on her part would have made it a far more enjoyable trip. Berlin and the surrounding ares are beautiful and offer a wealth of history to be seen. We have taken other bike and barge trips and honestly, the guide truly is the person that makes or breaks the trip.

The scenery between Passau and Vienna was the most memorable part of the trip, even when we were away from the Danube. Beautiful.

The reason I gave the first question a 4 out of 5 is because the daily rides were long enough that it was hard (tiring) to get back out in the evenings to see the local sites or to see some of the sites along the way. That was probably also a result of trying to coordinate and corral too many people (9 on our trip) to get things done in a timely manner. I suspect the 10-day option for this trip might have been better for us.

Regarding route and description guides, sometimes it was a little too much to remember to coordinate the route book, the additional instructions in the travel documents (voucher) book, and Rad & Reisen's Travel Information book, not to mention the daily itinerary in the literature advertising this trip. In fact, the worst mistake we made was the worst one we could have made: ignoring the instructions to take the van transfer from Grein to Gasthof zum Aigner Kreuz, Bad Kreuzen to avoid very steep inclines. However, some of the literature given to us suggested we go to Klam Castle (a good way up the incline to Bad Kreuzen), which was not on the way to Grein, and that is what we did.

I've now taken 5 bike trips in Europe: 2 using hotels, 3 using boats/barges. Barges are easier: you only have to unpack and repack once while riding.

Thank you for all your help putting this trip together. Overall, it was a great experience.

The boat was not in location we were told it would be. But once there the boat was good. The tour guide didn't seem to know the route as well as he should have. The directions on the maps could have been a lot better But we did have a great time but would recommend a different route next time.

Tripsite was great. Would highly recommend booking with them.

Some of the directions from the bike path to the hotel were not great. In 2 cases, when hotel was far from bike path, it was only with GPS in our phone that we were able to find our way. Loved having the meal plan where possible. Thanks for setting that up.

This is our third trip with Tripsite and this was our least favorite so far. The scenery was not particularly stunning and in France we were on more roads than we would have preferred. We also stayed in larger cities such as Basel and Freiburg than in previous trips. It is a personal preference, but we prefer the smaller towns such as the ones we encountered on our trip from Amsterdam to Brugge and from Prague to Dresden.

On the positive front, the lodging and equipment were the best that we have had from the three trips. The hotels were quite nice and truly were 4 star accommodations. The bikes had cushy seats and comfortable handlebars. Even the panniers were a step up with easy snap on and off functionality and very good water proofing.

We enjoyed the trip and it was high quality as we have enjoyed with Tripsite. The scenery just wasn't as nice and that's why we rank this as our least favorite of our trips so far. Have no fear, we will go again next year and are already looking at the Barcelona/Girona trip. We love working with Tripsite and will be long-term customers!

The plan changed from recommending biking in Budapest...to it not being recommended - and therefore no briefing/description of the route was provided. While the stickers on signposts helped to guide the way, the book could have been more fully annotated. The boat was too full, there were not enough dishes for all passengers, dinner took 3 hours (2 hours too long). Bikes were generally in good repair and available when promised. Although the food was very good, bottled water was not provided every day as contracted.

We had a problem with sewage odor in our room - which they boat crew was unable to fix - Also room was hot and we had to use a fan. When we complained to Rad and Reisen about the temperature they denied that the AC was not working. We complained to Rad and Reisen and they issued us a 10% refund which Tripsite matched. We appreciated your concern attentiveness to these problems and you willingness to offer some compensation.

Despite these problems, overall the trip was great - good people, great rides and beautiful scenery and points of interest. We would definately book another trip with your company, but not with Rad and Reisen.

Only thing missing was quality wifi on the boat. The trip more than met our expectations

We would have like more written details of the areas we were seeing. We also would have liked a stronger wifi connection. Food and service was excellent.