4 Star Germany Tour Reviews — 331 to 353 of 353

The boat was great and we all got the cabins we were hoping for – the food was really good. The girls commented that they weren’t expecting the food to be as good as it was.
• The biking was as easy as we expected, I didn’t like the bikes as much as the bikes we had on the Danube the year before but the bikes were exactly what they said on the web-site. Pretty well all the trails were paved – makes it hard to come back to PEI trails!
• Apparently we weren’t on as pretty a section of the Rhine as we could have been but we saw some great scenery and little villages were so clean, friendly and relatively easy to get around. The crew said they didn’t like this route because it wasn’t as scenic and not as many places to stop. Apparently, they are not going to do the same route next year.
• I don’t think the tour itself was quite as well run as the one on MV Story on Danube IN 2014. I didn’t think the tour guide this year gave nearly as good instructions as the previous year and often it was difficult to figure out exactly which trail to take. The book with maps had a number of errors but guy said that would be fixed. I think they were some translations errors as well.. Last year, the tour guide always biked the route (he would wait until boat left so was always behind us and we knew he’d catch up). This guy said he was always behind us but we only saw him once and very briefly. He didn’t give suggestions of places to eat etc like they did last year. We always found good spots so that was not an issue but not because he provided suggestions. In 2014 the directions were very very clear and the company put arrows on the sign posts to show the directions. That was very helpful but non of that happened this year 2015. Maybe if they had continued the tour they would have done that as well.
• The directions we got for where the boat was docked in Basel were wrong – the directions said to go to West side and that was where the boat was always docked!! Well, it wasn’t there it was on the east side. Thankfully when it wasn’t where it was expected to be, the cab driver knew where it “probably” was. We did NOT feel the cabby took advantage of us as a few other couples has same issue and one of them had taken a bus to the dock!!. Tripsite was very responsive when we explained this and you were very generous in reimbursing us for cab fares (should have been 21 E per cab but was 54E per cab). I saw the meter and he only charged us what the meter said, plus he turned meter off a couple of times. We did give him tip. We took 2 cabs for the 6 of us and they followed each other so we all had same issue.
• We would absolutely go on another Tripsite trip and we all had a great time – just wanted to give you the feedback. If asked, I would recommend the Danube over this section of the Rhine. I would however try a different section of the Rhine and we may look at Holland another year.  SHOW MORE 

Some hotels were too far from the center of the city. Directions need more detail, such as recommendations for lunch or rest stops, and places where you might want to bike on the road rather than a gravel or hilly bike route. Detailed maps of town and cities would be good.

We were switched to the Mosel at the last minute and apparently our guide didn't feel the need to learn much about this route. He was less than helpful and in a few cases gave wrong information that cost some individuals time and energy.

Perfect weather, gorgeous scenery, wonderful riding--loved every minute of the trip.

Wonderful trip along the Danube. If you are biker you will find the bikes lacking. My wife with her spinal cord injury used an electric assist which worked very well.

Loved the trip and the Merlijn. Hoping to do another tour in 2017.

We were told the distances we would ride each day but these did not match the GPS we were given. Each day was longer and harder than we were led to believe. You need to make it clear that the ride is not for beginners as there are many hills and long distances most days. I would rate this as a medium ride, not an easy/medium ride. Our group could not complete the ride as it was too hot.

The guide was not well prepared with maps and the boat kept changing docking locations. The Rhine is very industrial from Basel to Mainz. The rides were not very interesting or long. It was not one of your better offers.

I ordered an electrical bike and found it VERY TOP heavy, causing me to take a fall and injure my hip.

Amazing scenery, great company, delicious food, kind staff and somewhere comfy to sleep - with no unpacking! However,the crux of these trips stems from the quality of the guides. Our first trip, to Vienna, Had a guide that knew the route well, but smoked at every stop, and wanted to always eat dinner at somewhere he could buy alcohol; we preferred to eat our rolls in the fresh air, which sometimes was tricky. He tended to ride off without checking we were all ready, leaving riders behind until someone caught him. Our second trip (Merzig to Koblenz) had a lady guide who was not at all familiar with the area, but used her GPS to locate landmarks and routes (sometimes taking the shortest, not the most scenic). She didn't give an initial safety talk, she changed the route from the easy one offered to a more scenic but quite difficult one, causing one older, inexperienced lady to fall (end of trip for her and her husband,, hospitalisation for almost a fortnight, skingraft). Our replacement guide tried hard, but couldn't seem to match the route to the one we'd booked, so we missed seeing things we'd looked forward to. So our last trip, Koblenz to Amsterdam, was not one we would recommend unless they sorted the route out. Apart from the above, we'd recommend this mode of travel.

The guides are young and very athletic. People who sign up for this level of bicycling aren't usually top bikers, unless they are doing it to be with friends or spouse. I think a bit more thought could be put into the introductory ride the first day, bridge crossings, sudden merging into traffic, sudden turns to go steeply uphill. I've done much longer bike rides, but at this age, I didn't want that much challenge.

I thought we would bike every day, not a problem, but it would have been nice to know.

I had a good time on this trip, however, there was not enough time on the bicycle. As well, compared to the other biking trips we have taken, this one was very dependent on time. We did not have all day to get to the next spot. I felt rushed on three of the days, and we only biked on four. Also you lose the sense of discovery when every spot is picked out for you ahead of time, as to where to eat, shop, etc. The cruise staff were wonderful, but it seems to me that they think people only want to see cities, whereas I love the countryside and the villages. I would not do a combined boat and bike again.

Great way to do an active vacation. Will definitely book again!!

The boat itself is nothing remarkable, but quite comfortable and clean. The staff was amazingly friendly. Route descriptions were sparse in some sections so there was some guessing involved. The maps themselves didn't have any road names on them if you did get lost they were of no use. We honestly didn't rely on the maps/route descriptions as much as the info from our daily meetings with the tour guide. There were good and bad days as far as scenery on the rides, a few days were pretty boring with not a lot to look at, while others were quite beautiful. We docked within walking distance to town on all days except one (where you had the option of one lonely restaurant). On board you are provided with maps and flyers for each overnight town. The bikes were super heavy and cumbersome (not bikes I am used to) but this is the norm in Europe. The food on board was excellent. I would recommend this trip as I know the routes are being reviewed and descriptions/maps updated.

They need to provide better maps or route sheets. Manager of the boat (Peter) was very unfriendly and sometimes rude.

Food was only average. Breakfast buffet was good, but the dinners were mixed. If you could find a way to upgrade the dinners, that would be great and worth more money. For biking trips, given it is a healthy, active crowd, even more healthy meal preparations would likely be welcomed. We did appreciate the vegetarian options though Vegan would also be nice. Overall a wonderful trip though, we enjoyed it very much.

Garrit, our bike tour leader, was a novice on this route as well as a poor communicator to the english speaking clients. The docking area changed at each stop from the printed instructions, and the maps and turn-by-turn instructions were only partly correct! Everyone got lost at some point in the trip!! I had asked for GPS routing for my bike Garmin GPS but was told the route was to new and that it was not available! I think some accurate preparation would have made the trip more pleasant.
Second - the route along the Rhine is not scenic (as on the Danube) with few small towns to stop and look/snack on the way. The most notable sights were gravel pits and cement manufacturing. Of course, that is not the fault of the tour operator, however, they should have provided a detailed description of the small towns on the way (although not on the river) to give us the option of exploring the interesting ones and forgetting about the towns with 3 streets and no interesting sights.

Boat staff need to learn how to be more polite and friendly. The management seems to be in the military service.

Trip maps were difficult to decipher in some cases and needed more explanation. There were too many questions of ""which way do we go?, we must have missed our turn, where's the ferry?

Why couldn't we get a cup of coffee or tea before 7am or 4pm? Why couldn't we get a beer in the lounge right after returning from ride? Why couldn't we drop off our panniers before 4 on Friday when the man in charge was sitting at his desk doing nothing? The crew for the most part was accommodating but the Teutonic influence was in evidence too often, and I am 50% German. My grandfather having served for Germany in the First World War.

The food could be a lot better, and we would even pay more. Other than that the trip was lovely.

What I didn't like was the fact that the ships organisers would have known that the Water levels in the Danube would not be sufficient for the boat to moor in Budapest long before they told us. I feel that we weren't told as it would have put in jeopardy people attending the trip.

Otherwise everything else exceeded my expectations. The only staff member who could have done better was the guy in charge of the bike courses.

This is an awesome bike tour, great work.