5 Star Germany Tour Reviews — 361 to 390 of 1160

If you are not using an electric bike, the hills are strenuous but doable.
The beauty of the countryside in Germany and Denmark was spectacular.

This bucket list trip does not disappoint. One week of magic. Unpack once and you are good for the week which was a huge part of the magic. Every day was different. Cycling through villages and towns, or wineries and vineyards, or just along the river. The two 'rest days' were filled with walking around Vienna and Budapest and seeing all the sites we could. Food on board was exceptional and the service of the staff exemplary. We also liked that there was time in towns/cities to also eat local food during the day and a few days the boat was docked at dinner as well so although food was prepaid for all meals - we liked that we could also experience local cuisine. It was a mostly German speaking boat or week but we did have about 30 English speakers and the staff all spoke English so that was helpful to us. The routes were good (but we did have to crowd source a bit to not get lost). There is not really anything to do on the boat per se - but the scenery was continuously striking and you go through a variety of locks which is also interesting. We were on the Vivienne which is a newly remodeled boat (a few years back) so the rooms and common areas were decorated nicely. Overall - great trip for active people seeking ease and flow on a vacation where you could see 4 countries and not be stressed.

Overall, the self-guided tour was excellent. The trail system was impressive, going through cities, towns and countryside mostly along the Vltava and Elbe Rivers. There were some tricky spots and we made some wrong turns, but always managed to get back on track. Make sure to get the electronic GPS maps and download and test them before you leave. It was essential to have all three sets of directions (electronic, maps and written directions). It was really special to visit all the historic towns and places in the Czech Republic, including Melnik and lunch at Strekov Castle as well as seeing all the spring flowers and crops growing everywhere. We stopped and paid our respects at the Terezin Memorial, the Nazi concentration camp, which was a sobering experience. Please note that in Hrensko, the trail to Pravicice Gate, (the natural bridge) goes through a major forest fire burn area, which really detracted from the experience. If we had known how devastated it was, we probably wouldn't have made that side trip. According to other travelers there was no forest fire damage around Edmund's Gorge, the other major attraction in the area. My advice would be to skip Hrensko and press on to Bad Schandau and take extra time to visit the Bastei Brucke between Bad Schandau and Dresden.

I have done multiple boat/bike tours now and this trip was definitely everything I had hoped for. The experience onboard was outstanding, the bicycle routes were excellent and the optional excursions I chose were fun. The bicycles were perfect. This was my first ebike experience.

Beautiful architecture and countryside

We were very fortunate that we had beautiful weather the entire trip, except for a brief hail storm as we returned to the barge in Bratislava. The alternate days of biking and city touring was excellent in that it allowed time to recover from saddle sores, and the e-bikes were very comfortable for the long distances we biked. The crew was fabulous and accommodating to every need, and the Cruise Director (Leslie) made sure we were prepared and had everything we needed to make our biking a pleasure and free of stress.

We finished this trip in May of 2023.

We did the self guided with just my wife and I. We are in our late 60s so we used the e-bikes as there are some hilly areas. We picked the highest hotel category and also spent three nights in Prague prior to the trip.

We loved it. The spa towns were amazing as were the hotels. The breakfasts every morning were fantastic. The rides were almost entirely on very lightly traveled roads or bike paths. The countryside is amazingly beautiful and so were the towns. We felt very safe everywhere we went. We called ahead and signed up for spa treatments several times. We have done many rides and this ranked up there with the best.

This was a fantastic trip! The boat was great and the crew was the best. Meal were great and nicely served - significantly past my expectation for a trip focused on biking. If you are doing this trip, here are some things I wish I had known....

- You will spend more time on the boat than you might think - pack clothes for that and excursion days as well as what you were for biking

- Speaking of clothes, it is hard to get things to dry if you wash them out by hand - there is a clothesline in the shower but bring your own clips

- You won't have much shore time on biking days or excursion days, so don't bother looking up 100 things to do in a city. Think in terms of a few hours not a whole day

- That being said, I would suggest setting something up on your own in Vienna in the evening - especially if you are into Classical Music - that is, after all, the town for it. We went to the ballet and it was wonderful. Our friends went to the Opera - you might want to take nicer clothes for either of those - they still dress up for concerts..

- Don't bother getting Florints (money) in Hungary - everyone we talked to took Euros, but do get train tickets from your tour guide if they are offered - they are hard to find and the machines are not in English and VERY hard to figure out (we finally found some young people who graciously helped us out)

- Don't count on Wifi. Period. We never managed to pull in any

- The app they use sounds really good but we found it completely useless - even our cruise director said not to use it. It doesn't help, and most of the time when we had a question on the route I couldn't pull in cell service

- Speaking of cell service....play around with what service your phone pulls up. Sometimes if I changed carriers I got a much better signal

- Try to find a group to ride with - it really helps with directions and is much more fun

- The Ebikes are VERY heavy - someone said 65lbs - I don't know if that is true, but they are very heavy and hard to manage. They might help when you are riding, but they are hard to handle - not for anyone who isn't pretty strong especially stop and go in small towns - it is a challenge.

- Every day you have to catch the boat before it leaves port. You don't have to be a professional biker, but you do have to ride along at a pretty good clip. That took us by surprise...it was no jaunt through the countryside - but I am older (60) so maybe that is a matter of perspective

- They set out salad stuff for you to take with a sandwich for lunches - I would suggest taking a small tupperware if you think you want salad on the road, but I would also suggest taking baggies just in case you don't want their prepared sandwiches (which were OK, but not real exciting). They put out cold cuts and breads/rolls and several days we made our own (helpful hint - don't put mayo on in the morning - take the packets and put them on when you eat - just to be sure it is fresh). I also made up some trail mix and took rolls (with Nutella packets) for snacks so the baggies were really helpful.  SHOW MORE 

The scenery while biking. The small towns we explored along the way. The staff on the boat.
The upscale dining experience each night.
The comfort, storage options, and arrangement of our cabins. The wonderful duvets on the beds. The large windows in our cabin.

Definitely the biking part was the most memorable. The scenery was incredible and I loved riding through the vineyards and small towns along the Mosel.

Review of local cycling etiquette would have been helpful

Everything about this trip was enjoyable. Excellent barge and crew. Friendly group of riders. Beautiful biking routes each day.

The bicycle was perfect. The hotels were TOP rate. The routes took us to beautiful out of the traffic bike paths while routing us through charming villages. There were clear options for alternative travel on bad weather days.The service and attention to questions while preparing to leave was very prompt and thorough. Overall a great experience. I would recommend tripsite to any interested in an action adventure.

Great self-guided tour! We received best written directions we have ever had on a self-guided bike tour. The route was basically flat along the rivers and the route directions were clear, understandable, and often offered options. The route information also included recommendations and directions along the way to get to sightseeing points, cafes, pubs, and restaurants. Lukas provided a thorough review of the trip on our arrival, and was available to answer our questions. We used the recommended GPS as a supplement, which was helpful for confirming our location and when there was an instance of unexpected road construction on the route. We also very much enjoyed the bike tour of Prague with Daniel and his willingness to share his personal insights into the history of the city.

The boat was comfy and well appointed, the beds were very comfortable, the biking along the river was fabulous with knowledgeable and friendly guides. I also enjoyed the sumptuous dinners each night. One of the best parts of this trip was getting to know our fellow travelers and make new friends.

The cycling, food, and service by ship’s staff were all great! We had the good fortune to meet some very interesting and fun people from Canada and Scotland, attended a couple very good concerts in both Vienna and Prague, and basically saw a part of Europe we never thought we’d see. Budapest, Vienna, Prague were all very interesting, and beautiful cities, and our guide, Thomas, made it all even better! Juergen, the cruise director, was very helpful, as well, finding us when we lost our group at one point and getting us back to the ship. Between Thomas and Juergen, we were able to sample a lot of good food while on the bike rides, and they provided great company at dinner, as well. I believe Thomas ate with us nearly every evening.

A couple notes: 1) I brought pick-pocket proof pants, as I’d heard that we needed to be careful. I didn’t really need them. Probably a better purchase if you’re visiting Paris and/or Barcelona. 2). The 3rd level rooms had balconies, where the 2nd level rooms do not. The room for the balcony is taken from the indoor room space, so you actually pay more for a balcony, but lose space in the room. We had a 2nd level room and the other 2 couples we traveled with both had balconies. They were envious of our extra room. Be sure to take along a travel clothes line to dry your clothes.

We also found the e-bikes were well worth the extra $$. Both my wife and trained using standard bikes, and physically were in decent shape for the bike rides, which were all pretty easy, fun rides. We found the e-bikes let us relax and enjoy the trip a bit more than we might have on regular bikes.
The ship, the Swiss Crown, was in excellent condition. The food was very, very good, and seemed to get better each day, as did the bike rides. The table service on the ship was excellent and the servers were all very personable, helpful, and friendly. One member of our group was vegan, btw, and the ship did a great job of accommodating him.

In all, we had a great trip and would do it again! Thanks to all for a wonderful time!

This was our first Bike & Barge, but it won't be our last! The whole trip was fabulous, the biking, the crew, the food, the other passengers and Tripsite for organizing it all!

Bicycling through the beautiful vineyards and the opportunity to visit picturesque towns.

This was my fourth bike/barge tour with Tripsite, and it was just as amazing as the other trips. Loved every moment. The ship and crew were simply outstanding. The only disappointment is that the itinerary said we would be in Metz for the evening, to even include a walking tour. We were greatly looking forward to it. However, we left Metz within an hour of boarding. It was a great topic of conversation among many passengers, who were also disappointed. So I’m not sure why we even started in Metz, to only leave right away and travel quite a distance to our first port. Other than that, it was as wonderful as each of my other Trip Site vacations.

The itinerary was terrific. We had fabulous guides who gave us lots of information about the sites we were visiting. The boat was very comfortable and the food was great. We had just 20 participants and everyone was very interesting and friendly. Can't wait for our next trip!

I worked with TripSite to plan this trip for 20 friends and family and they were fantastic to work with: flexible, friendly and professional. And the trip costs half of similar trips offered by US based bike tour operators. The Iris was a superb boat in great condition and the crew were amazing, with a special shout-out to the fantastic food! The riding was hard to believe: miles and miles of flat, scenic, history drenched wine country. Every days ride was enjoyable and had nice prizes and surprises along the way. Some of my group decided to stay on board for one or more days and got to relax and watch the castles go by, read a book, drink some great local white wine, and chat with the friendly crew. This particular tour: the Mosel between Cochem and Metz, was referred to me by a good friend who has done a dozen packaged bike tours and said this was his favorite. Now it's ours!

The biking.

Hard to say! We loved every bit of it! The peddling around the beautiful sceneries, the picturesque little villages, and the two amazing cities of Dresden and Prague! All spectacular! Take your time, maybe add more days so you can really explore the places around.

This was my first bike and barge trip and it was wonderful! I plan to do more biking and cruising! It was fun traveling with 14 friends.

The whole experience was fantastic!
The operator was extremely well organized - all our bikes were ready, the explanations were detailed and thorough and the maps/information booklet was very useful.
Hotel selections were fabulous and a real treat to arrive at each after day of riding. Hotel staff were well prepared to deal with biking groups; our luggage was always easy to retrieve.
The "extra" day we spent in Lindau was also very enjoyable.

It doesn’t get any better than this !
What a fabulous time. After two years of rescheduling due to Covid we were so excited to take our trip aboard the Zwaan to cycle along the Mosel and Saar Rivers. Totally worth the wait.
The crew aboard the Zwaan was exceptionally helpful and friendly. The rooms comfortable and clean , and always a hot shower. We enjoyed having drinks on the deck watching the sunsets. Our meals were very good and we had fun trying to guess the ingredients and urge our chef to share his recipe. The energy expended from the staff to ensure we we happy and comfortable was commendable.
The cycling path was way going and we were pleased we chose to take our trip in early October because it was the time for harvesting grapes and the process was fascinating. Our weather held out albeit a bit cool at times but it’s better than biking in the heat. The towns we visited along the way were charming. We would have welcomed more time in Trier. The cycle paths were well maintained and mostly paved and off any busy roads with few exceptions.
Certainly would recommend this trip. Suitable for all ages, even for one turning 75 years old !

Took the Guided option. Glad we did. Our two guides, Michaela and Honza, weren't just helpful, they were upbeat and fun even if it rained. Most of the entire route was on quiet paved well-maintained paths. Having guides meant we were able to gawk around, stop and shoot photos at a whim and get inside info on the many castles visited along the way. We've cycled many times in Europe but this was the first time we set foot in Czech Republic. It's great. How can you not like a country where cake is served for breakfast! In fact, both Prague and Dresden cry out for extra days before and after the cycling even begins.

Seven cycling trips we've enjoyed in Europe. This one ranked way up there. Two reasons why: Honza and Michaela. As our guides, they thought of everything. They knew the route inside-out and quickly got a feel for our interests, tastes and abilities. They went out of their way to assist. Once we needed distilled water for a CPAP sleep apnea machine. But it was a national Czech holiday. All stores and pharmacies were closed. Honza didn't give in; he actually convinced supply personnel at a hospital to provide the water. Being alongside the beautiful Elbe for the most part meant the terrain was primarily flat and manageable. Both cities, Prague and Dresden, cry out for additional days before and after the cycling begins. As for the accommodation, we chose the upgrades and we're happy about it. Breakfast at the Hotel Clement in Prague deserves special mention. It was outstanding. In fact, we had cake for breakfast every single day in the country.

Riding the trails through the beautiful forests!

Biking with family, romantic views from the river, the friendliness of the boat puppy and crew, wonderful dinner , and the stadt tours