2 Star Italy Tour Reviews — 1 to 7 of 7

Cycling in Lido and Pellistrina was fantastic. The cycling guides were all over the place. The boat went to Murano to see a glass blowing factory. We were told to be back at 4:45. We returned at 4:40 and the boat had already removed the gangway and was preparing to sail. We communicated with tripsite that we wanted a room with a window that opened that we could escape from if necessary. The window was less than 12" wide when opened. Clearly not was advertised. The guides frequently stopped after just a few minutes to talk about some unimportant building that wasn't even on the Ride with GPS app. The itinerary says you spend two nights in Venice. The boat is not in Venice. You have to take a Vaparetto to get to Venice. It is close but it is not Venice. That is false advertising. The espresso / cappucino machine had sour milk in it every morning. We had to buy our own Vaporetto passes even though the boat knew everyone would need them. This is ridiculous when you pay $5,000 for a trip. The whole crew had made arrangements with a group of Italian passengers to take them on a bike ride near Venice but didn't give anyone else the option of going. They also didn't tell anyone. The itinerary says you can get on the boat at 11:00 but the boat was gone to support the last bike ride. So folks who went to Venice had to stay out in the heat for over 4 hours.

We booked this trip for September, 2023 and had numerous issues with this company. We are experienced cyclists both on regular and e-bikes, and have cycled in Europe previously. With Tripsite, on the first day, the bikes were delivered to us without helmets and even without a seat. On Cycling Day 1, one of the apps on our phones was blank and it took a while to get that reinstalled. Halfway through the route, we found ourselves stuck on the side of the road, as our bikes no longer had a charge. They were transported to our final destination for the day by van/shuttle. On Cycling Day 2, only one of the two chargers was working, so one bike was still dead. We used the only working charger to charge the second bike - which takes 3-4 hours. After an obviously late start, again the bikes were just not what was needed for this route. It is not "Easy-Moderate" as stated and we found ourselves pushing very heavy bikes up very steep hills. Again the bikes were not functioning properly. No support from Tripsite, mainly due to time differences between Italy and the US, and although we were in touch with the European company, they were located 4 hours away and were not able to help much either. After only two days of cycling and realizing that the bikes were faulty compared to what we needed, we turned in our bikes and canceled the rest of the 8-day tour. It is now over 3 months later and our numerous requests for a reasonable refund have been disregarded by the company. We are not impressed with Carla (Manager/Owner), at all. Her responses are not only slow, but quite rude and she tends to blame us for the bike problems.
If considering a European cycling tour, we would suggest using a European company that is available to provide support when their bikes are not working properly. Tripsite does not stand behind their promises.

This is my 6 th European cycle tour in two years. Overpriced and overbooked. Avoid this shameless money grab at all costs. An enormous motor coach with limited access to parking lots and some tour stops replaced the advertised support van. Thus, Zero ability to stop during an accident or transport an injured rider—- which happened twice. There were no picnic lunches provided. We were handed a cheese/cured meat sandwich with optional banana/apple and choice of energy bars every morning. Meals provided were high-carb, low cost— as sub standard as the accommodations. Our last hotel provided rooms with, I kid you not, two flights of stairs within the room. At least it had an elevator. Many of the places we stayed did not. At first, we were expected to transfer our own luggage to/from the bus and back. As well as our e-bike batteries and chargers. The last few nights our luggage was actually taken to our rooms— a huge relief. When heavy rains set in and I asked to ride the bus— the owner actually spoke very sternly to me and used the word “warning.” “I am warning you,” she said. The motor coach was already at our next hotel and she did not want to bring it back. After checking weather reports, the coach did return to pick us all up and our bikes. I have photos of meals, accommodations and injuries. If I can figure out how to post them, I will.

This tour was described as having a dedicated bike path and great for families.After completing it today I have to disagree.
Long stretches (20 kms) of Parenzana path were like washed out river beds, full of deep loose gravel and rocks.Unless-you are used to this surface then it is very slow going,scary and dangerous .
My cycle buddy and I both fell off twice,and had cuts and bruises.We have cycled all over Europe and have never been on anything like this.We did cycle from Piran to Grojnan and Grojnan to Motovun and the path was really bad,a goat track in some parts.
We caught a taxi from Motovun to Porec as the Komoot map indicated 20 kms of unpaved path through the forest and no roads to turn onto if we needed to escape .
This state of this path really is atrocious and it’s the worst self guided tour I have ever done

This was my third bike and barge with Tripsite, but it was not my favorite. The boat, crew and food were terrific. The route however was flat as advertised, but the night stops were not fun or interesting. Zelo had only a cemetery and an Irish pub. If I was asked by a friend which bike and barge to take for possibly a once in a lifetime trip, I would recommend Bruges to Amsterdam and the Mosul River trip first. We had a wonderful time and everyone on the boat and the guests were first rate. I would take another trip on The Ave Maria, but would want a more interesting route.

The Amalfi coast section of biking was along the main roads driven by large local buses and the other tourist traffic was very heavy - although the drivers were not mean or aggressive, it was very unnerving to be biking on such busy roads. The guide seemed to be surprised that the traffic was still so heavy the 2nd week of September.

The boat anchored in Amalfi on the 3rd night, in an unprotected harbor - the boat rocked and banged all night long, no one including the crew was able to sleep, and apparently this was not an uncommon experience when in the Amalfi harbor.

On day 4, after an extremely hot day of biking we reached the boat in Cetara. For some reason, the boat was anchored along side the sister boat, not next to the pier. The crew made us wait in the hot sun until the bikes were hoisted on to the sister boat, then situated the bikes on our boat before allowing us to get on our boat to shower or get something to drink. AND since we were not next to the pier, to get from the sister boat to our boat the crew had us step up on the railing of the sister boat then step on the railing of our boat then down to the deck. Although they were assisting us, it was definitely an accident waiting to happen and totally unnecessary. On our Croatian trip in the Dalmation Islands, this type of parallel boat anchoring was common, but the boats utilized the openings in the railings to allow us to walk through the boats...

The captain fell and injured himself during this bike hoisting situation, and was certainly in pain when we finally got on the boat, but he was very rude to another passenger who commented about the inappropriateness of loading the bikes first and the ""rail balancing"" access to the boat.

Capri was a crowded disappointment, not worth the stop. Naples was also not worth the stop, large, dirty, crowded, the walking tour was not very interesting. On the positive side the Amalfi coast was absolutely beautiful and we really enjoyed the islands of Ischia and Procida with their quiet roads and small peaceful little towns.

Our group had the misfortune of 25mph+ headwinds for 4 consecutive days through barren landscape. My hesitation to recommend this trip is not however based on the weather but rather the lack of interesting terrain. I liken this biking to a trip thru Nebraska. Our stops in the villages were poorly timed, shops were closed and our short stop precluded investigating any historical attraction. The charming aspects of European villages, exploring the local cuisine were non existent. Every day we were advised to bring a sandwich. In complete contrast, the bike/barge trip in France visited medieval villages and provided enough time to enjoy a meal in a bistro. Understandably this trip along the Po might be selected by those not willing to bike the hills but biking for hours on an elevated levee and looking at clods of freshly tilled earth is hardly a huge endorsement for this option.