Italy Tour Reviews — 271 to 300 of 676

Our crew and tour guides were fantastic. Not to mention the food onboard was outstanding.

This was a trip of a lifetime for me. Hein and Marjolein were wonderful trip leaders and so knowledgeable about the cities we visited. They made the trip a delight and handled any glitches that arose seamlessly. It helped that they had lived in the area for several years and were familiar with the customs and history of the Veneto.
The food provided by Alberto and Daniele was superb and plentiful, and reflected the cuisine of northern Italy. And Jano was amazing at piloting the Ave Maria through the canals and lagoon. Francesco did a great job anticipating and fulfilling our requests throughout the trip.
The Ave Maria was a perfect vessel for our weeklong tour of the Po River valley of northern Italy. The staterooms were very comfortable and had ample room for two people and their belongings. It was very interesting to hear about the transition of a derelict barge into the sleek Ave Maria that was our home for a week.
I would love to do another trip with this group to explore a new area of Europe in the future.

The trip was awesome. Everything was 1st rate. We loved all of our staff. Each person on the staff went the extra mile to make the tour very special!

This was our second bike and barge with tripsite. It exceded our expectations. The room had plenty of storage, the staff was outstanding and the meals were all excellent. Our tripsite vacation was perfect.

Ave Maria is a beautiful comfortable well equipped boat. The staff was courteous, helpful, pleasant and efficient. The food absolutely the best! plentiful and with great variety. Our tour host Hein and Mayleine were awesome. They were well informed about the historic and local areas that we traveled thru and were humorous, kind and considerable for all the guests needs and abilities.
The tour was a well planned route thru some lovely back roads and small towns and cities. The bicycles were very good and easy to ride. It is very difficult to choose just one memorable part of the trip it was well worth the time we waited to enjoy the Boat/Barge.

Seeing venice on a sunny day from the roof of an historic building.
Biking through the countryside and villages.
Excellent food.

Arriving into Venice on the Ave Maria. In beautiful Lido we turned in our bikes and by the way they were terrific bikes. I even named mine. I hated to to see "Lisa Marie" go into storage but what came next was even more spectacular. To arrive in magical Venice by boat on a glorious fall day with brilliant sun glistening off the buildings and the water was breath-taking. The fact that the crew had arranged pizza and cocktails only added to the experience. And then that sunset! What a day!

For me, the most memorable parts of the trip were the moments our trip guide, Hein, stopped, got us off our bikes and took time to do some interpretation of the landscape, or when he brought us to little known local places. One example was a local museum for traveling entertainers and amusements. In the states we would call this a circus museum. Hein described life for us in the walled and protected castles and the city-states of Italy before there was an Italy, and the power of the family heads in the se little kingdoms. He took us on a tour of one of those castles that is not generally open to the public. I also appreciated the 90-minute guided tours by Christina in Mantova and her counterpart in Venice. Passionate about the cities that they call home, they both really brought these special places to life for me.
Not to overlook the moderate exercise we got on bikes everyday, which was helpful because the delicious food our crew served was difficult to turn down. I would have preferred longer distances, but the biking was as advertised: easy.
A couple of tips: take precautions to protect yourself from Covid. If you choose a water taxi to get you around Venice, ask the boat driver when reserving your ride, and again before you board the boat, what the fare is; the cost tends to inflate when it comes time to pay the bill. And ask your tour guide to reserve tickets in advance to see the interior of San Marco Basilica and the Doge's Palace in Venice. I didn't do this and was unwilling to wait in a long line to get in, so I missed both. But we did see a number of other unbelievable churches from the Rennaissance era all week in Verona, Mantova and Venice.

The food by Sylvia and Irena was delicious and the daily movies by Hugo gave us a sweet memory .

Enjoying all the regions of Italy with the chefs coordinating the evening meals with regional specialities was a delight. Everything was so well executed....bikes..tours...meals....coffee stops...museum and cathedral visits...super fun.

This was an absolute memorable trip! Our guides Sylvia and Francisco did everything possible to make sure we enjoyed. The brought on tours, day an night. The food was great food. The cooks and engineers were great. The quality of the bikes were perfect. Having 31 guests was great because it is easy to get to know everyone. I would definitely recommend

It isn't possible to pick out a "most memorable part." We will treasure memories of it all: the delightful and accommodating crew on the Ave Maria, the extraordinary food (where did those two men train?), the city guides that lead us around Venice and Mantua, the beautiful countryside viewed from excellent bikes, our always upbeat bicycling guides, and the terrific company of fellow bikers. It was the perfect up close and personal way to experience this part of Italy.

Crew was amazing. Everyone helpful. 30 person biking too big. Suggest it be split into 2 15 person groups.

The boat crew, Andrea, Dani, Alberto, Francisco and the two Stefanias were such excellent hosts. They created a friendly community atmosphere that brought all of us strangers together. They worked hard to make sure we were well taken care of on board and on the bikes and taught us so much about the culture, the ecosystem of the Po Valley and history which made the trip an educational experience. The local and regional meals they serverd were culinary masterpieces as memorable as any artwork we saw. I highly recommend this trip to cyclists of all ages and abilities. I would like to do it all over again! Thanks for a fun and exciting trip.

Dinners on the boat. The pace of biking was not to my liking. Not enough time for pictures. I felt pressured to keep up with the group. Planned stops were longer than needed. Would have liked a slower pace with more, shorter stops. Many of the roads were rough, and roads through cities were scary with traffic.

Appreciated that all on the trip were from USA. Trip leaders and crew were very nice.

The most memorable part of the trip was time aboard the Ave Maria. The crew made every effort to make sure all our needs were met, suggested places to visit that you wouldn’t find in guide books, fed us the most delicious local foods prepared from ingredients found that day and recipes from their grandmothers, their creativity and their obvious joy in cooking. I can still taste the lasagna with squash flowers! The other passengers were all fascinating people as well, all very experienced travelers and bikers. The thing I want others to know is that some parts of the trip, especially leaving Chioggio and Ferrara, we’re on busy roads with cars whizzing by you and crossing roundabouts and corners, and that even on the low traffic, one lane roads, you’ll frequently hear “car up” or “car back”. There were times when you could not enjoy the scenery because you had to watch for potholes and negotiate gravel. We bike on an at least weekly basis but often struggled to keep up and keep going on some of the 44K+ plus days. We preferred the easygoing pace of the self guided Danube trip. We booked pre and post tour accommodations through TripSite in Venice and Mantova. Both hotels were charming and accommodating with wonderful breakfasts.

Lovely route, wonderful guides, comfortable accommodations. Absolutely superb food!

Bring your own water bottle - despite the tripsite literature, one is not provided

We really enjoyed the small group of 11 guided experience. The accommodations and dinners included were exceptional nice.

We found the biking experience challenging—not the number of miles, but the condition of the paths. We were often on abandoned, bumpy, poorly kept roads or busy roads. Rarely were we on a bike path.

My e-bike had structural defects that held the battery to the frame and no front shock absorbers.

Our guide Suzanna was very fun, friendly and accommodating to our group!

Most memorable part was our lovely and very fun guide. We loved spending our week with Susanne! She was knowledgeable about the area and so kind and accommodating to everyone’s needs. The accommodations where amazing along with the food and activitie;, wine, cheese and local shop tastings.
I would suggest letting bikers know of the rough roads we had to bike on, not paved. It took a lot of concentration and energy to navigate the rocks and pot holes.

Susanna our guide was amazing. Very good with making all feel a part of the team and informative about the region. Make sure you only bring carry on luggage. Because of the rain and mud I was very glad I ordered an E bike. The lodging and the meals were all excellent

While the touring each day was beautiful, the most memorable part of the trip were the evening meals. Chefs Sylvia and Irena delighted us all with outstanding dishes featuring local ingredients and recipes. A gourmet bike tour!

Very well organised trip - the tour guides Silvia & Francesco were outstanding. Full of life, informative and funny.
The boat , Ave Maria, was very comfortable and well set out.
The bikes were excellent - we had electric ones.
The scenery, countryside and towns were lovely.

The food was outstanding! Great chefs. Amazing how hard our small crew worked to provide everything needed. All ran smoothly. Michaela was an outstanding leader. We were disappointed in the lack of coordination between the leader and the bikers as we ride. Corners were not posted at turns; some ended up going the wrong way, and we spent time finding them. Fortunately one person in the “lost” group was able to call our leader. There should always be arrangements for a “sweep” with phone communication to the guide.
Coming home, the pack with the trip literature was stolen. I would like to get another copy of that excellent information. How?

With the exception of the room, which could be a bit larger, and Wi-Fi, which could be stronger and steadier, everything else of the tour was outmost enjoyable: the route and rides, the equipment, the food, the guide, the people in the group.

Passeio excelente, com ciclovias bem pavimentadas e bem seguras. Um lugar mais belo que o outro. Hotéis de quatro estrelas, mas de primeira categoria.

All the trip was memorable. Starting in Pallazolo Acreid, where we saw a unique demontration of the christian faith, on the main church. The next city, Modica is a quiet village, so nice. The biking was allways on the road, with cars besides. No problem, because the traffic was ease. The two most beautiful cities are Noto and, of course, Syracuse; the Archimede’s city. Dont miss the visit to Archimedes museum and the Neapolis, the ancient city of Syracuse.

The food on the trip was excellent. We enjoyed the local fare, the wine pairings from the various regions .
The crew work very hard to deliver a positive experience . Helmut was a great guide offering lots of information about the different places we stopped at. We loved the cheese factory tour and tasting

The secondary roads and the fabulous landscapes

Seeing Italy from a closer perspective than on most tours.

Bikes worked well, and the food and tour guides were excellent

The most memorable part of the trip for me was riding our bikes in the country between towns. We were able to see the crops in the fields, and the beautiful countryside dotted with houses and the green vegetation of spring. We were in Italy in early May and the weather was perfect - not too warm but not cold either. A particular highlight was riding along a canal and seeing the Ave Maria ahead of us. We speeded up, of course so that we could pass the boat, greeting the captain as we rode by. He responded by honking the horn and putting music on the loudspeaker for us to enjoy. The food was another highlight of the trip. We had fantastic, filling breakfasts, and delicious traditional Italian food for dinner each night. The chefs explained the courses, and where the recipes originated. We were able to nourish our minds and bodies together. Our group was immediately cohesive, and we had lively entertainment every night from card games to karaoke singing. The trip was one of the best I have ever experienced, and I would recommend it to anyone who wants to experience biking in Europe.