Italy Tour Reviews — 541 to 570 of 686

We took the 11 day cycle in Italy and loved it all.
A few things I think need mentioning.
We got lost. Just as one of your reviewers mentioned on the way to Lake Garda. We were doing great and very early to get the boat but at one of the deviations,we turned towards Verona and didn't realize it until half way to Verona. We had to keep looking at the map and book description and when we thought we knew and didn't look at what we were doing, we got lost. So took a train to Verona, lugged the very heavy bikes up the train station stairs, no elevator or escalators there!! Then had to hang the bikes up on hooks on the train. Then the train back up to where we would have been finishing our trip in the boat down Lake Garda. PUCCINCI hotel in Peschiera.I was very disappointed to have missed the ride on lake Garda. So the day that was supposed to be our short day, and we had done 45k before noon, and should have been there, we did over 80K.
I felt that in order to do each days trip on the extra three days, we had to miss lots of towns and sights I wanted to visit. The hotel in Bolzano was very lovely and staff was great.
The hotel in Trento, The Grand, was very very Grand. We just loved it.
The gentleman that was at the front desk in............Peschiera was very helpful and was trying to give us many many things to do until he realized we didn't have the time in one evening, when getting up early to ride, to do too much.
The hotel at the bottom of Lake Guarda, Hotel Peschiera we had a large bedroom.
The breakfast room was in the basement and was quite crowded.
We went for a swim and I asked at the desk about towels for the pool and the woman said to just take the room towels. When I asked for dry towels later for our room she told me they were $5.00 each!!! Never have heard of that ever before.
Our barge was wonderful and as the times we have biked and barged before with other companies, we were very delighted with the delicious meals, friendly crew and outstanding tour guide Lecia. She was so much fun, very professional, had amazing skills in many languages and we all fell in love with her. The rides were so beautiful, just as we expected and the others on board with us were friendly and keen like us.

The breathtaking scenery, cities wine and food of Veneto were the most memorable parts.

The staff on the Ave Maria was fantastic. They made sure we got everything we needed. I liked the way even the captain of the boat helped serve and clean up. They really worked as a team and worked very hard! The food was awesome and I really enjoyed the stops we made and the tours we had.
Great trip!

Bike guides (Michaela & Ronnie) and boat staff ( Erica, Juliano, Enrico and Luciano) were all exceptional. Their care, expertise and concern throughout the trip was what made it exceptional.

The Tour Leader Hein was amazing and showed us a wonderful experience. The cycling was spectacular and the food so exciting and very innovative. The bikes were heavier than I am used to but they were appropriate for the terrain. Everyone was helpful -- fabulous staff. I've already recommended it to my friends. I would do it again, but only if Hein were the Leader.

The trip was superbly put together logistically. Excellent guide. Great accommodations.

Everything was great. I really enjoyed our guides, Tammy and Ronnie. The staff on the boat were great. Our bikes were top notch. The tour and countryside were scenic. I loved biking on the sea wall. I thought the other bikers were friendly and easy to get along with.

This tour was a lovely way to experience the quiet county roads and villages of Italy.

The most awesome trip and staff! The barge was clean and well equipped. The staff was stellar, the meals great, the guided bike rides the best. No room for improvement and I hope to do another Bike and Barge on the Merlin. I especially enjoyed the bike routes, touring small villages along the way, and the guide Lia who was well informed about the area and Germany in general.

The boat, staff and food were all exceptional. A quality operation for sure. Having the owner Pierpaulo stop in for a visit and having dinner together was a nice touch.
We booked this trip for a group of riders with a wide range of abilities and it worked very well for all.

It was all enjoyable. Food was amazing. Staff were very accommodating. Rooms were spacious and clean.
Only negative was it said it was a 7-day bike trip and only rode bikes 5 of the 7 days. Falsely advertised.

Loved the route through small towns & vineyards in Sud Tyrol.
Guide book could be improved with maps incorporated.

The whole experience was very memorable. The changing scenery, the background info provided etc. was great. The quality of the barge added to the overall enjoyment. One of the highlights was watching how well the crew worked together and genuinely seemed to be having fun. It was a very unique experience that surpassed my expectations. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend this trip to anyone.

This is my first bike and barge experience and will definitely not be my last. Although others in reviews said the Vita Pugna was "tired". I saw it as wonderfull vintage barge, with a crew that loved it and showed their care for it in their care for us. The food was outstanding and any hopes I had of losing weight on the trip were quickly dashed with each evenings meal.
We joined a large group of Kiwis onboard, with 2 Brits and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.
One thing that would have made the trip even better would be a different pillow; the one I had was too high and too hard for my taste and left me with a stiff neck in the morning.

The most memorable part of this trip was riding through kilometers of apple orchards on a beautifully paved bike trail.

What an awesome bike trip!!
Well organized, incredible scenery, great hotels, mild/moderate difficulty.
Recommend to anyone in reasonable fitness level.

My grades given to this trip show my displeasure with several items encountered while on our trip. First, the pickup at the airport was bungled by "Pepe" our guide. He did not have a sign for us to recognize the tour! It was a miracle he finally found us. The boat was laid out well, the crew was very pleasant, however none of the 3 crew members spoke fluent english (necessary for the Americans, Canadians, Dutch, and German passengers). My major complaint was regarding the cabin Air Conditioning. The captain only turned on the AC from 6PM to Midnight. In August, the temperature was in the mid 80's - too hot to sleep in an enclosed cabin after midnight! I would discourage any potential guest not to take this trip unless the captain changes his AC rules and provides cooling throughout the night!
The food was OK with little variation from day to day but the last "onshore meal" at a local restaurant was inedible!! Skip the restaurant meal and eat onboard (not a current option) or give the guests an upscale restaurant or eliminate the meal altogether and each guest is on their own for the last supper.

I loved the small villages. The international mixture of the group made for excellent discussion among the group. Food on the barge was excellent!

We did the 3-day self-guided tour from Bolzano to Lake Garda to Mantua first and that was a great adventure for us. The food and people we met on the boat was also a wonderful experience.

The Aeolian Archipelago Trip was sold as easy/moderate and as a result there were several people that probably should not have been there. As a consequence the guide was indecisive most days how to deal with the itinerary and as a consequence kept adjusting and shortening the rides. As for my wife and I we traveled all the way from Canada to enjoy the boat, scenery and riding as a total experience.

Because of the constant changing of the daily itinerary and shortened rides we became somewhat dissatisfied with the total experience.

This was a fabulous trip all around! The group was friendly, and guides were helpful and knowledgeable! Dinners were delicious and varied, stronger than expected for this type of trip. We really enjoyed being able to purchase wine on board the ship, also. The riding was varied, and we really appreciated that our guides made sure to schedule a mid-morning break for coffee/water/toilet. What a great way to get a sense of this part of Italy - from small villages and farm fields to Venice - just spectacular!
One suggestion for improvement: for riding in really hot weather, it would be great if there could be a little more flexibility. We rode during a heat spell (40 degrees Centigrade one day). It was difficult to shift schedules or shorten our rides due to logistics, and this created some health issues.

The trip itself was amazing! Spectacular scenery and just the right amount of cycling every day. We loved the fact that it was self-guided so we could go at our own pace. The description of easy to moderate was accurate, but I know it would have been much harder had we not had electric bikes. I have 2 specific complaints: First, the quality of the hotels was not up to par. A friend described one as exactly like his dorm room in college...small, smelly, run down, not properly air-conditioned, out of the way, and generally unsatisfactory. Secondly, the directions and the maps need to be updated. More than once we found ourselves at a dead-end or could not find a turn we were supposed to take. We wasted a lot to time going back and forth trying to find the supposed route. Thankfully we speak Italian, so we could stop and ask locals for directions. At other times we just ended up relying on the GPS on our phone to find a proper route. Overall, if these two things were improved this would be a perfect trip. I highly recommend the trip.

We loved the entire cycling experience! Our stay in Umbertide was especially memorable- the hotel was amazing and the restaurant was some of the best food we ate in Italy!

A fabulous experience. We will seriously consider further barge/bike holidays with you.

The Guide gave us very little information about either the equipment or route before he left us. Just simple things would have helped significantly. He was abrupt, especially with women and certainly less than helpful. The guidebook was good for the most part, but some sections were completely useless. Some of this may have been due to translation, but improvements are needed. When we entered cities, we always had to ask for assistance.
We have taken about 10 European bike trips and expect some difficulties finding our way, but have never encountered the degree of problems we had on this trip.

Loved our guide, the food quality and variety was the only disappointment.

It was a wonderful trip! I liked that we got to be on the barge when it moved (one time at the end of the day and another in the morning). The food was outstanding and I liked that the chefs described dinner and suggested wine pairings. The barge was very comfortable - even with 3 in a cabin.

Our son (22 years old) was outnumbered by the over 50 crowd but Hein made him feel welcome. Only suggestion - mirrors on the bikes (although I realize that makes them difficult to store and move) and a brief intro on riding in groups.

We had the time of our life and look forward to our next bike and boat tour. Thanks so much for everything!

This trip gets a +10!! The staff (Tamy, Ilena, Luciano, Enrico, Guilio & Alberto) were amazing - fun, personable, knowledgable, friendly and engaging. They were truly a team and clearly enjoyed each other which ripples out to the experience of the guests. I loved that they gave a 'brief' the night before to let us know what to expect the next day. The food was creative, fresh and lovingly prepared. The accommodations on the AveMarie were great -- the cabins were well thought out with lots of storage so that the room felt spacious. The dining room was lovely with plenty of space to relax. The price of wine/beer was very reasonable and loved that we could keep a tab and pay it at the end, so easy.

Oh yea the bikes --- a good ride and comfy enough for the distances ridden. The routes were well planned, even the few times we had to ride in traffic. The trip leaders were excellent at managing the group and making it fun, no matter what we were doing.

For the whole week I felt well cared for :)
I am already dreaming of my next trip.
Kindly -- Victoria

P.S. The bad and the ugly -- honestly I don't have anything to contribute for improvement.

The crew were AMAZing! Every single one of them. Tami is an amazing guide - super friendly and helpful. All of the crew helpful and a delight. I would definitely go on this type of trip again because of my experience on this trip.