4 Star Italy Tour Reviews — 31 to 60 of 136

Good staff in Hotel of Portopalo, good spots to go in Syracuse and Noto, great gastronomy in every city. A great experience overall.
I have one observation, some ways in roads with a lot of traffic + cars/bus fast passing us.
I would do this tour again.

The Lake Garda and Adige river tour was a beautiful ride almost entirely on paved trails so minimal time was spent worrying about cars on the roads. Coming off the mountain down to Lake Garda is an amazing sight and definitely a highlight of the tour. Be sure and download the GPS tracks on your phone because those are the only directions you get.

The entire trip was an insightful and delightful experience, providing access to the heart and soul of everyday-life in "working Italy", versus an antiseptic highlight-reel tour of famous monuments and churches. That said, the overwhelming uniqueness and timelessness of Venice couldn't help but be a highlight. I wouldn't have minded a somewhat more strenuous cycling experience; however, that was more than offset by the enjoyment of the comaraderie of a relatively small tour group (20), forged both on the cycling paths and over fabulous gourmet meals provided by the two young chefs aboard the Vita Pugna.

The general organization of the trip, and the great staff aboard!
Disappointed with the scenery along the routes - often quite monotonous

We cycled through some lovely countryside and saw some very lovely towns. Assisi was wonderful, but understandably busy given its historical importance. We had some very memorable events booked.

Biking by river Po, the visits to the distillery and cheese factory

The staff was amazing, so friendly and very helpful. It was nice to see how they all worked so closely. The food was amazing. Great job.

My favorite part of the trip was touring Montova. This was our 3rd bike barge trip and I'm sorry to say that the scenery we saw while riding 3 of the 5 days was a bit disappointing. The barge and the food was the best of the 3 trips. We also rode a little too much along some busy roads without much of a shoulder.

I loved our guides. They were always available and did all they could to make the trip fun, interesting and successful. They also were attentive to the groups safety. The cities we visited were unique and interesting.

There were several very memorable moments on this trip! Our guide, Hein and his wife Margolien were outstanding with their historical knowledge about every town we toured. That was an added benefit of which I had not expected. They were extremely passionate in sharing their information with everyone which made it so interesting. Another highlight for us was just the sheer beauty that surrounded us on the trails we traversed to each of our destinations. My wife and I are not really bikers but enjoy staying physically fit. She questioned whether she could do the mileage each day. The trails and picturesque views through the countryside took your mind off anything other than just appreciating God’s creation so you were never aware of whether you rode 10 miles or twenty. I could probably go on but will end my remarks with the view we were able to get of Venice as we pulled up to our mooring site on Pellistrina Thursday evening. What an experience. I would recommend to anyone who enjoys biking or just being outdoors. We would definitely do it again but maybe choose a little more difficult ride!!

The time spent touring around
Venice and the food on the boat!

The attention of de guides for sure.
The food was so good too
About of the begining of the travel, when we were buying our trip we didn’t have a good help.

Dinner/wine tasting with Luca and Roberto.

The written route directions could be made a bit clearer. I would suggest you have a native English speaker try riding the routes and make changes as (s)he goes. They were okay but there were a few places where they were difficult to follow. The GPS is definitely helpful but sometimes it lagged so the written directions are needed.

The inland parts: more hilly and definitely a more rocky tandscape.We were disappointed with the Trpsite information we did not receive prior to arriving: no water bottles provided; use of an app on our phone that we barely managed to get to function before heading out. Again Solentobihpkes was fine. They just didn't know what Tripsite had not told us. For navigation we had no reason to not expect a freestanding Garment like device like friends on other trips had. "And, by the way, did you bring a battery pack since the phone will quickly run out of power?" Luckily the tour company had an extra pack for us. Others seemed to have been told about the navigation system and the need for battery pack. They probably books with a different agency.

This was the first bike tour my wife and I had done together. We intentionally chose the Puglia tour because of the moderate daily distances and relatively flat terrain. We went out of our way to choose the guided tour option departing Sep 16 but due to a monumental mistake on my part, we ended up booking our flights at a later date and switched to the Sep 23 self-guided option.

The tour was very enjoyable. We were fortunate in that the weather was clear and the temperatures mostly moderate, with only a short interlude of rain on one of the days. Some of the riding was by the coast, but much of it was slightly inland, amongst olive tree groves and small, quaint Apulian towns. The hotels were satisfactory, the reserved dinners were generally very good, and the reserved breakfasts were acceptable. The self-guided option worked out very well, the maps were easy to follow, and it would likely become our default approach in future. We did meet a number of others along the way, running into each other at recommended stops on the route, at the hotels or at reserved restaurants.

The bikes (my wife on an e-bike, me on a regular hybrid) were in very good condition and the local tour company and their staff were very helpful and service-oriented. The Tripsite staff was also very helpful in providing information and getting us booked, and despite all of their fair warnings that we would lose our payment if we cancelled our trip after a certain date, were happy to accommodate our request to change from the Sep 16 guided option, for which we had paid a high season supplement, to the Sep 23 self-guided option, for an additional fee. Bearing in mind that this was due to a mistake on my part, we appreciate that they made the change, though we would have saved a significant amount of money if we had gotten things right in the first place!

Overall, happy to recommend the region, the tour, and both the local provider and Tripsite.

(Side note for those who follow a vegan / WFPB diet: I was able to get by with fava bean purée with chicory, grilled vegetable side dishes, pizza, pasta, and lots of bread with olive oil!)

I loved the self guided part as we were able to ride as far as we wanted to and stop when we wanted. The scenery from Bolzano to Peschiera was breathtaking. The towns looked like movie sets. The 5 hour ferry ride was also an adventure and exposed the most beautiful scenery imaginable.

The barge crew was great, especially Stephi and Stephani, our fearless guides. Francesco was also a huge help. My room was tiny, but I made it work. The only complaint, and it is minor, is that I have had better food on bike barge excursions. The food on this trip was okay. Not great. Also - need more salads!!

Touring the beautiful countryside and visiting the pleasant towns otherwise not likely going to see was memorable.

The coastline rides, most restaurants and hotels were to our expectations. The scenery inland was not something I would do again. The landscape inland is littered with dead olive trees and and after 1 day of it, it becomes very repetitive.

The GPX viewer app generally worked well for the walk. However, the estimated walk time should be increased to 3 hours for the Assisi to Spello walk & the difficulty increased to slightly challenging. After the walk to the winery, transportation should be supplied to Spello as people may not want to walk to Spello after Winery lunch & several glasses of wine.
The GPX viewer shows the location of the Winery stop as 1.1 km from the actual location of Tili 21 which is hard for the walkers after trekking from Assisi.
The next day’s walk through Collepino should specify that the final 1 km to Collepino is a steep uphill climb. Otherwise, a great experience all around.
Thank You
Dane Graburn

The first leg is fantastic. Savor it! Stop at all the bicycle cafes, fruit stands and waysides. Each is unique and delightful. Take a mid morning espresso! With the Dolomites cradling the cycle path, the beauty is breathtaking.

The cycling paths are excellent. We enjoyed the cycling culture, ie cycling cafés along the route, cycling setups at the hotels and knowledgeable hotel staffs.

The hotels were nice expect for the Hotel Dori, it was 2 star at best.

The cycling routing around Riva del Garda and Peschiera along the beach front was not good. We were on a narrow path with pedestrians , strollers, scooters and paddle boarders. This routing requires updating including riding on streets or highways. It would be safer and more efficient.

To discuss the routing issues I’d be happy to talk to you about it, either by phone or email.

Great scenery along the water and nice hotels in the towns Really enjoyed the towns we stayed in Bikes were great and comfortable and staff was friendly Too tired to swim but saw many beautiful swimming spots. We did self guided so Got lost a bit and ended up doing 70k all days except 1. Overall fun experience and would recommend seeing Alberobello and Matera while in the south of Italy as a side trip.

Some part of the trip was not very friendly,justa a few
More type of floating divece in the ship to enjoy more the sea.

Leaving Innsbruck on the bikes was so exciting! It was wonderful to know that our luggage would be safely transported to the next hotel and we could just enjoy the scenery. The paths were well marked and going in and out of little towns was such a joy. The route was wonderfully planned and each day was just the right amount of biking. Definitely take time to swim in the Kalterer See. It felt so wonderful after a day of biking on a hot day.

This was our second Bike & Barge trip. If you are thinking about it, do it! Both trips were with a group of friends. We had a wonderful time together with the crew. I'd recommend going with a group of friends or family. This trip required longer distances which at times were a bit exhausting but much of that had to do with our pace and the weather. Most of the biking on this trip is in the countryside, not many towns to see. Arriving in Venice on the boat was incredible and a great way to end our trip spending two nights and a day in the city.

An opportunity to see and bike the less traveled. The barge moored in quiet off the beaten path places - but each had something to offer. The crew on AveMaria was amazing, worked well together, made our travels very comfortable and the chefs were top notch. It would have been nice if half way through the trip the bed linens were changed out. We appreciated access to the wonderful cappuccino maker and access to chilled drinking water (both still and bubble). It would be helpful to include that guests should bring along their own water bottle. It was a very memorable adventure.

The times together with others. Dinner, riding etc.

All bike tour was perfect

Frienship of our group, and landscape views of delta po river!
Try to avoid the main road with a lot of cars and trucks

The trip happened just as we had envisaged it when booking. No hitches or last minute 'Sorry but.....'
All this in spite of the horrific rains and resultant flooding in coastal Emilia-Romagna the previous week (early May 2023). For our 8-day self-guided weather was ideal, not a drop of rain.
Bikes were class and delivered to us at the start in a very friendly helpful manner.
We went for the upgraded hotels and didn't regret it for a moment. They were superb, varied and well located.
Forward routes were pleasant and well-designed. We felt that the loop-rides were on the long side and very castle-oriented.
Tripsite, well done. Take a bow.