5 Star Bike Tour Reviews — 4111 to 4140 of 4577

Hotels varied. My daughter stayed at Hotel Krenn-- not great. Food in Rhein am Stein not good. Hotel St Leonard and Hotel Cholsteroff had the best food. The rides were fantastic, would say the last day was a bit boring and less scenic (especially the second half). Would have been nice to include the Rhine falls. Would love to do it again as there were many sights we didn't get to see! Loved the trip and have highly recommended it back home.

Truly a wonderful experience. I was the tour organizer for a group of 12 tandem cyclists. Hennie and her staff at TripSite and the Captain and crew of the Quo Vadis were truly above and beyond expectations. This was a life bucket trip for all involved and all were very satisfied with the entire experience!

The trip was an awesome experience! Loved everything!

EVERYTHING stands out! From the greeting & service by the staff, (Lydia/Denisa) the guide Jack, the Captain & Jontein who ran the whole enterprise, Merlijn. The food. Lovely ever-changing table settings, The ample, fresh cabins, fresh flowers, excellent bikes and super maintenance & care, knowledgeable, friendly guiding thru the towns, memorials, history of the area. Capable, expert, amazing,skill of the Captain thru the narrow canals & rivers. The homegrown entertainment. We are putting a deposit on '18. ('17 is BOOKED!)

What stands out is the friendly competent crew - Coba, Marianne and Petra, the gourmet chef - Franco, the experienced knowledgeable guides - Piet and Wouter. Together they made the two week journey both comfortable and memorable.

What stands out is the friendly competent crew - Coba, Marianne and Petra, the gourmet chef - Franco, the experienced knowledgeable guides - Piet and Wouter. Together they made the two week journey both comfortable and memorable.

The Zwaantje barge crew were most excellent - great accommodations, food and customer service!! I would take another bike and barge trip with this group....it was an experience of a lifetime!

Mega-kudos to the Zwaanje crew, headed by Martin. They're an extraordinary group.
Our guide, Mintje, was good and well-intentioned, but she sometimes didn't grasp entirely the group's priorities.
The route was fantastic -- scenery, length of rides, etc. The tours (champagne, brie, etc., were excellent, especially the family-owned company, Nowak. We learned things and had a lot of fun.
We appreciated how Martin and Mintje responded to our requests for flexibility in developing distance options for less- and more-eager riders.
Also, availability of electric bikes made it possible for spouses (of both sexes) to accompany on rides they usually wouldn't be able to do. We know electric bikes are controversial in some corners, but they made the trip possible for some of our group.
One last thing ... TripSite's PDF summarizing the ride, proposing packing lists, giving directions and tips, was excellent. Congratulations.

The Merlijn is a terrific vessel and the owners, Jantien & Henk and their staff are first rate.
Highly recommended.

Everything was great but it was our crew that made it so special.

Wonderful staff - the entire trip was just great! Tome, our guide was exceptional.

A good combination of biking and seeing the sites along the way. Plenty of time in the cities (Nancy, Metz) to wander around. This trip was not about putting on the miles every day on the bike but a good balance of biking and site seeing. Easy biking along canal paths mostly. Our guide got turned around a couple of times getting out of the cities. Els and Sander were great hosts on the barge. Very friendly. Els cooked me a birthday dessert one day that we enjoyed with our group after a day of biking. It was very hot in July and the air movement in the rooms was limited. A small fan would have been very much appreciated. As it was we slept with our door open (as did the others) just to get more air circulation. The barge is in very good condition. The bikes were brand new this season. They are owned by Els and Sander and not leased through a secondary company so they were in good working order.

Wonderful tour through the northern part of the Czech Republic. The local people are quite reserved. The boat works well as a big floating hotel and the crew is well trained. Lots of people to meet on board or along the way. Prague really is the jewel in the middle of Europe. Pictures aplenty!
I won't forget it.

I think the most memorable part was all of the different people from other countries that we met on the boat along with meeting and learning about the Czech Republic and their people! Great tours offered as well!

Curonian spit was great!. Really liked being able to bike directly to the ferry in Klaipeda and ride to Nida at our own pace.
Most of the hotels were very good, but did not care for location, staff, or rooms in Sigulda.

Inspirational ride along the Portuguese and Spanish coastline! This trip is truly outstanding. The trip operator's personalized customer service was above and beyond! Though we did a self-guided tour, we felt very supported throughout our entire stay. The package included a walking tour of the city of Porto. Definitely take advantage of this. We had a personalized four hour tour which was rich with information and recommendations for the rest of our stay. Sergio, the owner of the tour operator checked in with us daily and even picked us up at the end to drive us back to the Porto train station to catch an early train to Lisbon. The biking route takes you along beachside boardwalks, many cobblestone roads, some mountain biking as well as some paved roads. You will ride through beaches, forests and vineyards and weave through tiny villages. The route is very well marked, especially in Spain, but the terrain can be challenging at times. While I found this a little difficult to adjust to in the beginning, I wound up enjoying the adventure and appreciating the sense of accomplishment that came at the end of each day. The stopping points each night were amazing. Each town had its own character and was filled with local charm. The hotel accommodations were outstanding. We stayed in castles and inns that were truly unique. Throughout the trip, but particularly the last few days, we encountered many people walking the camino and it was awesome to stop and chat with them at coffee stops and wish each other the typical "buen camino" along the way. We were given an accreditation booklet where were collected stamps from our various stops along the camino. At the end, we received a certificate in Santiago for completing the camino. Though we did not take this route for religious reasons, the trip proved to be very spiritual and inspirational. I would do it again!

We found the boat comfortable and the staff really helpful and friendly. The trip was most relaxing and a good insight into the Danube countryside.

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 short 13 km bike trip to Vodice was not scenic and seemed not a good choice for biking at all. Otherwise, the biking was great, scenic, nice villages, good stopping places. Thanks for a great week, great crew, great food and great company of others!

The wifi on the barge needs to be upgraded. It was inadequate and inconsistent.This is really the only criticism I have - the rest was great. But it is important to travelers these days.

The most memorable part: The staff on board the ship, our guide, the beautiful sights and most importantly the people we met in the countries we visited. They were warm, welcoming and really made you feel like a special visitor.

Started our tour July 17th. Things went smoothly after they had gotten the engine fixed which caused a change in our first days agenda. They really came through in making up for the inconvenience. Staff on the ship and Stephan our Rad and Reisen rep were great.

All in all it was an excellent vacation, very well organized. All the ships staff were friendly and willing to go that extra step to make it a great experience. The food was wonderful, accommodations great.

I thought our Rad and Reisen biking guide Hugo did an excellent job navigating our group from spot to spot. Despite having quite a large group( English, German and Dutch speaking) he was able to spend time with all of us making sure we had a great experience. He was very personable and got our group from point A to B safely, making sure we had time to see and experience the many special places communities along the Danube.

He even went above and beyond to make my experience extra special. Having MS meant that I could not participate in the walking tours. He took it upon himself to make sure I was included by providing me with my own tour using bicycles. This would have been a night off for him and he knew that I would not be able to take part due to my limited ability to walk any distance due to my MS. It was one of my more memorable experiences thanks to Hugo.

He certainly looked after all of us and was accessible day and night to answer any questions and assist to make our trip an experience of a lifetime.

Boat: My Story

Was a great trip. Boat and tour guide were outstanding. Some of the staff were a bit stand-offish, but within reason. Just didn't make you feel 100% welcomed all the time (made you feel more of a guest than family) but again, well within reason. Got lost a few times so perhaps the maps could be a bit more directed, but again, not bad. Overall, it was a great experience and I would highly recommend it. Thanks - Larry

Our first bike barge holiday and we loved it. Good mix of nationalities as guests. The Magnifique truly was glorious.

Loved the trip and especially our guides, the hotels, the food., the scenery..The Way was interesting and challenging (some gravel, some sand, beach boardwalks, etc; walked a bit but not because it was too hilly. We actually biked theough vineyards and even under trellises of grapes!! ) If you have a choice don't start the cycling portion on a weekend during beach season. (Dodging beach goers disturbs the scenery and calm). Porto is lovely and interesting too. A great opportunity to slow down and enjoy the countryside. None of us needed to ride in the van!!!

The staff on the Zwaantje made the trip!

Great trip. Some of the accommodations were a bit shabby but other than that is was great.

It was a great bicycle trip. Beautiful countryside, bike paths were excellent and the guide "Hugo" was exceptional. Barge was perfect. We were able to see the real Holland, not the typical tourist city Holland. Communication and arrangement of the tour with Tripsite was very good. Thanks.

The boat staff were outstanding! The boat dinners were outstanding! The boat breakfasts and lunches were just okay.

The biggest downside to the trip were the totally inadequate route guides. They were not written for new-to-the-route riders. On one hand, they assumed the user was familiar with the route and knew where they were going. On the other hand, they seemed to have been written by someone who had never ridden the route, who just looked at a paper (or electronic) map to write the guide.

Finally, the on-boat guides were of minimal help. While they seem to have ridden the route, they did not explain the complexities a new rider would encounter along the way. They did, however, explain the highlights to look for on each route.

With those two exceptions, the trip was wonderful! As for the most memorable, being dog people, we really liked having the captain's dogs on board.

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!