Bike Tour Reviews — 5251 to 5280 of 6267

We had done 2 boat and bike trips before doing this hotel to hotel trip. We knew the mapping system so could take the daily maps and go with it. Had it been our first trip it might have been hard. That said, it was our best trip yet!

Two ladies and I ( all in our 60's) just finished this tour on My Story. Having no experience with bike/barge I was not sure what to expect. What we got was a fabulous trip through some of the most scenic and beautiful country I've ever seen. Our tour guide, Stephan, was charming and informative. This tour was run by Rad and Reisen. They did a great job of marking the routes, although a few times we did get a little turned around. The food was top-notch and the staff did an excellent job of entertaining the travelers. I was impressed by the over-all professionalism. The riding was easy and on mostly asphalt with very few inclines. Only draw back was the size of the cabins. The pictures are a little misleading. When the second bed was lowered there was almost no room to walk by each other. You needed to be a contortionist to use the bathroom. But, since you really didn't spend a lot of time in the room it was tolerable. All in all would highly recommend this trip.

This Bordeaux trip needs a lot of attention and improvement. It started out badly at the Bordeaux train station attempting to catch the bus to embark. It took us 2 hours to find the place to catch the bus. I understand that the station is being renovated but you know this, yet you post no signs, no information, have no greeters, nothing to help people find the bus. The maps were really bad - difficult to follow especially given lack of adequate road signage at each location. We spent more time lost and trying to find our way around that enjoying the scenery in many locations. We eventually just gave up on biking because we didn't want to get lost any more. I am not sure what the local statutes are but you could post little signs marking the way for bikers to follow. This would not be hard and would help your patrons to find their way. The food needs help. Why would you have the EXACT same breakfast items for 7 days in a row? I understand you have limited staff but it would not be difficult to vary it up every other day. There were a three dinners that I did not even eat because the food was bad. Granted there were a few meals that were good, I was overall disappointed with the meals. Some of the crew were fantastic, but I felt like communication was poor regarding when we would have to leave the port for "le mascaret" (tidal surge wave) - it seemed like they were always an hour behind when they said it would happen or there was a last minute rush to get people off the boat or get stuck on it for the day. The captain seemed impatient all the time with getting people off the boat. Many things could have been better communicated in the evening "tour talks." And the tour talks were really boring....they weren't especially helpful for biking on the next day. They would literally put us to sleep. Also, we spent 3 nights and two days in the village of Cadillac. While it was a very charming place that I enjoyed, 3 nights and 2 days in such a small place was too much. Why not spend 3 nights and 2 days in Bordeaux, where there is a lot to see and do? I am glad I went on this trip but I would not do this trip again, nor would I recommend it. I met people who have been on other Tripsite boat/bike tours who said this one was far inferior to others they have been on. I would like to call out specifically two staff members who were really great - Arnaud and Sebastian. They were always smiling and fun and really seemed to enjoy their jobs. They made the trip so much better.

The person who dropped off the bikes did not have the tools to adjust the handle bars, so the bikes did not fit well.
The saddle (bike seat) was the type that would be commonly found on a road bike and not on a touring bike.
The gears were not aligned correctly, so it was extremely difficult to shift gears. Sometimes, in order to shift gears, it was required to repeatedly shift the gears up and down before the bike would shift into the lower or upper gear.

I loved every moment of the trip. The boat and the meals were far better than I had expected, the staff was super friendly and the fun activities were great. I look forward to booking another trip. I recommend that people read their information prior to daily outings as there is a lot to absorb. Also, take time on the first day to be sure your bicycle is a good fit. It was a magnificent adventure!

The scenery in the Bordeaux region was lovely, as were the people we encountered along the way. Some of the staff were extremely helpful and added to our overall enjoyment of the trip.
We thoroughly enjoyed our days of cycling, despite the many problems my husband experienced with his bicycle (locked brakes, flat tires, a pump that didn't work, loose bearings in the pedals...)
More accurate written descriptions and an updated GPS would have helped with the navigation on the our self-guided routes.
Asking for a dinner without red meat resulted in being served an omelette on more than one occasion (not a great alternative).
Overall, a thoroughly enjoyable trip!

The most memorable part of this trip were the rides down empty country roads, loving the scenery and quiet. A great choice of roads!

This was a fun trip full of historic sites. Would have liked to have maps so we could go off at our own speed sometimes. The side trips for additional mileage were great. Got to ride some of the "Tour de Flanders" route with cobbles and hills. Chantilly was fantastic! Also took a side adventure to a roman ruin, something we weren't expecting in that part of France.

The scenery was spectacular and our guides were knowledgeable, so much fun and made our journeys safe and memorable. This was a top notch holiday for us.

The scenery was amazing! Crew were excellent! Food was delicious! Can't wait to go again!

The the scenery was very very enjoyable as were the other guests on board the boat. The major problem or I should say the major dissatisfaction came from the fact that the bikes were too big and too heavy. I am an experienced bike rider and usually feel comfortable on most bikes but these truly were very very uncomfortable for me and I know for some of the other smaller women on the trip, dangerous. My only other comment would be about the guide..... I felt his attitude was very condescending in the first few days he was barely a guide his aim was to get from point A to point B in whatever amount of time he deemed necessary without any consideration for the inexperienced bikers on the trip. The slower bikers trailed way behind perhaps in some cases almost a quarter of a mile behind him and he barely looked back to see if they were there or for that matter even struggling. I volunteered to sweep and finally in frustration stopped him and told him he must go as slow as the slowest biker. I thought it was rather interesting too that he made a point constantly of telling us that if we either went on our own or staggered behind and became lost that he would make no accommodation to look for us. He repeated on several occasions that we were to read the map, read the map! We laughed when we realized that he had actually gotten us lost because his GPS had run low on batteries and he missed a turn. Now this was a man who told us he had done this exact trip 16 times this year! Yes you can see that I was very unhappy with his attitude towards his guests, the people who were his bread and butter.

A wonderful experience as my first bike tour. Enjoyed most everything about the trip, even with the boat breaking down and a new bike route added for the day. However, my first hour was stressful as I had been given the wrong pier to meet the boat. Fortunately, the sister boat was able to give me directions. Two other guest had the wrong directions to pier also.

Food and scenery fantastic! Jack, bike tour guide was rude at times. Also expected everyone to keep up with his ebike. Several women spoke to him and he got a little better and used a sweep and someone to wait at turns. I expected something a little more leisurely so could take pictures along the way. I did not expect a road race even though I could keep up. However, inspite of this, I have recommended the trip to friends as it is a wonderful experience. I do hope you retrain your bike guides to be kind.

The bikes were not in excellent condition. Some needed work on them.
A guide better versed in local traditions and history would have been nice.

The barge BORDEAUX and all of the staff were great. The rooms small as expected but comfortable. The food at dinner was adequate and well presented but certainly not excellent for taste and quality. Breakfasts were ok often some of the hot food was served cold. Plenty of food and variety for breakfast.
The guide, Scott, is a very nice person and tried extremely hard to help everyone but the maps and supplied route instructions are poor. Need a lot of work to become usable for everyone. No problem for me as I had a GPS unit with me. All of the time the routes include highways and roads. There are NO dedicated bike paths and that should be made clear on the trip description so people come in full knowledge of that issue. Such roads are likely to be unsafe for many ""first time"" riders. For that reason I would not recommend this trip to others. There are far safer bike routes in the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany, with just as nice and memorable scenery and more ""lived in"" towns with cafes and bier gardens than this tour had to offer. After the first 20 Chateaux one gets easily bored seeing another Chateaux for the next 5 days. Generally the scenery was ok but having to dodge traffic is not fun at any time. Also spending 2 or 3 nights at Cadillac at the end is really a poor location and very little to do there. This trip is not quite ready yet.
I will be riding again next year with Tripsite but we will go back to the countries mentioned above.

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.

We loved this trip. The captain and crew could not have been more accommodating. Due to low water levels, we started our tour a little further north of Dijon than usual and as a result were a day ahead of schedule. This prompted the Captain to make a small detour down the lovely Canal du Nivernais where we had some of the best biking of all. We were blessed with great weather and enjoyed most dinners out on the deck. And coming into Paris - who knew there was a 2km long underground canal through the city! A wonderful experience. Look forward to another trip on the Feniks in the future.

My wife, I and two friends took this trip in September. The farmhouse was a wonderful place to stay and rooms and common areas are very comfortable. Pool and grounds are lovely. The farm's owner has a classic car collection that is an added bonus if you are able to see it. Breakfasts are excellent. The staff we dealt with --Maria, Manuela and Johanna--were beyond great. They consistently went out of their way to make sure we had the best trip possible. Bikes were well maintained and appropriate for the terrain. I have been on three self-guided bike trips in Europe and the daily directions here were excellent--the best I have seen. The only caveat I have about the trip is that the difficulty level should be moderate and not easy. Daily trips were challenging beyond an easy category. In fact, four of the five days riding instructions listed the route as a medium bike ride. Other than that a great trip and good value. I gave the trip four stars rather than five due to the difficulty level.

The best part of this trip would be a toss-up between the ride in light rain from Joigny to Sens, the cruise up the Loing to Moret sur Loing, and the arrival at our mooring in Paris with Place de la Bastille in the background.
Linde, our guide, was very good. The roads/trails were a bit rougher in some places than we anticipated. We anticipated cramped quarters and they were as expected but quite serviceable. The bike worked well but a mountain bike with suspension would have been nice in some spots.

The variety of scenery around Karlovac Croatia was awesome: rivers, farms, war ruins, small mountains, churches and more. The hotel was very nice and well-located along the river for a refreshing swim. The fixed menu was the same two night in a row until we finally asked for something different. Biking to the sister property in the mountains was far more strenuous than most would handle, so I'd caution anyone against staying at the rural hotel or biking there unless you are in fantastic shape. We loved it, of course. The only suggestion I'd make is for the hotel to provide printed maps and suggested routes. They had us rely upon a website and we have a difficult time matching up the website information with the routes described in the trip brochure/materials. We ultimately did fine (with one notably long detour upon getting lost!), but we like a logistical challenge. Others less inclined might become quite frustrated. Overall, it was an excellent trip and excellent value!

This was a great bike and barge trip, although we originally had not chosen this one. Our original trip around Paris ,unfortunately was cancelled just shortly before we were supposed to leave. The staff at Tripsite was very helpful and we were able to book the Bourgogne one on the Feniks. The bike routes had to be changed a bit, due to the barge being delayed on the canal a few times. That meant a lot of riding along the canals, which made it easy riding, but not quite as interesting. However, the "plan B" as a whole turned out to be very nice and we saw many beautiful and interesting sites. The only complaint would be that there were a lot of mosquitoes, which of course is not the captain's fault. Next time I would come up with some kind of solution to put some "screens" on the windows, so we won't wake up in the morning full of mosquito bites...... Our guide was great, as was the whole crew. The cook was fantastic and we had the most wonderful meals during our tour. Good thing we did a good amount of bike riding, or we would have ended up putting on quite a few pounds.... All in all, we highly recommend this bike and barge trip.

It was a wonderful way to see the country. Wonderful fellow travelers and the crew couldn't gave been more accommodating . So much fun!

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 thought there weren't enough safety precautions: riding too close, no warning of slowing or stopping. Would have liked more stops along the way for photos.

Loved the Magnifique II! The food was spectacular! Variety of routes/terrains.

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

The boat was great and food wonderful. All staff couldn't have been nicer.

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.

I am a tag-along non-bicycler, but I was really happy on the barge reading, drinking coffee and watching the enchanting scenery.

A big thank you to all your staff and to Austria for making my journey a wonderful experience.