4 Star Bike Tour Reviews — 991 to 1020 of 1207

The most memorable parts were Keukenhof gardens and fellow bikers. Disappointed that a week long "tulip tour" ended up being about 3 hours of tulip tour. Primarily focused on 1953 Delta Plan, interesting but spent too much time...days, on it. Enjoyed seeing Kinderdijk windmills. Would have been nice to see more small towns and tulip fields.

My first Tripsite vacation, first bike/barge trip, first trip to the 4 countries.....loved it. Somewhat poor attitudes of hotel manager, Peter and the guides did not spoil my trip...in fact, became a bit of a joke to us. I would not let it stop from booking another trip.

The scenery , chateaus and winery were beautiful.

After sorting out problems with the bikes I was assigned I found the tour through the tulip fields to be amazing. I only wish the biking had been more leisurely with opportunities to stop and enjoy the fields and take more photos.

The most memorable part of my trip was our day in Samara. We biked to three beaches and the views were wonderful. We biked on the beach at sunset and that experience was surreal.

In relation to overall satisfaction for the trip we felt the breaks for coffee and lunch were a bit long and being in November daylight at the end of the day was an issue so in our opinion the breaks needed to be shorter.
In relation to hotel food overall the breakfasts provided were superb except for the hotel in Alcala La Real (Hotel Terrepalma) where the breakfast was both meagre and unhealthy. If the hotel can't accommodate the breakfast requirements perhaps another location for breakfast could be found for a group of hungry bikers.
In relation to the route descriptions that were written for the bikers to carry they were, at times, difficult to follow and somewhat confusing. For the most part the guide was able to offset the confusion.
The time of the year impacted the scenery as most fields were plowed under and there was a lot of smoke from fall burning making the views hazy however we did have fantastic weather which certainly added to the scenic experience.
Our guide, Jeff Lacey, was amazing! He was knowledgeable and attentive, great with people, excellent bike technician, fluent in both Spanish and English, he was encouraging and overall having him as a guide truly added excellence to this trip.
Thank you Tripsite for all your support prior to this trip. Your support and organization before the trip were truly appreciated, prompt and well executed.
What was the most memorable part of our trip? The variety in the terrain including the scenery!

Del 8 al 18 de julio del año 2016, un grupo de doce personas adultos y ya entrados en años, pues el más joven tiene 54 años y el mayor 70, hicimos el recorrido en bicicleta de las Repúblicas Bálticas. Somos un grupo de cicloturistas experimentados, que ya hemos recorrido medio Europa en bicicleta.
La organización de TRIPSITE del recorrido fue muy buena, pues estaba mezclado la actividad física con el turismo de naturaleza y el cultural. Tanto el guía como el chófer del vehículo de apoyo fueron dos personas encantadoras, atentas y se adaptaron muy bien a las características del grupo.
La actividad en bicicleta, para nuestro grupo, nos pareció corta, pero nos dimos cuenta que no todos los grupos ciclistas suelen ser gente experimentada y los guías y programas se tienen que adaptar a la generalidad de los grupos.
La experiencia fu e interesante, y las Repúblicas Bálticas con sus pueblos, ciudades y pobladores nos parecieron simpáticas y alegres.

A fabulous tour. Friendly countries to cycle in, great history and a variety of terrain. Would recommend an extra night in Znojmo to give you a chance to go discover the catacombs.and a chance to enjoy the magnificent view , wine and delicious food from the local winery. Would check with the tour company to ensure that the bikes will be delivered the night before so they can be checked out.
The Czech Republic, Hungary and Slovakia were places we had never been to and they exceeded my expectations hugely. Accommodation was chosen well and the bike company was very helpful.

I felt that the guide could have put more effort into letting us know what we were seeing. When we came upon a historic site such as a church, castle or such his standard comment was, "here is a church, you can go in and look at it if you want". We sat in front of the Porta Negra in Trier and were told it was a Roman ruin. Nothing more. My e-bike malfunctioned and I had to ride a regular bike the next day. I had ordered an e-bike because I have a health condition and was quite embarrassed that I held the rest of the group up while I walked the regular bike up small hills.

Having a guide for the biking. He was terrific. We had a route change which led to a boring day biking. They do not give you water at the table. Too many people on the boat. Lining up for things to buy tickets. Did not like having to buy a drink package. Too expensive.
Staff was very pleasant. Our guide was fabulous.

The written notes for the trail description were poorly written and not accurate. Our guide made up for this with proper verbal description for each segment.
The hotels were all superb with the the one exception ( Hotel Torre Palma) where the breakfast was lacking, just some pastries, bread, coffee and juice and no fruit, cheese, meat or yogurt.
Overall the trip was excellent and we surely enjoyed our extra knowledgeable guide Jeff.

This was our 2nd trip this year. We signed up for a 3rd already. Barge and bike is wonderful.

Would have liked more time biking. 2 days had less than 10 miles. We were in the guided group and were told the group would decide how much to bike on those days-we were never asked as a group-the guide decided himself we would do the shorter distance. Barge "purser"-a woman-not very friendly or helpful or available. Trip booked as a Bordeaux start and end, but the location of start and end of trip changed and we had to pay extra to get ourselves to Cadillac and back to Bordeaux from Libourne. The boat company should have provided that transfer free of charge. The 2 wine tasting charges should have been included in the trip charge. The boat charged 20 euros for a bottle of wine in the wine country of Bordeaux and we were not allowed to bring on any wine from the outside. You could buy a nice bottle of wine for less than $10.00 in town. Disappointed that we had twin beds-expected a double in the suite room.

Scenic Coastal ride. The most memorable part was visiting and staying overnight in unique and incredible towns and sites.

Overall, the trip was good. There was, however, a disconnect among what our trip itinerary described and what the guide and the captain thought in terms of mileages and what entrance fees were included. The guide used the corner system. That means that the entire group has to ride together and do the same mileages each day. The trip description notes that each participant will receive maps and be able to ride on their own. We did not receive maps and therefore it made it impossible to ride on our own.

Route was easy. We especially liked the fact that the boat stayed overnight where each day's ride ended. Our guide was a replacement so we don't think he was familiar enough with the route to give us the best guidance.

No, I wouldn't recommend this trip. The hotels were not in the best areas of the city (even with paying extra for the nicer hotels) and there was much more biking on busy streets with cars than expected.

Barge was great, crew was excellent, could use more air conditioning, bikes need new pedals with more grip, very slippery especially when wet, boat could review policy of not letting riders use their own pedals.

The guide, Hein, was very knowledgeable, entertaining and helpful. A real asset to the trip.
Food on the Ava Maria was the best! Loved the three days from Bolzano through the mountains.

The ride through the Wachau valley was by far the most memorable. We were happy with the overall trip. The staff were very helpful and cheerful. The one disappointment was with the info from the cruise director on the trip. At times it was inaccurate. This trip could be improved by updating the notes in the bike route, providing information and maps on side trips to the villages we biked through. Many bikers were concerned to vary from the route to find other attractions for fear of getting lost. One section of the trail was on a small sidewalk yet the cruise director and the printed information did not mention this. A lot of bikers were confused. It seems like the cruise director never biked the route or it has been too long ago.

I would rather recommend a trip to Germany or the Netherlands, but that's just my preference. The staff on the Bourdeaux was very nice.

I would recommend the trip if the operator makes improvements to the selfguided route finding; the narrative, GPS, and detail maps were inconsistent with each other and recommended routes were sometimes difficult to find. We had large area maps that allowed us to navigate and a crew member who helped but especially during the first couple days it was a bit challenging. The route narrative should include more information on sites to visit or note along the way. The bikes were heavy in comparison to other trips we have booked.
I really enjoyed the scenery and sites; it is a lovely area to visit and bike, especially during late September. Grapes were cascading from the vines, just pre-harvest. The vineyards, wine tasting,chateaux, churches, fortresses, medieval towns, history and landscapes were wonderful along the routes. Experiencing the tidal surf (the mascaret) was also quite interesting.

Food was ok but not great. A little more variety and quality with a little less quantity would go a long ways to correcting this.

The staff on the boat were terrific, especially Sebastian. The breakfasts were the same every day which really got old quickly. Their new bikes had terrible shifters and were really heavy. The route descriptions led us to be lost on many days and we finally had to rely on Google maps.
The scenery was great and when we got on less well-traveled roads, the riding was great. Unfortunately we spent too much time (IMHO) on roads with a lot of traffic.

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 was our first "bike and sail" and we found it quite different than the "bike and barge" tours we have done in the past. There was less cycling (cycling distances were less than advertised and usually only in the morning or afternoon) and more cruising. However, cruising among the islands in a beautifully clear sea was an unexpected highlight... and often a welcome break after a morning or afternoon of moderate cycling! One hour walking tours before dinner at destination sites were interesting and appropriate.
The Croatian Coast and countryside is absolutely beautiful with it's small towns and marinas in every cove. Swimming off the boat was such a fabulous experience!
The Romantica was a lovely clean sailing yacht with good amenities. The rating scale for the "bike and sailing yachts" however is different than the "bike and barge" boats; Romantica was rated as "Comfort Plus" but we would consider it on the lower end of that scale (relative to some of the other "bike and barge" boats we have been on). We recognize that "you get what you pay for" and the Romantica was in our view good value.
The-food was outstanding - with 4 course lunches and dinners that were delicious!
In summary, a great trip - and we look forward to another "bike and sail" next fall.

Just came back from an exceptional Salzburg Lakes holiday.
I'll start with the good - fantastic scenery (so green), friendly well-appointed hotels, not too difficult route (a few hills from time to time but appropriate for the "easy to moderate" level, well sign-posted. Even the continuous rain on the first day didn't dampen our spirits.
This was my second time with "Tripsite" (went to Provence, France two years ago) and I feel compelled to add a few negative comments by comparison. Most of the maps and brochures were in German and not English. The quality of the bikes was less than expected. Far worse was the comedy of errors on the bike handover - no saddle bags, no repair kit, no pump, no apology. We only got the missing equipment at the end of the first day of riding. My thanks to the Tripsite Team, who did their best to intervene on our behalf.
In conclusion - don't let the negative comments stop you from booking this trip. I would however recommend to Tripsite to have a serious word with their local agents to prevent such mistakes in the future. And, yes, I'm already planning the next trip !!

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.

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.

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!