4 Star Bike Tour Reviews — 1081 to 1110 of 1207

Super trip. I was a inexperienced bicycler and the ebike made the journey very enjoyable.

This is Mary from Tripsite and this was my very first Tripsite tour back in 2010, I believe. I was traveling alone and self guided so flexibility was required, not to mention that my first cycling day was the coldest on record for years! ( I was cycling in early April.) I did get turned around a few times as I learned to read the route descriptions and follow the maps but each Tuscan hilltop was a reward in and of itself. From this tour I learned that when cycling self guided do expect: 1. To get turned around at least once or twice 2. That the Italians will always tell you to go straight 3. That the ancient streets many times do not have their names clearly visible 4. That most of the towns are located on a hill. 5. That Tuscany is simply stunning! Highlight: seeing Florence from afar from a hilltop and then cycling down and into the ancient city itself. I also learned that some of the best experiences happen when you least expect it! I am giving this a four star because personally I felt the bike was very heavy (but thankfully geared low enough for the hills!)

Mary from Tripsite, here! I biked this tour about four years ago, shortly after we began to offer it. I had lived in Spain during my college years and it was wonderful to return! I will not rate this tour 5 star because I found the welcome meeting to me inconvenient for me. I was combining two days into one and wanted to get on the road but the pickup location for the bikes is an actual bike shop which happen to be busy and I did not get started until much later than I would have preferred. There was also a point on the Greenways where I became very confused and ended up off track by several kilometers. This tour now includes GPS devices and tracks and I think that is the way to go. Bikes are very good, accommodations are lovely and unique....overall, a great tour.

Overall great trip, really loved it. Did feel the duration and arrival time in Vienna was disappointingly limited - nowhere near long enough to see sufficient in daylight hours.

Unfortunately one major problem became apparent. The tour director was charming and affable when presenting to an audience, but his manner often vacillated (changed) when talking with individuals. On many occasions he was rude and dismissive, including sometimes making derogattory comments. Due to his public persona (welcoming and friendly), I was really shocked by this. At times he gave the impression that he was putting on an act, that he really did not like or enjoy his job and the guests were an infuriating annoyance to him. Even allowing for tiredness and stress, I do not think there is any excuse for rudeness to friendly (and paying) customers. I was not the only one to observe his changeable attitude or bear the brunt of his dismissive rudeness. As it wasn't possible to pick what his response would be (ie positive or negative), I only spoke to him when spoken to. I shudder to think of his treatment of the genuinely lovely and diligent cleaners and kitchen staff. Perhaps it's time for Leslie to retire.

Initial bikes provided were in very poor state. They were replaced when we contacted local agent at the end of the first day.

Food was not we are accustomed to on trips of this type.

My sister and I loved the trip and have told many people to book the barg trip. One of the best trips I have had.

Some hotels definitely better than others. Also some of the road directions were not translated well. Overall, however, generally satisfied with the trip but the service could use some improvements.

One problem became evident at the time of the one significant incident when one client while riding her bicycle down a sloping gravel road ineptly/incorrectly applied her front brake only, and somersaulted, leading to a serious leg injury. The group problem as far as I am concerned was only the lack of easy communication between the cycle group leader and the last riders in the group. The designated last rider needs a device such as a small UHF transceiver, or where mobile phone coverage is a certainty a tested/checked cellphone link, to be able to immediately alert the leader of any problems behind.

Issues related to the boat: bad smell, cabin room was cozier than we would choose in the future. Laundry facilities were inadequate. We really enjoyed the trip, the guide and the experience!

This is the second barge and bike trip we took with Tripsite and I would have to say we liked the scenery more on the Taste of Burgundy than we did with Provence. Riding the in the Camargue got a little boring. Other than that we enjoyed the overall trip.

The biking was not as scenic as other trips I have been on. However the food, staff and guide were excellent.

The trip is excellent and we are now booked for our third time. However, and I know this is out of control of anyone, but our last trip was affected because of the crane accident near Gouda. This caused a rerouting of half the trip and because of that, we missed half of the sites that we wanted to see. On another note, the country should really make it illegal to dump raw sewage from the boats. This is disgusting and makes the waterways unclean. One would think that the government should do something about this and set up pumping stations. Otherwise, we really enjoy the bike/barge rides and will continue to go on them in the future.

It was a great trip very well organized the team is very supportive, will definitely repeat with my wife and kids I enjoyed big time.

Electric bikes, the black ones, were excellent. The food was a bit disappointing.
The guides were excellent. Cabin was very nice.

We have taken European trips put together by Pack and Pedal Europe for 12 years and will continue to do so every summer as long as possible. They are always wonderful. I cannot think of any bad experience. I always like the hotels, and their prices are extremely reasonable, a tremendous value! I highly recommend this company for bike trips.

My main concern about this particular trip is that we did not know ahead of time that staying on the barge and not biking was not an option unless one was sick. The winds were pretty bad (25-50 miles per hour) so that some of us did not feel up to the rides. On the particularly difficult day, it would have been nice to just remain with the boat.

The Soleo was a disappointment in all respects.

I wish I could say more about the route, but unfortunately, because of a biking accident, I was only able to ride the first day. The ebike seemed to be a really good one, but the combination of wet, slippery roads, the boost of power from the ebike, and the urging to use a higher boost mode on the bike was not a good combination. I know it's why I fell.

We did have rain quite a few days on her trip. But we were prepared and so we wore our raingear. Our guide Pieter, was very good at watching the weather and getting us inside or out of the rain if he could

There was a chemical odor in the hallway outside our room, and the food was not good.

Understanding the trip was planned for little difficulty, expected that the terrain would be flat, but was hoping for more scenery and countryside to take in while biking. Perhaps if there was an option of having a sag vehicle for those who couldn't/didn't want more difficult terrain so the option was available for those who could do more ... and see more. Overall great experience, friendly crew and excellent food!

It was more challenging than expected, but very rewarding. Great value.

Wonderful way to get a taste of the country, pace was ok. Nice to meet people from all over the world. Some situations which were dangerous, the guide was somewhat oblivious to them since he was always at the front and didn't really pay attention to the group the way he should have.

Beautiful area, great accommodations and bikes. The first agriturisimo had the best food we have ever had in Italy. The biking was much more challenging than we were expecting. It would have been more accurate to describe it as moderate/difficult, but not as easy/moderate as it was listed in the trip description. We would have enjoyed the biking more if we had been better prepared. The guides were great.

More time in certain areas would have been nice. There were instances where it felt like we were being pushed along, and I appreciate that we had 22 people of varying age, skill experience and physical ability, and that we have to get back to the boat. Our guide was very good, but you needed to try and understand his manner, which could be short at times. He was knowledgeable, insightful and caring, but his manner did not necessarily reflect that. Meals were good but thought it would reflect more French cuisine of the Provence area, not a complaint, just an observation.
Staff was excellent and I continue to recommend this bike trip and company to friends."

We were pretty unlucky with the weather. Exciting trip in spite of that

Was not always easy to "stay on course" on the bike tours. Directions and/or course markings could have been better.

All good on our bike and barge trip from Amsterdam to Bruges - especially the fantastic boat crew (I got to spend a rainy afternoon on the bridge with the boat captain).

Recommended for novice cyclists only. Not challenging enough for experienced cyclists.