Bike Tour Reviews — 2761 to 2790 of 6274

First time on a bike n barge. Awesome!

This tour was incredible!!! We did this with our two teenage daughters 13 and 15… and we were all blow away by the beauty of the Netherlands and the immaculate organization of Tripsite and their team!

The route was a brilliant mixture of history and pristine nature. It was pretty flat so although an effort at times for the teens, not difficult at all… but you felt like you deserved our sundowner drink at the end of the day.

Hotels were all lovely, with delicious breakfasts included. The towns we went through were beautiful and hotels in very central locations.

The bikes were top class, gave us no issues whatsoever. Peter Vos from Tulip tours was incredibly helpful and knowledgeable about the route. Gave us a good briefing and off we went.

We would love to return to do more trips in the future.

Thanks again to all at Tripsite.

The Highlights of Northern Zealand trip was great. The lodgings were good, especially the palace (Kokkadal). The breakfasts were all excellent with both variety and quality. The scenery and the sights are as seen on tripsite. Denmark is truly a biker's dream. Christian from Ruby Rejser was very helpful and kind. The only problem with this tour was the GPS. I have never used one before so I do not know if there are better ones but what we were given did not work well. They were tiny and difficult to read and they kept freezing. As well, the maps that we were given were not detailed enough. We met a couple from France who shared the app given to them by their travel agent and it worked quite well. There were two days that we used it when our GPS froze. I do believe that Ruby Rejser is obligated to provide equipment that works.

Meals were delicious. E-bikes turned the trip into sightseeing rather than difficult exercise. Great way to see the countryside. Rooms were clean, comfortable and air conditioned. Bathrooms were clean and big enough. Crew and guide were friendly, open and accommodating.

Given that the climate is warming it is time to air condition the upper deck.

The boat was awesome! Clean and modern - like new.
I have taken many bike tours in Europe and this was the best.
The daily rides tended to be a comfortable 40-to-45 miles per day.
I rented a trail bike and my wife rented an e-bike - both were very serviceable.

KVARNER BAY, CROATIA, June 3 – 10, 2022

Croatia is absolutely gorgeous! The port towns are so charming, yet different from others in Europe. The landscape and views from the high points of the islands are stunning, and the water is crystal clear. On our previous trips, the barge followed along a canal or river. In Kvarner Bay, we cruised from island to island which enhanced the uniqueness of this trip. We booked the Barge Linda, which provided hybrid trail bikes and rated the trip moderate to difficult, so we opted for e-bikes for the first time. A wise decision for casual bikers of senior status!

The crew was outstanding! Everyone was friendly, considerate, and truly seemed to enjoy their jobs. The passengers all came with a cheerful attitude, ready to bike, make new friends, and embrace any experience that came with the adventure. The accommodations were comfortable and the food was tasty.

Our trail guides, Kristofor, Mario, and Aron, were not only very professional, conscientious and concerned for our safety, but also fun, energetic, and totally delightful! Each daily ride offered unique scenery. We enjoyed breaks along the rides to browse, have a beverage, or swim in the bay. A highlight for many was the fun of diving off the barge when it was anchored! After a day of biking and dinner, the guides led us on tours of the towns, joined us for evening beverages, and surprised us with tastings of local specialties.

The webpage accurately represents our experience. We were blessed with good weather, so we saw and did everything as described on the itinerary.
This was our 5th Bike & Barge trip with Tripsite and not our last. All have been amazing!
Sandra & Alex Bersin

It was so amazingly organized. The tour guides were exemplary, the rest of the staff absolutely wonderful and so personable, the food was totally extraordinary, the bikes were really well maintained and wonderful.

And three of my colleagues on the trip - who had been, between them, on no less than13 other bike and barge trips - all said whole-heartedly that this particular July 23rd, 2022 was the best by far that they had ever experienced. Was I ever lucky as it was my first!!

Bike and barge touring is wonderful way to explore a country with an experience no other way of travelling can match. With the immediacy of biking and expert guides to facilitate while backed by the secuŕity of the barge 'Quo Vadis' one can really settle in to enjoy the trip. All logistical details are taken care of and an excellent array of cuisine is available. Best vacation ever!

Crew Competence and friendliness. Cruising on the portions of bike baths through tunnels of trees on stretches, immediately next to the river, especially in the morning.
Suggestions:
--Bike guides should wear helmets. They're role models for the guests, some of whom aren't fully aware of the frequency with which helmets save lives. The silent message from our bare-headed guides was that it's perfectly fine, and maybe more 'cool,' to go without helmets.
-- Move to earlier starts in very hot weather. Riding in the morning was heaven. Riding in mid-afternoon was unpleasant.
--Getting left at the end of the trip at a barren concrete outpost far from town was not elegant. It would leave a better last impression to spring 100 Euro for a van to take us the 5 miles to the town center or train station.

Notre croisière sur le Mélody a été incroyable : le bateau est très beau et très bien équipé. Le service à table, les repas, l’entretien des cabines impeccables et surtout l’accueil du personnel avec une mention spéciale pour Dora et Tara, nos deux animatrices guides. Et nous avons fait connaissance avec des passagers de toutes nationalités, des gens formidables avec qui nous avons passé des moments mémorables. L’un de nos meilleurs voyages. Et en plus on a amélioré notre anglais !

We had a wonderful time on our trip. Croatia is absolutely beautiful. Everyone on the boat was wonderful & welcoming. We were very glad that we had rented e-assist bikes, it made the biking enjoyable. The islands are very hilly. Make sure to bring cash or have a way to access cash as many places are cash only, including transportation. When booking the trip allow days ahead and after to explore the cities of Split & Dubrovnik.

The entire crew was fantastic. The ship, Fortuna, is over 20 years old and it had some issues. In particular the air conditioning, The upper deck rooms had adequate a/c but the lower deck rooms, the lounge and the dining area were very uncomfortable. There were several people on this cruise who did not partake in cycling, some had mobility issues, the elevator did not work and it was difficult for them to get from there rooms to the other decks.
The food and the meal selections were excellent. Leslie, the tour director, was also fantastic. He constantly went out of his way, above and beyond, to ensure that all guests were taken care of.
Most of the biking route was scenic and safe, there was one stretch, appox 4km's that was on a very busy highway . The highway was narrow and carried many large buses and trucks. At the captain's party on the last night of the cruise, it was mentioned that the Fortuna was going to be replaced by a newer ship next year and also the routes were going to be changed to avoid that particular stretch of highway. This is a positive sign and I would have rated this trip much higher if it were not for the 2 above mentioned problems.
I would recommend the Budapest by night folklore show, it was very entertaining. Again, the entire crew did a fantastic job.

The route and group were amazing! The cities are very nice and historical… what I fell could be better is reception of participants of tour… inviting each one to identify oneself with others, to make a group… And I think our guide wasn’t so careful with the group… so quick some days… with no explanation about the beautiful little towns we were!! So pity!!
And they could help us about car parking before tour… You could have better support to guests.

We just returned last week from the 4 country Danube trip on the MS Fortuna. I have to begin by saying that the entire crew was fantastic. The food was great and the food selections were plentiful. The cruise director, Leslie, was the absolute best. His knowledge of the bike routes, the cities of Vienna, Budapest and all of the small villages in between were very helpful. The optional Budapest by night folklore tour was a lot of fun.
The ship, Fortuna, is 20 years old and it had it's drawbacks. We had upper deck suites and it was well worth the extra cost, the suites were great. Many of the people that we meet were in the lower deck cabins with little air conditioning. The air conditioning on most of the ship was poor, especially the lounge area and dining room. The elevator did not work. There were several people who opted not to cycle and just take the river cruise, some needed assistance and the boat was not at all handicapped friendly. We were told that the ship Fortuna will be replaced by a newer vessel next year.
The bike paths themselves are well marked, and for the most part very scenic and safe. There is one stretch near the end of the trip that requires cycling on a very busy and narrow road. One cyclist was run off the road and spent the next day in a Vienna hospital being treated for a broken foot. At the end of the trip, at the Captain's party, we were all told that in addition to a newer ship next year, that that particular route would be changed to avoid that dangerous road.
Based on this particular trip, I can only give this trip a rating of 3. With the changes schedules for next year, I would rate this much higher. In finishing, I have to say that the ENTIRE crew was fantastic, they did an excellent job!

We loved our trip aboard the Primadonna! The rooms themselves were a little dated and nothing fancy, but the food and the service aboard was fantastic. The time off of the ship was by far the best part. We loved the freedom of being able to wander from port A to port B in our time, but having the comfort of knowing that our luggage and lodging were safely waiting for us at the next location.

We especially loved the town of Melk and a restaurant called Rathauskeller. It had great food and the waiter, Joseph, was very nice and a highlight of our trip. Another suggestion would be in Schlogen, on your first bike day, get off the ship a little early and go for a hike up to viewing point of the Scholgen UNESCO site.

The bike were really good quality. They come with a bike lock and two rear mounted panniers. The saddles are quite hard after a several hour bike ride, so if you're sensitive to that, I would suggest a gel seat cover of some sort. Most of the towns you visit have awesome pedestrian zones, where you can lock up your bike and just wander from shop to shop without having to worry about cars. The bike paths themselves were very nice. They were mostly well labeled and separate from the street. The worst section of bike paths is actually on your first day, from Ottenheim to Linz. In Ottenheim the signs get a little vague as to which way to go, and entering Linz (a large city) you are on a bike path but facing oncoming traffic that is leaving the city, crossing streets that our actively being used by cars. All other paths were wonderful, and scenic. We felt very safe every day. I also highly suggest that someone from your party attend the nightly briefings on the next days bike path. This gave good information on what to expect. English is definitely not the primary language on the boat, but they do a good job of having a separate time to talk with the English speakers about what to expect. They also assign you a table in the dining room based on your primary language, so that was nice too.

All in all this was probably the best trip my wife and I have ever been on, and will do another one like it in the future.

Trip from Spoleto to San Luca was great overall, enjoyed the scenery. Visiting Montefalco was awesome. Arriving in Santa Barbara hotel with a pool waiting for us was a great surprise at the end of the day.
Tip: gpx tracks were excellent in use. I brought a box with me from home attached to a bike for the phone to follow tracks during riding. The problem was seeing track in a sunny day. I had to stop once in a while where shade was available in order to stay on the right road.
I do not know how to improve this challenge.

This is a ride through the Inn Valley and Southern Bavaria passing through charming towns and villages with unsurpassed scenery. Hotels along the way are as expected. However, the route on Day 5 is extremely difficult, with almost 2700 feet in climbing. The bicycles provided are fine for the flat portions on the first three days of riding, however, not adequate for the extremely challenging route on the fourth day of riding. There were other minor details that could have been addressed make the entire tour more pleasant. Overall, we enjoyed much of the tour and the memories made. This tour has great potential, but some changes should be made to make it more enjoyable.

This tour was described as having a dedicated bike path and great for families.After completing it today I have to disagree.
Long stretches (20 kms) of Parenzana path were like washed out river beds, full of deep loose gravel and rocks.Unless-you are used to this surface then it is very slow going,scary and dangerous .
My cycle buddy and I both fell off twice,and had cuts and bruises.We have cycled all over Europe and have never been on anything like this.We did cycle from Piran to Grojnan and Grojnan to Motovun and the path was really bad,a goat track in some parts.
We caught a taxi from Motovun to Porec as the Komoot map indicated 20 kms of unpaved path through the forest and no roads to turn onto if we needed to escape .
This state of this path really is atrocious and it’s the worst self guided tour I have ever done

The sailing experience
I would take another trip with the company in a heartbeat!

This was a fantastic bike tour in so many ways for our family! The pre-trip planning and communications were organized and prompt. The trip had a great combination of physical activity (bicycling about 25-30 miles per day), options (e-bikes available), thoughtful and accommodating guides (Sergio and Miguel), beautiful scenery in 2 countries (3 days in Portugal and 3 in Spain), history (Camino de Santiago), and outstanding hotels and delicious food. We couldn't have asked for a better trip. It is so relaxing, comfortable and convenient to stay in wonderful hotels with meals provided. Our family has done several other active vacations in other regions---this one may have been the best!

My first bike trip in E.
Very good planing and local and history knowledge from Lucaš , Jan and Michaela! I enjoyed it so much I could do a repeat next year! Great Crew! Little rain the last two days but they made it work. Recommend it to anyone who’s into Cycling- History- Culture- gastronomy - new experiences. (E bikes make it possible for those not so fit. )

This trip is and will be for a long time the most memorable trip I ever had. Our hotel was fantastic. Great rooms, great food. The bikes were top notch, couldn't have had a better bike. The owner of the hotel was very knowledgeable about the roads we took each day, and the road in the Tarn Valley are so smooth and well kept.

The cycling trip is most enjoyable amid stunning scenery and charming towns.
Please be transparent about your costs. I booked the chateau experience and paid more than I expected for the trip only to discover the Tripsite did not include the chateau experience in my vouchers. I received several emails in response to my queries re cost only to be given different answers re bank charges, currency conversion and hidden credit card charges, despite the fact I paid with a debit card. This is an American company that uses the dollar to suit it figures. I urge anyone using this company to get a detailed invoice before starting out. We were over charged for our trip but the company was not willing to accept this.

Our Ship's crew was the highlight of our trip. What a wonderful collection of people! The salon staff were always on duty to see to our needs regarding meals and bar service. Both Jeanine (sp?) and Alexandra always had a smile for us at all hours. John was the hit of the ship with the excellent meals that were never the same twice. We saw him riding his bicycle laden with fresh foods and wares and marveled at how hard he worked. Sailor Michael was tending to the ship day and night and his smile never dimmed. He will be the Captain next summer. Captain Andreas was an outstanding captain and is known in the region as a training captain. He even welcomed a couple of us to the ship's bridge to see the operation of the ship. Everyone worked as a team to get our bicycles ready to ride and then our two excellent guides took charge. Guides Arnold and Maria-Jose kept us safe and dealt with a widely varied caliber of cyclists. I will truly miss each of our crew members, as they worked together to make our trip unique and enjoyable.

We were continuously amazed by the natural and cultural beauty of this region of Spain. We were on e-bikes, which made climbing the hills relatively easy. Most of the roads had almost no cars on them and the route was diverse and always entertaining. We were dealing with some Covid-19 infections in the group and the Iberocycle team went above and beyond to take care of us. They were great. We recommend spending a few days in Bilbao up front to see the museums - worthwhile! We've done a number of similar trips around Europe and Eastern Canada and this one ranks very high.

We really overall enjoyed our bike & boat cruise from Bruges to Amsterdam taken July 2-9, 2022 on the Fluvius boat. But there are few comments that I would like to make in hopes that Tripsite finds them useful.
First of all, we worked with Anna Zdancewicz at Tripsite and she was an amazing communicator. She provided clear and detailed answers to any questions we had and was very timely in her response to us via email. We also spoke with her on the phone a few times and enjoyed the conversations as well as the information. We would definitely use Tripsite again for another booking and we often recommend Tripsite to others.
The upside of our trip was Jack, our bicycle tour guide each day. He was great and very knowledgeable of the sites we rode to and also he gave a few evening guided walking tours which were also excellent. We really enjoyed Jack and his helper Johan, who was the “Sweeper”…taking the rear positon of all bike riders keeping us all together.
The downside of the cruise for us were issues concerning the boat, Fluvius. The Fluvius is a small and pretty old boat with up to 44 passengers. This boat is well-worn and old and definitely shows it. It is clearly in need of a facelift and major update throughout the entire boat. Even the bed linens and bed comforter was just a little too old and did not seem crisp and fresh. The dinners served on the boat were very good and well presented. We did not want to eat fish and they kindly gave us something else as a substitute. However, the breakfasts were really lacking and uninspired. But worst of all were the lunches that everyone had to put together themselves every day to take with them on their bikes. The bread for the sandwiches was always very dry. And overall, the items one could pack for lunch were very limited and not very tasty or appealing. If you wanted to just have a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, you had to open about 7 or 8 small packages of each to make one sandwich. The choice of fruit was just so very limited and the drinks offered were juices boxes that tasted not great. For water, you were given a reusable plastic bottle that you were expected to fill yourself each day in your bathroom. We never did that. Instead, we bought bottled water to take with us.
The cabin we were in (which was one of the two very best ones) did not seem very clean. The shower did not seem well scrubbed out after the previous guests. I understand that there is not much time between one set of guests disembarking from a cruise and the next group arriving. However, rooms need to be thoroughly cleaned and sanitized between groups and clearly this was not done. I also felt that the overall ship could have been cleaner.
Another aspect of this cruise I would like to comment on is the bikes. The majority of riders rode ebikes. The ebikes on the Fluvius were old and should be replaced. I noticed also that most of the bikes were dirty even on the first day of use which proved to be just a sign of their overall condition which was poor. My own ebike required maintenance twice during the week. There was only one guy who was in charge of maintaining all the bikes and he definitely seemed overwhelmed with the responsibility of this.
Our tour guide Jack mentioned that the boat had recently been purchased by a young entrepreneurial type of guy. Perhaps Tripsite might let the boat owner or local partner know about these short comings and needed changes. Also, it might be helpful if Tripsite conducted an annual review of the boats you represent to be sure things are up to par and meet your standards and the expectations of your clients.
On a final note, I would like to say that we enjoyed the daily rides and felt that Jack, the tour guide, did an excellent job. Without him, the overall experience would have been less enjoyable.  SHOW MORE 

This trip is mostly between towns and villages each day, but with the opportunity to "bookend" the cycling with visits to a number of famous large cities in the area. I stayed several days in Cologne first, and in Strasbourg and Frankfurt at the end. All are easily reachable by high speed train. On the cycle trip, I particularly enjoyed the portion out of Koblenz where we cycled right through the vineyards on the hillside slopes rather than right along the river.

This was my fifth cycle trip and by far the most luxurious boat, the Merlijn. Summer temperatures were HOT but somehow the paths along the meandering Mosel were often in the shade. One unpredictable factor for any trip is the quality of the guide. Lia was top notch. As were the bikes. And the food.

Helpful hints... I choose my trips according to what discounts are offered, as every tour has something worthwhile on offer. Germany is a beer drinking country, and I found non alcohol beer available everywhere.

the staff onboard the Swiss Crown provided excellent service

On the whole it was a great trip and I would like to do something like this again. But as with most things in life it could be improved. I would leave out Azay le Rideau. It was not much of a town and the hotel was below par. I would include “rest days”. For example I would have loved to spend more time in Chinon. So cycling all the way to chinon on day one then a rest there. And so on… For mid summer I would include an option not to have a hotel breakfast. On the really hot days (40c) we tried to get away at 6am to avoid the heat and have our cycling mostly done by lunch. It also means less traffic on the road. We had some good hotels and some rally poor ones. I think tripsite needs to work on consistency.

The guides were excellent (Hetti and Jacqueline) and I was impressed with the quality of food and accommodations. It surpassed my expectations for the price. Great value.