Poland Tour Reviews — 1 to 30 of 44

I liked that the lodgings were often local, with a historic flavor of Czech or Poland, rather than bland international chain hotels. Having the breakfasts and dinners included was great, so convenient and we liked all the meals. The riding routes were very nice, with good scenery, small villages and minimum busy roads. Riding surfaces were often bumpy so the Specialized Diverge bikes we rode were a good match for conditions. The GPS routes worked perfectly, loaded onto my Garmin 1040. The phone APP was brilliant, with so much helpful info and the link to RidewGPS was great, even though I was using my Garmin. We wished we had requested a rest day in Olomouc; it is an interesting town and a break from so many consecutive days of riding would be nice.

A fantastic trip from one great city to another. The route was extremely well planned, making use of the vast network of cycleways in both countries (putting the UK to shame!). Although the surface quality was generally very good there some rough sections where the hybrid or gravel bikes came into their own. If you are used to a road style bike with drop handle bars I would definitely opt for the gravel bike as the best overall option as it handled the off-road sections well but was faster and lighter on good surfaces and hills.
The route is well planned to select interesting and historic towns for the overnight stops with the hotels always being close to the centres. A highlight is the quality of the support provided by both Tripsite beforehand and the guides during the tour. Lukas gave us a very detailed introduction and was always in touch throughout the journey to make sure everything was going well. The Tripsite App gave us lots of very useful information and the gps files made route following a breeze.
Thankyou team for a great experience

A great route with such history and two great cities! Would highly recommend not only the route, but the tour company. I was provided with Ride with GPS files in advance and a host of maps and other information upon arrival in Prague. They also use the "Trip Plans" app, which not only gives you the routes, but historical and other information about the towns you will be passing through and restaurant recommendations!

Great communication during the ride as well - even making a route change along the way due to road construction (they updated the Ride with GPS file in seemingly real time).

I have done a dozen or so self-guided solo bike trips around the world and often have had very little support - this team made it easy and they were always just a WhatsApp text or call away.

Looking at booking my next tour with them now...

Thanks!

Scott Nelson

We loved the trip. Lovely scenery and fascinating sites to see along the way. Accommodations were delightful and we stayed at some lovely old residences. Bikes went well and the GPX tracks made all the difference and we had no problem navigating along the various trails and roads. We so appreciated how responsive the local bike company was and if we had any queries we could send a message on WhatsApp and we received a reply straight away

This was the most organized non-guided trip I have ever been on. We had a driver stay with us the entire week and provided support if you had a flat or any bike trouble. They picked us up or dropped us off to safer starting and ending spots so that we could stay at beautiful hotels and not have to ride on very unsafe fast roads with no bike lanes. They organized guided tours in some of the cities we stayed in. The hotels were top notch, really really nice. The routes were well organized and detours were sent to us a week prior due to road construction. I couldn't recommend this trip enough. Poland cities are beautiful, clean, the food is great and very inexpensive. The countryside is beautiful. Poland's cities are unlike other European cities now. The cities feel safe and clean. Please put this trip on your bucket list. Well worth it!

We were a self-guided pair that was added on to a guided tour. So we travelled with them when bus transfers were needed but we did not have any meals apart from breakfast included in the deal. So when we arrived at small villages the others had set meals pre-booked for them and we were needing to find meals either at the same or different places. So we felt disconnected from the group. That was fine. But if you want a group experience go with the fully guided bookings. The Italians in the riding group wanted to eat at 8 pm and we wanted to have early nights so that we could cycle before the heat of the day. The Italians did not want to get going until 9 am, so if there was a bus transfer prior to the day’s ride we could not start riding until after an hour or so in the bus, starting at 9 am in the bus. It was summer, it was hot. The bikes were basic commuter bikes, in my opinion. They weren’t suitable for riding on the lose gravel, sand and large stones and cobble stones. So we ended up pushing our bikes in the heat of the day for anywhere between 250 meters and 800 metres. After a while it certainly did not feel like my idea of a holiday! The 2 and 3 star accommodation was clean but basic. No kettles, no teabags, no fridge. So for people like myself with dietary needs (and who likes to drink copious amounts of tea) it was difficult to self cater. The guide Romas, was knowledgeable, but when a change of plan was needed he did not excel in forward planning toilet or cafe stops. Some cafes were closed until noon, but we arrived at 10:30-11 am, if he’d rung ahead the day before they may have opened at 10:30-11 am for a group booking for 10 hungry cyclists. Picnic lunches could have been planned. Warning for group riders: the group only goes as fast as the slowest rider! We often passed the group, who were waiting at a crossroad for the beginner rider to catch up. We’d arrive at our accommodation hours before them. The maps synced with the Ride with GPS app, after a few hiccups which were quickly rectified by the Company. It’s mainly flat terrain and pine forests so not particularly exciting, pleasant, but not exciting. It was as described; “gently rolling hills” was the description I think.

Boat and Crew was absolutely Fantastic. Lia our Bike Guide was Amazing.

I enjoyed all of the villages/cities I stopped in and the lodgings were excellent. My pannier was broken and it was replaced right away which was much appreciated. Several of the GPS maps had sections which did not accurately reflect the route or were confusing. One route did not indicate that a very large road construction project was in progress and it took me an hour to figure out how to get back on track. Parts of the routes were marked as unpaved and while true, several miles of the unpaved roads were difficult to navigate. That being said, I always was able to find my final destination.

I very much enjoyed my self-guided Prague-Krakow bicycle tour. I traveled solo and chose upgraded accomodations and extra nights in Prague, Auschwitz and Krakow, which I would recommend. Unfortunately due to a canceled United Airlines flight, I was only able to spend 1 night in Prague. All of the personnel were quite helpful. The itinerary was clear and managable. W the exception of my last day in Krakow, my bags always arrived before I did (usually between 12-1). Two hotels charged me an additional city tax (Hotels Clement and Trinity). Be aware that there is a significant amount of off road gravel, dirt and rough riding, which for me added to the adventurous quality of the trip. I also chose an upgraded gravel bike, which I highly recommend. I don't know if I would upgrade the hotels again, in that there were at least 2 nights I was in 3 star hotels when 4 star options were listed on the itinerary. The Ride w GPS ap was at times confusing. For example, multiple times it indicated I was off course, when I doubled back to look for a missed turn, it then indicated that in fact I was going the correct way. The ap guided to the city center and not to the final hotel destination. Therefore, it is essential to get a sim card and have internet access to map to your individual hotel. Definitely bring a back up phone battery and a method for attaching it to your phone on the handlebar. I was also informed that the contract w the luggage carrier was to deliver the bag by 5 pm. Therefore, you may want to carry a change of clothes in your pannier. As mentioned, that only occurred one time (Krakow) where I had to wait a couple of hours to change out of my sweaty bike clothes. I especially enjoyed Olomouc and Krakow (go to the Schlinder museum). Overall, I would recommend Tripsite and I'm already looking for my next self guided bicycle adventure.

The second day from Nymburk to Kutna Hora was one of the most beautiful bike trips I've done to date.
The cycle path inside the woods next to the river is simply beautiful.

It was a perfect tour in perfect weather conditions. It includes nice landscapes, and some historical interesting sites (Peenemunde) and technical (ship elevator). The crew was very pleasant, and the tour operator was great. Thank you!

Riding the trails through the beautiful forests!

Great tour and fantastic boat. The Merlijn had it all - amazing food, friendly professional crew, gorgeous interior design, solid internet, spotlessly clean, and great communication. Several passengers had special diet requests that were thoughtfully accommodated. There are many small special touches - personal cabin intro, laundry folded neatly on bed, flavored cold water after biking, different table decor each night, espresso and small snacks available at all hours.

Our guide Lia was super energetic, friendly, knowledgeable and catered to the group's "wants". The first day fell into the moderate category - challenging surfaces (cobblestones, tank tracks, grassy sandy trails) and a long grunt up a hill in a field. Each day got easier with the last being an easy flat paved surface. Lia provided lots of information about the area's history, especially around WWII and its impact preunification. We visited churches, a castle, an artist's studio, and a concentration camp (briefly).

Tips: brush up on WWII era history before trip, reserve ebike early (6 onboard), ok to pack light as laundry is provided (for a fee).

I've been spoiled by their outstanding quality and don't want to book anywhere else. I'm looking forward to my next trip on Merlijn next summer!

Going to Poland. This trip was too rural and remote. Very few stops and few points of interest. Mainly dirt paths or cobblestone paths that were very difficult to ride a bike on. The farm fields we drove our bikes through were awful, some were full of holes and quite dangerous. I do not recommend this trip for those who have back and neck problems or those who never have rode a mountain bike.

The lovely countryside and friendliness of the polish people.
We had opted for e- bikes. And one had a faulty brake but with the help of an outstanding helpful driver (Pawel) it was fixed and we could use it on the second day. He also bought holders for phones which was an absolute must.
Generally the hotels met our expectations. Jóhanna the guide in Krakow was wonderful.
The maps and the description of the route were useless for us. Too detailed and impossible to follow. We were not able to use the mapme app partly because we got the GPS too late. Instead we used Google maps.
All things considered it was a great trip that we sincerely recommend.

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. )

I don't think I had a single memorable moment. The older Buildings, learning the History, enjoying the Food, a few memorable people, the Niepolomicka Forest and the Ojcow National Park were all highlights. Once in a lifetime highlights. Though for me personally, the National Park and Forest are in my heart along with Kazimierz Dolny.
The highest compliment I can give is less than one week after returning home, I am already planning a return trip. Whether I do a Tour with your Company in the Bialowieza Forest or modify what we just did. To do that I would use my bike and carry my clothes and probably make use of the completed Vistula Cycling Route from Wisla to Szczucin then pick up your route to Kazimierz Dolny. I would spend a couple of days in the Ojcow National Park and Niepolomice to visit the Forest. I can see this taking two weeks or more.

The Lake District of Poland is an undiscovered region of outstanding beauty in Poland and Europe - full of forests, farms, WWII history, fabulous food and welcoming Poles! Add a day or 2 in Warsaw with interesting free guided walking tours and you get a good sense of urban and rural Poland.
The itinerary for riding is a spiderweb of forest dirt roads, very challenging sandy farm roads, traffic for short distances on some paved roads, and lovely low traffic paved roads. This trip reqiires diverse biking skills but with an adventurous spirit, lots of rewards.

The trip was much harder than I expected. The rating was easy to moderate but I felt it was moderate to difficult. Going through the sand and gravel paths was challenging even though I had an e-bike. My first trip was from Bruges to the Amsterdam and I had wonderful experiences on a regular bike. But if this Mazuria lakes district was my first trip, I would not have signed up for a second. The Magnifique 2 was much more comfortable and there was free coffee, tea, and even hot chocolate all day long. On the classic lady, there wasn't even free water. The state rooms were comparable on both trips. But the magnifique had a sitting area where we could gather and talk. On the classic lady, we had to sit at the dining room tables to socialize. The food was good

Loved the buffet meal in Poland-delicious food, great sitting outside by the water, great band & fun dancing!

The hosts and tour guides were wonderful. The cabins were superb. The air beds were a treat. Everything was clean.

This trip gave insight into East Berlin; life during communism and now. I have spent a lot of time visiting Western Germany - small quaint towns; beautiful hillsides, etc. This trip was more farmland and very rural. The bike path was varied terrain. Many times our lunch was in a small park or church with no town nearby. The Merlijn is a fabulous small boat (22 passengers) with exceptional owners. This was our second trip with the Merlijn.

Seeing Warsaw and the Poland Lake District, places that few Americans go, was on my list to see. Warsaw was a pleasant surprise with free walking tours in English of the old city restoration. The lakes are scenic and the forests around them lovely. Historically they have been a significant element of Poland's past. The biking was challenging for traditional road bikers but offered a new experience in off-road trails.

The trip was great! The food was prepared by the wife of the captain and it was delicious. The tours were well planned and excellent. We rode 170 miles in 6-days and this is the first time I actually lost weight on a vacation trip. They preferred the tips for the crew to be paid in cash (Euros). Would definitely do another bike and barge again. The attitude, experience and knowledge of the captain and crew of the bike and barge definitely makes or breaks a vacation like this one, but the captain and crew of the Merlin were excellent!

Well worth time. good tracks beautiful landscape. we started 3 hour trip in przmysl very nice town that is not on map going to top of town hill panoramic wiew. hotel in korczowa we got dessert first than main course :). staff in training

The sandy and gravelly trails that we rode through the forests...I felt that the rating of easy to moderate was not quite accurate. I had such a good experience on my first bike trip from Bruges to Amsterdam on a regular bike. But I wouldn't have been able to do this one if I didn't have an e-bike. I even stayed on the boat the 4th and
6th days. Also, on the Bruges trip, coffee, tea, water, and even hot chocolate we're always available. But on this trip, you even had to buy your water at dinner. The breakfasts and dinners were both good everyday and the salads were especially delicious. If this was my first trip, there wouldn't have been a second. Maybe if I didn't have the Bruges trip to compare it to, I would have been more satisfied with this one.

The Classic Lady was a nice barge. It was clean, adequate cabin space, food delicious and staff very nice. This was all good if you just want to go on a barge tour of the Lake District in Poland.
If you want a tour that highlights bicycling, this is not the tour for you. We went to both Cycle and see the area. The routes we were taken on were unsafe and basically unrideable. The course is approximately 80% in the woods on deep sandy, moderately rolling hills. The sand was so deep (4 inches and more) everyone was off their bikes walking. When you did get some cycling going it was a slow go with hands tightly on the handlebars, praying that you didn't fall. Everyone, including our guide, fell at least one maybe 2-4 times. Many get road rash and some hurt shoulders, hips and knees. Several folks only road 2-3 days out of 6 because of the course conditions or because they were hurt.
This is an unfit tour for anyone.

This was tour #6 for me and it was completely different than my former experiences. My previous tours were full of tourist sights and charming villages with little shops, coffee/tea/bakery cafes, and restaurants (with restrooms) to stop at along the way during the day and actual bicycle paths. Krakow to Warsaw (Warka) Poland tour was very unique. Positives: Krakow is absolutely charming and has some interesting day trips available to the salt mines and concentration camps. Once on tour the bicycles, hotels and food were excellent. The forests and farmlands were lovely. The birds were singing, roosters crowing, and the spring blooms were abundant. We saw wild boar in the woods the first day and wolf tracks another. The route maps were detailed and easy to read. The tour company was quick to work out any issues such as transporting us on day 2 of cycling due to severe weather and flood warnings. This being said, I must point out this was not a bicycle path but a bicycle route utilizing narrow roads with usually light traffic (but some sections were busy), logging roads, dirt and gravel (possibly rutted), and horror of all horrors...soft sand. The third day of cycling was bone jarring at times and though only 40km we were exhausted. The last day of cycling was 65 km instead of 55km listed. We traveled all week through extremely rural areas with no restrooms, restaurants, shops, or tourist sights during the whole cycling part of the day most days. (be sure to take snacks!) When a village appeared on the map it normally meant a group of houses and a church...but no commercial establishments. Friday we did see a few businesses but it was a holiday so they were closed. If there were castle ruins at the beginning we didn't see them. The bunker mentioned on day 6 was closed. The Abbey/Castle was closed for renovation which was a major selling point of interest when booking (we were put in a nice hotel as a substitute). The last hotel though nice was very crowded with young families and it was very noisy late into the night. It also required a taxi drive to town. This tour takes you through the former soviet block section of Poland. Overall my friend and I didn't mind doing this tour since we have experienced the other tours first, but feel you should be aware of what you are signing on for: remote cycling in non tourist/commercial type areas over possibly challenging surfaces.

The most memorable part of our bike and barge trip from Malchin to Berlin was the day we biked on the Isle of Usedom. The landscape was beautiful, the beach front area was full of interesting shops and restaurants where we ate spaghetti ice, a childhood favorite treat of my husband. He has waited years to share this moment with our kids. We topped off the day with a swim in the Baltic Sea which was full of big waves and surrounded by soft, white sand.

One of my favorite parts of the trip was jumping off the boat into the canal. It was the end of a long, fun day of bike riding. The canal was clear and perfect for jumping. Everyone jumped off and everyone did fun tricks. The funniest was when Paul fell off and I never could keep a straight face around him again (Paul didn't get hurt except his pride btw). Captain Henk even put down a ladder to make climbing to the dock easier.