5 Star Slovakia Tour Reviews — 61 to 90 of 491

We did a bike/barge tour several years ago in the Netherlands on a small 20 guest boat so we weren’t sure what to expect on a larger ship. We loved the ship and the larger group wasn’t a problem. We had some special dietary needs which the crew handled seamlessly. Our room was pleasant and comfortable. The crew had our bikes ready to go in the morning and reloaded on the ship after we completed out ride. The rides were beautiful. We enjoying cycling through villages, natural areas and the wine region. A lovely special trip!

Great trip! Despite flooding on the Danube that did not allow us to dock at some locations, we got to all advertised locations. The bike ride through the Austrian vineyards was absolutely stunning!

The bike rides and the night view of Budapest.

Please improve the GPS file for the last day of biking as the end doesn’t agree with the new ending at Marbach from Melk. We used the Danube river crossing at the power plant and damn from Melk to Marbach at Wehr Melk Damn.

We enjoyed the whole experience! At the end of day 1 my wife said I could do this again - that didn’t change. Our group leaders (and support team) had to manage the impact of flooding and gave us a memorable experience - they couldn’t have tried harder. E-bikes made it accessible for less experienced or older riders but it still requires many hours in the saddle. Don’t expect to lose much weight as the food was plentiful and excellent. The WhatsApp group created for us made it easy to keep in contact. We are so pleased to have picked this tour!

Great trip! The chance to ride through small villages and see the large cities too was wonderful and taste the local cuisine and the beer & vino was a great treat! Thanks Tripsite & Euro- Bikes. For the bikes and transporting our luggage..the hotels were perfect!

The Vivienne is a superb boat with comfortable rooms, excellent meals, amazing staff - from Captain Igor to hotel manager Margot to program director Leslie to restaurant manager Najeh to our wonderful server Nidhal and all the crew who carried bikes, took care of rooms, reception, bar and the like. Everything ran so smoothly. Party events were memorable and fun. The Danube cycling beautiful, as were the cities and towns we visited with so many historic sites. We would recommend this trip and this boat to everyone!

Rating this tour is challenging in a way due the the fact we were there during the worst weather condition's in that part of Europe in years. The Danube rising at unprecedented levels along with flooding. I'm sure you are well aware of all of this. The Vivienne crew and Leslie the tour director did an amazing job of keeping all of us on board safe and making every attempt to help us to continue to have the best possible experience we could given the horrendous conditions.
While we missed out on a lot of cycling and seeing and experiencing this part of Europe, we were very fortunate to be able to do what we could, given the conditions.
Again, Chapeau to Leslie and the crew of the Vivienne!

So pleased with the quality of the hotels! The app worked well and we were pleased with the quality of the bikes—-no problem with them. Especially enjoyed the comfortable seats! Thank you to Victor for delivering the bikes and giving us the necessary information for the tour.

The most memorable part of the trip was leaving Budapest after dark and floating past the lighted buildings and monuments along the Danube. The biking along the River was beautiful and diverse; wine country from Krems to Marbach was very pretty. Most of the routes were along bike paths though some intermittently were on rural roads and through the cities of Vienna and Budapest. Some days biking were very warm, but there were a couple of cold days with temperatures less than 10 degrees C. Its a good idea to come prepared for cool and rainy days both biking and sightseeing; layers with a hooded raincoat was essential. My wife and I are fit bikers riding often in the Colorado mountains, but opted for eBikes on the boat cruise. No regrets on this decision, we road with minimal eAssistance most of the time, but when the winds, and sometimes rain, came up on long rides, or we wanted to catch sites off the main route we had the ability to extend our rides and still make the timing to meet the boat at the next city.

Loved it! We went as a couple and met wonderful people. Two things to suggest
1. Better app navigation
2. Lighter e-bikes ( other companies like VBT and backroads have lighter, safer bikes

Staff couldn’t be nicer and we had a flood emergency which was handled professionally and compassionately

The bikes, the ship, the crew and the food! All were fantastic! We definitely feel that our experience aboard the Vivienne was a value commensurate with the cost. The upgrade to a Superior room was worth that little extra cost as the views were beautiful. The bikes were in great repair, the e-bike controls were easy. None stop scenery as we rolled through woods, urban roads, country trails and picturesque towns. Even the weather did not disrupt our enjoyment as Captain Igor and all crew worked to keep us safe and entertained during three days of nonstop rain and 30-year record flooding on the river. We have great stories to share!

Cycling along the Danube and entering small villages as we cycled. It felt very “intimate” like we were part of the life of the village.

Very enjoyable trip on flat surfaces theough mutiple countries , cities and cultures. Easy pace each day with plenty of items to explore. Overall great experience

4-star experience aboard this ship! Fun adventures and beautiful scenery off the ship. Staff was exceptional, so courteous and friendly. The meals were simply amazing, every single one without exception. I enjoyed the daily cocktail special each day in the lounge and the fun onboard activities too.

Leslie our Cruise Director was Great! We were lucky to meet a lot of new people. All the people working on the boat were wonderful and did a phenomenal job! From the Food to the cleanliness of the boat! Loved Disco night!

The whole experience was wonderful ! The boat, service , food and rides. The
Programming was so fun and the rides were incredible. Rented and ebike which I
Was happy with. I was able to enjoy it all stess free

The only recommendation I would
Have is to have mirrors on bike

Having dinner at Fisherman’s Bastion overlooking Budapest at night was just magical. Also, our first day ride at Danube Bend was a fantasic experience with the bike road along the Danube and the little bike ferries we used (and the Schapps wasn’t bad either!). All in all, great ship, great bikes, great time!

We had a great time on our bike & boat trip down the Danube! We were aboard the Primadonna. The highlight of the trip was Budapest. What an amazing city! It was a rest day so we had all day to explore. We left by night when all those incredible buildings were lit up and reflected in the Danube.
Optional city tours were available when we weren’t cycling. I recommend them because we learned history & facts about where we were. The organ concert in Linz was a wonderful experience too.
The boat was great. The staff was helpful and friendly, the meals were good, reflecting the region and our lowest deck room was comfortable. It did surprise us the first morning how close to the water level our window was!
The last day, cycling through vineyards and villages in Austria was delightful.
We would recommend this trip to others. The terrain is easy so you can enjoy your surroundings. We were glad we opted for the e-bikes. The Primadonna doesn’t provide helmets though but sold them in their little bike shop on board for €35, so we bought them.
Most of the people on the trip are retirees. Not many young people. They still have to work! They would enjoy it too though.

We had a great time on our bike & boat trip down the Danube! We were aboard the Primadonna. The highlight of the trip was Budapest. What an amazing city! It was a rest day so we had all day to explore. We left by night when all those incredible buildings were lit up and reflected in the Danube.
Optional city tours were available when we weren’t cycling. I recommend them because we learned history & facts about where we were. The organ concert in Linz was a wonderful experience too.
The boat was great. The staff was helpful and friendly, the meals were good, reflecting the region and our lowest deck room was comfortable. It did surprise us the first morning how close to the water level our window was!
The last day, cycling through vineyards and villages in Austria was delightful.
We would recommend this trip to others. The terrain is easy so you can enjoy your surroundings. We were glad we opted for the e-bikes. The Primadonna doesn’t provide helmets though but sold them in their little bike shop on board for €35, so we bought them.
Most of the people on the trip are retirees. Not many young people. They still have to work! They would enjoy it too though.

The evening cruise out of Budapest with all the illuminated building was so amazing.
Take your time in the smaller towns and cities as you bike to the larger cities. Most of the big cities are more difficult to get around. With the exception of Vienna, the guided tours were superb.

The beauty of the cycling route and the relaxed yet active daily schedule

The best part of the trip was the cycle portion through Austria’s Wachau Valley winery district. Truly picturesque!
Advice: Bring a Tupperware type container to pack your lunch. The boat provides a small sandwich and fruit but if you prefer to eat something else or just more than the sandwich, you need to have a container for it. We started packing the hard boiled eggs, and fruit in our bike bags but a container would have made it much easier. There are not very many opportunities to eat lunch at a restaurant while you are cycling, but plenty of gorgeous places to have a picnic. A travel picnic set with a cutting board, an a knife and fork would come in very handy.
We signed up for all the bus/walking tours to give our saddles a break. They were all great but the bus tour in Budapest we could have passed on because the boat docks right in the center of all the tourist spots so it was just as easy to navigate touring there on your own. Friends we met on the boat did the bike tour there and said it was great but I couldn’t face getting on the bike again that day:). Vienna is harder to get around so unless you feel pretty adventurous, I recommend the tour. We also did the trip to the concert and it was gorgeous- well worth it!
The e-bikes were awesome, and very comfortable. We bought gel seat covers and brought them with us which I think helped a lot. Unless you are a seasoned cyclist, it’s a lot of time on the bike and the tush gets tired.
Overall an amazing trip, the staff was fun and helpful. Our tour director was a substitute for the regular person and he was good but cranky. The regular tour director had awesome reviews so I think we just happened to get an off week!
I highly recommend this tour and now am ready to do another bike and boat in a different location!

The self-guided bike tours and the guided bike tour of Budapest. More time in Bratislava and more time for the last ride would be my only criticism.

The premium bikes were very good for the trip and a nice selection of hotels to stay at along the way.

Leslie, the cruise director made this trip the best one I’ve ever experienced!!!!

The most memorable part of our trip was the ability of the cruise director and crew to adapt to the high waters of the Danube. It was a wonderful trip; the bike rides we did were all enjoyable, even when many of them were ended by flooded back paths or required unexpected detours. The food was great!

We had a great time! As a bike guide in the US myself, I know how these things work. You cannot foresee every situation. And as a guide, we know to be flexible. And because of that we thoroughly enjoyed the trip.

Here are some thoughts for improvements for your next guests. These by no means took away from our enjoyment and are meant for future trips.
-- The hotels in general were nice. A few issues here and there (mostly normal stuff).
-- In Hainburg - Altes Kloster - there was no individually controlled AC. It was fine for us because the night was cool.
-- The breakfasts at all the hotels were excellent
-- In Esztergom, the Portobello Hotel was not so great. The hotel room actually smelled bad. My wife says it smelled like old shrimp. They sent someone up with a spray can which they left for us. That "hid" the smell for a while, and you got used to it. But when you stepped back in the room from outside you could clearly smell the mustiness. Also there was no coffee maker in the room (which is always a nice thing to have). We did OK there, but I'd recommend a different hotel for future guests.
-- Traveling by train from Gyor to Komarom was interesting. No elevators and no escalators. We had to carry bikes up and over (or down and under) the tracks to get to the platform. This is the kind of thing it would have been nice to know ahead of time.
-- There was no ferry service from Szentendre to Budapest. We ended up taking the train. While the docs say you might have to take the train, I think it would have been nice to have been told ahead of time that there would not be a boat.
-- Perhaps too, a little more heads up about possible river flooding and the need for detours (honestly, the guy we met with the bikes may have mentioned this. I'm just bring it up as a "nice to know" tip for future guests.

Again, none of these took away from *our* trip (except maybe the Portobello Hotel). As a bike guide these are the kinds of thing we like to look for and inform our guests about ahead of time.

And yes... we will see you on another adventure soon! We had a blast!

Thanks
-Philip & Caroline

The director and crew were very friendly and helpful. We enjoyed the ride through the scenic landscape and quaint towns. The tours were very good too!

Food and service, cleanliness was excellent. The Staff was fantastic also. Only drawback was charging for coffee and water during non- meal times.

The Vivienne and its crew were all exceptional! I would not change anything. Our guide, Leslie went above and beyond.