4 Star Slovakia Tour Reviews — 91 to 120 of 160

I loved the convenience of all the planning and coordinating by Tripsite which allowed my party to really enjoy the biking, hotels and experience of the trip. I was pleasantly surprised with the quality and care of the bikes which could make or break of this trip. Working with Tripsite was easy and pleasant.

The Cycling and travel along the Danube River. Still more markings on the Bike routes.

Most Memorable Part: Food & last day of riding + Vienna

We really enjoyed Wachau. Definitely stop for the wine tour, and enjoy the biking through the vineyards. It was absolutely beautiful.

Fantastic Value; super helpful staff. Only 80 riders. Very friendly guests attracted. Beautiful sights. Good food. Bikes heavy and clunky with no choice in quality except electric. Excellent trip overall.

Briefing by tour director daily with clear instructions on the following days ride. Highlighting and suggestions where to break for coffee and lunch, and points of interest along the way.
Breakfast and evening meal was delicious.
A great range of reasonably priced good quality bike attire, including wet weather jackets ,and bike helmets for sale.

Riding in the foothills/vinyards in Austria. Stopping for a beer and a slice of homemade cake at a hotel on the trail.
The boat was too slow traveling upstream against heavy current. This meant we were late in docking for our next ride. Yes, the current was heavy but this is likely to happen every spring.

Best Part? The nice people on the boat

Earlier this year (May), my wife and I did the 4 country bike - barge tour, on the Danube. First I have to remark that everything "Tripsite" advertised was delivered at what we thought to be a reasonable price. In spite of unusually cold (damp) weather, our first experience (s) in Passau, Bratislava, Budapest and Vienna were very memorable highlights. However, aboard the "Normandie" we did have some concerns with the overall tour management. There were some particularly disappointing moments with an apparent strategy to keep the English speaking guests, and non-english speaking guests (mostly German) separated? For our part, we were keen to mingle - assimilate with all the guests aboard. That should not reflect our overall impression of the boat crew, who were very courteous and helpful.

Sailing down the Danube at night under the full moon we witnessed the beautiful lighted bridges and magnificent buildings of Vienna. It was magical!

This was a great experience. Andreas was a wonderful tour director/leader. 2 weeks aloud us to have a great experience. As this was the ship's first cruise of the year we did experience a problem with our room but Andreas resolved the problem promptly and provided some compensation for our troubles. The crew provided excellent service. The meals were better than expected( I am not a gourmet but enjoyed every meal). the bike routes were very interesting. Our only issue was with the a/c but as this was an older ship some things are not always up to modern standards. Great value.

Simple the thrill of cycling through Europe along the Danube River.

We really enjoyed the Abbey in Melk, Tulln Gardens and the short walk about tour in Bratislavia

The most memorable part of the trip was sitting on the top deck in the evening, wrapped in a blanket, watching the clouds sail past the moon as the barge moved on to our next city on the Danube.
Ensure you respond to the call to choose a table for meals on the barge if you wish to sit with or close to friends.
Stay an extra night in Passau if you have the time...there is a lot to see and do.
If possible, do some cycling before your trip to prepare you for the daily tours.
If you would prefer to cycle with a guide let your agent know and they may be able to arrange it. It may be an option and worth an extra cost if it would make your trip more enjoyable.

The beautiful bike paths along the Danube and the great food on the MS Arkona. Found the unguided bike tour confusing. Comfortable beds but loud vibrating boat motor at night made it impossible to sleep. Yay sleeping pills.

This was a wonderful tour with many interesting & historic stops along the way. The portion in the Czech Republic included challenging terrain while the ride from Vienna to Budapest was fairly flat. The hotels were all unique and very different, from botels to spas to penzione. Locations were great, had delicious breakfasts and were clean with the exception of the last one, which I'll discuss later. This trip would have been perfect if a few simple things had occurred: we received detailed information for the trip the day we left for Prague. Since there were some modifications, I lost half a day in Prague getting those worked out. That easily could've been taken care of before we left if we had the detailed info sooner. When we arrived in Prague, the cycling company sent Maps.me files to load. Because of the types of phones we have, it again took some vacation time to figure out how to download. We discovered that these were imperative to smooth navigating along the routes so I recommend that those files be sent in advance. The only other disappointment was that the hotel in Budapest was very dirty with mold all over the shower floor and walls. We had been told we'd be in a much nicer hotel, but i'm assuming they were unable to book it. Fortunately, we had booked our extra nights elsewhere. Bottom line, I would recommend this trip with the modifications above.

My wife and I just finished this trip with another couple. First of all, remember that you get what you pay for. This cruise is much cheaper than Viking or Avalon or some of the others so you can't expect as much opulence or fine cuisine. That said, everything was fine. The food was good but not great. The walls to the cabins are thin so if the person in the room next to you is a loud talker, you will hear every word. Also, try to avoid the lowest level of rooms - the windows don't open and are noisier as you are close to the engine. The trip it self was great. The cycling was easy and scenic. We had Axel as our guide, and seriously, he ruins you for any other guide. If we went on another cruise, it would have to be with Axel - any other guide would suffer in comparison I suspect. He is Austrian with a very keen sense of humour (He would have to be as he is an Arsenal fan). He went above and beyond.

We had a mixed experience on this trip, having completed two other bike and barge trips on smaller boats (and smaller waterways). This is a wonderful region for riding - much of the route follows bike paths that parallel the river and provide gorgeous views of river towns. Unlike our other trips, participants ride on their own without a guide, and this worked well for us. Because the boat travels from Passau to Budapest and back again, there is quite a bit of travel time on the boat. At times, we enjoyed watching the scenery, but this also meant that our time on land was quite limited. Food was decent and several options were available at each meal. The dining room was noisy and it does take quite a bit of time to serve everyone, with the staff clearly working hard! During our tour, there were engine problems which resulted in a change in itinerary. The company struggled to manage this and identify reasonable options. In the end, they have promised us a partial refund, which seems quite fair. We would have preferred that this offer had come sooner in the process, without the numerous conversations that were needed to help the company understand the concerns of passengers.

This trip provides a chance to explore the rural areas along the Danube by bike and to visit the great cities of Budapest and Vienna. There is a lot packed into this trip.

Cycling past the remnants of the Iron Curtain. WOW!
There were so many highlights, but having Axel as our guide certainly added a great deal to our daily rides. Thanks Axel!

We had a great time along the Danube river! The cycling was very good and the bikes adequate. The crew of the Theodor Korner were especially nice and competent. The tour guide was really on his game! Unfortunately, the boat itself needs a thorough rehab- our stateroom had an odd odor and was extremely noisy due to mid-ship engines. If we decide to do the Danube tour again we will choose a different boat!

Wachau valley was my favorite part...small towns, great shops and wine.

We loved our trip on the Danube! From the first day to the last, we enjoyed the food, scenery and new friends. Would definitely recommend.

It was our 35th anniversary and we had lots of alone time to tour ourselves but also met the nicest people on the boat

I really enjoyed the first and last days a lot which were in the beautiful countryside along the Danube. It was good to see the cities but the visits too short to really visit anything in depth.
I recommend the Mozart concert which I really enjoyed.
I loved meeting people from other countries and wish we could have had meal seating change every couple of days to mix with other people who also were interested in meeting others.

Most Memorable Part: Riding on the bike paths without having to worry about road traffic.

Scenery was beautiful. Biking was not overly strenuous. All in all very enjoyable.

The ability to view many little towns throughout the trip along with the amazing historical buildings. The daily bike routes could have been clearer, or at least exact precise maps to follow.

We participated on this Bike N Barge tour in May of 2017. The Carissima is a former "Viking Cruises" ship which is now doing the bike and barge tours for a year or so and it provides such luxury in accommodations, living quarters, dining rooms, swimming pool and so on that is unlikely to find on any other ship and tour of this type. The bike paths are by most standards quite good and the scenery is simply wonderful. The first day or riding the Engelhartszell - Aschach bike path is majestic and the Great Loop of the Danube unforgettable. The Wachau / Krems - Melk trail on the last riding day is by far the best and most interesting. We also rode our bikes on our own through the city of Bratislava and also through most of Budapest which is by far one of the nicest cities east of the Iron Curtain. We did not take a day of rest in Vienna. We rode our very comfy e-Bikes for 4 hours throughout the city and stopping at the huge number of venues for photos as time in Vienna is absolutely very limited. If there is something wrong with this trip is the fact that this ship does not stay overnight in any of the main stops on the tour so it lacks the opportunity to explore the city at night and enjoy some of the local events and specialties. The ship leaves almost as soon as your requested time of return from cycling is scheduled and you spend much of the time on the ship deck watching the river go by. The tour guides were outstanding and the directions given are flawless. Having been given the gps routes in advance was immensely helpful. By the way, while e-Bikes are not essential they are good to have if you plan to climb the hills to see the castles and other high up the horizon venues on this tour. If you stay on the assigned paths regular 7-8 gear bikes are just fine. The Hungarian dance evening excursion is quite good and recommended and so is the Vienna Orchestra evening excursion if it is your first ever classical music show. It provides some of the well known classical music by well known music geniuses but leaves a lot to be desired if you are well aware of this musical era. The orchestra is small just 16 or 17 musicians in a small and poorly designed venue for that type of music. 3 out of 5 for this excursion. The overall trip is well designed and gives nice riding opportunities, great views, lots of culture, great comfort and the Danube is a treat. The meals on Carissima are less than good in quality and taste but better than most for showing off. The breakfast are excellent. The rest is average at best. The crews are all top quality for service and attendance. I dislike sitting at the same table with the same 6 persons every days every meal. It supresses the opportunity to meet people and reduces the fun of getting to know others from different countries, cultures, ethnicity and customs. For the reasons of not overnight stops and the food quality and table seating system we rate this at a 7 of 10 stars or 3.5 on this scale.

Most Memorable Part: Beautiful scenery! Great attention by bike staff.