Vivienne boat/barge tour reviews — 1 to 30 of 64

The crew was extremely helpful and always available to help.

Fantastic active vacation with beautiful rides. Incredible delicious and healthy food. Fun activities on board and options for additional tours were good. Highly recommended.

The ride along the Danube was spectacular! Especially the last day from Krems to Pöchlarn. Some of us opted to go for city bike tours in Budapest and Vienna. I found Vienna to be especially crowded and wouldn't do that ride again. Nevertheless, our guide was very knowledgeable and interesting.

The beautiful scenes while biking along the Danube. We would of liked to have a longer trip in order to spend more time in the cities.

The beauty of the old towns, villages and cities we rode and cruised through was breathtaking. The fact that two weeks prior to our arrival the Danube flooded most of our routes and was already cleared was inspiring. The accommodations on the Vivienne were excellent and we were very well fed! The crew were excellent and very accommodating to our needs. The bikes met our needs and beyond (they survived riding through mud and flood waters).

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!

Unfortunately, flooding on the Danube prevented our trip from proceeding past Vienna. Having said that our group still had a good time together. The staff was accommodating and we appreciated all their efforts during an unexpected trip. Communication regarding trip changes, transportation and day-to-day activities could have been much better. Our tour guide was lacking some finesse in these areas.

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!

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 trip was well managed by Lesley.He was great. The boat staff were not very helpful so that was a bit frustrating at times.Food was good. Lots of activites. Biking was fabulous.

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!

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!

Our favorite parts of the trip was the day in Budapest and also the last day of riding. The scenery and stops were all beautiful.
While the daily itinerary sessions with the cruise director were well done and informative the timing should be rotated between the different language groups. The other group was larger and therefore always ran longer than planned.
We found the bikes to be of good quality but you may need another crew member to service them after each ride. We pointed out that there was an issue with my wife’s bike but on the next ride the front brake was still rubbing. Also another member of our group’s chain was quite noisy. Still dealing with these bikes is a massive job and I give the crew full credit.

The route was amazing and the guides were great. The food was average at best. Folks were assigned a table for dinner. Despite that, the waiters still had to ask everyone whether they had ordered the fish or the chicken. Folks should have been able to sit with whomever they wanted to. Being stuck with someone who was a pompous ass for a week is ridiculous when the waiters can't even get who ordered what correct anyway.

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!

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!

Cycling through the Wachau area was incredible! The quaint villages were beautiful. The Danube was unfortunately in flood so we missed out on parts, but the staff did what they could to allow us to cycle and see various sites.

The entire crew was exceptional! The only complaint, and it’s a big one, was lack of communication from headquarters when unexpected flooding altered the itinerary. The boat was not able to land where planned and there should have been an email sent out to inform us that they were working on it and to stand by for more information when they knew more. We had friends on the previous cruise and they knew Saturday morning that they were not going to land in Passau. No messages were sent from headquarters to inform us that things were in flux and we had passengers on our cruise that went to an empty dock in Passau and this could have been easily avoided had headquarters been set up for group emails.

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!

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

This is the perfect way to see the Danube for anybody who enjoys easy cycling with beautiful scenery. The MS Vivienne is a great boat, very recently refurbished with small but comfortable cabins, extremely friendly staff, and very good food. Everything was very well organized and the tour director provided plenty (sometimes too much) information regarding the next day’s ride or city visit. Take advantage of tours offered in Bratislava, Vienna and Budapest as the time in each (especially Vienna) is brief. The biking is mostly on paved trails with just a few places where we had to ride with traffic. We booked e-bikes, but could have easily done this with regular bikes. Our cruise was about half German speakers and half English speakers (with largest group being from US, followed by Canada, Australia, NZ, the Netherlands and the UK). The staff on board all speak English and the tour director is fluent in both German and English, so language is not an issue.

If using the GUIBO app for route navigation, be sure to have an extra battery pack. The app uses up your phone battery.

If this review can be applied to the GUIBO app then, I'd give it (GUIBO) a poor rating. It sucks the phone battery. It does NOT guide you to (or back to) the route. It randomly talks to you (sometimes it tells you to turn, sometimes not). Fortunately, the routes are very simple, but it could certainly be improved. Providing a gpx file for my own device would be great. Even using google to navigate might be better.

The route was a great mix of countryside, nature and village. The cruise director, Leslie, provided invaluable information for route and highlights.

I love that it was an active holiday where you are biking throughout the countries. There was a good mix of seeing the countryside and having a day in cities like Budapest and Vienna.