3 Star Bike Tour Reviews — 91 to 120 of 232

 


Diane H.
2 years ago

Verified Reviewer

  Ave Maria Mantova to Venice or Venice to Mantova
Italy

The Ave Maria entire crew and our bike tour leaders were fabulous. Food was awesome as well. Our only complaint is that we thought we would be on a self-guided tour and most of the trip that was not doable. Therefore we were in a group of 30 bikers at all different levels making stops for sites and commentary, often which we would have passed on. Riding in a group of 30 was not at all what we had in mind and very disappointing. Our tour leaders did a great job herding us and really did their best to meet everyone's needs and desires. The country side was flat, mostly farm land however and not terribly remarkable. We were told that Italy was not very advanced as far as bike paths went. Even though the countrysidewas not that great for us, we did get to see some beautiful and historic cities in the areas and of course ending in and around Venice was beautiful. So if you enjoy being part of a big group tour, then you will love this. If not, look for one of the bigger boats that give you maps and let you go your own way and pace.

Jo L.
2 years ago

Verified Reviewer

  Swiss Crown Along the Danube - Passau to Vienna
Austria, Germany

I loved the Clam Castle we toured.
Amazing that a count and countess actually live there with their children!
One disappointment was that the cruise director spent most of his time giving cycling directions in German and very little time in English.
I found the route difficult to navigate but fortunately one of our friends was able to figure it out.

Greg S.
2 years ago

Verified Reviewer

  Fluvius Bruges to Amsterdam
Belgium, Netherlands

Riding in the countryside was wonderful, the ride in the urban parts was much more stressful. Our barge was divided into two groups which had significantly different experiences. Group one (which we were not in) had 2 guides while ours which was the same size had only one which meant that one of us had to take on the role of sweep. Our group leader did not stop or explain anywhere near as much as the other. Our group leader was unwilling to wait to make sure everyone was accounted for. For one example he took part of the group to a canal tour and said it should return on time. When I asked if he would wait for us if it was a few minutes late he said "I don't know, maybe" and when we were still getting our bikes out of the racks, he left with the rest of the group and was out of sight. luckily we were able to catch up but this incident seemed to characterize our whole experience with this guide.

Robert K.
2 years ago

Verified Reviewer

  Caprice Provence - Wilderness of Camargue
France

Staff and food were wonderful. Caprice barge has nice upper deck and dining facility. But cabins are beyond tiny, which we could have been happy with (and given 5 stars) if not for the following: Each guest is issued one towel set to be changed only once during the 8 night stay. The problem is during a humid or hot athletic trip, there's no way to dry the towels or to wash or dry athletic clothing, no place to hang them in ventilated area. We packed light with intent to wash, and couldn't. Clothing was "toxic" by end of trip! On an active trip, there needs to be laundry available, even if guests do it themselves. We found out on last day of trip there was full size washer/dryer on boat, but not accessible to guests.

Jesse I.
3 years ago

Verified Reviewer

Salzburg to Vienna
Austria

-Excellent itinerary and beautiful country
-great customer service from Anna
-excellent equipment

-poor navigation instruction compounded with misinformation when cross referencing map instruction versus navigation instructions
-poor (lack of detail) wording on some of the daily instructions on what and where to go. Anna helped tremendously with this.
-moving map wouldn't work on the entire trip causing many instances of confusion
-very poor briefing from company liaison handing off the bikes at the beginning of the trip. He seemed overwhelmed and inconvenienced.

Barry B.
3 years ago

Verified Reviewer

  Caprice Provence - Wilderness of Camargue
France

Compared to our other trips, the Caprice felt very cramped i.e very limited on deck room for groups. Probably should add a Caprice clothes line to dry clothes, minor but very handy
breakfast was ok but repetitive, other trips had a buffet and especially cooked hot items
suppers were hit or miss, I thought ok but most of our group thought mediocre
guide was excellent as were bike stops, especially the Aqueduct-Pont du Gard, Palais des Papes, swimming in the med, light show. Probably should add a visit to a winery. Consider precharging for some events i.e. colosseum, light show kamisky and Cezanne) , museums,--Palais des Papes, Van Goughs asylum etc) rather than make them optional as some folks are tightwads and really miss out on a fuller experience.
Cycling guidebook is excellent

Good crew

Jean H.
4 years ago

Verified Reviewer

Poland’s Lake District
Poland

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

Don B.
4 years ago

Verified Reviewer

  Bordeaux Bordeaux - Châteaux, Rivers & Wine
France

Not moving and sitting next to a mud bank and a muddy river made the first couple of days disappointing. The rest of the trip was very good with Bordeaux and St. Emilion being the highlight of the trip. The staff and food was exceptional!

Carol H.
4 years ago

Verified Reviewer

  Bordeaux Bordeaux - Châteaux, Rivers & Wine
France

The bike routes were good and some of the stops at vineyards were excellent but other vineyards were not really interested in providing tastings even when they had been pre-arranged by the boat company. The old bikes were in bad shape but the new bikes were of excellent quality. The e-bikes were a godsend to riders that struggled with the hills on the second day. Unless you are are a fairly strong rider the e-bikes were needed on 2 of the days. The bike mechanic was great and the GPS was helpful when it worked but it was not reliable. Paper maps were needed as a back-up. The rooms on the ship were cramped but OK overall. Our biggest concern was that the food was really BAD. We could not eat several dishes and they sometimes ran out of the main course.
Overall, given the steep price, we would not recommend this tour. Other barge and bike tours are much better value.

May B.
4 years ago

Verified Reviewer

  Florentina The Elbe River and Prague
Czech Republic

Great traveling companions and great boat and food!

Peg H.
4 years ago

Verified Reviewer

  Merlijn Tulip Tour - Bruges to Amsterdam - 8 day
Netherlands, Belgium

I always love the Merlijn and the new owners were great! However, this is the least favorite of my Tripsite tours I didn't find the stops very interesting and when we did have an interesting place to visit, our time was very limited. Fun group, great food and pleasant weather but very short days of cycling. I will do another trip next year but do suggest some changes to this itinerary.

Jill S.
4 years ago

Verified Reviewer

  Liza Marleen Bruges to Amsterdam
Belgium, Netherlands

Overall the trip was good and we enjoyed our time. However, we did have some things that could be improved -
firstly the e-bikes that we rented had several problems with them and were unreliable
secondly I found the choice of food strange for being on a tour in Europe - we had Mexican food, followed by Asian food & sushi. What was wrong with french or belgium or even North American (seeing that we were all from NA). There was no flexibility or accommodation of other types of food.
The group leader should have allowed some of us to go ahead with maps rather than keep us in a long line of 20 people strung out with the slowest members behind the leader. We are all adults and professional people and do not wish to be treated like children.

Kimberly N.
4 years ago

Verified Reviewer

  Vita Pugna Mantova to Venice or Venice to Mantova
Italy

I really enjoyed the staff, Sylvia and Barbara and the delicious dinners! They were so cute and fun. Loved the cheese factory, and Antonella was a wonderful tour guide.

Brian O.
4 years ago

Verified Reviewer

  Primadonna Along the Danube-Passau-Belgrade-Vienna aboard the Primadonna
Germany, Serbia, Austria

The boat and staff were nice.
Food was plentiful and good
Our hotel the night before did not have our registration, very difficult to get anyone on a phone
The people we picked up the bikes from were surly and just plain painful
The bike was the same weight as a Sherman tank
The boat was poorly equipped for handling bikes although the crew worked hard to make it less painful
We never had enough time to ride and see the sights, we were always under the gun to get back to the boat
Really thought we were going to be able to sit and have lunches and drinks and see all the sights during our rides
As it turned out there was only one day where we weren’t in a deadly hurray and even that day we had 20 minutes to drink a beer at a local outside bar
Came back in the dark often, dangerous
Directions we revived sucked! Language interpretation was always an issue
The boat was often not where we expected it to be when we returned
Still enjoyed my vacation but it could have been so much better

Paula P.
4 years ago

Verified Reviewer

Danube Bike Path - Vienna to Budapest
Austria, Hungary, Slovakia

We very much enjoyed this trip but it was a real adventure. At times I felt we were filming an episode for the Amazing Race! The maps we were provided with were very confusing. For example, we were not made aware that we had to make a detour as portions of the National Park were closed. Google Maps wasn't much help as they do not provide bicycle routes for Slovakia and Hungary. Fortunately, other cyclists told us to download the MAPS.ME app and this was a real life saver. I would advise anyone doing this trip to use this app or have some sort of GPS. We encountered other cyclists that were travelling with other companies that were provided with far more detailed maps, yet they too had difficulty. A GPS is a must.

We were dismayed that on a couple of occasions our luggage left unattended in the lobby area of hotels. I feel the luggage should always be stored in a secure area.

Diane H.
4 years ago

Verified Reviewer

  De Amsterdam South Holland Tour
Netherlands

I was extremely disappointed in the quality of the bikes. I had assumed from what I read that the bikes were hybrid bikes similar to what I own: less than 30 pounds, gears, maneuverable, easy to ride. These bikes were very heavy, hard to pedal, hard to walk. No one got the bikes off the barge for us to ride or put them back on. That means I had to struggle with the bike up and down a steep and dangerous metal ramp. I was more tired from riding 30 miles on the flat on one of these bikes than I was after riding a metric century up some pretty big hills on a road bike. I do not believe that a bike and barge trip should emphasize the biking and provide such poor bikes. Electric bikes were an option, but I do not choose to ride one. I want to ride a good quality hybrid or road bike. Riding was so much work that it took away some of the pleasure of seeing the Dutch countryside. The rest of the trip was very nice, but the biking was a big part of why we went on the trip and it was a huge disappointment.

George W.
4 years ago

Verified Reviewer

Prague to Vienna
Austria, Czech Republic

Krumlov, Telc and Znojmo are truly heritage towns, and worth more time than we had to explore them. Moravia in general is a great biking area, with more and prettier villages and squares.

Corri H.
4 years ago

Verified Reviewer

Valencia, Color and Contrasts
Spain

Riding through the area that was hit by the storm of the century. We were not advised of all the route closures, only some of them. Therefore we did a lot of backtracking! The company Lazypedals that organized the tour did not personally investigate the travel route. As a result we were left on our own with insufficient maps and GPS. Overall we enjoyed the trip and the scenery and made it to our destinations, however, this trip should not be rated as an Easy to Moderate tour, take out the word easy!!

Mary P.
4 years ago

Verified Reviewer

  Anna Maria IV Loire Valley Bike and Boat - 2019
France

The castle tours were amazing. Sophie (coordinator on the Anna Marie IV) was adorable. Really enjoyed her and her nightly meals. The trip was not the Loire, because of water levels and sorry to say that it was just OK, but not much more. The main thing missing that I had expected was a trip to a vineyard. That would have made a big difference.

Leonie R.
4 years ago

Verified Reviewer

Prague to Vienna
Austria, Czech Republic

Lovely countryside, getting lost a lot. I would strongly recommend that the company heavily promotes the trip ap, as directions often were not clear and we got lost a lot. Due to type of hybrid bike and being lost there was not time to fully explore the region - so I would recommend the use of e bikes or shorter days.
Also reminding people that nothing is open on Sundays and most small towns did not have any shops for food/drink.

Kathy M.
4 years ago

Verified Reviewer

  Fluvius Bruges to Amsterdam
Belgium, Netherlands

The scenery was absolutely beautiful and thankfully the weather was the same. If I had to make one suggestion it would be to improve the food on board. I don't think that can vegetables are a great reflection of the fresh vegetables that were all over the countryside. I also think that there should be more options for vegetarians.

Krystyna s.
4 years ago

Verified Reviewer

  Kapetan Jure National Parks of Dalmatia
Croatia

The trip was well organized once we got there. The guides and staff on the boat were great. The booking agent for Tripsite was extremely poor. I had a gluten allergy (I'm a celiac) and I informed her of this allergy 8 months prior to the trip. The month before the trip it became a huge concern that the boat could not accommodate my allergy when your website claims differently. The agent told me that Croatia is not aware of gluten free food and it would be near impossible to help me. As a result I purchased a huge amount of food to bring with me and had to check extra baggage to accommodate this $75 each way. When I got there, I noticed that virtually every food store had a huge selection of GF food, even the smallest ports had GF items. The agent clearly did not know what she was talking about, I am very dissatisfied at the huge grievance she caused me, the extra baggage I had to bring and the hassle and cloud she put on me. I did not appreciate this at all. It is curious to me that on your rating form you do not provide me with any place to rate the booking experience. That's what needs the most attention.

Gerald M.
4 years ago

Verified Reviewer

Castles of the Loire
France

The best memory of the trip was a spectacular meal at Auberge de la labourer in Chenonceaux. They were fully booked but set up a table in the bar and gave us the full restaurant menu. It’s a great restaurant and the extra work the staff put in added to the experience.

We had two complaints. First, neither of our odometers worked so we had no way of measuring distance. This meant constantly stopping and checking to make sure we were on the right way.

Second, the directions to get to Cour Chevigny had one massive error. When we came off the trail and onto Route 52 the directions said to turn right, go to the roundabout, and follow the sign to Route D102. There is no such sign. The only sign to Cour Chevigny is for Route 52, the road we were already on. So, thanks to some help, we turned around, followed route 52 for five kilometres and came right to our hotel. THIS SHOULD BE FIXED.

Andrea S.
5 years ago

Verified Reviewer

  Leafde fan Fryslân Bike & Sail the IJsselmeer
Netherlands

This is our 5th bike and boat trip, and all of the others have been 5 star experiences. This tour was very nice, but we had one major problem. We were absolutely unable to keep up with the tour guide. Another Canadian couple was in the same boat. Many of the German guests brought their own e-bikes along. Thankfully, the Dutch wayfinding system is excellent, but we really missed going with the group. Also, the tour guide did not stop at cafes, churches, wineries, breweries, etc. like we have had on other tours. He did make reservations for an interesting water works plant, but the entire group needed to pedal as fast as possible to get there by 2PM. I went to see the plant the next morning on my own. The boat was super fun, especially when the sails were hoisted. The food was great, the crew was great. I would urge anyone looking at this tour to rent an e-bike to keep up, or not pay extra for the tour guide, and just do the trip on your own.

Ronald B.
5 years ago

Verified Reviewer

Along the Danube - Passau to Vienna
Austria, Germany

We thoroughly enjoyed our cycling trip , the sceneries were absolutely beautiful.
We were disappointed to learn , three days prior to our departure from Canada, the MS Arlene 11 was in repairs and not be ready for our departure date.Trip Site offered alternatives,using the same route the group were accommodated in hotels along the way .The group did NOT have any representatives at any hotels from Trip Site except a very brief meeting on our very first night.We were basically left on our own , with somewhat mediocre instructions to and from city hotels.
Allowing for a scénario that was beyond their controls, we would have appreciated TripSite going further to assure the comfort and reliability in this unfortunate incident.

Bonnie B.
5 years ago

Verified Reviewer

  Normandie Along the Danube - Four Country Tour
Austria, Germany, Slovakia, Hungary

Riding along the Danube offered many beautiful vistas. The bikes were great, the seats very comfortable, which made for a nice ride. We met some fun people on board although a greater mix of English speaking to German speaking would have been even better. Suggestions as mentioned to Tripsite staff would be to make this tour guided (the entire group of 100 passengers were lost on several days which minimized the opportunity to make it to some of the sites), to include ferries in the pricing, so that passengers aren't always searching to make sure they have cash (our previous trip included the ferries so wasn't an issue.), and the excursions were sometimes canceled so these could also be improved. All in all we had fun and the cabin staff took great care of our rooms...I'd make a different selection though next time.

Sally F.
5 years ago

Verified Reviewer

Along the Danube - Four Country Tour
Austria, Germany, Slovakia, Hungary

This is my 3rd bike/boat tour, and the 1st unguided. I love to travel this way. But the number of people on the boat -- 100 -- were just too many for the crew to serve in any special way. The food and accommodations were excellent. The cruise director and schedule were below average. Out of 7 days, there were 4 days of biking -- 3 of these were spectacular along the Danube. The Wachau ride was simply stunning. However, the ride around Bratislava featured few, if any, interesting attractions, and many of us got lost. The cruise director suggested stopping at a restaurant as a highlight of the day -- but the restaurant was not in operation. The briefings for English speakers were later than those for the Germans and we were then constrained by the boat schedule in the afternoon -- making at least 2 of the biking days a dash to finish the ride and get back on time -- not leisurely and not affording us to stop much. All the staff on the boat work really hard and it shows. But I prefer a guided tour with a smaller group and boat for better biking and a better overall experience.

Jennifer S.
5 years ago

Verified Reviewer

  Carissima Along the Danube - Four Country Tour
Austria, Germany, Slovakia, Hungary

The journey and visiting the 4 capitols was the best.
However too many people on the boat - the noise level in the dining room was excessive. The cruise director was obnoxious especially towards women and favored the Germans on the boat. Our group of 18 was split into 3 tables and we always sat with the same people. Never mixed with other groups.

Heather H.
5 years ago

Verified Reviewer

Slovenia
Austria, Hungary, Slovenia

From the US it was very difficult, time consuming and costly to get to Radenci, Slovenia and from Lendava back to the airport. Except Lendava, the villages had little to offer for additional tourism and places to eat. The Mineral Spas were mainly full of elderly and some families. Not really an exciting place for 30-40 year olds without kids. The countryside was pretty but in my opinion not worth the extensive travel. I would like to go back to Slovenia but to the west side of the country.

Cathy
5 years ago

Verified Reviewer

  Normandie Along the Danube - Four Country Tour
Austria, Germany, Slovakia, Hungary

This is my 3rd trip with Tripsite and they do a good job...but the instructions to the boat were a tad misleading. If there are detours/changes, I believe they should keep on top of that and be sure to report to their customers.The bike ride was amazing. The scenery was like all the other reviews stated......I would NOT recommend the ride in Vienna or Budapest; way to much traffic. The crew was not customer focused. The cruise director/bike tour director, Monica, was often short and rude to passengers. Unlike the other 2 trips I took, the crew was not welcoming or eager to help. There were a few in housekeeping and wait staff that were nice. The captain was cold and never engaged at all with the passengers. This is NOT a tripsite issue but this crew needed a kick in the pants from above to treat the passages better........recommend the trip but I hope you don't get this negative crew.....