Bike and boat Tour Reviews (page 6)

★★★★★ (4/5) Carol Morningstar 10 months ago

Wonderful Bike Cruise and exceptional sites to see while biking

· · Holland by Bike and Boat, Northern Tour

Loved this cruise. We hope to book Croatia next year. The staff was wonderful and our director (Ken I think?) worked tirelessly to make everyone's trip wonderful. The food was good but we were disappointed that we had to pay to get water at dinner. This should always be free! Also we would have liked coffee available all day.

One complaint was our room. Others who also ordered the basic stateroom had twice the size of ours for the same price. We were in a back room that had minimal space and NO CLOSET space or anywhere to hang anything! We had two shelves each for our clothes. We think it was actually a staff room for one person, yet we had to share it. I needed to climb over my husband to get out of bed at night.
Not comfortable! That was disappointing but we got used to it and loved the cruise anyway. I do believe it should have been a much reduced price though.

What was the date of your tour?: Aug 24 2024
How many tours have you completed?: 2
Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?: As expected
Who is this tour suitable for?: First-time bike tourists, Solo travelers
Do you recommend this tour?: Yes
Countries included in this tour?: Holland

4/5 Value
4/5 Included meals
5/5 Bikes + equipment
2/5 Hotels or boat
5/5 Scenery
5/5 Ease of navigation
5/5 Tour documents
5/5 Local tour company services
5/5 Route selection
5/5 Guides (if applicable)

★★★★★ (5/5) Nanette Bean 10 months ago

Adventure in Croatia

· · The Istrian Peninsula by Electric Bike

Our guides Christopher and Mirta were excellent, very thorough and reliable and fun. The boat, the Andela Lora Was well-maintained and a pleasure to be on. The food on the boat was excellent, kudos to the chefs. Croatia is a beautiful country and I’m glad we got to Bike on back roads, we had many fun adventures

Countries included in this tour?: Croatia

★★★★★ (5/5) Barbara Keefe 10 months ago

Exceeded expectations

· · Amsterdam – Bruges by Bike and Boat – Magnifique II (and reverse)

The Bruges to Amsterdam went far beyond our expectations in every way!! Our boat was attractive and comfortable, rooms and bathrooms were clean, comfortable and updated with all we needed, our meals were fabulous, the ship crew was warm and responsive and the guides were terrific. I was especially surprised by all the “extras”, the unexpected city tours or optional activities at the end of the day. We were perhaps “lucky” to get such wonderful guides and fellow passengers with this tour or perhaps all of the tours are like this. I can not say enough about how great this trip was

Countries included in this tour?: Belgium, Holland

★★★★★ (4/5) Linden Bentley 10 months ago

Istrian adventure

· · The Istrian Peninsula by Electric Bike

Boat and boat accommodations were fine. Meals on board exceeded expectations. We like plenty of vegetables and that was provided. Crew and guides excellent! Bikes top class. Trails, trying in places. Destinations good, routes well guided. While we prefer all car-less rails to trails with consistent surfaces this was more varied between attention-required rocky/gravel/rutty surfaces, with 'turnstiles', paved surfaces with cars and no shoulders, and good smooths gravel--- it was a more demanding biking experience than those we prefer. Guides were excellent in explaining the upcoming terrain, traffic and inclines/declines. Pacing did not allow for much 'side tracking' for photos, or rests or independent exploring.

What was the date of your tour?: October 2024
How many tours have you completed?: 6
Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?: Somewhat harder
Who is this tour suitable for?: Families with young kids
Do you recommend this tour?: Yes
Countries included in this tour?: Croatia

3/5 Value
4/5 Included meals
5/5 Bikes + equipment
4/5 Hotels or boat
4/5 Scenery
5/5 Ease of navigation
4/5 Tour documents
5/5 Local tour company services
4/5 Route selection
5/5 Guides (if applicable)

★★★★★ (3/5) Linda Cooper 10 months ago

Made the most of being stuck at the dock.

· · Danube Delights: Biking through Four Countries

An act of nature meant that the boat never left the dock. The company made a point to provide activities and bike routes for 7 days in Vienna. Bike Tours was non existent when it came to communicating the changing conditions before the tour started.

What was the date of your tour?: Sept. 2024
How many tours have you completed?: 1
Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?: Somewhat easier
Countries included in this tour?: Austria, Germany, Hungary, Slovakia

BikeTours.com staff reply from Biketours team October 21, 2024

Hi Linda, we do sincerely appreciate your willingness to make the most of an unexpected situation. Unfortunately the Danube flooding was an unprecedented and historic event which inevitably left a chaotic situation for all involved. I do apologize that Biketours team could not update you. With the dynamic situation we relied on the on board crew who had the best ability to give you the most up to date and pertinent information. I hope despite the frustrations you were able to bring home fond memories of your time in Austria.

3/5 Value
2/5 Included meals
3/5 Bikes + equipment
4/5 Hotels or boat
3/5 Scenery
1/5 Ease of navigation
4/5 Local tour company services

★★★★★ (3/5) Scott Jacobson 10 months ago

Swiss crown bike tour

· · Danube Experience Bike and Boat Passau-Vienna-Budapest-Belgrade-Iron Gates-Passau

Due to captain error, and running the boat onto a sandbar, we weren’t able to see the Iron Gates. Very upsetting since that was the main purpose of paying for this trip. Due to captain error, didn’t dock in Passau, long bus ride to train station. Amwater ways went to Iron Gates same day we were supposed to. Next time, I will go with that boat tour.

Countries included in this tour?: Austria, Croatia, Germany, Hungary, Serbia, Slovakia

★★★★★ (4/5) Roxanne Green 10 months ago

Countries visited were amazing!

· · Danube Experience Bike and Boat Passau-Vienna-Budapest-Belgrade-Iron Gates-Passau

The itinerary was perfect for exploring so many wonderful villages and towns in six countries along the Danube. The food was delicious and served beautifully by the waitstaff. Two major complaints - Bike service - my bike was handed to me on day 1 with totally flat tires, a fender rubbing on the front tire and gears that were stuck and screeching. The Captain (his crew) ran the boat onto a sandbar and we spent many hours sitting there watching other ships cross into the Iron Gates while we waited for a tugboat from Romania to pull us free. By the time we pushed off the sand, the weather had gotten bad and we didn’t get to travel to the Iron Gates. The explanation was “we can’t go to Iron Gates. Not our fault - blame the weather”. Though we had a wonderful experience on prior adventures in Denmark and Italy in 2017, I don’t know if I’d do another Biketours.com trip when bikes and boat captain were so poor with this one. But I gave it 4 stars because the Chefs, Wait Staff, Concierges, Bar Staff, Cleaning crew and overall ambience of the Swiss Crown was wonderful!

What was the date of your tour?: October 2024
How many tours have you completed?: 3
Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?: Somewhat easier
Who is this tour suitable for?: First-time bike tourists, Solo travelers
Countries included in this tour?: Austria, Croatia, Germany, Hungary, Serbia, Slovakia

4/5 Value
5/5 Included meals
2/5 Bikes + equipment
5/5 Hotels or boat
5/5 Scenery
4/5 Ease of navigation
4/5 Tour documents
3/5 Local tour company services
5/5 Route selection
3/5 Guides (if applicable)

★★★★★ (4/5) Toby Kerr 10 months ago

Fair trip

· · Danube Experience Bike and Boat Passau-Vienna-Budapest-Belgrade-Iron Gates-Passau

All was great except confusing cycling directions from our tour director, Jurgen.

What was the date of your tour?: October 24
How many tours have you completed?: None
Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?: Somewhat easier
Who is this tour suitable for?: First-time bike tourists, Solo travelers
Do you recommend this tour?: No
Countries included in this tour?: Austria, Croatia, Germany, Hungary, Serbia, Slovakia

3/5 Value
5/5 Included meals
5/5 Bikes + equipment
5/5 Hotels or boat
4/5 Scenery
2/5 Ease of navigation
4/5 Tour documents
3/5 Local tour company services
3/5 Route selection
5/5 Guides (if applicable)

★★★★★ (2/5) frank vaughan 10 months ago

More of a boat trip than a bike trip

· · Danube Discovery: Bike and Boat through Enchanting Capitals

We have been on 4 boat and bike tours. This was not a favorite. The boat company charges additional fees for anything- $15 daily fee for internet, $3.50 for a bottle of water, and $5+ for alcohol. They cover a long distance on the boat, so you do not have much time to ride the bike. When you do, it is a stringent timeline- off the ship at 9 am and meet the boat at 2:30 or you will miss the boat. It does not give you much time to look around. They have strictly enforced assigned seating at breakfast and dinner so it minimizes the chances of meeting other people. The guide was not very nice and did not ride the trails. They were covered in places with 4-6 inches of mud from the recent flooding and many were unrideable. Then the guide got mad when we returned to the boat covered in mud. The extra tours they sell were expensive and ok, but the guide on the Vienna tour left 2 of our group behind so they had to find their way back. The maps provided were ok, but somewhat confusing, and the briefing by the guide was rushed and not helpful. It's a German boat with German food and lots of retired Germans. There is nothing wrong with that, but many of them did not go on the rides described but just used the trip as a cheap river trip with some side rides.

What was the date of your tour?: October 2024
How many tours have you completed?: 6
Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?: Much easier
Who is this tour suitable for?: First-time bike tourists
Do you recommend this tour?: No
Countries included in this tour?: Austria, Germany, Hungary, Slovakia

2/5 Value
2/5 Included meals
5/5 Bikes + equipment
4/5 Hotels or boat
4/5 Scenery
3/5 Ease of navigation
2/5 Tour documents
1/5 Local tour company services
1/5 Route selection
1/5 Guides (if applicable)

★★★★★ (5/5) Sean Thomson 10 months ago

Amazing trip, wonderful memories

· · Danube Delights: Biking through Four Countries

Overall the trip was excellent. We enjoyed the rides, the beautiful countryside, City tours and company of our fellow passengers. The boat and rooms were clean, the service was great and the food was delicious. The bikes worked great and the seats were very comfortable.

Communication could have been better. For example on the first day the boat couldn't make it into Passau so we showed up at the dock to busses with no notification. There were major floods about 10 days before our cruise and it would have been nice to get a general acknowledgement of the situation prior to the trip.

We felt fairly rushed on the bikes especially on the first day through the Danube Bend and from Vác to Esztergom. Even another hour could have made the trip more relaxed. The later route still had lots of mud and took a lot longer than expected.

The trip was comfortable and well organized. We plan to do another trip in the future.

What was the date of your tour?: October 2024
Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?: Somewhat easier
Who is this tour suitable for?: First-time bike tourists, Solo travelers
Do you recommend this tour?: Yes
Countries included in this tour?: Austria, Germany, Hungary, Slovakia

BikeTours.com staff reply from bozena_kusovac October 16, 2024

Hi Sean - thank you for your thoughtful feedback! We appreciate your suggestions regarding communication and pacing, and we’ll work on improving those aspects for future trips. Thank you for sharing, and we hope to welcome you aboard again!

5/5 Value
5/5 Included meals
5/5 Bikes + equipment
5/5 Hotels or boat
5/5 Scenery
5/5 Ease of navigation
5/5 Tour documents
4/5 Local tour company services
5/5 Route selection

★★★★★ (5/5) Robert Rosselli 10 months ago

Fun, relaxing and well supported.

· · Amsterdam – Bruges by Bike and Boat – Magnifique IV (and reverse)

It was a good way to see parts of Belgium and The Netherlands. The bike were quality; the Ride GPS was a great assist; the accommodations were clean and ambl; the food was tremendous; and the guides and boat staff were knowledgeable, helpful and fun.

What was the date of your tour?: October 3
How many tours have you completed?: 7
Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?: As expected
Who is this tour suitable for?: First-time bike tourists, Solo travelers, Families with teens
Do you recommend this tour?: Yes
Countries included in this tour?: Belgium, Holland

5/5 Value
5/5 Included meals
5/5 Bikes + equipment
5/5 Hotels or boat
5/5 Scenery
5/5 Ease of navigation
5/5 Tour documents
5/5 Local tour company services
5/5 Route selection
5/5 Guides (if applicable)

★★★★★ (4/5) J Matthew Schley 10 months ago

Beautiful fun

· · Amsterdam – Bruges by Bike and Boat – Fluvius (and reverse)

Really good deal ship was very nice ,great group of people. Saw many beautiful sites. Some tough weather in October.

What was the date of your tour?: October 2024
How many tours have you completed?: 6
Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?: As expected
Who is this tour suitable for?: First-time bike tourists, Solo travelers, Families with teens
Do you recommend this tour?: Yes
Countries included in this tour?: Belgium, Holland

5/5 Value
4/5 Included meals
4/5 Bikes + equipment
4/5 Hotels or boat
5/5 Scenery
5/5 Ease of navigation
5/5 Local tour company services
5/5 Route selection
4/5 Guides (if applicable)

★★★★★ (5/5) Tammy Noteboom 11 months ago

Best trip ever!

· · Danube Delights: Biking through Four Countries

I loved everything about our bike and boat tour down the Danube. The e-bikes were high quality and well-maintained and the ship and the pampering they gave us after our days biking was fabulous. Everything on board was perfect. We loved our waiter, Ayup, and our cruise director, Leslie. And the biking—it was so incredible. The entire trip exceeded our wildest expectations. We are already planning our next one!

What was the date of your tour?: September/October 2024
How many tours have you completed?: First one
Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?: Somewhat easier
Who is this tour suitable for?: First-time bike tourists, Solo travelers
Do you recommend this tour?: Yes
Countries included in this tour?: Austria, Germany, Hungary, Slovakia

4/5 Value
5/5 Included meals
5/5 Bikes + equipment
5/5 Hotels or boat
5/5 Scenery
5/5 Tour documents
5/5 Local tour company services
5/5 Route selection

★★★★★ (4/5) Amy Lynch 11 months ago

It was very nice but flooding kept us from boating on the Danube.

· · Danube Delights: Biking through Four Countries

Vienna Austria was amazing. It’s a beautiful and friendly city. We saw many of the sights and enjoyed it so much.

What was the date of your tour?: September 2024
How many tours have you completed?: Two
Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?: As expected
Who is this tour suitable for?: First-time bike tourists
Do you recommend this tour?: No
Countries included in this tour?: Austria, Germany, Hungary, Slovakia

5/5 Value
5/5 Included meals
5/5 Bikes + equipment
5/5 Hotels or boat
5/5 Scenery
3/5 Ease of navigation
3/5 Tour documents
3/5 Local tour company services
5/5 Route selection

★★★★★ (4/5) Ron Walker 11 months ago

Highly Recommended Itinerary

· · Provence by Bike and Boat

This was a great trip and I'm giving it 4 stars rather than 5 only because I wasn't crazy about our boat, the Caprice. The dining area is just way too cramped when the boat is fully booked. From what I saw of the L'Estello, which does the same route, it might be a better choice. Otherwise, it was great. We did a ride out of Amsterdam earlier this year, and riding around Provence is about 100x more interesting than riding Friesland. I'd highly recommend that area to everyone. Specific to the local operator, the e-bikes were excellent, loved our guide, food was terrific and the team was very focused on providing a great experience for the guests.

What was the date of your tour?: September 2024
How many tours have you completed?: 7
Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?: Somewhat easier
Who is this tour suitable for?: First-time bike tourists, Solo travelers, Families with teens
Do you recommend this tour?: Yes
Countries included in this tour?: France

5/5 Value
5/5 Included meals
5/5 Bikes + equipment
3/5 Hotels or boat
5/5 Scenery
5/5 Ease of navigation
5/5 Local tour company services
5/5 Route selection
5/5 Guides (if applicable)

★★★★★ (5/5) ALEX BERESNIEWICZ 11 months ago

Great trip

· · Provence by Bike and Boat

Beautiful countryside with little climbing made for a totally enjoyable trip. Our guide, Alex, was absolutely amazing, our care on board the boat was flawless, and the meals at dinner were all excellent. Five stars!!

Countries included in this tour?: France

★★★★★ (3/5) Joann Schmidt 11 months ago

Not what I was expecting

· · Danube Delights: Biking through Four Countries

Our river/bike cruise turned into a floating hotel in Vienna. Our boat never left the dock all week because of historical flooding on the Danube. The boat and cruise personnel were all fine but just wish we could of actually seen something of the countries we were hoping to see on the river. Not sure if I would ever sign up for one of these again.

What was the date of your tour?: September 2024
How many tours have you completed?: just this one
Countries included in this tour?: Austria, Germany, Hungary, Slovakia

BikeTours.com staff reply from jan October 7, 2024

The storm that hit your area during your trip effected 1000s of travelers and overwhelmed our local partners and ground crews. Our apologies but we cannot control mother nature. Thanks for your business and we hope you'll give us another chance!.

2/5 Value
4/5 Included meals
4/5 Bikes + equipment
4/5 Hotels or boat
3/5 Scenery