Bike Tour Reviews: Danube Delights Biking Through Four Countries
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Danube Delights: Biking through Four Countries
COUNTRY: Austria, Germany, Hungary, Slovakia
Self guided from EUR € 998
Guided:
Apr 20, 27; May 18; Jun 8; Jul 6, 27; Aug 24; Sep 14; Oct 5, 12, 2025.
Self-guided:
Apr 20 – Oct 12, 2025. Saturdays: May 17; Jun 7, 21; Aug 30; Sep 13, 2025.
Description:
By bike and boat from 'Bavarian Venice', you'll arrive in the glamorous royal regions of Austria and Hungary via Germany and Slovakia. Discover three of Europe's most spellbinding capitals: Vienna, the 'City of the Waltz'; Bratislava, 'The White City' of…
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★★★★★ Michael 2 days agoLove active travel? You’ll love this!
Meals were good / not overwhelming. Rooms were fine (we chose the upper deck). Bikes were not to the level we are used to at home and for 50-60 km days were “adequate”. There weeent many hills. The optional bike tours were great in Budapest and Vienna although you need to expect traffic in Vienna. The landscape was beautiful. Great trip!
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★★★★★ Emily W 2 weeks ago
Exceeded my expectations
I've gone on a number of bike/hotel tours and really loved them. Adding the river cruise exceeded my expectations. We met many new friends, enjoyed a very nice cabin for resting, and appreciated the very helpful staff. Having a daily talk meant we were very prepared, even though we selected the self-guided experience. The only "self" portion was on the route; every other step of the way, we had guidance. All of this, in addition to the exceptional route, helped make the trip so much fun. We did experience some country-specific issues that required rerouting for biking days 2 and 3, but the cruise director acted very quickly, and we made lemonade out of lemons. I would be happy to do this kind of trip again.
If you're trying to decide between a bike/boat trip and bike/hotel trip, the major difference is that you do not have all day to complete your ride. You are on the riverboat schedule, which can make for odd timing and shortened riding days. If your primary goal is biking, then I would recommend a bike/hotel trip instead. The other downside is that you are rarely in a port during the evening. Walking around Budapest at night was a BIG highlight! On a bike/hotel tour, you can do that every night.
Lastly, I was very happy with the biketours.com experience. Everything was handled very professionally. I would book through them again, especially if I were traveling to a country where I didn't know the language. Using the site was instrumental in my finding this amazing tour, and I look forward to looking for another tour again soon!
- What was the date of your tour?
- April 2025
- How many tours have you completed?
- 4
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- Much easier
- Who is this tour suitable for?
- First-time bike tourists, Solo travelers, Families with teens
- Do you recommend this tour?
- Yes
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★★★★★ Linda Cooper 7 months ago
Made the most of being stuck at the dock.
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
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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.
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★★★★★ Sean Thomson 7 months ago
Amazing trip, wonderful memories
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
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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!
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★★★★★ Tammy Noteboom 7 months ago
Best trip ever!
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
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★★★★★ Amy Lynch 7 months ago
It was very nice but flooding kept us from boating on the Danube.
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
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★★★★★ Joann Schmidt 7 months ago
Not what I was expecting
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
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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!.
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★★★★★ Mary Schmidt 7 months ago
Unable to review as the Vivienne never left port in Vienna - Please contact me. I would have loved to have been able to review.
Dear Team at BikeTours.com,
I hope you all are doing well. I am writing regarding my recent river cruise, Danube Delights aboard the Vivienne on September 15, which unfortunately was impacted by flooding, causing the cancellation of several key ports of call and remained docked in Vienna for 7 nights. While I understand that weather conditions are beyond anyone’s control, missing out on many destinations left me disappointed, as I had been looking forward to the full experience. My husband and I had been planning this for over a year and celebrating our 40th Wedding Anniversary.
Our cruise director did his best to keep the passengers entertained and informed but was getting very mixed messages from someone. It started the first day in Passau with the hired transportation did not have a concrete deportation location. It was 2:30pm before we were even contacted to tell us to go to the bus station and we would be transported to Vienna. After boarding the Vivienne we were told that we would be docked in Vienna for a couple of days and for those interested we could take the bus to Budapest and Bratislava on the next two days. It was a very long bus ride but a nice trip to both.
Starting on Wednesday, day 3, we were then told we MAY leave every evening, so we needed to be back on boat at 5 or maybe a different time and were not able to take any extended excursions due to the possibility of debarking. Thursday we were led to believe we may leave later in the night. Then Friday, we were instructed to be back on the boat at 11:00 am because we might leave. It was determined after we came back that we were not going to be able to leave. We would have loved to have taken the train to visit another location Wednesday - Friday. The last day, Saturday, was the worst, we had to sit on the boat because there would be announcements at 9:00 am, then stay on because we might leave at 11:00am, then wait again until after 1:00pm and then there was a decision to let us off. It was obvious the boat wasn’t going anywhere due to the 24 hours it would have taken to cruise back to Passau and there was another cruise scheduled. Also, we were extremely far back in the line of boats that would have moved before us.
Given these unforeseen circumstances, I am inquiring about a future cruise credit (FCC) toward another cruise or a refund. We were so excited to do our first River cruise as a way to travel and have the ability to bicycle and I would love the opportunity to schedule another boat/bike cruise and fully experience the journey.
I appreciate your understanding and consideration of this request, and I look forward to your response.
Sincerely,
Mary Schmidt- What was the date of your tour?
- September 15, 2024
- How many tours have you completed?
- This would have been our first but can't count due to not leaving port.
- 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
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BikeTours.com staff reply from Jan October 31, 2024
Thank you for traveling with us. Unfortunately the weather in Europe this fall caused chaos for a number of travelers. The Danube area in particular was heavily effected though other spots in Europe had similar weather related issues. We cannot control the weather and also do not provide free insurance against such events. (This is why we suggest you buy travel insurance several times throughout our sales process.). I am very sorry your 40th anniversary trip didn't entirely go as planned but hope you come back and try again. Besides causing chaos for our travelers, our global team and partners was also buried with support calls so it wasn't fun for us either.
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★★★★★ Brenda Brown Wright 7 months ago
Biking across the Danube
It was a great experience, Leslie and Barbara plus the guides did an outstanding job. We were
Lucky to be able to explore some
Of the area, during flooding. Or near flooding .- What was the date of your tour?
- Sept 22
- How many tours have you completed?
- 1st 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
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★★★★★ Diana Ortiz 7 months ago
First Bike trip to Europe
What a great way to visit 4 countries! Leslie was amazing making sure everyone was taken care of and making necessary changes to make our trip memorable! The crew was friendly and accommodating as well. Rooms were clean and beds made early!
- What was the date of your tour?
- 9/22/2024-9/29/2024
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- Much easier
- Who is this tour suitable for?
- First-time bike tourists
- Do you recommend this tour?
- Yes
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★★★★★ PAULINE MOENCH 8 months ago
TRIP OF DREAMS THAT FELL FAR SHORT
Not much to say here since our boat never left the dock. Our host, Lesley, was a peach and completely competent. If not for him, we would have left on day two. My biggest disappointment was only having bus tours to Budapest and Bratislava. I would have appreciated a little creativity added in to take us to a couple more places. The tour people were awful with their communication, telling us for three days in a row that we might leave when we knew we were going nowhere. The crew was great, the food was not the greatest, but no complaints. I have a special diet that they were over the top accommodating of. You drastically need to improve your beverage packages—not enough provided for the $$$ we paid up front. 498 euros for the two of us when we wound up spending most of our day off the boat was out of line. If we had been cycling every day, I would not have purchased a package, considering you did not include what are everyday cocktails in the USA, like Manhattans.
For the rooms, rather than having that dopey pull-out at the end of the bed, leave that area under the bed open for luggage storage. Also, get rid of the carpet. Beds were very comfortable. We would have liked to have left our sliding door open a bit. Some kind of stop at the base so they can be open six or eight inches would have been appreciated. I’m sure the daily bike routes would have been great if we had been able to utilize them.
- What was the date of your tour?
- SEPT 2024
- How many tours have you completed?
- 0
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- Somewhat easier
- Who is this tour suitable for?
- First-time bike tourists, Solo travelers
- Do you recommend this tour?
- Yes
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BikeTours.com staff reply from jan October 1, 2024
The epic storm that hit during your trip effected 100s of our guests. The people on the ground were left in a very very difficult situation and we apologize for any inconvenience this caused. Unfortunately we cannot control the weather. Thanks for your business and we hope you travel with us again.
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★★★★★ Kristin Reese 8 months ago
First time to Europe
Only reason this wasn’t a 5 star rating is because of the crazy flooding. Despite the challenges Leslie and crew did an AMAZING job coming up with fun things for the group to do. The crew was super helpful, and polite. I truly felt spoiled. Thank you for making my first boat tour and first time in Europe a great experience.
- What was the date of your tour?
- September 2024
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- As expected
- Who is this tour suitable for?
- First-time bike tourists
- Do you recommend this tour?
- Yes
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★★★★★ Boris Erlank 8 months ago
Despite terrible weather and floods, we had a good time
Given the effects of climate change, I think the local operators, will have to work on contingency plans for a good customer experience when the weather is bad. We sat in Passau for 4 of the 7 days and then managed to sail as far as Linz. No Vienna, no Bratislava, no Budapest.
We managed to have two days of cycling which were great. The cruise director, Juergen, went out of his way to come up with alternatives on the fly. The food was excellent, the staff friendly, and the accommodations very good. But, mainly due to weather, this was a far cry from the dream holiday we had hoped for.
- What was the date of your tour?
- September 2024
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- As expected
- Who is this tour suitable for?
- First-time bike tourists
- Do you recommend this tour?
- Yes
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★★★★★ MM 8 months ago
Flood Trip
We were bussed from Passau to Vienna to meet the boat, which never left port for the week due to flooding. All week we were told their was a possibility of leaving port, so there were days we had to stay around the boat to wait for details, which hampered our daily plans. It would have been better to just tell us up front we would be there all week, so our plans for the day could be made.
The cruise director did everything he could to make the trip memorable, which is was, with the constraints he had.
Breakfast's were fabulous, lunches provided were good! Dinners were a little lacking, but adequate. Drinks were fine, but more options for daily drink tickets would have been appreciated. The Vivienne was beautiful!- What was the date of your tour?
- September 2024
- How many tours have you completed?
- 1
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- Much easier
- Who is this tour suitable for?
- First-time bike tourists
- Do you recommend this tour?
- Yes
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★★★★★ Kristin Ackerman 8 months ago
Different but still great
Unfortunately, our riverboat cruise was unable to move due to flooding on the river. The staff did the best they could with making sure we had food, drinks, and entertainment. I would definitely check out this company again and hopefully the plans go as is. At least we were stuck in Vienna so I cannot complain about that.
- What was the date of your tour?
- September 2024
- Do you recommend this tour?
- Yes
