Danube River Bike Tour Reviews (page 6)
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★★★★★ Amy Jenkins 12 months ago
Danube Experience
· · Danube Experience Bike and Boat Passau-Vienna-Budapest-Belgrade-Iron Gates-Passau
This trip was great! The boat was very nice and comfortable, bikes were sturdy and visits with local guides outstanding. The paper route was not great but the app seemed to be more accurate. The daily briefings could have been more detailed.
- What was the date of your tour?
- May 2024
- How many tours have you completed?
- 10+
- 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?
- Austria, Croatia, Germany, Hungary, Serbia, Slovakia
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★★★★★ Frances Clemo 12 months agoWonderful trip
· · Danube Delights: Biking through Four Countries
What a wonderful way to experience sites of the Danube. The staff and cruise director (Leslie) of Vivienne were great and very helpful. Our tour guide (Barbara) did a great job and took care of us so well.
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★★★★★ R.M 12 months ago
Beautiful Bike Trip Along the Danube
· Danube Bike Path 7 Nights (Classic)
Lovely landscapes, with nice smooth mostly separate pathways. Plenty of signage for guidance.
Many small bakeries to pick up snacks.
Plenty of riverside places to have lunch and a beverage.
Good hotels nearby to restaurants.
Many small ferries or dam crossings to get across the Danue.
We also used Google maps to help us navigate within the various towns.
The bikes were almost brand new, and comfortable to ride.
We added an extra day in Krems to break up the trip. The Hotel & Spa was a treat.
We had a wonderful trip!
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★★★★★ Ian Bailie 12 months agoA great ride along the Danube
· Danube Bike Path 8 Nights (Upscale Lodging)
The bike tour was very well organised. The bike collection was easy and the information provided was comprehensive and easily followed. The app directing us on the route made for easy riding. The upscale hotels were mostly great. It was a great experience to ride the Danube to Vienna. Thoroughly recommended.
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★★★★★ Thomas Mitchell 12 months ago
Well planned. No problems at all.
· Danube Bike Path 8 Nights (Upscale Lodging)
The e-bikes are a game changer for older people. Ours were perfectly maintained. They might have been new. The upscale hotels were excellent; a couple of them were beyond excellent. The towns we visited were charming and friendly. We would have spent an extra day in most of them if we had the trip do over. We had perfect weather but we understand that is highly unusual in early May. Our bags were moved reliably.
I recommend a phone holder if you want to use the excellent app for directions. When it's in the provided waterproof handlebar pack, glare makes it very difficult to see, and accessing it is a hassle.
The directions don't guide you all the way to your hotel. We used Google Maps for the final directions.
Overall it was a great trip for us. -
★★★★★ DENNIS UMANZIO 12 months ago
Excellent bike and boat trip. Great Food.
· · Danube Discovery: Bike and Boat through Enchanting Capitals
Great bikes. Good batteries. Ship is very nice, great crew, great food for breakfast and dinner and guide on ship was friendly.
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★★★★★ Kathy 12 months agoNice trip! We had a really good time.
· · Danube Discovery: Pedaling from Germany to Austria
We've done numerous bike trips around Europe but wanted to try a bike and boat this time. It's not a deluxe trip, but exceeded our expectations. The Prinzessin Katharina is older, but very well maintained, with traditional style decor. We had stayed in Passau the night prior and the taxi ride to the harbor was quick and easy. We had an upper level cabin, which was compact but had space to move around and decent storage. I peaked into the main deck cabins as well, which were laid out a little differently but seemed about the same size, with maybe a little less closet space. Don't excpect many outlets for charging your devices, as there are only a couple in the cabin. There is also a restaurant and a lounge with a bar on the upper deck. The sun deck is spacious, with lots of loungers, tables and chairs, and some covered space for shade.
There is assigned seating in the dining room for the whole trip. Most of the passengers were German speaking, but they made a good effort to put English speaking guests at the same table. Breakfast was a pretty standard buffet, with breads, pastries, fruits and juices, as well as a few warm dishes with eggs, sausage, bacon. They also let you pack a lunch from the buffet choices. The dinner menu had 3 or 4 entree choices each night, along with a couple of starters and a couple of desserts. The food, while not gourmet, was very good. No beverages were included, so you had to pay even to have water with your dinner. There is a good selection of wine and cocktails available from the bar. Coffee and tea were provided at breakfast.
The daily meetings to provide info on the next day's route were useful, with separate meetings provided for German and English. As expected, the bike routes kept mostly to dedicated bike paths or segregated bike lanes along roads. You rarely have to deal with much traffic, and the route is generally very easy to follow. The rental bikes provided were quite good, and comfortable.
We only did one of their optional tours, going up to Schloss Greinburg in Grein. On a day when the schloss is normally closed, the tour company was able to arrange this tour, and we enjoyed it.
What really made the trip so good was the crew and all of their efforts. The dining room and bar servers, housekeeping, the front desk staff, and the deck crew responsible for loading and unloading all the bikes were all outstanding, friendly and helpful. Our cruise director Monica did a great job keeping eveything running smoothly.
We enjoyed our trip despite some unseasonably cold, rainy and windy weather part of the time. We're looking forward to planning another bike and boat trip.- What was the date of your tour?
- April 2024
- How many tours have you completed?
- 8
- 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?
- Austria, Germany
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★★★★★ Ian Bailie May 6, 2024
Danube biking adventure
· Danube Bike Path 8 Nights (Upscale Lodging)
Riding along the Danube river through Austria to Vienna was a wonderful experience. Everything was very well organised, from bike collection, through route guidance, accommodation and support. The riding is easy, though on our ride we did encounter some strong head winds. There is spectacular scenery and interesting villages to keep interest up. We thoroughly recommend the bike tour.
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★★★★★ Max Peterson May 3, 2024
Great, Balanced Bike Trip in the Spring Season
· Danube Bike Path 7 Nights (Classic)
My wife and I had a great time on this bike trip, our first of this kind. The first 2 days took some adjusting - we ran into some unexpected detours the first day due to some unreliable info (seemed to be incorrect info from the trail authority/agency, not the tour company at fault), but it was easy enough to sort out on the fly. The 2nd day was full of rain and difficult biking conditions, but we knew the chance we were taking when we chose mid-April for our trip. Almost everything's else on our trip was great after that! The sites, towns, and views along the way were enjoyable and often beautiful. Some of our stops were suggested in our itinerary, and others we found on our own. The suggestions overall were good, but alternative options were always easy to find as well. The hotels were all nice and seemed well-placed along our route, for the most part. The Steigenberger Hotel & Spa in Krems was the one outlier for us on that front - to get there, we had to go up a road with fairly high traffic on a very steep hill that didn't have a bike lane, which we did not find mentioned in our documents. It was a small issue that probably would not matter much with an e-bike, but for an itinerary rated as 1-Easy, we feel it should have at least been noted in our documents. This hotel also seemed the least-oriented toward bicycle traffic/guests, but again these are small things we hope might help people taking this tour in the future, not major problems or complaints. All of the hotels had good bike storage, breakfasts, and friendly, helpful service. The rooms varied in size and quality of view from place to place, but all were clean, well maintained, and never lacked anything you'd expect in a hotel room. We didn't have dinner at every hotel (and not all had their own restaurant), but we did at Faustschlössl Hotel in Aschach and Hotel Rose in Maria Taferl, both of which were excellent. The bikes, bags, and other equipment all worked well, and pickup/dropoff was fairly easy at the first and last hotels. Overall, this was a great experience and everything from the tour company met our expectations. We would definitely recommend this trip to others, and look forward to doing more like it in the future!
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★★★★★ Josée May 3, 2024Not our dream trip
· Vienna to Budapest 5-nights (Active)
We booked the active tour because we did not have time to do the classic. 80-100 km per day were too much, specially when 1 day/4 was 100% rain. We cannot control temperature on a cycling trip, but to cycle 50-60 km in the rain would have been much better than 100km that day. On top of that, our hotel was booked at 130km instead of 100 by mistake. The hotel was nice enough to send a van and a trailer to pick us up. We were soaked!!! Out of 5 hotels, I would consider that 3 nights were more 3.5 stars than 4 and the 2 other nights were 4 to 5 stars. In some small towns, where nobody speak English, it would have nice have more guidance to know where to go to buy the ferry tickets and to know that not all countries use Euros and where to change money for cash only situation. Also, the ferry schedule was not clear, and found out that they take breaks in the morning and can cause a delay.
We were 3 (1 road bike + 2 e-bikes). The roads were rough in some areas with deep puddles of water during the rain. Of course, a flat happened and we struggled to find a pump for the road bike. The pumps that were given to us were for the e-bikes and did not fit. In a small town with no English speaking around, we managed to resolve the situation. Also, the first morning we started the trip, we had to go to a bike store to ask for extra tires in case of a flat. There were not given to us at the beginning. Thank god we went! Having done 2 cycling trips (Portugal and Croatia) in the past year, we found that the Vienna to Budapest was a bit boring. The landscape was not very different from start to beginning and the distances were long in between the little cities we visited.
Minimum information were given to us and it would have been nice to have suggestions for restaurants and more details, etc, etc. We received that info with the other companies we used for the other trips.
A water bottle or a shirt from your company would have been also a nice surprise.
The trip was OK, but can be improved in many ways for the price we paid.
We were happy for the quick response when we had the issue with the hotel at 130km instead of 100
The NH Danube or NH Budapest (We had to change room at 11h00 pm because there was a heating problem that made the room like a sauna and the window handle was broken, so we could not open it….) are more 3 stars hotels. The loft in Bratislava was VERY VERY Nice and the Barok in Gyor was great also. We expected more at the to pass on Esztergom, because we could not come back the next day to visit. I heard that the 30km we missed were worth the views and cycling.
I would recommend the trip to people that did not cycle in Portugal, Croatia and want a flat route.
4 days were a lot concerning the distances, but 6 days would have make it long for the lack of change of scenery. This is my opinion! -
★★★★★ Diane Griffin November 21, 2023Disappointing - don't go during shoulder season
· Danube Bike Path 7 Nights (Classic)
I've done four self-guided trips and this trip was my least favorite. The marketing material pitches "storybook villages" but most days are spent riding through corn fields. The hotels were outside of towns and hard to walk to restaurants. Because it was shoulder season, there were very few restaurants open.
First day's hotel was outside of town and front desk advised that we go to the mall for lunch. Fortunately we found a fun restuarant down on the river. The initial meeting with the bike company was disorganized and very brief. He barely talked about the tour, he didn't have tools to swap out pedals, there were too many of us attending the meeting and he said he didn't have time to answer questions - only 60 minutes alotted. We asked for spare tubes for the two road bikes but never got them. Skinny tires get flats!!
The "castle" we stayed in one night was not nice. It was clearly getting renovated - the rooms were nice but there were only five rooms. The property was overgrown and rundown, and with only five rooms it felt very creepy and unoccupied.
Breakfast at the castle - no protein - no eggs, no yogurt. We're on a bike tour and need energy! No fruit, no granola. Breakfast was just six slices of cucumbers, 10 cherry tomatoes, hard rolls, deli meat/cheese. Bar wasn't open for post-ride beer/wine.
Donauhotel Letternof - 11k from Enns, very remote, had to walk to a campground for food. Closest restaurant is cash only, need reservations. Front desk tried to make res but couldn't get through. The ONLY local taxi was working in Linz, not available for us. It was due to rain very hard. Hotel loaned us umbrellas and we went back to the campground for dinner.Day 3 - arrived at Cafe Braun (the meeting point) at 4:30 and called for shuttle (runs 3-6pm) told to go to a camping store(?) and get the bus as they don't have anyone to pick us up. One guy in our party was willing to make the 3k very steep climb to get us a ride. This hotel was nice but since it was past high season everything in this cute village was closed. Only one restaurant was open.
Last day - Vienna - hotel was so far from center city and far from anything interesting. Very long and confusing ride through busy city. Very limited restaurants. Shortest riding day and yet our bags didn't arrive until 5pm. -
★★★★★ Robert Taylor October 20, 2023Best family trip ever
· Danube Family Tour 7 Nights
There were 13 of us in total from three generations ranging form 77 years to 6 years of age. Reception at trip start was great, accommodating swapping bike sizes for one of the children and a great send off. Some difficulty finding one of the accommodations. We were in several sub-groups and each of us got lost in Krems in our own way BUT no one was stressed because of the enjoyment we had from cycling such beautiful paths.
- What was the date of your tour?
- August 203
- How many tours have you completed?
- Six
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- As expected
- Who is this tour suitable for?
- First-time bike tourists, Solo travelers, Families with teens, Families with young kids
- Countries included in this tour?
- Austria, Germany
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★★★★★ DANNY OPACIC October 16, 2023Trip to remember
· Vienna to Budapest (Classic)
We traveled as a couple (82yrs oldest) and had an enjoyable time. It would have been more enjoyable if the bikes we hired were lighter. The navigation software was excellent. A couple of sections were difficult to negotiate due to strong headwinds, but the rest of the tour required only a moderate effort to complete. Accommodation and associated service were excellent throughout.
We were most impressed with the initial communication with biketours personnel.
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★★★★★ Cathy Patterson October 15, 2023
Danube Bike Path 8 nights (Upscale Lodging)
· Danube Bike Path 8 Nights (Upscale Lodging)
We had a fantastic bike ride along the Danube in September this year, taking the upscale lodging option. Very pleased with all our accommodation. The rooms were spacious and very comfortable. As we aren't regular bike riders we chose the E-bikes and had no problems at all. The weather was perfect the whole way - average 25 degree days.
Would recommend this ride as very scenic and lots to do on the way.
Would also recommend Google maps. -
★★★★★ William Wilson October 12, 2023Adventure
· · Danube Bike and Boat: Passau-Budapest-Passau – MS SE-Manon
Overall, it was a great experience. Unfortunately, there was one large group of passengers that took over the lounge and dining room each night. Their behavior was loud and obnoxious. It would have been nice if someone if someone in authority could have spoken to them about the disruptions they created for others.
Our waiter, Emrah, was amazing. He was most attentive.
I was disappointed with the cost of the drink package. It was more expensive than I expected.
The entire crew worked very hard to ensure we all had a wonderful experience. -
★★★★★ Gina Kelley-Smith October 10, 2023
Bike Snob pleasantly surprised at Bike Quality and Great Hotels
· Vienna to Budapest 5-nights (Active)
Overall a great trip. My husband, best friend & her mate rode the beautiful Danube winding through the small towns along the way. We did have a small glitch with our Estergrom Hotel given the Prime Minister Viktor Orban was booked. Our new hotel was another 15 miles away after the longest pedal day but BikeTours took care of it. I would recommend this outfit. Thank you!
- What was the date of your tour?
- September 2023
- How many tours have you completed?
- None but been on a couple dozen century, multi day bike rides
- 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?
- Austria, Hungary, Slovakia
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★★★★★ Alan Gardiner October 10, 2023
Everything was perfect, from hotels to the route. It was a great trip.
· Danube Bike Path 8 Nights (Upscale Lodging)
The tour was properly described by the tour company and everything was seamless.
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★★★★★ Renee Fogelberg October 9, 2023
Great trip
· Danube Family Tour 7 Nights
It was a lovely combination of epic landscape and gorgeous towns to visit. Food was fabulous. Hotels were perfect.
- What was the date of your tour?
- Oct 3023
- 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?
- Austria, Germany
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★★★★★ Renee Fogelberg October 9, 2023
Great trip
· Danube Family Tour 7 Nights
It was a lovely combination of epic landscape and gorgeous towns to visit. Food was fabulous. Hotels were perfect.
- What was the date of your tour?
- Oct 3023
- How many tours have you completed?
- 2
- 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?
- Austria, Germany
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★★★★★ Thayne Lyman October 5, 2023
What an awesome trip!
· · Danube Delights: Biking through Four Countries
This was our first bike and barge tour and it didn't disappoint! We found that we prefer it to regular river cruising. The tour was very well organized, the bikes were always ready and in great condition. The balance of cycling vs site seeing was perfect for us. We loved it so much that we plan to return next year!
- What was the date of your tour?
- September 24, 2023
- How many tours have you completed?
- 1 including this tour
- 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?
- Austria, Germany, Hungary, Slovakia
