Reviews

I would have given a better rating had Boat Bike Tours been more proactive in informing me of the Covid rules in France. I only learned about the Pass Sanitare a week before we left for France. This document is critical for visiting museums and other indoor facilities in France. I depend on the tour operator for giving us this type of information well in advance in order to avoid issues in the tour country. Also, the starting point of the tour was a very small town and when asked about transportation getting there, I received poor advice. We were able to overcome these issues and did have a great time on the tour and met a lot of very nice fellow bikers on the boat. I recommend this tour if you want to see a lovely area of France and some fascinating history.

Trip of a lifetime! We had the boat fully book with a total of 28 friends. The boat was Pape Prvi. The family & crew were outstanding. We were treated like family all week. Our two guides Mihael & Lucija were awesome! They prepared us extremely well for each days activities of breathtaking views, historical sites, towns & harbors along our routes. Safety was always first & foremost to ensure we all had a great experience…and we did! They also took the time to teach us each day about the Croatian language, flag, history & culture. What a beautiful county, people & culture to experience!!

My wife and I participated in the boat/bike tour Pearls of Dalmatia: Dubrovnik to Split on the boat Pape Prvi. We had a great time! The scenery was absolutely beautiful. The route taken was challenging, but well worth the effort. Our boat staff was great. They were friendly and attentive to all our needs. Our guides, Mihael and Lucia were tremendous. They were entertaining, supportive of our efforts and a font of information about the area we traveled. And, finally, Paula, our agent was understanding and patient answering all our questions of which we had many traveling in this time of COVID. Overall it was an A+ vacation which I would highly recommend to anybody. Chuck Falahee

Boat bike tours staff were very accommodating during (re) booking and during the trip itself. Jens did a great job of supporting the tour. The route and city tours were great, and the cycling was wonderful. The ship (de Amsterdam) was not well cleaned. Our carpet needed more thorough vacuuming, and we had to have our bedsheets changed as they smelled unclean. The bikes were fine, but had suffered some damage from over cranking of bolts and use of pliers to tighten and loosen, especially on the seat and handle bars. The boat staff made a poor first impression by trying to sell us bike insurance immediately upon boarding, and they were not always helpful in solving bike problems. The food ranged from really good (goulash, fish and roast beef) to terrible (wieners and frozen hash browns as the only hot breakfast on one day). The breakfast fruit was usually a bowl of melon with a few pieces of pineapple and would have been much better with some bananas and berries. We would definitely choose to go with Boat bike tours again, but not on this boat.

My husband and I greatly enjoyed this trip. It was relatively flat terrain from Koblenz to Mertzig, but you need to be fit and have some biking experience in order to enjoy it properly. For example, you need to be used to being 3 – 4 hours on the saddle at a time, ride at a pace of 10 miles/hour, able to cycle up some short hills (unless you want to walk it), be comfortable in cycling for short periods in traffic or over bridges. It also rained for short intervals in 2 out of our 6 days of cycling so bring appropriate clothing and be prepared to get wet. The cabins in the boat are very small with not much storage space so you cannot pack too much stuff. However, there is always plentiful hot water in the shower. There were 3 small port holes that could be partially opened in each cabin, but the room still got stuffy since all the cabins are below deck without AC. A small electric fan is provided in each cabin that is placed on a high shelf above the head of the beds. The fan would be much more effective for cooling if the fan could be mounted at the ceiling at the foot of the beds. The food on board is also good with different menu themes every night (South Africa, Dutch, Indonesia) but there was no German cuisine despite the entire trip taking place in Germany. Beer (mostly Dutch) and wine are provided on board for purchase on an honour system. However, it would be nice if some German beers and wine from the Moselle region would be provided as well since the tour takes place in the Moselle region that is famous of its wines. One wine tasting was arranged for our group in Zell but we would have liked to have more wine tastings at different wineries in Trier and in Saarburg. Our bike guide Weiger was excellent. He was very patient and accommodating to guest’s requests. He is also very knowledgeable and is always watching for the safety of his guests. We highly recommend Weiger as a guide. My only major complaint is that we originally booked the Metz, France to Cochem, Germany trip so we arrange flights into Paris and out of Frankfurt. 20 days before the start of the trip, we were contacted by Boat Bike tours that our trip was cancelled due to last minute cancellations by other guests. We were offered other alternative trips but none of them originated in France and finished in Germany so we booked the Koblenz, Germany to Merzig, Germany tour. Due to this, we had to change our flights to fly in and out of Frankfurt. This change of flights within 20 days of our departure resulted in a 60% increase in our airfare. Although I told Boat Bike tour about the increased cost of our airfare, there was no offer of any compensation.

This boat/bike tour was more than I ever could have imagined. My wife and I were entirely happy with every aspect of it from beginning to end. The guides and crew were complete professionals and tons of fun. The boat, the routes, the programming, the ports, the equipment, the food, …. you get the idea. If you are looking at reviews to determine if you should do this trip, just stop now and book it!

We have been on several biking/ boating tours, and this was by far the best! I recommend the Pearls of Dalmatia, specifically on the PapePrvi boat. We filled all 14 cabins with our friends, which made it more special. The best part of the trip, other than the stunningly beautiful southern Croatian islands, was the crew of the Pape Prvi. The ships crew and guides could not have been better. They were all friendly, informative, very customer- oriented, but mostly they were FUN! I recommend going Dubrovnik to Split, south to north, as well. Islands are definitely challenging so consider ebikes. Incredible views, food, biking, swimming, tours of history and mostly… Fun!

My trip in The Mosel river with Flora boat and the all team was wonderful Many thanks

Excellent Tour. Despite re-scheduling due to Covid, the tour ran smoothly. We had wonderful weather which helped. Great food, accommodation and excellent tour guides who went out of their way to be helpful.

This was our second bike boat trip with this company. They certainly did not disappoint! The trip was amazing! We took all the added excursions and thoroughly enjoyed them all. The food was delicious and there was lots of variety. Leslie our guide was super organized and helpful. He worked very hard to make sure everyone knew where to cycle. Our room was really nice with big windows. Can’t wait to book another tour in a different country!