France

This was our first VBT vacation and we have already registered for a second trip. Provence and the Alpilles is a beautiful region of France with abundant fruits, vegetables and other agriculture. The bicycle travel through the French countryside gives an up-close and personal travel experience.

Bike routes were beautiful and enjoyable! Loved the town of St. Remy and the location of our hotel. Really enjoyed Avignon and again, the location of the hotel made exploring the city very easy.

This trip was better than anticipated. We expected a great time, but this was outstanding in service, leadership and bike friendliness.

We had an amazing time - And I can't speak highly enough of every aspect of this trip! Our VBT leaders, Sophie and Bruno, were exceptional, planning everything down to the smallest detail. They were a pleasure to be with in every way. We loved every hotel, each unique, and in the heart of a city, with lots to do in the area. Our e-bikes were brand new, and easy to navigate. We were blessed with beautiful weather and enjoyed our rides each and every day. I would highly recommend this trip - it will definitely not be our last. We are already booked for one next year!

We had a wonderfully-planned week of cycling along small, beautiful farm roads with itineraries bringing us to the coast of most days. Riding in August in 70 degree weather was great. We all loved seeing the texture of rural, historic France and learning more about Normandy and Brittany. The trip includes a focus on local food culture - the visit to the Cider farm was really special, as were the Cancale oysters and dinners at local restaurants. We also got so much out of learning more about WWII even though I did not choose this trip primarily for that reason. There were helpful guided tours, and the option to visit museums if you wanted more depth. I'm so glad we could take advantage of this aspect of visiting France. The Trip Leaders were extremely knowledgeable, good humored, well-seasoned guides who knew the area well and had set up a number of local experiences. We found the cycling to be engaging - beautiful rolling farmland that left me in a little better shape by the end of the week but wasn't overly challenging. (The shorter option was also always available.)

Biking in Normandy and Brittany was recommended to us by a fellow VBT biker on our previous trip and we are so happy that we listened to him. The daily parade of classic French villages, farms, gardens, and estates were simply beautiful. Our guides Sophie and Jean were The Best, and we learned more about French culture, history, and language than we could have hoped for. We recommend this trip to everyone!

The Burgundy Wine Route trip was an exceptional vacation...it was a great mix of activity, leisure, learning and sightseeing. The trip leaders were personable, knowledgeable, and fun-loving, our fellow travelers were all interesting and friendly people, and the food, accommodations, and scenery were all first class. The daily route length choices ensured that everyone would be happy with their activity level, too. I’d highly recommend this trip to anyone who loves good food, wine, and outdoor activity. The pre and post trip extensions are also well worth it...especially the pre-trip in Lyon...there was so much to explore there!

This was our first Vermont Bike vacation but it certainly will not be our last! What a great time .For us it was a perfect mix of activity,culture ,wine and food. The countryside is just delightful and beautiful. The guides were excellent and our fellow travelers were wonderful .

To see Europe on a bike was the most amazing experience in my life. What a beautiful country to explore!

We were on Emerald Sky with this VBT Rhine Bike & River Cruise. I had specified that I needed a lactose intolerant diet. This was not offered to me at all. Last VBT bike trip, when it was only VBT riders, all was perfect for the foods I need. I also saw this with those who needed gluten free meals. My only menu option for dessert was cheese and fruit. I got very bored with this. I spoke with a server and she found sorbet and it was delicious. I see Emerald Sky should have followed through the specifics VBT has passed on to them.

Recommend the Berlin pre-trip. Fun and educational. Interesting city. The bike riding along the Moselle is spectacular. Great paths, easy pedaling, beautiful scenery. Very tiny amount of riding on roads. Bike riders dream. The Mystique II barge - updated interior. Very small cabins, limited storage, nice bathrooms. Small rooms are to be expected on barge. VERY loud in common areas especially during meals. Couldn't hear person next to you so the decibel level keeps rising. We ate off the boat, when possible, for dinners. This let us explore the local areas and got us away from the loud dining. Barge staff was very good. Chef was not very good with vegetarian meals. Luxembourg post trip was interesting and 2 nights was plenty of time to explore the city. City walls were pretty amazing. This trip is worth the riding. It is a large group, up to 30 so that makes it less personal than a regular VBT. I did miss the closeness from guides and other guests that you get with a smaller group. The Barge is the reason for my lower score. It is nice not having to unpack for a week but most of your clothes remain in your suitcase under the bed - a pain. I would not go on this barge again because of the loud decibel levels in the common area and the food quality.

Overall really enjoyed the trip! VBT staff and barge staff were very friendly, helpful and knowledgeable. They had a challenge to deal with the extreme heat that was present. The barge itself does not appear to be adequately outfitted to deal with such heat. The individual room AC was inconsistent at best. Not the staff's fault as they constantly tried to make it work as best they could. As passengers, we took steps to reduce the heat's impact and the staff accepted deviations from their normal procedures, which was good for all.

Unpack once and enjoy cycling and cruising through three beautiful countries along the Mosel River.

Lived up to all expectations-and then some! Great tour! Beautiful area. Really would not change a thing-other than maybe the weather. The boat exceeded expectations-yes it had small rooms-get a suite if you are two normal size people. The food and service aboard ship were absolutely five star. The crew was amazing and the meals totally worthy of five stars.

A remarkable selfguided bike trip! Because it was selfguided, we took our own time pedaling and sight seeing. The bike app that loaded each and every turn and maps was amazing! It was also very good to have a short and a long loop biking so individuals can choose how many miles they want to bike every day. One suggestion would be to have rest days in between and make the trip longer. Chateau Pizay was superb as the other places we stayed. All in all i will give a 5 star rating. I am waiting for VBT to put up other self guided cycling tours.

The self-guided Beaujolais tour is a reasonable value and can be enjoyed without the guide (although the VBT guides are always great).  We appreciated the excellent lodging and quality bikes, per usual with VBT.  Locals in this region are very friendly but fewer folks speak English than in the big cities. The Beaujolais tour has a few really nice views, but the views and scenery aren't as good as other VBT tours. Twice on our tour, the hotels said they didn't have our luggage (not a great thing to hear when you arrive bedraggled after a day of riding) but eventually the hotel found it after some haggling. This tour includes a miserable hilly detour around what appeared to be a perpetually closed tunnel, and it was hard (for us and other riders) to find our way back on the route once we slogged the unplanned hills. The "Ride with GPS App" was okay in general but gave confusing and contradictory directions more often than I'd think...but it wasn't much of a problem.

Six fantastic days of biking! This was our first ever bike trip and we thoroughly enjoyed every part of it. We were very lucky to have such perfect sunny days that were book-ended by rain. We loved the two gals that led the tour...they were "over the top" in every way! I had never been on an E bike, but quickly took to it and now want one of my own. I still felt that I got a lot of exercise ...just loved it. Every morning the bike would be ready with a bike bag and fresh water with lemon and the helmet. The hotels were all top notch also. This particular trip has amazing scenery, so it was very lucky that clouds didn't obscure the magnificent peaks. Will definitely try another trip!

I have been on 9 VBT bike trips in Europe, and this just might be my favorite. From the pre-trip in spectacular Chamonix to the conclusion in Lyon, it was idyllic in every way. The countryside, excellent bike trails, and charming villages and towns made the biking a pleasure. Many in our group used eBikes, but it was mostly easy terrain for road bikes, too. This would be an excellent trip for someone's first VBT experience. And our guides, Sarah and Cédric, were hands-down the very best - helpful, funny, warm, and knowledgable. They are the models for what all guides should strive to be.

Nice cycling routes, river boat was very nice and food very good. But, it was more riverboat than cycling. There were only two lunches off the boat, we cycled through wine country with no winery stopes, the shore tours with the riverboat were terrible. The warm up cycling route was through heavy pedestrian traffic and was not safe. Communication of times and places to be was poor and as a result we often waited for uninformed or important fellow cyclists. VBT was not important to the riverboat operator and the VBT group was diluted withing the other riverboat passengers. The riverboat approach seemed to attract people who were simply disinterested in cycling. It just wasn't what I had previously experienced from VBT.

Our tour guides, Sophie and Bruno were the best! We experienced rides along lovely canals, through gorgeous vineyards and quaint villages. Our accomodations on our ship couldn't have been better, and we met some nice people.