France

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 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.

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

I LOVED this vacation. I am an avid biker; my husband is not; and we both enjoyed the levels of activity and flexibility. The vineyards and villages were amazing to see, especially by bicycle. Jean and Jean Francois took care of our every need, and the accommodations were wonderful. What's not to like?

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 trip through Normandy and Brittany was beautiful, historic, and fun! It was the perfect mix of biking though the country, visiting historic sites, and enjoying special treats along the way. Our guides Luc and Kevin were outstanding!

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 .

Our guides-Matilda and Felix, were incredibly kind, helpful, humorous and competent. They really went above and beyond to make it a wonderful experience. The bike routes were lovely w just a few hiccups due to road construction. The cruise ship was great. Very very pleased for our first VBT experience. The only issue we had was not getting picked up at the airport, but we were reimbursed for the cab ride.

Wonderful trip that includes the best of both worlds: a cruise along the Rhine in a new (this year) boat with all the amenities including delicious and plentiful meals, and biking on varied bike paths while taking in the beautiful landscapes all around. It's a trip you shouldn't pass up!

We have been on several VBT bike trips, and this one goes to the top of the list. Scenery was beautiful, bike paths were great, food was delicious, and Axel, Felix and Werner were outstanding guides! Really enjoyed being with a fun group of bike and barge riders. Also enjoyed the pre trip in Berlin and the post trip in Paris. No problems with transportation. Thank you VBT!

We have done barge cruises and bicycle trips, but this was the first barge/bike trip and it exceeded our expectations ! The crew on the Magnifique I were fantastic and tended to all of our needs on the barge. The guides worked hard and tirelessly to be sure we had a grand experience. Axcel and Arnot were great! We brought our grown children and they were closer in age to the guides than the rest of the guests, which was nice for them.

The concept of Bike and Barge has intrigued me ever since I heard of it. This one exceeded my expectations. The views were absolutely incredible. The daily rides were easy - almost always flat and always packed with stunning scenery. If you are at all concerned about the cycling, reserve an e-bike. It is not a moped. You still need to be a cyclist (pedal, shift, balance and understand the rules of the road), but you sit upright to fully take in the view and the battery boost ensures you always have a ‘tailwind’. Having the barge to return to every afternoon means you don’t have to pack up as often. This barge was comfortable and the staff excellent. You will have greater opportunities to get to know your fellow VBT travelers, due to the common area and the sumptuous meals. I highly recommend adding the pre or post trips. Both worked for us! Learning German words and phrases also helped make the experience smoother. Smartphones can do amazing things. If I had to do it over, I would have studied more history of the area, including the time of the Roman Empire. Book this trip and you will not be disappointed!

Everything about the trip was the best of the best! Including VBT's group leaders, the crew on the barge, and the comradarie you develop by eating breakfasts and dinners on the barge together. Not to mention, you don't have to change hotels during the trip! The scenery from the barge and on the bikes was like being in a fairy tale!

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.

This was our first self guided trip, and I really enjoyed it. Biking in the French countryside seemed ideal for a self guided trip where we may want to stop longer in town, or enjoy a more leisurely lunch. The routes were challenging, since all the longer options went to the must see places (how can you not have a Chardonnay in Chardonnay??). I still enjoy the non-electric bikes, and found this to be the most challenging of my VBT tours, but it was still do-able, and I felt great at the end of each day. Just be prepared for some longer routes and hills. The infamous tunnel was open and a highlight to bike through. The guide said it's closed mid-October through March to allow bats to roost over the winter. Our restaurant stops on the route were fantastic, and it was nice to see how proud the waiters were about the local wine.

The Switzerland and France tour provided an opportunity to see the breathtaking scenery of Alpine valleys and experience the land on mostly excellent dedicated bike paths. The starting point Chamonix was impressive, although travel there, without a biking opportunity, seemed atypical. There were several very long bus transfers that took away from the experience. There also were no planned interactions with local people, such as winery or farmhouse experiences, that were a normal part of past tours I've taken.

The guides were great and we loved the daily bike trails. The hotels rooms were not great. The hotels had great rooms and we were able to upgrade our rooms at our own cost. In the past, especially pre and post trips we had the best rooms in the hotel; this is not longer true! The airline reservations have always been horrible. You can't book the pre or post trip unless you use their airline reservations. Back when the pre and post trip had a fabulous hotel rooms, it was worth using their inferior airlines. These days I will have to really think out my options.

The leaders were great,,,the food was great...the bike routes very good...the walking tours were also very good...I missed the travel between local hotels on bikes....

VBT guides were great as well as the Cruise Ship staff. VBT administration need a bit more education on the details of this Tour. To elaborate, when I first was inquiring about the tour and the bikes available, I was told the E-Bikes were not being used on this tour. When we arrived we learned that the majority of the guests had E-Bikes. The first 2 days were quite windy, and if we had an E-Bike we would have joined the group, but instead did a local tour with the Ship group. On the last day of riding my husband and I were able to borrow E-Bikes from guests that were not riding that day. My husband's battery was not fully charged and another guest had no battery at all and had to find the support vehicle to even ride. The accommodations were great, staying on the 2nd floor or 3rd is a must to take in the spectacular views. We were on the 2nd floor and the only problem was noise from above which was easily rectified with earplugs which the ship provided. Logistics at the Train Station leaving Paris for Lyon were not coordinated properly, assigning random seating so we could not sit with our spouses. But once we figured it all out we truly enjoyed the train, taking in the spectacular scenery on our way to Lyon. VBT's logistics coordination were completed without a hitch. Always on time and done with comfort in mind. We enjoy good food and would rate theirs fairly at the top, but some came up short. Wouldn't hold this against them. Dining room was beautiful and the buffets were laid out so that there were hardly ever a line to stand in. We would recommend this tour to all.