Reviews

First time sailing / biking in the Croatia islands. This is our second Boat Bike Tour. We were sailing on the “Kvarner Bay and Islands” tour on the Andela Lora ship. Late July 2024. Technically, apparently this was an “IslandHopping” tour, which Boat Bike Tours recently acquired… The ship is a nicer larger ship — 17 cabins and up to 34 people. In late July, this cruise was only half full — 4 English speaking couples – 3 German speaking couples and a local Croatian couple. Turns out this time of year is pretty warm so not as popular perhaps for boating / biking. If we had had all 17 cabins filled, that would’ve been a bit more crowded on the ship. The rooms on the ship struggled to keep cool during the day and at night with the room A/C units — so some degree of difficulty to fall asleep. Not awful, but definitely notice’able. The ship crew was friendly, albeit most did not speak with the passengers much. The waiter for each day was also friendly and talked with us – but seemed more “alone” on the ship. Interesting interactions. The two bike tour guides were super funny and approach’able. All of the days announcements were done in the two languages – English and German – which of course wasn’t a big deal at all – but there were definitely “two separate groups” on the ship. The meals on the ship were good – served either buffet style or family style. The bar was “ok” — limited space on the ship / bar area so we often would purchase personal drinks on shore (silly things like ice tea or coke zero…). Wine was available on the ship for purchase and was good to have at dinner each night. The Adriatic Sea was amazing — crystal clear and not cold at all. Many days ended with a swim off the back of the boat to cool off and relax. I wish they had told us to bring easy small floatation devices so we could float around longer. The bike tours on the islands were very well selected. Most everyone was using an electric assist bike since many of the islands had some big uphills to navigate. Some of the biking was on roads with cars zooming by, but in general the locals knew how to give the bikers space. The islands themselves were fascinating — with little pockets of towns or beach areas for vacationers. This trip avoided most of the really big cities which was very nice. Sometimes we felt like we were just speeding through the country-side and the islands. There were a number of cool spots along the way which we would have liked to have stopped to learn more about them. Course, the two bike guides did say “stop if you want to stop!”. :- ) All in all, a good tour. We would go back for another different Croatia islands tour in the future.

Segeln, Fahrradfahren, frische Luft, gutes Essen -Alles Bestens Auf dem Schiff würde ich mir noch ein paar Liegestühle oder andere Relaxmöglichkeiten wünschen Das Frühstück auf dem Tisch angerichtet hat uns besonders gut gefallen

Top trip gehad.

(Aug 2024) I just finished the boat-bike trip in Burgundy France. The boat was clean-as-a-whistle. Breakfast was the standard continental fare. Lunch was make-your-own sandwich. But dinners were surprisingly nice. The guides were excellent. The company had to make last minute adjustments to the itinerary and they handled it artfully. Since this was a boat-bike tour (not my first) I assumed we would be traveling on trails next to the river – I was wrong. The bike routes were no where near the river and very hilly. This is the first time I rented an ebike and I’m glad I did.

Fantastic experience. More than just a cycle tour. Amazing staff and a luxury floating hotel.

The boat was very nice with great guides (Ivan and Tony) and a great crew. Istria was gorgeous with many postcard perfect towns along the Adriatic coast. There were many opportunities to swim off the back of the boat. The shuttle that was provided made getting to and from the boat from Zagreb very simple and easy. On the downside, many of the rides were off road and some had serious gravel sections on steep climbs. Several riders fell during the week and many were unhappy with the amount of gravel. Also, other than two walking tours there was little off-boat enrichment that we have experienced on other boat-bike tours.

The staff and crew were friendly and helpful. However the quality of the boat and made it hard for staff. The regular bikes were terrible, the air conditioning did not work and the food was mostly awful.

A fantastic trip turned into phenomenonal trip by the staff! Service was fantastic, crew was very helpful, tour guides where kind and willing to work with our limitations and finally the food was prepared by very talented chefs which made meal times a delight. Would definitely recommend booking on the Magnifique II!

Excellent bike routes, comfortable accommodation, supportive friendly guides who were happy for me to do my own thing

Guides were exceptionally well versed in the environment, territory and the terrain. Accommodations were excellent, as was the cleverly creative cuisine. As a bonus, the group of 40 that we traveled with were gregarious and cordial – yet respected boundaries. A stellar trip that indicates we will be considering another (Paris) next year. (This year was Amsterdam to Bruges.)