Bike and Hotel Tours - page 4

“Crete is a wonderful island. There is history and ruins, scenery , varied climate from desert to sea, to fertile valleys. The people I met were all wonderful. I did the 14 day option and it was off season. I was the only person .Most of the place closes on October 31. There are 2-3 very challenging climbs on a daily basis. If you are a recreational rider, choose the ebike. On my final day it took me 1.5 hrs to do the first 4.5 km climb. I ride an hour a day and it was challenging, but exhilarating. Weather is wonderful, food is great , accommodations were very well appointed and had fabulous locations. The app has some hiccups, like a peculiar estimate of 1/2 km and a tendency to stop a distance from the hotel. This may have been due to the off season nature and the usual hotels not being used, but it was very disconcerting at the end of a ride to be searching for the hotel. The local travel company was great in helping with difficulties I encountered. Overall though, it was a wonderful combination of exercise and touring and discovering a fabulous place .” Less

“I did the last tour of 2025, in October. I went with my sister (we are in our 50s) and my daughter (in her 30s) and we used ebikes. The autumn colours along the way were magnificent. We did get a lot of rain on the first day, and a small amount on the second but otherwise we got lucky with the weather. I wanted to do this type of tour in which you are not riding with other people because I prefer to take my time and not have to worry about holding other people up. There was another group of women we saw sometimes along the way, and got chatting to them sometimes, mostly at breakfast but once along the way. That was nice, and my daughter exchanged socials so she may have made friends.
The path from Passau to Vienna is fantastic, and I reckon I could do that again, maybe on my own and maybe even on a regular bike. After Vienna it's a bit rougher, particularly in Slovakia. We were worried about the bikes over one particularly bumpy patch, but we figured they wouldn't be sending the bikes there if they didn't think they were up to the task. And they were, so all was well.
The hotels we stayed at were very good, for the most part. We chose category A due to the higher number of spa hotels. They didn't all have a spa, and they didn't all have lifts either, so bear that in mind when packing. Yes, they transport your bags (chef's kiss on that) but you have to get them to your room. Some of the rooms in Austria were more suited to couples than to mother and daughter due to having bathrooms with glass doors, but we just had to make sure we were in a spot out of eyeline when the other was using the facilities.
I absolutely loved this trip and sometimes get a bit sad that it's over.” Less

“We had a great time seeing Portugal. The sights, people, food and route were all wonderful. The coastal towns had jaw dropping scenery. Obidos and Sintra were picture postcard perfect. An extra day in Sintra to see the castles is a must. We rode premium road bikes through challenging climbs. Only the uphill Sintra cobbles required walking the bike. Well organized tour” Less