Alsace Bike Tour Reviews (page 2)
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★★★★★ Bluenose October 1, 2018Alsace in September
· Alsace Wine Country
Great time of year to do this trip as the vineyards are being harvested. The weather is perfect for cycling! Much of the trip is on dedicated cycle paths which reduces the amount of riding in traffic.
We took the dinner package which saved us the hassle of trying to find dinner each night. A couple of the meals were terrific but most were average.- What was the date of your tour?
- September 9, 2018
- How many tours have you completed?
- 6
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- Much easier
- Do you recommend this tour?
- No
- Countries included in this tour?
- France
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★★★★★ Chris118 October 1, 2018
Lovely, but there were problems
· Alsace Wine Country
A friend and I just completed the Alsace trip. We had perfect weather and it was lovely to ride through the vineyards while the grapes were being harvested. Accommodations and dinners ranged from superb (Osthouse) to “meh”. It seemed to us that the quality declined with each successive day.
The tour company rep who met us in Strasbourg was very rushed and did not give us a particularly warm welcome. We only discovered the next morning that the mileage computer on one of our bikes was faulty because an electrical lead had been pulled out. This is the bike he used to “demonstrate” so he should have known that it was faulty. We were never able to fix it because it required too small a screwdriver. This inhibited our route-finding throughout the week since the computer was on the navigator’s bike.
On the flip side, I had a crash (someone ran into me) and I called from the destination hotel and the company rep arranged for someone at the hotel to swap out my bent wheel. I was interested that the company rep didn’t ask if I had sustained any injuries.
The route instructions were sometimes difficult to follow. We were lucky to also have a personal GPS and it helped us know whether we were on track. I think part of the problem is that the North American interpretation of some navigation terms may differ from the the European. I urge the company to consider a separate sheet/map to help people find heir way out of Strasbourg. It is actually simple but not at all obvious.
- What was the date of your tour?
- Sept. 9-13, 2018
- How many tours have you completed?
- 10
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- As expected
- Who is this tour suitable for?
- Solo travelers, Families with teens
- Do you recommend this tour?
- No
- Countries included in this tour?
- France
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BikeTours.com staff reply from Brittany October 2, 2018
Chris, thank you very much for your review of the Alsace. I'm sorry to hear of your bike accident but thankful you are okay! I'll reach out to you about your accident, your Category B accommodations, and the directions so we can work with the tour operator to improve services.
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★★★★★ TinaM September 30, 2018Excellent Bike Tour!
· Strasbourg to Mainz: Imperial Cities and Charming Landscapes Along the Rhine
My husband and I had a fabulous time on the Strasbourg, France to Mainz, Germany bike tour September 6-13th. We arrived a day early and loved walking around and exploring the beautiful city of Strasbourg.
Our bikes and information were dropped off the day before our trip and we were off early the next morning. We would highly recommend having a data plan to download the GPS maps offered to your phone. These maps show you exactly where you are at all times! Would also be very beneficial to have a cell phone holder for the handlebars on the bikes.
We rode mostly on bikepaths and trails and occasionally on roadways. The terrain was mostly flat and winding around farmer’s fields, through towns and cities, and along or near the Rhine. Our favorite town was Speyer, Germany the day we were on our way to Heidelberg. The main street had beautiful, colorful buildings, a lovely, church, quaint shops, and a fabulous clock tower.
The hotels provided were clean, centrally located, and had friendly and helpful staff. Silka at Hotel Schwert in Rastatt went above and beyond helping us with all of our questions and requests! Thank you Silka!
After our first day of our Eurobike tour, we were fortunate to have met another couple also travelling on the same tour. We decided to travel together and the four of us spent the rest of our trip biking and having a great time together!
This was our first bike trip and we loved it! The weather was beautiful and the biking experience was fabulous!
- What was the date of your tour?
- September 6-13, 2018
- How many tours have you completed?
- This was our first bike tour.
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- As expected
- Who is this tour suitable for?
- Solo travelers, First-time bike tourists, Families with teens
- Do you recommend this tour?
- Yes
- Countries included in this tour?
- France, Germany
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★★★★★ pmcmanamon September 21, 2018
Tour instructions were outdated, and hard to follow
· Strasbourg to Mainz: Imperial Cities and Charming Landscapes Along the Rhine
The cities we visited were great, and so were the hotels. I was warm, so air conditions would have been nice, but not a big deal. The tour instructions consisted of a generic book with instructions, and a generic set of maps. The maps were not that detailed. When the maps disagreed with the instructions the maps were right. The signage along the routes changed since they made the instructions . We were told to look for a large E along European bike paths, but it appears to have been replaced by a circle with 15 inside it, i guess for the # of countries in the EU. The bikes were great. The luggage was always delivered on time. I downloaded a Eurobike app to help with the directions, but it did not work well. In order to update my positions I had to quit the app, and restart it. The Biketours people did suggest a new app, RidewithGPS, that worked much better. Because they did not have cues the pass could not tell me ahead of a turn, but it did tell me if we go off course.
I think the local tour company, Eurobike, needs to update their instructions. I also would appreciate if they made unique instructions for each tour. The instructions start and end at a city center. When we got close I would use google maps to find the hotel directly, rather than going to the city center and then to the hotel. My ideal would be a unique set of instructions for a tour, with small maps above or below each instruction. We have had that with other tours, but different providers. On this tour I could not mount my instructions and maps so I could see both while riding, I picked the instructions. In some cases they recommend stopping at a certain place for lunch, but you cannot see if from the tour route, and there is no map to locate it. -
★★★★★ Joaney September 9, 2018
Really sorry we took this trip
· Alsace Wine Country
While we knew we signed up for a self-guided trip, we had no idea just how little this tour company would provide to us. Starting with bikes that have no water bottles moving quickly onto very poorly written directions and a GPS that was outdated years ago, the trip proved a disappointment each day. Most of the hotels had no a/c (in the middle of the summer) and we had paid for the more upgraded choices. While I must admit that we were guided onto mostly non-traffic bike paths whenever possible, we felt that all we did was ride all day long, with no pointers of what we might be passing of interest. We got lost a fair amount of times, and luckily we had a 23 yr.old, engineering graduate, who helped us decipher where we were vs. the directions. The weather could not have been more beautiful, thankfully, since there was no "back-up" should it turn terrible. We had to have our luggage ready by 9am, there went those leisurely mornings we thought we would have, only to notice that they were never picked up before we finished breakfast at 10am. The bikes were of good quality and thankfully also, we had no flat tires or breakdowns. I know I am spoiled from having taken many bike trips with reputable companies like Backroads and Duvine, etc. This trip was suggested by the friends we traveled with and the woman was smart in getting an e-bike. The rest of us had to walk our bikes up to one of the hotels that was perched on the highest point of the town. Only to finally reach the destination and to be told by the desk manager that if we had intended to eat there, he was sorry they were full for the evening...and that "he constantly tells the bike trip organizers that they should warn their bikers to make arrangements in advance." Clearly we were given no such instructions. We were LUCKY the manager was able to find us a taxi to take us to town for dinner. It was rather surreal. The food in this region was boring and repetitive. How many tart flambees does one want to eat?
- What was the date of your tour?
- July 10-15, 2018
- How many tours have you completed?
- 20+
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- Somewhat harder
- Do you recommend this tour?
- No
- Countries included in this tour?
- France
-
★★★★★ Buffalo September 7, 2018
Simply Fantastic
· Alsace Wine Country
The trip was excellent. The hotels selected were generally good (one was exceptional, one was mildly disappointing, the rest were all just good). The tour was well planned and pretty easy to follow. The first leg of the trip was in the valley. This helped to acclimate our group for the wine hills to come. The little villages and wine were exceptionally beautiful. We found the customer service of bike tours and the partner tour operator were also very good. We will definitely use bike tours sometime in the not too distant future.
Important note: with an E-Bike the trip was pretty easy (according to my wife). However, with a standard bicycle, I found some of the hills to be quite challanging. The second to last day I burned roughly 2900 calories.- What was the date of your tour?
- July 15 - 20
- How many tours have you completed?
- 1 with biketours.com
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- As expected
- Who is this tour suitable for?
- Solo travelers, First-time bike tourists
- Do you recommend this tour?
- Yes
- Countries included in this tour?
- France
-
★★★★★ Dennis July 17, 2018
Alsace Canals & Vineyards
· Alsace Wine Country
The countryside and towns of Alsace are a great bicycling experience. The roads and trails are fairly flat and well marked. There is a bakery in every village!
Generally, we had excellent meals and accommodations. We had one hotel with a four star rating that was not air conditioned. We also had another hotel that did not offer any choices on the half-board menu.
We found our hybrid bicycles not quite up to climbing the few hills. We needed more low gears! Overall the turn-by-turn directions were adequate but sometimes confusing as our route did not always follow the posted bicycle travel signs.
We had a wonderful time enjoying the scenery and people along our tour and we will definitely come back to France for more.
- What was the date of your tour?
- June 25 - June 30, 2018
- How many tours have you completed?
- 5
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- As expected
- Who is this tour suitable for?
- Solo travelers, First-time bike tourists, Families with teens
- Do you recommend this tour?
- Yes
- Countries included in this tour?
- France
-
★★★★★ WalkersAdventure July 3, 2018
Beautiful villages - beware of hills and train strikes
· Alsace Wine Country
The tour operator is unusually cooperative about modifying the standard itinerary. I requested many changes to suit our interests and abilities and they fulfilled them all. We requested and received GPX tracks to load onto our own Garmin devices. The GPX and the map and the tour materials had been revised to reflect the changes I'd requested, which I appreciated very much.
Colmar is an exceptionally good place to center the trip. I recommend staying there several days and taking day trips by bicycle, or train plus bicycle, to nearby villages.
All of the hotels booked for us were high quality, and thoughtfully positioned for convenient access.
Segments of the trip are quite hilly: two chevrons on the map. We evaded the hills by planning alternate routes in the flat part of the valley. These routes presented a different view, still valuable and entertaining.
We had trouble with the SNCF train strike. Of course, that situation was beyond the tour operator's control, but it detracted from the experience.
One of the e-bikes was delivered with a bad battery. They replaced it the next day. That was okay for us, as I had an extra day planned for local sightseeing, so our overall schedule was not affected.
- What was the date of your tour?
- June, 2018
- How many tours have you completed?
- 22
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- Somewhat harder
- Do you recommend this tour?
- No
- Countries included in this tour?
- France
-
★★★★★ MaryF June 21, 2018
Strasbourg France to Mainz Germany
· Strasbourg to Mainz: Imperial Cities and Charming Landscapes Along the Rhine
Great value. Would have appreciated option for rooms with AC even if it meant a higher cost. Would have appreciated a sticker with the arrow and the E in order to see the actual size. The signage was much smaller than we expected and did not find any until the second day. Also, the instructions need to be rewritten by a native speaker who is actually biking the route. The instructions appear to be translated from another language. Much was lost in translation. The instructions were confusing. We originally thought the instructions were in British English until we met up with couple on the same tour from Manchester who found the instructions as confusing as we did. (There was a brand new app for navigation this year but none of us were able to get it to function on our trip. Once the bugs are ironed out, I suspect this will help a lot. We used Google maps to assist in navigation.) I would suggest giving stickers to actual bicyclists to place over top faded stickers or to add stickers in areas of confusion. Overall, it was a good experience and am very glad we did this tour.
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★★★★★ Allen December 18, 2017
Fabulous
· Alsace Wine Country
The villages are incredibly beautiful; the biking is either on lovely canal paths or quiet roads in the wine country; and the inns and restaurants are terrific. It is a well organized and well supported trip.
- What was the date of your tour?
- Sept.2017
- How many tours have you completed?
- 12
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- As expected
- Who is this tour suitable for?
- Solo travelers, First-time bike tourists, Families with young kids, Families with teens
- Do you recommend this tour?
- Yes
- Countries included in this tour?
- France
-
BikeTours.com staff reply from Brittany December 19, 2017
Allen, thanks for your kind review. We're so glad to hear you had a great time on tour! We look forward to helping you in the future.
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★★★★★ Jack Luther October 30, 2017
Beer and Wine Along the Rhine with Martin Luther as a Travel Companion
· Strasbourg to Mainz: Imperial Cities and Charming Landscapes Along the Rhine
My wife and I have previously done the BikeTours.com tour from Munich to Salzburg as well as the Loire Garden and Chateaux Tour and greatly enjoyed both of those. We invited good friends who are also cyclists to join us on this tour. All of us agreed that it was one of our best vacations ever and having
friends riding with us added to the pleasure. We do the tours "self guided" and enjoy the freedom of being able to explore off route if we want to. For example, on this trip we rode up into the vineyards near Nierstein, Germany which was not on the route but gave us some beautiful views and a wine tasting at the Huff Winery. There were a few days with some light rain but nothing that we were not prepared for. We stayed in the Category A hotels which were all of excellent quality and located close to the attractions we were interested in seeing. The written directions and the "E" stickers on posts along the way were often missing or confusing but the GPS offered by BikeTours worked very well. I would strongly recommend that anyone doing this tour "self-guided" absolutely plan to use the GPS mapping. The local tour company, Eurobike, does an excellent job. We have never had even the first problem with the bicycles or any of the services they provide.- What was the date of your tour?
- Sept 17 - 22, 2017
- How many tours have you completed?
- 4
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- Somewhat easier
- Who is this tour suitable for?
- Solo travelers, First-time bike tourists, Families with teens
- Do you recommend this tour?
- Yes
- Countries included in this tour?
- France, Germany
Video: Video 1
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BikeTours.com staff reply from Brittany October 31, 2017
We're delighted to have helped you on your third BikeTours.com tour and to hear that it was a great success! Your experience is exactly what we hope to bring to clients on each tour. It's a pleasure to have the time to explore sites, scenery, and of course, vineyards. We think these are some of the best parts of a vacation. We'll be sure to work with our partner operators and improve at keeping you on the right path. Thank you very much for your feedback!
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★★★★★ Croissant Lovers October 9, 2017
Early Fall Wine Country Tour
· Alsace Wine Country
Beautiful countryside, quaint towns, idyllic bike paths along canals, vineyards forever. Lodging was excellent even on the lower priced end. Included breakfasts were excellent. Found that opportunities for lunch were nonexistent or limited so we learned to buy lunch food & wine first thing in the morning. Route finding was challenging at times as we were self guided. Local tour operator provided good orientation. 21 speed bikes were very heavy and awkward with handlebar pack.
- What was the date of your tour?
- September 26-October 1
- How many tours have you completed?
- First one
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- As expected
- Who is this tour suitable for?
- Solo travelers, First-time bike tourists
- Do you recommend this tour?
- Yes
- Countries included in this tour?
- France
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BikeTours.com staff reply from Brittany October 10, 2017
We're glad you had a great time on tour and great advice for future clients regarding lunch along the way! I love the handlebar bag but I understand it isn's for everyone as they can be bulky. We hope to help you plan a future tour.
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★★★★★ Dona2017 October 9, 2017· Freiburg and the Alsatian Wine Road
- What was the date of your tour?
- 9/24/17 to 10/1/17
- How many tours have you completed?
- First one
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- Somewhat easier
- Who is this tour suitable for?
- Solo travelers, First-time bike tourists, Families with young kids, Families with teens
- Do you recommend this tour?
- Yes
- Countries included in this tour?
- France, Germany
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BikeTours.com staff reply from Brittany October 10, 2017
We're glad you enjoyed your cycling vacation. Thank you for the review and the great pictures!
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★★★★★ mamacababy October 6, 2017
One of our best bike tours ever
· Alsace Wine Country
This bike tour was way more than we expected. Espace Randonnee gave us wonderful maps, directions, and bikes. I had an ebike for the first time and it was awesome. We rode down beautiful canal paths, and into picture book villages, laced with window boxes of geraniums. The accommodations were good to excellent, and we opted for the meal plan which we love because dinner was always arranged for you, and local specialties were served. The weather was perfect - all things considered, this was one of our top 2 bike tours ever!
- What was the date of your tour?
- September 25, 2017
- How many tours have you completed?
- 9
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- As expected
- Do you recommend this tour?
- Yes
- Countries included in this tour?
- France
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BikeTours.com staff reply from Brittany October 7, 2017
We're delighted to hear you had a great time in the Alsace region! We think slow travel is the best way to enjoy the local experiences. Thank you very much for your review and please let us know when you're ready to take another bike tour.
