Austria Bike Tour Reviews page 9
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- ★★★★★ Bob Sterndale
Beautiful trip but problems
Tauern Bike Path (Krimml-Passau)
The scenery was breathtaking, the bike paths mostly fine but with seriously difficult and dangerous exceptions, the hotels very pleasant and the e-bikes fine with one exception.
The trip started on the wrong foot at the first hotel: Hotel Krimml Fälle. We were assigned a room with no heat (as were others) on a cold day. After two hours of lame diversions and excuses, while we sat in the lobby to keep warm, we were given a heated room. In all other respects the hotel and restaurant were fine.
Getting to Krimml is a bit confusing. OBB will sell you a train ticket (from Salzburg for us) all the way to Krimml. The trip involves a narrow-gauge train from Sell am See to Mittersill hbf (end of line) and a bus trip from Mittersill to Krimml. There is a bus stop in the middle of Krimml village, steps from our hotel.
The first day of biking were delightful. The hotel in Sell am See was beyond our expectations.
The second day of biking started well but we encountered a long section of closed trail. We were in a narrow valley with little development. The only parallel path was a shoulder-less two-lane highway with plenty of high-speed traffic, not an acceptable bike route. Trees and brush had been trimmed along the nice paved bike path recently. All the slash had been left on the path, for 2 or 3 days from its appearance. We picked our way through the mess for maybe a couple kilometers. Then we came to a section with blown down trees obstructing the path, another ½ to 1 Km. Getting through this required some bushwhacking with the heavy e-bikes. Not fun.
Day three of biking was fine until we came to a flooded underpass on the outskirts of Salzburg. We needed to cross the A1 highway to get to Salzburg. A bad storm a few days before had caused numerous problems across Austria. We did find an alternate route but advance knowledge would have saved us a few Km of pedaling.
Day 4, however, brought us to highway biking. As we approached the village of St. Radegund we were directed onto a busy, shoulder-less two-lane road for a steep ascent of a kilometer or more. It was a strenuous ride even with the e-bikes. Your web sites offers this description of the tour:
“The tour route is mainly on dedicated bicycle paths (about 80% of the time). The remainder of the tour is on quiet roads and dirt or gravel roads. This tour is suitable for families with children.”
This stretch alone disqualifies the tour as a family-safe route. The experience continues:
A short distance beyond the scary hill climb is a 5.2 Km stretch of riding on the same road. The tour map shows this section as a bike path on the side of the road pavement. The “bike path” in this area is about 18” wide, separated from the high-speed traffic by a 4” wide white stripe. Narrative direction for this day’s route were not helpful, signage was poor, the “pink” house referred to is now yellow.
The unpleasant day was capped by a steep climb to the hotel in Burghausen. Pushing a heavy e-bike up a hill doesn’t work! You need to pedal it up so that it assists with its own heavy weight.
Day 5 brought us to Bad Fussing. This day was mostly uneventful. Directions to the hotel in Bad Fussing were vague, calling for riding 4 Km on a busy road with no shoulder. Instead, we found a bike path at the German side of the bridge that led right in to downtown Bad Fussing. The directions should include this route. Plan your day to allow an hour or two at one of the baths, you will be glad you did!
Day 6 was uneventful, mainly along the Inn River to Passau.
One e-bike problem: the rear disc brake on one of the 4 bikes was useless, apparently the brake pads were worn away (bikes had coaster brakes too). In all other respects bikes were fine. Battery capacity was generous. I think the lowest reserve at the end of any day for any of us was 50%.
An otherwise delightful trip was marred by surprise bike path closures and stretches of unsafe highway biking. This is not for children. The scenery was awe inspiring. Hotels were good to excellent. E-bikes were good except for one problem that didn’t spoil the trip.
We would have wished for more current information on bike path conditions from the local partner. We provided reports to them of closed paths as we encountered them.
Your tour description misrepresents the conditions of the route. We would not have booked the trip if had been accurately described. SHOW MORE- What was the date of your tour?
- Sept 16, 2024
- How many tours have you completed?
- about ten
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- Somewhat harder
- Do you recommend this tour?
- No
- Countries included in this tour?
- Austria, Germany
BikeTours.com staff reply from jan
Thank you for your business and detailed feedback. Unfortunately the storm that hit your area during your vacation impacted 1000s of folks which resulted in the on the ground teams being totally overwhelmed. Unfortunately we cannot control mother nature. That said, thank you for traveling with us and we hope to see you again!
- ★★★★★ Marcie Bushnelll
So many amazing places, so little time . . .
Dolomites to Trieste via Lake Bled at the Foot of the Julian Alps
Equipped with e-bikes, two panniers, one handlebar bag, a bike lock and a repair kit, we were ready to leave Toblach and head east. We had previously biked from Toblach to Lienz, so decided to take the train from San Candido to Lienz to save some mileage. The train in San Candido had steep narrow steps which we had to muscle the heavy e-bikes over, but in Lienz, the entry/departure is flat with the quais. From there is was a very pleasant ride to Oberdrauburg. Dinner at the Hotel Post was good (we were no longer on the dinner included plan) and bike storage was always in a covered area with outlets to charge the e-bikes (we carried the chargers in our panniers). The next morning we took a local bus (at the Oberdrauburg train/bus station) to the summit of the Gailberg Pass. From the bus window, I was glad we avoided the 7 km (4.2 miles) steep hairpin turn highway as it snaked it way to the summit. Arrived at Feistritz an der Gail at another Post Hotel where we enjoyed dinner and a good rest.
The next day we entered Slovenia and were pleasantly surprised at the quality of the bike paths, signage and bike refreshment places along the path. Again we opted to take the train from Jesenice to Bled to avoid some steep ascents, BUT the Slovenian regional trains are a sight to behold. Heavily graffitied and "vintage," we were thankful a young German exchange student helped us muscle the two e-bikes into an empty compartment at the back of the three wagon train. We purchased tickets for the ebikes on board (believe me when I say the trains may be old, but the ticket collectors are there for every single kilometer to collect bike fees, etc). Easier to get the bikes off than on, so when we arrived at Bled Jezero, we were relieved.
Cannot say enough good things about the Hotel Park and Bled. We opted for TWO nights and I would highly recommend consideration of same. Bled is just too beautiful to spend one short night. We reserved a wine tasting at a local restaurant (a ten minute walk from Hotel Park) and had reserved spots for the Vintgar Gorge the next morning. Easy to take the bikes to the entrance of Vintgar Gorge (again free parking). The 1 ½ hour hike in the Gorge is breath taking, but the 2 hour steep hike out (we didn't take a shuttle this time), was challenging.
Plans change and the train transfer turned into local partner taking the bikes/panniers/handlebar bag on a bike trailer and giving us tickets to a regional bus with instructions to get off at another train station 1+ hours away. Fortunately the train conductor was on the bus and assured us which station it was (everybody got off). Another couple got off two stops before us and a local rep made sure we gave him our luggage at that point. We got off at Kanal ob Soci for our ride into Gradisca d'Isonzo. We were high above the canal and it's a very industrialized zone. Perhaps the least scenic of all the days so far. At one point there was a ! sign with steps!! What? Yes, just around the corner was a series of steps and ramps to ascend a steep part of the trail. Figured out walk assist and managed to get the bikes up and over. That was a surprise.
There was some kind of HUGE market/celebration in progress with street blockages, tents, supply vans, etc. choking the streets of Gorizia. We counted ourselves lucky to have found our way out of this rather large metro area. Spent the night at Hotel Franz in Gradisca d'Isonzo and enjoyed a lovely meal at the hotel (seemed to be a local favorite).
Last day from Gradisca d'Isonzo was along the Coast highway. Had read reviews about traffic and such, but the bike lane was wide and the drivers respectful of cyclists. As we neared Trieste, more cars would be parked in the bike lanes, but we managed without incident. Upon arrival at the Trieste Centrale train station, we returned our bikes to a nearby partner location, emptied our panniers/handlebar bag into our backpacks and walked to our hotel near Trieste's pedestrian zone. Such a lively place come 7 p.m. Dined in a terrace cafe, had gelato, did some shopping and called it a successful tour. Thank you, Biketours.com for a great experience. SHOW MORE
- ★★★★★ Karen Canon
Continuing our Danube Journey
Prague-Vienna-Bratislava-Budapest
The route took us through four countries and four capital cities. We planned in several rest days which were well needed as the first part of the trio through Czech Republic and Austria were challenging! The route along the Danube would have been fantastic but unfortunately Storm Boris flooded the whole region, making biking the path impassable. The tour company did a good job of keeping us informed of route conditions (we were on a self-guided tour) and helping to arrange alternate transportation when biking was impossible due to heavy rain and flooding.
- What was the date of your tour?
- September 2024
- How many tours have you completed?
- 10
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- Much harder
- Do you recommend this tour?
- Yes
- Countries included in this tour?
- Austria, Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovakia
- ★★★★★ Anne Temple
Beautiful but given bike with defective wheel and inadequate spares/pump
Innsbruck to Salzburg: Through the Alps Along River Cycle Trails
The ride is beautiful, hotels very comfortable with pleasant employees and great breakfast. Our rating would be higher except for our experience with one bike and the repair kit provided by the operator in Innsbruck. Also, if you are not familiar with Garmin, be sure you have a good alternative.
We had two flats in the same place on the inner seam of the back tire. We understand that tire changes were our responsibility and were prepared to handle them. We were provided with only one spare, no co2 cartridge because the operator was out of the attachment needed to use them, and a small inefficient pump. The advice given to us if we were to get a flat was to change the tire, pump it up as best we could with the inefficient pump and then go to a service station where we could then fill the tire up to its required PSI. This is a rural route with few service stations and much time was wasted.
The morning after the first flat we spent a couple of hours locating a bike shop that was open (tried 3) that had the right size spares. In addition we purchased a better pump which we were very glad to have with the second flat. That second flat occurred on the ride to Lofer. A biker who helped us noted that we didn’t have enough tread (profile) on the tires and we were lucky we hadn’t had rain.
Helmut was unable to provide a different bike for the last leg into Salzburg. Rather than spending the time finding a new back tire to buy and thus getting a much later start that we were comfortable with, we elected to take transport to Salzburg.
A special thanks to Helmut for his responsiveness and assistance.
- What was the date of your tour?
- September 2024
- Countries included in this tour?
- Austria
- ★★★★★ Mary Eaman
Everything was Perfect!
Dolomites to Trieste via Lake Bled at the Foot of the Julian Alps
The itinerary was varied and beautiful, the hotels were charming and clean, the bikes were great, the support both pre trip and during the trip was fabulous. One of the best vacations ever. Thank you!
- ★★★★★ Pierre C.
nice trip but some advance planning is required
Lake Constance Classic (11-nights)
Hotels and views were excellent for the most part. A couple of things to note: 1. Bikes are heavy duty and therefore very heavy, we upgraded to e-bikes 3 days into the trip, that was a big help. 2. Trails are not well marked, we met a few different groups during our tour of the lake and everyone was complaining about the written directions and even the gps tracking. Be prepared to have to stop, take an assessment and even back track a few times a day.
Crucial items if you want to use GPS tracking; buy a phone holder that can attach your phone to the bike before leaving on the trip, otherwise you will have major issues setting up your phone so you can see it properly (I tucked mine into the front basket which had a protective transparent cover, however with the glare, it was hard to read). Also, make sure that you bring a backup battery pack as 2 -3 hours of tracking and your phone will be dead.
Be prepared to bike some busy roads and gravel roads. One hotel (Bergenz) was located in a residential neighbourhood, there was ooe other restaurants within 600 meters, the rest were in town, 1.5 km away. Although the hotel restaurant was very nice, we spent more on dinner than we anticipated. Note that in St. Gallen almost all businesses and restaurants are closed on Sunday and many are also closed on Monday. Choices for meals and things to do become scarce if you are there during that time.
Finally, be prepared to spend lots of money in Switzerland $50CAD hamburgers in a sit down restaurant seems to be the norm, not for the faint of heart. If you want to save some money I suggest flying into Germany before and after, accommodations and meals will be a lot cheaper (we spent 3 days inSwitzerland before and three days after, we figure that those 6 days cost us at least an extra $1K compared to what Germany prices would have been).
- What was the date of your tour?
- Sept 2024
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- Somewhat harder
- Who is this tour suitable for?
- First-time bike tourists
- Do you recommend this tour?
- Yes
- Countries included in this tour?
- Austria, Germany, Switzerland
- ★★★★★ Ann Abeles
A beautiful and mind expanding tour around Lake constance
Lake Constance Classic (11-nights)
This tour brought one through beautiful scenery and past interesting sites around Lake Constance. The distances for each day's travel were short enough to allow one to visits sites along the way as well as churches and museums in the destination towns.
- What was the date of your tour?
- September 12-24, 2024
- How many tours have you completed?
- More than 20
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- As expected
- Who is this tour suitable for?
- First-time bike tourists, Solo travelers, Families with teens
- Do you recommend this tour?
- Yes
- Countries included in this tour?
- Austria, Germany, Switzerland
- ★★★★★ Anne Wood
Four years in the making
Prague to Vienna via Cesky Krumlov
Our group planned a self guided tour from Prague to Budapest for April, 2020. It was cancelled due to Covid. In September, 2024, we did an abbreviated Prague to Vienna self guided tour. It was well worth the wait even though Boris shut down several days of biking. The Czech Republic is a biking wonderland.
- What was the date of your tour?
- September 2024
- How many tours have you completed?
- 12
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- As expected
- Who is this tour suitable for?
- First-time bike tourists, Solo travelers, Families with teens
- Do you recommend this tour?
- Yes
- Countries included in this tour?
- Austria, Czech Republic
- ★★★★★ Ann Darby
An adventure
Salzburg Lakes Tour: Around the Lakes within the Foothills of the Alps
Great trip, well planned, great accommodations and support, can't beat the location! Only a challenge was on day it rained!
- What was the date of your tour?
- Sept. 2024
- How many tours have you completed?
- 0
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- Somewhat harder
- Who is this tour suitable for?
- First-time bike tourists, Solo travelers, Families with teens
- Do you recommend this tour?
- Yes
- Countries included in this tour?
- Austria
- ★★★★★ Eric Cole
Great time
Classic Vienna Bike Tour
Very pleasant and casual way to see the city. The pace was slow with many stops to discuss sights and history. The guide was great - tolerant and enthusiastic.
- ★★★★★ JP and Shannon
First Bike Trip for us. Was wonderful.
Innsbruck to Salzburg: Through the Alps Along River Cycle Trails
We loved Austria and biking on this route was great. The route is very well designed. We took traditional bikes and it was no problem at all. We wished it could have lasted longer with another segment. We were very lucky with the weather in September as it was sunny our entire journey but had rain when we arrived and on the day we departed.
Bike rental shop, equipment and all hotels were top notch!
- Countries included in this tour?
- Austria
- ★★★★★ Carol Bly
Not what hoped for. Poor directions. Unsafe routes and not well marked.
Tauern Bike Path (Krimml-Passau)
Loved quiet rides in country and thru villages but dangerous conditions were not marked due to recent storms. We should have been notified and got onto dangerous routes.
- What was the date of your tour?
- September 2024
- How many tours have you completed?
- 1
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- Somewhat harder
- Do you recommend this tour?
- No
- Countries included in this tour?
- Austria, Germany
BikeTours.com staff reply from jan
Thank you for your feedback, and we sincerely apologize for the disruptions you experienced during your trip. The recent 100-year storm was an unprecedented event that affected thousands of travelers across the region, and we regret that it impacted your adventure.
We always strive to provide the best experience possible, and it is disheartening when factors beyond our control prevent us from doing so. Please know that our team worked tirelessly to ensure the safety and well-being of all our guests during this unexpected situation.
Thanks for your business and we hope you'll travel with us again.
Jan
- ★★★★★ PAULINE MOENCH
TRIP OF DREAMS THAT FELL FAR SHORT
Danube Delights: Biking through Four Countries
Not much to say here since our boat never left the dock. Our host, Lesley, was a peach and completely competent. If not for him, we would have left on day two. My biggest disappointment was only having bus tours to Budapest and Bratislava. I would have appreciated a little creativity added in to take us to a couple more places. The tour people were awful with their communication, telling us for three days in a row that we might leave when we knew we were going nowhere. The crew was great, the food was not the greatest, but no complaints. I have a special diet that they were over the top accommodating of. You drastically need to improve your beverage packages—not enough provided for the $$$ we paid up front. 498 euros for the two of us when we wound up spending most of our day off the boat was out of line. If we had been cycling every day, I would not have purchased a package, considering you did not include what are everyday cocktails in the USA, like Manhattans.
For the rooms, rather than having that dopey pull-out at the end of the bed, leave that area under the bed open for luggage storage. Also, get rid of the carpet. Beds were very comfortable. We would have liked to have left our sliding door open a bit. Some kind of stop at the base so they can be open six or eight inches would have been appreciated. I’m sure the daily bike routes would have been great if we had been able to utilize them.
- What was the date of your tour?
- SEPT 2024
- How many tours have you completed?
- 0
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- Somewhat easier
- Who is this tour suitable for?
- First-time bike tourists, Solo travelers
- Do you recommend this tour?
- Yes
- Countries included in this tour?
- Austria, Germany, Hungary, Slovakia
BikeTours.com staff reply from jan
The epic storm that hit during your trip effected 100s of our guests. The people on the ground were left in a very very difficult situation and we apologize for any inconvenience this caused. Unfortunately we cannot control the weather. Thanks for your business and we hope you travel with us again.
- ★★★★★ Kristin Reese
First time to Europe
Danube Delights: Biking through Four Countries
Only reason this wasn’t a 5 star rating is because of the crazy flooding. Despite the challenges Leslie and crew did an AMAZING job coming up with fun things for the group to do. The crew was super helpful, and polite. I truly felt spoiled. Thank you for making my first boat tour and first time in Europe a great experience.
- ★★★★★ Boris Erlank
Despite terrible weather and floods, we had a good time
Danube Delights: Biking through Four Countries
Given the effects of climate change, I think the local operators, will have to work on contingency plans for a good customer experience when the weather is bad. We sat in Passau for 4 of the 7 days and then managed to sail as far as Linz. No Vienna, no Bratislava, no Budapest.
We managed to have two days of cycling which were great. The cruise director, Juergen, went out of his way to come up with alternatives on the fly. The food was excellent, the staff friendly, and the accommodations very good. But, mainly due to weather, this was a far cry from the dream holiday we had hoped for.
- ★★★★★ Barbara Dickson
Girls on Bikes
Lake Constance Classic (11-nights)
The 6 of us really enjoyed our trip. We downloaded the KoMoot App for navigation and so glad we did. The paper instructions were much more difficult to follow and the digital instructions worked perfectly. The hotels were quite nice and the luggage went like clockwork. It was a great trip.
- Countries included in this tour?
- Austria, Germany, Switzerland
- ★★★★★ MM
Flood Trip
Danube Delights: Biking through Four Countries
We were bussed from Passau to Vienna to meet the boat, which never left port for the week due to flooding. All week we were told their was a possibility of leaving port, so there were days we had to stay around the boat to wait for details, which hampered our daily plans. It would have been better to just tell us up front we would be there all week, so our plans for the day could be made.
The cruise director did everything he could to make the trip memorable, which is was, with the constraints he had.
Breakfast's were fabulous, lunches provided were good! Dinners were a little lacking, but adequate. Drinks were fine, but more options for daily drink tickets would have been appreciated. The Vivienne was beautiful!
