Austria Bike Tour Reviews page 27
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★★★★★ Dave Carlstrom
On the road again... our third Biketours.com adventure
Lake Constance Classic (11-nights)
Thankfully I’m not unduly worse for wear after almost three weeks and hundreds of kilometers of European cycling… though I did take four tumbles. The most serious (and ignominious) was in an Austrian grocery store parking lot when my pants cuff caught on the pedal and over I went – hard, attracting the immediate attention of several shoppers (“Carnage on lane one”) who with some difficulty got me back on my feet. At first I was pretty sure I’d broken something important, but all limbs are yet attached and seemingly intact… albeit a bit looser.
I pedaled the balance of the day’s distance but at my compatriots’ urging skipped the following day’s segment in favor of bus/train passage to St. Gallen, Switzerland. The next day was a scheduled no biking day so I had two days to recover, sorta. The next day – our last of actual cycling – with some anxiety I got back on my trusty velocipede and, sure enough, one click later fell again… though this time comparatively softly albeit in front of a bus. I made it the remaining 45K to destination without further incident.
Our merry band included Seattleites Curt and Brenda Burnett, Gerry Champagne, and friends until recently from Fairbanks Ron and Jeanine Woolf. Fine folks all, we really did have a good time together.
Our odyssey began with six days at a rental house in Eguisheim, France, followed by an eleven day clockwise circumnavigation of Lake Constance that touched Germany, Austria, and Switzerland.
Here are a few day-by-day snippets of my adventure:
Sunday, April 30th. Aloft en route to Paris Delta served the worst dinner I’ve ever ingested on an international flight: the “beef” entre was the consistency of spam, reminiscent of the mystery meat of junior high cafeteria days, and dished out in a biodegradable cardboard clamshell.
Monday, May 1st. Having hobbled off the plane I was semi-involuntarily consigned to a wheelchair for the lengthy transfer to the airport train station. Manly hombre that I am, I dared not disclose to the friendly pusher that I had come to Europe for three weeks of cycling. Arrived Colmar, in Alsace, just before midnight via a 180 MPH TGV with a transfer in Strasbourg and, coincidentally, six minutes prior to the Woolfs’ arrival. Settled into our very nice rental house.
Tuesday, May 2nd - Thursday, May 4th. Daily e-bike excursions to nearby picture-perfect towns with eat-in dinners crafted by chefs Burnett and Woolf. Imbibed copious amouints of wine, certainly did our part for the local viticulture industry.
I developed a serious case of ABC – Asymmetrical Butt Chafing – which was ameliorated by liberal bi-daily nether regions applications of Bag Balm – my personal favorite posterior palliative, see https://bagbalm.com/. SHOW MORE
Friday, May 5th. Hung out at the house, pas mal.
Saturday, May 6th. Day trip with Burnetts to the tourist mecca of Colmar where, alas and alack, Curt was pickpocketed! Charge and debit card cancellations ensued, not good.
Sunday, May 7th. Auto trip to a German mountain hiking lodge, an intermediate stop on our way to Konstantz, the starting and ending point of our main event circumnavigation of the eponymous lake.
Monday, May 8th. Had to beat feet to get Burnetts’ rental car back by a 10:30 am deadline… made it with a full five minutes to spare. Checked in at the stunning four star Hotel Halm where the breakfast buffet includes champagne and cheesecake. Woolfs arrived by train, Gerry direct from Seattle via Zurich. Got our e-bikes.
Tuesday, May 9th. Pedaled forty some K to Gailingen, a bit of a shakedown cruise. Great scenery and picture postcard-worthy medieval villages. Adequate lodging, but not a Hotel Halm.
Wednesday, May 10th. Roundtrip to Rhine Falls, Europe’s largest. Second night in Gailingen, first of nearly nightly self-catered hotel room team happy hours.
On previous European bike tours we’ve grumbled about route instructions encrypted by by non-native English speakers. This time the tour operator-provided guidebook was completely devoid of route guidance… we were on our own, taking turns as Google Maps-assisted trail breaking pathfinders with plenty of navigational errors. But we always (eventually) got to where we were going.
Thursday, May 11th. Return to Konstanz for a Hotel Halm reprise. Got soaked during the last couple clicks of the day’s ride.
Friday, May 12th. To Radolfzell via Mainau Island, the latter a facsimile of sorts of Butchart Gardens.
Saturday, May 13th. A mere sixteen K to Ludwigshafen.
Sunday, May 14th. Forty K to Friedrichshafen, home of the Zeppelin Museum to which I made a solo afternoon excursion via city buses. Turns out the Hindenberg was 245 meters from stem to stern, almost three football fields.
Monday, May 15th. Day of my aforementioned parking lot tumble. Overnight in Bregnz, Austria. I was very sore, somewhat bruised, had marginal repose.
Tuesday, May 16th. Having shipped my bike with the luggage I patronized buses and trains to our next destination, St. Gallen, Switzerland. As it happened today was Jeanine’s turn to tumble, hard, while passing a path-blocking truck.
Wednesday, May 17th. Today was a scheduled non-cycling day so while others toured about (monastery, waterfalls chocolate factory, shopping) I rested my bruised corpus in the hope that I might be sufficiently healed for the morrow’s last lap back to Konstanz.
Thursday, May 18th. 14K of almost continuous downhill on the 46 K journey back to our starting point. Celebratory dinner, a bit melancholy to be soon parting ways.
Friday, May 19th. Train to Zurich for a twelve hour Swissair flight to San Francisco and a connection home to Seattle.
Great trip, a good time had by all (despite bumps and bruises).
D. Carlstrom. May, 2023
SHOW LESS- Countries included in this tour?
- Austria, Germany, Switzerland
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★★★★★ Julane Anderson
One of our favorite bike tours!
Lake Constance Classic (11-nights)
We've been on many bike tours in Europe and this tour has it all: excellent, centrally located hotels; beautiful scenic routes; variety of activities and experiences included in the price (gondola cable car ride, three museums, cog railway trip, boat trip, bus tickets provided by the hotels); and reliable bikes--we used "acoustic" rather than electric bikes and only had to walk two short hills. The tour company has gone above and beyond to make this tour a memorable and interesting one.
A cyclist doing a self guided tour for the first time should be confident about riding with (rare) city traffic and navigation; we were glad that we had downloaded the GPX tracks before we left the States.- What was the date of your tour?
- mid-September, 2023
- How many tours have you completed?
- 12+
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- As expected
- Who is this tour suitable for?
- Families with teens
- Do you recommend this tour?
- Yes
- Countries included in this tour?
- Austria, Germany, Switzerland
-
★★★★★ Martha Scott
Perfect trip!!!
Lake Constance Classic (11-nights)
My husband and I have been wanting to do this cycle tour for 10 years, and finally were able to do it. We chose e-bikes, and it was super enjoyable. There are so many things to see and do along the way. We were constantly exploring and learning new things. And the scenery, beauty, and fresh food if the area is unparalleled!
- What was the date of your tour?
- September 2024
- 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
-
★★★★★ 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
-
★★★★★ 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
-
★★★★★ Christine Ritson
Fabulous trip!
Lake Constance Classic (11-nights)
It was a great way to travel to see the beautiful country side and small towns with friends. The accommodations and breakfasts were always good. The only issue we had being a self guided tour was the information given in the guide book was sometimes not clear and found ourselves lost a few times. We did not receive the gps track. Luckily we had some data on our phones and good navigators. Overall a fabulous trip!
- What was the date of your tour?
- September 2024
- How many tours have you completed?
- 2
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- Somewhat easier
- Who is this tour suitable for?
- Families with teens
- Do you recommend this tour?
- Yes
- Countries included in this tour?
- Austria, Germany, Switzerland
-
★★★★★ Jeff R
Adventure Around the Lake
Lake Constance Classic (11-nights)
A perfect way to spend 10 or so days biking. There is so much to see on this mostly bike trail ride. If you are looking for a relaxing trip with things to see each day, this is the one. A little research on each of the towns you stay will reward you with some fun things to see. Most of all, plenty of Benches to stop and take in the sites around you.
- What was the date of your tour?
- April 2025
- How many tours have you completed?
- 14
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- As expected
- Who is this tour suitable for?
- First-time bike tourists, Solo travelers, Families with teens, Families with young kids
- Do you recommend this tour?
- Yes
- Countries included in this tour?
- Austria, Germany, Switzerland
-
★★★★★ Janet Lee
Exceeded expectations!
Lake Constance Classic (11-nights)
Our group of 4 opted for the self guided tour. The e-bikes were great and we are happy we chose them even though we are all able-bodied cyclists. There are a few hills where the e-bike made the trip much more enjoyable and they are smooth pedaling for flat terrain. The hotels were all charming and very convenient to the towns. Breakfasts were always amazing. The only downside was lack of directions to and from the hotels to the daily route. We got lost and back tracked often. Wish there were simple written instructions as the maps provided didn’t give any turn by turn instructions.
- Countries included in this tour?
- Austria, Germany, Switzerland
-
★★★★★ Andy
Trip of a lifetime
Lake Constance Classic (11-nights)
This bike tour was amazing. Glad we upgraded to the e bikes. We are both in excellent shape but felt that the e bikes made the trip so enjoyable. The hotels and staff were perfect. Bikes very easy to ride
- What was the date of your tour?
- May 2025
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- As expected
- Who is this tour suitable for?
- First-time bike tourists
- Countries included in this tour?
- Austria, Germany, Switzerland
-
★★★★★ Jim Harvey
Great Time at Lake Constance
Lake Constance Classic (11-nights)
Overall, I was very impressed with the logistical planning, layout, timing of the bike trip around Lake Constance. You folks helped us out when one of the riders who was 86 years old lost his bike computer. I was able to call radwig before the office closed and they brought a replacement out with the bags the next morning.
The hotels were nice, some of the rooms were painfully small, but they were clean, the owners and operators were friendly, spoke English and were very helpful in suggesting good places to eat, etc.
We did have an issue with the Vouchers for the museum in Konstanz itself, as the desk clerks wouldn't honor the admission and wanted us to fork over more money. Two of us simply split after 20 minutes of non-responsiveness. The other museums and experiences were wonderful.
One STRONG suggestion I have is that the ride from Lindau to St. Gallen with the train to Gais really created a problem. First, the book said to follow the signs to the train. Well, I couldn't find any signs, and I had ridden ahead so I basically strolled through the old section of Altstatten and stumbled across the train by accident. I lucked out and got on a train after 15 minutes (good thing since the next one wasn't for an hour), and rode the section from Gais to St. Gallen. I was the only one who completed that day's ride...the others got so lost and had some problems that they simply took the train from Altstatten to St. Gallen. The real issue, however, is that there would have been a real chance of someone getting seriously hurt riding down into Appenzell...I'm a pretty experienced rider...but some of the others would have probably fallen. So, I would recommend having an alternative route (other than simply taking the train) so the more advanced, experienced riders could do the trip through the Alps...without risking an accident on some of those steep downhill rides.
Finally, we had issues with the Kamoot vs. Google Maps directions. Kamoot is VERY hard to configure and understand how to read. Google Maps with the bike directions was accurate. One thing I like about Google Maps is that you could choose routes that were less hilly, etc. The fact that you suggest Kamoot is not something I recommend following. I finally got to the point of following Google Maps since those who were following Kamoot seemed far more likely to get lost or had trouble reading the app's directions.
- What was the date of your tour?
- October of 2025
- How many tours have you completed?
- Several
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- Much easier
- Who is this tour suitable for?
- First-time bike tourists, Solo travelers, Families with teens, Families with young kids
- Do you recommend this tour?
- Yes
- Countries included in this tour?
- Austria, Germany, Switzerland
-
★★★★★ William Edward
A bucket list adventure
Lake Constance Classic (11-nights)
The tour was great. I wish that we had a gps with us. There should be an alternate route to St Gallen for less experienced riders. Finding the cog railroad was hard and the downhill decent was challenging for our weaker riders.
- What was the date of your tour?
- October 2025
- How many tours have you completed?
- 1
- 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, Germany, Switzerland
-
★★★★★ Timr
Great Long Tour of Czechia, Slovakia, Austria and Hungary
Prague-Vienna-Bratislava-Budapest
We had never been to this part of the world but were intrigued by the great cities of Prague, Vienna and Budapest as well as by the innumerable castles, chateaus, and charming small towns. We were not disappointed. Nearly 3 weeks of cycling the area satisfied exceeded our expectations. As we self-guided, we had to be ever vigilant with navigation, but the Garmin never failed to deliver (although some unexpected road construction sometimes required creative navigation). Hotels were all in the range of good to excellent. Tour provider CZ Tours was always responsive to our concerns and always made sure luggage and other transfers happened in a timely way. Very happy with this excellent adventure.
- What was the date of your tour?
- September 18-October 9, 2019
- How many tours have you completed?
- 7
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- Somewhat harder
- Do you recommend this tour?
- Yes
- Countries included in this tour?
- Austria, Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovakia
-
★★★★★ Htim
Historic Cities,Castles and Countryside
Prague-Vienna-Bratislava-Budapest
Delightful and sometimes challenging tour through southern Chechia, Austria, Slovakia and Hungary. Good to excellent accommodations. Many old castles, chateaus, and classic walled medieval towns made for an enchanting experience. The tour provider was excellent. The routes were interesting and sometimes challenging. Most cycling was on paved roads but there were several stretches of unsaved roads and even trails. Navigation with the Garmin unit provided proved generally very good, but some independent navigation skills were sometimes needed, such as when there were unexpected detours for construction. Bicycles were adequate.
- What was the date of your tour?
- September to October 2019
- How many tours have you completed?
- 12
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- As expected
- Who is this tour suitable for?
- Solo travelers, Families with teens
- Do you recommend this tour?
- Yes
- Countries included in this tour?
- Austria, Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovakia
-
★★★★★ Maria
What an adventure!
Prague to Vienna via Cesky Krumlov
What a gorgeous country the Czech Republic is. It was fantastic cycling through this incredibly varied and lush countryside with 7 friends. Navigating had it's challenges and we got lost daily as sometimes the directions were off but our crew of navigators prevailed and got us to our final destination every day where we knew the beer would be cold and well deserved! There were lots of hills and we learned to love each and every one. We had some long hot days. Getting into town at days end and getting out of town the next morning were always challenging. Better signage would have made this easier. We used a lot of hand signals and met so many lovely people willing to stop and try to help us find our way. The terrain varies from beautiful wide shaded asphalt bike paths through national parks to narrow roads also used by cars to farmer's fields to gravel pathways. The combo mountain bike/road bike provided is ideal for this terrain. On the downside there was no real orientation once we arrived in Cesky Krumlov to understand the e-bikes some had or the GPS. We would have appreciated checking out the equipment before starting the tour so that we had the right size bike for each cyclist. Ave Tours did work closely with us to get us the right equipment eventually. Getting picked up in Mistelbach was the way to go rather than trying to cycle into Vienna. All in all it was an outstanding experience and adventure. It was really to our benefit to have experienced cyclists who'd been on previous cycling trips before to help us navigate our way through the country. I loved every minute of it. It was challenging but it is Level 3. Such an accomplishment. I think we are all really proud of ourselves! Thank you Bike Tours! Great memories have been made by the Czech Mates!
- What was the date of your tour?
- June 12-20
- How many tours have you completed?
- 3
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- Somewhat harder
- Do you recommend this tour?
- Yes
- Countries included in this tour?
- Austria, Czech Republic
-
★★★★★ Kathy B
An excellent adventure!
Prague to Vienna via Cesky Krumlov
This was my first bike trip and I can't wait to do it again. Our guides were enthusiastic and fun and our driver could not have been more helpful transporting luggage, providing snacks and water at stops, and keeping our bikes tuned up.
We rode through picturesque villages, fairy-tale forests, along rivers and lakes, and up and down hills with eye-popping views and sweeping vistas of farmland, vineyards, and distant highlands. We saw numerous castles dating from the 13th to the 19th century and toured several of them. We climbed on/up WWII military bunkers and anti-tank fortifications and a soviet era watch tower. Our guides were very knowledgeable and provided historical context for all of it.
The hills were more demanding than most of our group anticipated and there was some challenging terrain, but with the support of our guides and driver everyone rode all day even though the van was available for breaks. However I do recommend e-bikes if you have not done much riding. About half of our group did and they were happy with their choice.
The accommodations were basic but comfortable and ran the gamut as far as architecture and design. We enjoyed the local cuisine, wine, and I think the best beer anywhere!
Prague is magical and Vienna is filled with music and art, but I really loved getting off the beaten track in between. If you are looking for adventure, culture, and a bit of a challenge, you will love this trip.- What was the date of your tour?
- September 2018
- How many tours have you completed?
- none
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- Somewhat harder
- 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?
- Austria, Czech Republic
-
★★★★★ Harvey Wilds
Wonderful tour of Czech and Austrian countryside
Prague to Vienna via Cesky Krumlov
My wife and I had an excellent time on our self guided tour. The accomodations and logistics were perfect! We are definitely planning our next trip already.
- Countries included in this tour?
- Austria, Czech Republic
-
★★★★★ Glen E.
a nice way to see authentic Czechia
Prague to Vienna via Cesky Krumlov
I enjoyed it! I got what I view as an authentic look at the Czech landscape with a Czech guide. Jitka took us to obscure places that I would have never found on my own, and even with a GPS, I wouldn't have known the significance of some places without her there to describe them. Henry was great as a driver and rest stop provider, etc, and went above-and-beyond the call of duty, even finding obscure screws when my bike broke down in a small town of 800 people. (Note, I was riding my own bike; from what I saw with the other people, they had no problems with the rental bikes.)
We had a group of 6 people + ride leader + driver. Everyone was easy to get along with.
The one thing that surprised me about the trip was that we all rode together; there was no breaking up into different groups based on riding speeds (as I have experienced on other bicycle tours I have done). There were times when I would have liked to go a little faster. Occasionally, I did get ahead of the group and would wait in the next town or when we were coming to a turn. I would just say, this is a trip to see the Czech countryside, not to race and finish the riding day fast. But overall, it wasn't a big problem and I enjoyed the tour.
The tour was about 35-40 miles per day and was fairly hilly. It wasn't monstrously hilly, but every day except one had a few significant climbs. Cyclists either need to be accustomed to hill-climbing, or else rent an e-bike. Our group was split half-and-half between normal bikes and e-bikes. The e-bike people sometimes tried to make less use of the "e" part, but they had the security of knowing they could turn up the dial and go up any hill easily if they wanted to.
One comfort I was missing from the USA was air conditioning in the hotels. Most days weren't that hot (avg highs were low 20s Celsius, though a couple days got into the high 20s, maybe even 30); but even so, in the evenings it can be stuffy and a bit humid in a hotel room. 1 or 2 hotels had AC, 1 or 2 had a room fan, and the other 4 or so were, just open a window. I don't fault the bike tour for a lack of hotel AC, I think most hotels in Czechia are that way.
- What was the date of your tour?
- June 2024
- How many tours have you completed?
- about 60
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- As expected
- Who is this tour suitable for?
- First-time bike tourists, Solo travelers
- Do you recommend this tour?
- Yes
- Countries included in this tour?
- Austria, Czech Republic
-
★★★★★ 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
-
★★★★★ Joe M.
Off the beaten track.
Prague to Vienna via Cesky Krumlov
Great rural scenery, uncrowded roads, quaint historic towns. Nice itenerary.
- Countries included in this tour?
- Austria, Czech Republic
-
★★★★★ Whereisrick
Absolutely Fantastic time!
Salzburg Lakes Tour: Around the Lakes within the Foothills of the Alps
We just finished the ten lakes tour in June, 2016 and had the time of our life. Bike Tours Direct set us up with a local tour provider and delivered everything we hoped for. We opted for the eBikes and those are way too cool. These guys took our luggage from Gasthaus to Gasthaus (okay - inn to inn) and it was sure nice to arrive the next location and find our luggage waiting for us. Our tour took us through some amazing countryside, farms and especially the lakes. We would get to small villages in mid afternoon (i.e. - no tourists!), enjoy a local meal and head off to our next location in the morning. All the lodgings were fantastic with very friendly inn keepers. We will do this again and we will use Bike Tours Direct.
- What was the date of your tour?
- June, 2016
- How many tours have you completed?
- This was our first.
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- Somewhat easier
- Who is this tour suitable for?
- First-time bike tourists, Families with teens
- Do you recommend this tour?
- Yes
- Countries included in this tour?
- Austria
