Bike & Hotel Tour Reviews page 65
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- ★★★★★ Kim Hopkins
Simply Magical!!
Three Lakes Tour: From Geneva to Annecy
It's difficult to find words to adequately describe this bike tour… 'Magical' is the one that comes the closest! We found breathtaking beauty and so much history at every turn on our trip. We couldn’t believe that each day could bring more wonderment than the last. We had to pinch ourselves on a regular basis to make sure we weren’t dreaming. The route was stunningly beautiful with distances of 30-50 miles per day. We upgraded our accommodations on day 3 to A+ and spent the night at Château de la Tour du Puits and would definitely recommend spending the extra money to do this! We would also recommend staying a few extra days in Annecy at the end of the tour. It is a beautiful city and there is much to experience and explore. The tour staff was very helpful and responsive whenever we had questions and communicated with our group via WhatsApp. Our group of 4 rented 2 gravel bikes and 2 ebikes. This was a great combination for us that allowed our group to keep the same pace. We are already brainstorming our next European bike tour!
- What was the date of your tour?
- October 3-6, 2022
- How many tours have you completed?
- This was my first
- 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?
- France, Switzerland
- ★★★★★ Becky Foster
Loire Valley - Bike Trip you Want to Take!
Loire Valley Châteaux & Gardens Tour
This was a great choice for a bike trip! The roads are narrow and beautiful, but the drivers in France are incredibly patient. Each day we saw one or two chateaux. They are all quite different from one another, so I loved visiting every one! Our guide, Sam, was fantastic. He was personable and encouraged each of us in the way we needed. We upgraded to two chateaux and I would highly recommend doing that.
- What was the date of your tour?
- Sept/Oct 2022
- How many tours have you completed?
- 3
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- Somewhat easier
- Do you recommend this tour?
- Yes
- Countries included in this tour?
- France
- ★★★★★ SALLY ROTH
Great mix of countryside villages, rolling hills, and coastal towns
Portugal's Atlantic Coast
The hotels were all comfortable and quiet and convenient to restaurants and sightseeing.
Nuno and Bernardo with Portugal Nature Trails were very helpful in setting us up before the trip and shuttling us at the end and provided interesting information about the areas we were in. I also appreciated the extra accommodation made to collect us and drop us before and after the trip in locations different than the standard trip (collect at Porto airbnb and deliver to Lisbon hotel which saved us travel time)
We were expecting paper maps based on prior trips through biketours and while the app on our smartphones worked for navigation, they made it hard to take photos along the bike trip and to preserve our phone power. It would have been helpful to know in advance so that we could prepare accordingly. Hotels weren't always prepared for charging batteries but we worked it out.
The gps contradicted itself often with confusing left and right turns but the map lines worked.
The only surprise extended climb was heading up to Sintra which was tough even with electric assist but I probably didn't pay close attention.
This is my second biketours trip and I would recommend them wholeheartedly.- What was the date of your tour?
- Sept/Oct 2022
- How many tours have you completed?
- 2 self-guided through biketours and 1 self-guided with campgear coast to coast in US
- 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?
- Portugal
- ★★★★★ Amy Lynch
It was a beautiful trip! Well organized and easy to follow!
Three Lakes Tour: From Geneva to Annecy
It was an amazing vacation. The route was charming, beautiful and somehow more spectacular every day. We had great weather which made for great photos! It was a special way to explore France and love it even more.
- What was the date of your tour?
- October 2023
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- As expected
- Who is this tour suitable for?
- First-time bike tourists
- Do you recommend this tour?
- Yes
- Countries included in this tour?
- France, Switzerland
- ★★★★★ Ellen Hatfield
Great trip!
Loire Valley Châteaux & Gardens Tour
This trip was a great way to explore the Chateaus of the Loire Valley. The trip was over nice roads and was very scenic. We were a returning group with experienced riders, so we had a lot of fun and traveled at a good pace. Our guide, Sam Taylor, really made the trip. He was fun, engaged with us, knew his stuff and can change a tire at a remarkable pace. He is a fantastic guide.
The only thing I would recommend is having the chateau tours included in the tour price. It was a real hassle having to get tickets for a large group at the site. I guess I thought the tickets were included in the tour. We had someone from our group pay for the tickets, but then we had to do a money exchange everyday which was a pain.
I also thought some wine was included but we could get more if we wanted. We paid for- What was the date of your tour?
- Sept 2022
- How many tours have you completed?
- 2
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- As expected
- Do you recommend this tour?
- Yes
- Countries included in this tour?
- France
- ★★★★★ Tonja clark
Best trip ever!
Three Lakes Tour: From Geneva to Annecy
This was a perfect trip! The scenery was amazing, the weather perfect, and the length of the daily rides was very doable.
The entire trip was made easier because of how well it was organized.
I love the self guided, without the hassle of moving our bags from place to place. Annecy is a wonderful city, so I recommend spending extra time there. We returned to Geneva by bus which went very smoothly.
I recommend doing the A+ hotels, you won't want to miss the Chateau; it was a treat. It's beautiful, the staff was incredibly friendly and the food was delicious.- What was the date of your tour?
- October 2022
- How many tours have you completed?
- One
- 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?
- France, Switzerland
- ★★★★★ Amy Lynch
It was a beautiful trip! Well organized and easy to follow!
Three Lakes Tour: From Geneva to Annecy
It was an amazing vacation. The route was charming, beautiful and somehow more spectacular every day. We had great weather which made for great photos! It was a special way to explore France and love it even more.
- What was the date of your tour?
- October 2023
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- As expected
- Who is this tour suitable for?
- First-time bike tourists
- Do you recommend this tour?
- Yes
- Countries included in this tour?
- France, Switzerland
- ★★★★★ Amy Lynch
It was a beautiful trip! Well organized and easy to follow!
Three Lakes Tour: From Geneva to Annecy
It was an amazing vacation. The route was charming, beautiful and somehow more spectacular every day. We had great weather which made for great photos! It was a special way to explore France and love it even more.
- What was the date of your tour?
- October 2023
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- As expected
- Who is this tour suitable for?
- First-time bike tourists
- Do you recommend this tour?
- Yes
- Countries included in this tour?
- France, Switzerland
- ★★★★★ Murray Goring
Tours to Anger 4 day bike ride
Loire a Velo: Orleans to the Atlantic
We went with our son and his wife. It was their first longer bike ride. They loved it. We did too but felt our previous Danube trip from Passau to Vienna was better. The hotels and food was good but the bike route was boring at times.
We missed not having a spa hotel included.- How many tours have you completed?
- 8
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- Somewhat harder
- Who is this tour suitable for?
- First-time bike tourists
- Do you recommend this tour?
- No
- Countries included in this tour?
- France
- ★★★★★ Nicolas Roggeman
Great scenery, wonderful routing and fabulous hotels
Innsbruck to Salzburg: Through the Alps Along River Cycle Trails
Although we left it a little late to do this ride, starting on September 13th, we thoroughly enjoyed this fabulous self-guided tour. The scenery is to die for – lots of quaint villages set in the mountains on excellent bike paths most of the way and the hotels, for the most part, offered fantastic rooms, plentiful breakfasts and charming hospitality.
- What was the date of your tour?
- September 13-19, 2022
- How many tours have you completed?
- 2-3
- 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
- ★★★★★ George Ouimet
3 out of 5 legs were good, one was exceptional.
Apulia and Basilicata: Alberobello to Lecce
It was very interesting and educational to be in this party of Italy. Our last guided tour was in Tuscany. Alberobello was an amazing town and the Trullia were a wonder to see, even more fun to stay in. The restaurants in the area that we tried were all good. It was also fun to walk around town and see the old churches, museums and parks. Our guide Marco was excellent and spent good time explaining the route and the attractions to us. All the bikes worked fine, and I liked having the panier to store things in. Based on the type of riding we ended up doing the hybrid bikes were very appropriate and comfortable.
The first day of riding from Alberobello to Ostuni was interesting - lots of small roads, not much traffic, lots and lots of olive trees (which the area is noted for). One thing we noticed right away unfortunately was the garbage. Lots and lots lots of garbage, all over the sides of the roads. Single use plastics mostly, but also household trash, construction debris, old appliances, tires, and millions of glass bottles and metal cans. Combined with the large number of abandoned and dilapidated properties in the area (abandoned olive farms) it felt like the next 2 days of riding in many parts was through the apocalypse. The old abandoned buildings were interesting, especially the small farm huts, and we did see lots and lots of the Trullia, and nicer properties that were fixed up closer to towns though. We later learned that this area was very very poor in many parts, and that it wasn't until the EU formed that money started to flow into the area to improve things for people. Depending on who you talked to the trash was from "trash collection being a low priority for the local infrastructure" - to people just being ignorant and not caring about the environment. The towns and cites were a bit better, but for the most part the rural areas felt like a 3ed world country on these part of the ride. It looks like this from Alerobello to Ostuni, Ostuni to Manduria, Manduria to Gallipoli to Santa Maria di Leuca (our favorite town next to Alberobella, the hotel was beautiful and we wished we had two days there). Manduria was pretty much abandoned, as was the hotel. The hotel restaurant was closed, and the only place we could find to eat was a pizza express and the grocery store next door. The saving grace was the wine tour at a local fermenting/processing plant, and the wines themselves from the Primitivo grapes were spectacular as was the tour and museum in the winery. We shipped cases of it home :). The ride to Gallipoli was an adventure. 20-30 mph headwinds and blowing garbage the whole way , however the landscape was interesting - it felt like southern California desert. Fortunately Gallipoli was a great town with lots restaurants open, and shopping. It was raining, but that's OK was was still nice. The ride from Gallipoli to Santa Maria di Leuca was short and uneventful. Threatening rain so we made a bee line to town at a fast pace. We found a great little restaurant by the water/harbor where we had a great meal and lots of the Primitivo wines :).
The ride from Santa Maria di Leuca had to be our favorite of the whole trip. Fantastic scenery along the Adriatic coast, lots of places to stop, the wind at our backs and it seemed cleaner. Swimming in the little beaches and Grottos were so nice. Again, we wished we could spend more time here. Maybe make 2 loops from Santa Maria di Leuca or add another town on this coast. We loved the riding off pavement and along the beaches as well, and that goes for the first part of the ride from Otranto to Lecce. Sadly the latter part of the ride inland to Lecce was more abandoned properties and lots and lots of garbage. Again the feeling like we were riding through the apocalypse. Lecce was great though - what a nice town! Lots to see in the "Florence of the South" in the old town. The surrounding 'modern areas' less so as the roads were very busy. I wrote something for my cycling friends about riding bikes in Italy. I will share it here;
Thoughts on cycling in Italy. Tongue in cheek: If anyone has to take a test to drive (seems not?), these would be the lessons. 1. The person who drives, walks or pedals the fastest has the right of way. 2. No cars in Italy have blinkers/signals. 3. Three point, U turns and parking is allowed anywhere, so is passing. It's especially fun to play chicken when cars are coming from the opposite direction. 4. Traffic signs aren't even suggestions! Traffic lights, sometimes. And signs that say what road you are on. 5. The most common controls pushed are the accelerator and the horn. 6. No problem if you don't have trash collection or an ashtray at home, the car window works fine. 7. If you can squeeze your car in there, you can drive there. 8. Speed bumps are "suspension tests".
With all that being said: People pay attention, they have to! Otherwise the country would be one giant pile up!! No one is on their phone! If you signal a turn on a bike, drivers see and respect you, until it's time to pass. I never felt in danger even though drivers get VERY close to you even at high rates of speed. Cycle confidently, don't wander around in the road... and pay attention! Also being in SMALL groups helps so that cars can pass quickly without hitting the oncoming cars head on.
All in all we had fun and am glad to see another part of Italy. After our riding we went to Greece and on to Munich, Germany. We also had just spent 6 days riding in Catalonia, Spain before this tour in Italy. Germany has by far the best infrastructure for pedestrians and cycling, similar to the Netherlands. Spain was pretty good and has improved since we were there 3 years ago. This part of Italy has a long long way to go, unless thousands of people clean the roads and streets and they develop a different culture. Not something Bike Tours or Giro Libero can affect I am guessing. We would not ride most of these routes again :( SHOW MORE- What was the date of your tour?
- September 2022
- How many tours have you completed?
- 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?
- No
- Countries included in this tour?
- Italy
- ★★★★★ Melissa Dubois
Beautiful trip
Portugal's Atlantic Coast
Traveling down the coast was beautiful. The hotels were all great quality. We were all glad that we had e-bikes due to the high mileage and the steep hills on this trip.
Some downsides- several of the roads were quite busy with cars and tour buses and the gps app really drained my phone battery which made it hard to also take photos. Having the option to have an actual gps rather than the app would have been helpful.
- What was the date of your tour?
- Sept/Oct 2022
- How many tours have you completed?
- 5
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- As expected
- Do you recommend this tour?
- Yes
- Countries included in this tour?
- Portugal
- ★★★★★ Marge Anderson
Lots of friendly people
Highlights of the Highlands: Donegal by E-bike
We had beautiful weather. This helped make the trip really nice. We had very nice hosts at our accommodations. Some of the places were much nicer than others. The Brennan B&B was excellent. Other places had some problems like plumbing, but in general the accommodations were fine. We did arrive in one town (Glencolmcille) to find there weren't any restaurants open. We thought this wasn't very good planning on the part of the bike company.
The roads were ok. Some of the roads were a bit busy. Some were very nice country roads. There was a section that was gravel that was a bit tricky. The scenery was lovely.
There were some errors in directions that should be fixed.
I've been on a few other biking trips. This was my least favorite.- What was the date of your tour?
- September 2022
- How many tours have you completed?
- 5
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- As expected
- Do you recommend this tour?
- No
- Countries included in this tour?
- Ireland
BikeTours.com staff reply from JV
Thanks for sharing this feedback with us. We are working on improving the directions to make them more clear and fix errors. We hope you travel with us again.
- ★★★★★ Harry Kaufman
What's not to love!
Innsbruck to Salzburg: Through the Alps Along River Cycle Trails
The trip was wonderful, the scenery is beyond beautiful, and Bike Tours promptly fixe3d the one bicycle problem we had.
My wife and I loved every day. The one issue and I don't say complaint, because we had a wonderful time was the maps. The maps are basically worthless. Maybe Vasco De Gama could have figured them out, but we couldn't. Of the problems, they are in a book so you can't loo k at them while you are cycling because they are in your panier, and I can't memorize them. Most of the time, you follow the trail and you can figure it out, and if you get lost so what? You are lost in a beautiful place. The last day was pretty rough, good luck getting to and finding a way to and out of Bad Reichenall. But we did and loved it.
So, we cannot wait for the next trip!!
- What was the date of your tour?
- September 2022
- How many tours have you completed?
- 1
- 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
- ★★★★★ Andrew Cochran
Wonderful experience
Tuscany Getaway: 4 Nights in Siena, Montalcino & Pienza
My wife and I spent 9 days in Italy, with the first three days being our bike tour and that was by far our favorite part of the trip. The tour operators were so kind and friendly and helpful and were also very flexible as our travel plans were delayed last minute. We will absolutely being doing another one of their tours!
- What was the date of your tour?
- September 2022
- How many tours have you completed?
- One
- 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?
- Italy
- ★★★★★ Carol Dienhart
Vienna to Budapest sister trip
Vienna to Budapest (Classic)
Tour route was very well laid out, enjoyed overnight cities and accommodations. Disappointed in materials, one important guide not available in English. Made it difficult to chart routes and alternative routes and to plan for landmarks/scenery to watch for along the way.
- What was the date of your tour?
- Sept-Oct 2022
- How many tours have you completed?
- 10
- 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?
- No
- Countries included in this tour?
- Austria, Hungary
BikeTours.com staff reply from JV
Thanks for sharing this helpful feedback! We are working on improving the quality of our travel documents. We also recommend using a GPS to ease navigation. Thanks again for sharing, we hope you travel with us again.
- ★★★★★ Margaret Steyn
Fun cycle trip in an area new to us
Andalusia: Southern Spain
The trip was a wonderful introduction to Spain. We enjoyed the challenge of the cycling, especially the wonderful dirt trails in the parks, Via Verde etc. There was a good mix of gravel roads, sand trails & urban cycle lanes. The Spanish motorists are very courteous & there is a wonderful bike trail system especially in bigger cities. The hotels (other than the one in Jerez which was a great disappointment & was not actually in the direction book or on the GPS!!) were excellent. We would have loved to have spent more time in Arcos del la Fronterra & less in Jerez. All other places were delightful & will have us returning. We definitely found having the GPS made a big difference. Bikes were okay & when we needed help (as a key got stuck in the battery ), we had good assistance.
- What was the date of your tour?
- September 26th to 30th.
- How many tours have you completed?
- 4 cyclists in our group.
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- As expected
- Do you recommend this tour?
- Yes
- Countries included in this tour?
- Spain
- ★★★★★ Kathleen Cook
Fantastic Trip
Loire Valley Châteaux & Gardens Tour
This trip was even better than expected. The riding was enjoyable. The routes were mostly flat and lightly traveled roads or bike paths. Our guide, Sam, was very knowledgeable and personable. Hotels and meals were great too. We upgraded two hotels. A+
- What was the date of your tour?
- September-October 2022
- How many tours have you completed?
- 5
- 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?
- France
