Bike & Hotel Tour Reviews page 108
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★★★★★ MB
Albania welcomes you!
UNESCO Sites of Albania
This was an enjoyable ride with some absolutely gorgeous mountain ranges and coastlines. There are no bike baths on this ride except for the first day. The rest of the time you are on roads with varying degrees of vehicle traffic. Rarely a car in sight in the country but they are constant along the coast and towns. Accommodations were relatively modest but clean. If you are looking for 4 star hotels and amenities it won't be on this trip. Every lodge had a continental breakfast, some were definitely better than others. The visit to the monastery of St. Naum was worth the extra ride the first day. 2nd day ride to Korçë was decent not overwhelming. However, thanks to a tip from Lilliana at the Hotel we had dinner at a delicious steak house called "Repulika". Off a little side street with not so great signage. Best meal of the whole trip. The best part of the day 3 ride to Sotire was the last 3 or 4 mile climb up into the forest. The cabins were a treat and being way out in the country was delightful. The ride to Permet was when the mountains came into full view. Beautiful ride. Would recommend riding to the Stone Bridge to check out the thermal pools which are about 4 miles past the lodging. The word thermal is a misnomer. If you have time, take a long walk past the bridge up through the canyon to get away from the crowd around the bridge. The ride to Gjirokaster was manageable and relatively car free. However when getting closer to town the vehicle traffic increased. Gjirokaster is a pretty touristy enclave. The castle is worth the visit if only for the views. Sarande & Himare were beautiful seaside towns. Sarande was larger and had more bustle to it. If you are planning a layover day you can take a day ferry over to Corfu. We prefered Himare, but the city center was a short bike ride from the hotel. All in all I would recommend this trip. It had a great range of topography from farmlands to forest to mountains to coastlines. I would highly recommend an ebike unless you are in superior shape. No fun pedaling with your head down for hours on end. Do your work outs at home. You're on vacation! Go now because in 10 years this will be a very different country
- What was the date of your tour?
- September
- How many tours have you completed?
- 9
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- As expected
- Who is this tour suitable for?
- Solo travelers
- Do you recommend this tour?
- Yes
- Countries included in this tour?
- Albania
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★★★★★ Charlotte F
Wonderful sightseeing of the Burgundy countryside
Wine, Dine and Electric Bike in Burgundy
We knew the standard of the trip was going to be high considering what we paid for it but most hotels exceeded our expectations as they were really the best of the best. The exception was only Maison Philippe Le Bon in Dijon, which was very quaint but was definitely a step down from the other hotels when it came to the room and breakfast standard. They also seemed totally unaware of the deal with activetours until we showed then the voucher (didn't happen anywhere else).
The electrical bikes worked great but I would recommend to bring a cushioned seat cover if you're not used to biking regularly. If you are planning to bring a small bag to put on the rack behind the saddle, I would consider bringing en elastic strap or two to secure it on the bike as the straps on the bike are very tight and probably not elastic enough to hold anything bigger than a purse or an extra jacket.
The navigational app was quite a hassle to get used to (we had not used it before) and we could not get the resume function after we had breaks but had to restart the whole route for the day every time and then "reconnect" to the route. Also, we would have appreciated a heads up that the routes provided were not exact. For example:
1. The stops at wineries on the way were not exactly ON the route but in some places required quite the map reading skills to access. Even google maps struggled to find the right way.
2. They did not always show the route to our hotel but to another hotel in the city. For example in Dijon we were about 1km off. We checked the routes before leaving but if we would have gotten a heads up to check our destination as we approached our destination, that would have made our lives a lot easier.
3. Sometimes the routes were very illogical and for example when we biked along the Canal de Bourgogne it once wanted us to go to the other side of the canal for a few kilometres (a road with cars) instead of just continuing straight ahead on the walking/biking path, which we ended up doing. Getting out of Dijon we also struggled a lot as we had to go through, to bring up the most extreme examples, an alleyway that barely were wide enough to fit the handlebars of the bikes and an overgrown dirt path that was close to a stone wall on one side and had branches on the other side. Close to Chagny, a bridge we were supposed to cross didn't exixt anymore and was possibly under re-construction. This makes me question when these routes were last tested by the company.
All in all though, we highly enjoyed our adventures but I'd encourage the company to send someone out to test the routes before ech season and also to be more clear when you present the routes that they don't exatly lead to the door step of either the wineries or your next hotel. Especially the route to Domain Duchemin needs a thorough description (don't trust google maps!).
As for the difficulty level, some days were easier than expected and some harder. The route from Domaine de Rymska to Sainte Sabine is very long and we had a hard headwind for the last 20-30 km which made us almost empty our bike batteries that day. We are in average/good shape but appreciated A LOT that we had opted for e-bikes instead of traditional bikes. SHOW MORE- What was the date of your tour?
- May 2025
- How many tours have you completed?
- This was our first bike tour, probably not the last.
- 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
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★★★★★ Halloran911
Awesome trip
Prague to Vienna via Cesky Krumlov
Best way to see Czech Republic. Guides could not have been better. Total knowledge, kind and considerate and always following up on everything. Luggage always made it to the room. The tour company AVE is awesome and is not frilly but high quality. Rooms were great. No AC in rooms but not really a problem. Clean. Bring your own washcloths. One complaint. 2 hour heavy lunches were silly. Give us a snack and let us move on so we can have more time to relax when we get to the next village.
- What was the date of your tour?
- August 5-13
- How many tours have you completed?
- 1
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- Much harder
- Who is this tour suitable for?
- Solo travelers
- Do you recommend this tour?
- Yes
- Countries included in this tour?
- Austria, Czech Republic
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★★★★★ charlotte lenssen
Adventures around the Bodensee
Lake Constance Bicycle Path
It was a super fun trip experiencing the different towns and landscapes. All hotels were acceptable and some were exceptional. My favorites were Lindau and Konstanz. We had 2 rainy days, so got lucky with weather. Austrias Fänder bahn was worth it too.
- What was the date of your tour?
- Sept 2024
- 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
- Do you recommend this tour?
- Yes
- Countries included in this tour?
- Austria, Germany, Switzerland
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★★★★★ Cheryl A Erlandson Erlandson
We needed more information.
Sardinia: A Mine of Memories
Day 2 was awful. The road is full of rocks and sand, not easy to bike on. Plus Marco told us to use eco or tour not to bother with sport or turbo which would have been good on the steep incline. Needed more information about how to use an ebike would have been very helpful.
- What was the date of your tour?
- October 2023
- How many tours have you completed?
- 7
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- Much harder
- Do you recommend this tour?
- Yes
- Countries included in this tour?
- Italy
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★★★★★ S. Chilton
A few issues
Vienna to Budapest (Classic)
We have riden with BikeTours in the past, and loved it. This tour had some pros and cons. Pros: The hotels were great. The bikes were in good condition, and the in-country staff were responsive and easy to get in touch with.
Cons: We used Google maps on our last tour. It’s useless here except inside the major cities. The provided app is a battery killer. Make sure you have a portable charger or are with others who can use their phones when yours dies. The maps also stop at the city gates. Since they know your hotels when they make the map, they should include your hotel and all of the mentioned attractions. We wasted a ton of time trying to get to sites that weren’t on their app.
Avoid Mosonmagyaróvár. If you’re doing an independent tour, you could bike to it and then take the train to Györ. There is a lot more to do there.
Finally, we rode this a week or so after the record-setting flood. We were prepared for some issues, but were told “you
won’t even be able to tell there was a flood“. The bike paths are fine“. There was an area about 15 km outside of Vienna that was impassable were it not for a kind farmer with a tractor that made a path. People were sliding out in slick mud. Another area before Esztergom had trees for several km in the path that was listed, and a place where it told us to walk our bikes over a weir. There was actually a dry, paved and debris-free path just above it that wasn’t new. I was wondering why the in-country rental company didn’t know about these. It seems as though the map hadn’t been updated for some time. They also say that there are no places to get food between some of the towns. We saw restaurants or grocery stores every 6-10 km.All in all, we did have a great time, but I think it would be hard for first timers or slower cyclists. I would recommend additional days in Bratislava and Budapest.
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★★★★★ Chloek1234
Great trip for leisurely bikers seeking variety and leisurely travel
Danube Bike Path 7 Nights (Classic)
I went on this tour as a BikeTours.com staff member, and I think this is a great tour for a variety of folks. There are big cities, forests, small towns, ancient ruins, vineyards, and more. The cycling is very easy and simple to navigate. The directions and maps are basic, and leave you to discover things on your own. The tour is 95% or more on bike paths. You do have to leave the bike path oftentimes to venture to the night's accommodations. All of the accommodations were quite lovely, and breakfast ranged from adequate to delicious! I think I could take my entire family on this tour, from my grandma to my baby cousin and everyone would love it. It's really is the quintessential European bike tour experience.
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★★★★★ T and C
Well organized, no drama, couple hotels ehh
Danube Bike Path 8 Nights (Upscale Lodging)
Biketours.com was very helpful. I emailed lots of questions to them and always got a prompt reply.
The ebikes were great, I couldn’t have done the trip without them. We had a couple of 60km days because of sightseeing, which was too far. 40-45 km should be the distance for upscale in my opinion. We also had 3 hotels with NO air conditioning, Surprising and disappointing considering we paid for upscale lodging. Apparently you can state A/C as a requirement at booking time, I just assumed with the upscale hotel fee that would be included..live and learn.
To me the trip was not completely flat, I mean it is mostly flat, but no way would I do this without ebikes.
Route is well marked, but still an adventure. If you like a vacation that is a bit different, do this one!
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★★★★★ Chris Downey
Tour of the Algarve
Best of the Algarve by Road Bike
Great routes through the Algarve for road biking. The hotel were great except for the final hotel in Albufeira where we were given two single beds and each had a plastic mattress protector! A change I would recommend is incorporating Lagos in the bike tour and as an end destination to allow for spending an afternoon in that City to explore the coast after a morning of biking.
- Countries included in this tour?
- Portugal
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★★★★★ Chris R
An enjoyable ride.
Sweden’s West Coast: Helsingborg to Gothenburg
We really liked the ride. The people we met were wonderful. For the most part we avoided the nasty weather. The food was really good and a bit of a pleasant surprise. The only negative was one of the ebikes controls was tie wrapped on. It also gave a number of warnings and then just shut down. It always restarted but was a worry. The bike seat was more of an old cruiser style and not very comfortable. The shot version of the ride from Varberg to Kungsbuka said you could ride to Ass and catch a train. There was only one train at Ass and it took you back to Varberg plus it was late afternoon.
- What was the date of your tour?
- August 2025
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- As expected
- Who is this tour suitable for?
- Solo travelers
- Do you recommend this tour?
- Yes
- Countries included in this tour?
- Sweden
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★★★★★ Robert Civiak
I enjoyed it
Baltic Capitals: Historic Cities of Vilnius, Riga and Tallinn
Good trip with excellent guides. The trip is a combination of walking tours of historic cities and biking on paths and quiet road, mostly near the sea near the sea.
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★★★★★ Robert Civiak
Baltic
Baltic Capitals: Historic Cities of Vilnius, Riga and Tallinn
Trip was to the Baltic countries for biking and walking tours. I went on the trip.
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★★★★★ Chuck1
Great adventure !!!
Algarve Coastal Route
This was a wonderful trip.
Other than 2 issues I thought this was a well planned trip, great hotels / flawless luggage connections / good route aided by supplied GPS.
The 2 issues were :
The bicycles were not very good. Shifting was erratic as they obviously hadn’t been tuned prior to our trip.
The other issue was the promosed transfer to the airport at the end of the trip did not happen, we waited almost an hour in the hotel lobby only to hear through the consierge that the ride to the airport was not happening forcing us to catch a cab and rushing to make our flight connection.- What was the date of your tour?
- Oct 1st thru 7th
- How many tours have you completed?
- 3
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- Somewhat easier
- Who is this tour suitable for?
- Solo travelers, Families with teens
- Do you recommend this tour?
- Yes
- Countries included in this tour?
- Portugal
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★★★★★ Fuzzy
Fantastic Tour
Camino de Santiago: A Pilgrim’s Route From Astorga to Santiago
Well organized, great accommodation.
Beautiful scenery. Good bikes- What was the date of your tour?
- May 30-June 5/17
- How many tours have you completed?
- 3
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- Somewhat harder
- Who is this tour suitable for?
- Solo travelers, Families with teens
- Do you recommend this tour?
- Yes
- Countries included in this tour?
- Spain
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★★★★★ Claudia
We enjoyed the route and the cities on our 11 day Constance tour
Lake Constance Classic (11-nights)
We rode the unguided 11 day Lake Constance tour in May. Our weather turned in our favor and we had lots of fun riding the bike paths as well as locating the paths and hotels.
The scenery is varied and the towns photogenic. It was wonderful that each day of our trip was somewhat short so we could stop and enjoy everything around us.
People along the way were helpful, even if they didn't speak our language and we knew little German. Routes were sometimes unclear to us, but usually it was not a big deal. We weren't on a tight schedule. I would recommend a smartphone app such as Maps.me be used in conjunction with the provided maps. It helped us not go to far astray. I have described our trip as "a scavenger hunt on 2 wheels". It made it an adventure.
Our bags were usually waiting for us when we arrived at our hotel. Hotels provided were comfortable and convenient.- What was the date of your tour?
- May 20, 2017
- How many tours have you completed?
- 7
- 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
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★★★★★ Cliff
Doin' the Donau
Danube Bike Path 7 Nights (Classic)
Perfect pedal venture for cycle, food, wine, & beer junkies! Great history lessons and cultural interactions around every corner. Equipment and support were bombproof and reliable.kk
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★★★★★ Creaky
Swiss sojourn
Ascona and Lake Maggiore (based in one hotel)
Good organisation and splendid accommodation with some ok rides. Maps too small and blurry to be useful.
- What was the date of your tour?
- 1/9 to 6/9
- How many tours have you completed?
- 13
- 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?
- Switzerland
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★★★★★ Creaky
Glorious views
Salzburg Lakes Tour: Around the Lakes within the Foothills of the Alps
A good tour through some great countryside with one rather dull stretch. Excellent organisation and accommodation; some bad weather the only downside.
- What was the date of your tour?
- 28/8/19-3/9/19
- How many tours have you completed?
- 13
- 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?
- Austria
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★★★★★ Sweden
Stockholm and beyond
Stockholm Round-Trip Across Swedish History
Cycling in the area south of Stockholm was very pleasant. Empty roads and beautiful scenery, lakes, forests, rocky hillsides and the occasional herd of deer. Route directions were generally clear and easy to follow and the hills mentioned were far less intimidating than we had expected. Some of the gravel roads were ‘interesting’, but nothing that the hire bikes couldn’t cope with. The local rep, Frank, was excellent both for his briefing and for seamlessly transferring our luggage every day. I would have added some photos but unfortunately this part of your review specification doesn’t seem to work!
- What was the date of your tour?
- 10 June 2019
- How many tours have you completed?
- 3
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- Somewhat easier
- Do you recommend this tour?
- Yes
- Countries included in this tour?
- Sweden
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★★★★★ Charlie
Beautiful Ride.
Florence to Rome: Bike through the Heart of Italy
Our ride was a wonderful way to see the Italian countryside from Florence to Rome. The riders were similar in skills (7 of 8 retired) and the routing matched our skill set. The guides (furnished by Rotalis) were knowledgeable and accommodated requests from our team quickly and to everyone’s satisfaction. There were a few very short instances where the ride was on busy roadways when we transitioned from one backroad to another. The guides did not rush the transition and were focused on safety during those transitions.
At each stop things were in place and there was no confusion. Meals and lodging provided by the tour were greatly appreciated.
If you want to see Italy at a human scale (not at 60 mph), this is a wonderful way to do it. We will go back!
- What was the date of your tour?
- September 2018
- How many tours have you completed?
- This was #2
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- Somewhat easier
- Who is this tour suitable for?
- Solo travelers, First-time bike tourists
- Do you recommend this tour?
- Yes
- Countries included in this tour?
- Italy
