Client Favorites Bike Tour Reviews
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★★★★★ Amanda Jennings 11 months agoSerious amounts of traffic
· Algarve Coastal Route
This ride has you in a lot of heavy traffic and even on the motorway at some places. The ride takes you through heavily touristed areas and then areas with nothing. This country very much highlighted the haves and the have nots in the country. I did not like the ride, it wasn't worth all of the traffic that we had to deal with.
- What was the date of your tour?
- September 2023
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- As expected
- Do you recommend this tour?
- No
- Countries included in this tour?
- Portugal
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★★★★★ Sam Fleischacker 2 months agoDenmark is great; BikeTours is not
· Royal Zealand and Copenhagen
Are you looking for a tour company that will send you bike directions to the wrong hotels, follow that up with a condescending note when you complain rather than apologizing and correcting their mistake, book you in charmless corporate hotels way outside of the towns you're headed for, and delete your GPS tracks before your trip is finished? If so, this is the trip for you! If not, look elsewhere. My wife and I had some wonderful biking on this trip - but that's because of Denmark, which has beautiful and very well-marked bike trails everywhere (running through forests often), not because of BikeTours: indeed, we sometimes needed to correct the GPS tracks we were sent by the Danish markers, or by asking locals for help. Our previous experience on a self-guided bike tour, in France, was magical: with lovely, varied hotels in beautiful places at the end of each day, a well-crafted route accurately represented on the GPS tracks, and good help available by phone if we needed it (to be fair the Copenhagen representative of this local bike company, Sofia, was very friendly and helpful). This was a great disappointment after that. If you're looking for a tour that is geared towards your enjoyment, rather than the bottom line of the tour operator, I'd avoid BikeTours.com.
- What was the date of your tour?
- July 2024
- How many tours have you completed?
- 2
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- Somewhat harder
- Do you recommend this tour?
- No
- Countries included in this tour?
- Denmark
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★★★★★ shea214 November 13, 2016too much is too much
· Three Lakes Tour: From Geneva to Annecy
This tour is quite lovely, but not at the level we expected. This is our 8th tour so we feel we get them by now. We like the unguided aspect, but they completely outsourced the work of actual directions to a machine. It is not an adequate substitution. The machine added at least 15 miles on the first day and was most frustrating. Please, give us actual directions AND MAPS. A silly little device is certainly helpful but should not be a substitute. And the distance and hills were definitely not Medium. This was proven out the first night by the guy who biked to the hotel (he likes extreme and he thought it was tough).
- What was the date of your tour?
- Sept2016
- How many tours have you completed?
- 8
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- Somewhat harder
- Do you recommend this tour?
- No
- Countries included in this tour?
- France, Switzerland
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BikeTours.com staff reply from Lindsay Nash November 14, 2016
Hi! Thanks for your review. We're glad to hear that the tour was lovely despite the tour level not meeting your expectations. We're taking your review to our products team and to the local tour operator to re-assess the tour level. Thank you for sharing your experience and helping us to better advise other travelers in the future.
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I wanted to follow up once more on your review after following up with the local tour operator. They've never received complaints about the GPS before, and they did provide maps, a profile, and a large marked map in the roadbook on your tour. Also, to clarify, the client you mentioned who said it was a tough route was doing the more challenging version of the tour, not the version you went on. I'm sorry if that was confusing.
Again, we apologize the tour level did not match your expectations, but we do state clearly in the Surface and Terrain details about the daily climbing.
Thank you again for sharing your experience.
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★★★★★ Richard Rogers 11 months agoNot as I had expected
· · Provence by Bike and Boat
Not expecting to ride as a group. The riding involved more road riding and realize that a leader was necessary. The riding in Southern France is not as developed as Central Europe.
- Countries included in this tour?
- France
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★★★★★ Sparky September 21, 2017Boring trip
· · Venice to Mantua by Bike and Boat (and reverse)
Although the barge itself was nice and the food delicious, the trip itself is very boring once you leave Venice. Hours and hours of passing soybean fields. Lots of riding in hot weather on unshaded roads....some quite busy. Very few days were on actual bike paths. When we did get to a town, most things were closed as it was between 1 - 4....siesta time in Italy. The cheese tour was nice. That's about it!
- What was the date of your tour?
- August 26, 2017
- How many tours have you completed?
- 0
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- As expected
- Who is this tour suitable for?
- Solo travelers, First-time bike tourists
- Do you recommend this tour?
- No
- Countries included in this tour?
- Italy
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★★★★★ May July 15, 2023First family cycling trip completed!
· Danube Bike Path 8 Nights (Upscale Lodging)
Overall a satisfactory trip! The GPS is very useful for navigation. The hotels are great! Just on first day, we find that 2 of the 4 bikes are not fit. We have enter our age and height and has not been told specifically what kinds of bikes will be assigned. I found that they just give standard bikes for adult female and male disregard our height and age (Asians in average are shorter than Westerners.) The person, Robert, arrived for “bike fitting” was not helpful at all. He suggested my daughter to cycle 30km to their bike shop to change bike. When we asked him to call customer service, he said he didn’t have Wi-Fi. So, Eurobike send a staff without communication methods to help customers’ solve problems? Finally, Robert had to use my phone to call the CS number. And in the phone, he said we are “bla, bla, bla.” Is it the customers cannot voice their requests, even the bikes are not fit and customers have to take the risk of getting hurt or accident? and seems to Robert, customers’ requests are “bla, bla, bla..” And customers need to take the riding risk to go 30km to change bike? Later he mentioned it may need to charge EUR 50 per bike change if need to switch bikes in Passau. I have emailed biketour and I am grateful that next day the 2 bikes were changed without additional charges. In second day, Simon is much more helpful. Simon helps us do the testing & it works. Simon is v polite and helpful. Passau is the starting point of Danube cycle path. I feel strange that the outsource company does not have a bike rental centre there. This is our first family cycling trip and it did create stresses at the beginning. The outsource company probably need to have better communication with biketour.
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★★★★★ Mungo September 25, 2016Nice not to have to pack every day
· · Amsterdam – Bruges by Bike and Boat – Princesse Royal
Flat terrain, mostly bike paths and not having to pack and unpack are great advantages of this trip. The food and accommodations were better than expected. However, it is not recommended as a self-guided tour as the directions are not complete. Also, as a group tour with 35 people in a large pack makes it too cumbersome.
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★★★★★ Edward Baker August 11, 2023
Could Have Been Amazing
· Royal Zealand and Copenhagen
The routes took us through some very interesting landscapes and towns. It would have been so much better if our daily information included more specifics about the areas where we traveled. Knowing more about the trails would also have been helpful. At one point, the directions were extremely confusing and led us onto an impassable trail. We understood that in some towns where we stayed the accommodations would be limited and might not have all of the amenities to which we are accustomed. With that we were fine. However, it was disappointing to see better accommodations that were available. Even worse was when the directions sent us to the better hotels only to be told that our reservation was not there and when we arrived at the hotel that was reserved, it was of a much lesser quality. This happened to us twice. At the very least, the route directions should list the correct destination hotel. We should not have to consult two different documents to find our hotel for the night. In our case, we had specifically explained that we would pay more, but wanted to have the best accommodations in each location. This did not happen, although we did pay a higher rate. Fortunately the staff at all of the hotels were exceptionally helpful, friendly, and professional. We were given very limited orientation before beginning the ride and felt that this company was unresponsive and left a lot for the rider to figure out alone. No helmets were provided which wasn't significant for us because we brought our own, but there was no communication indicating that helmets would not be provided. Having notes in the daily plan that noted restaurants along the way and at the destination each day would have been most helpful. In addition, it would have been nice to have known that in serveral locations, the only dining option would be at the hotel. We had a very enjoyable experience, but feel that it could have been far better with more information provided by the organization.
- What was the date of your tour?
- August 2023
- How many tours have you completed?
- 6
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- As expected
- Do you recommend this tour?
- No
- Countries included in this tour?
- Denmark
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★★★★★ doedoe June 12, 2016
Know what you are getting.
· · Amsterdam – Bruges by Bike and Boat – Princesse Royal
Mostly older folks (50 and up). Nice and comfortable ship. Not luxury. Small but adequate room, like any cruise room. Towels were rough/worn. Put out daily the following in the am scrambled eggs, bacon, bread, condiments, lunch meat to make your own lunch (tomatoes and cucumbers), fruit, greek yogert, cereal, coffee , tea, 1 bottle of water. Dinner food was excellent, no choices, given plates of food at dinner (including appetizer and desert), no seconds but it was adequate, nobody complained. Tea/coffee before dinner 4pm to 5pm and at breakfast but none after dinner like Americans usually do, but you could buy some at the bar. We took this cruise because they advertised that you would be given maps and directions if you wanted to do the route yourself rather than go with the guide. The guide discouraged this and said if you got lost the ship would leave without you if you were late. The directions were really not adequate to do it yourself. He was a bit rude at times throughout the trip. Consequently the pace was fast without time for pictures, seeing the sites, enjoying the scenery. Just a fast paced ride through beautiful scenery with occasional brief predetermined stops. The routes were very scenic but can't say I fully enjoyed them. Stressful to worry about losing the group if you stopped to take off your coat or take a picture. Rest of crew was very nice but very overworked. Not bad for the price but not what we were looking for and they should advertise more truthfully. Would not have done it if we had known. Also $50 extra for gluten free but not much extra was provided (just gluten free bread and I had to ask for it most days). Bring your own bread and save $50.
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★★★★★ Ginny50 June 8, 2016
A Challenging and Rainy Ride
· Lake Constance Bicycle Path
This was a good tour and we enjoyed the adventure, but I can honestly say I would not recommend it to a beginner. Many of the reviews said this was a good ride for beginners. My husband and I started riding 2 years ago so we are slow but steady riders. We rode the Danube path (Passau to Vienna) last year with no problems so this one sounded like a good tour for us.
We booked this ride based on the level 2 status and the few reviews we saw. In my opinion it is more of a level 3-4. The gently rolling hills were very steep on the first 2 days. It would have been easier with an e-bike but for beginners it was almost impossible with a regular bike. Most of the time the paths were paved but several sections were packed “gravel.” These paths were well maintained and easy, but often a bumpy ride. The biggest problem was these paths were not much more than 2 feet wide so if you are a slow rider you tend to collect 30 faster bikers behind you with no way to pass.
The Lake Constance cycle route is one of the most popular bicycle routes in Europe.
This just about sums it up - the most popular path in Europe. It was over-crowed almost to the point of being dangerous in many sections. We wondered about the high level of bike traffic during the month of May, until we were enlightened that we were enjoying “Pentecost Holidays” with the throngs of locals.
The bikes provided by the company were wonderful. I highly recommend this tour company/bike shop and crew. My husband was not happy with his first bike and they quickly swapped it out with no question.
When we received our tour documents we noticed one day stated that the ride was 35miles/55km. Most of those miles were on a shared road with cars - Not a dedicated bike path. Cars whizzing past you on a busy road is not fun for us. That day our bikes took a train ride! FYI - When I asked one of the tour guides if many people ditched this ride mid-way he did say that quite a few riders just gave up. I can see why!
Each hotel was fabulous. The rooms were lovely and the food excellent.
We really did enjoy this trip and we pushed ourselves more than we ever thought we could. We had 2 good days of seeing the lake and views, but missed seeing the beautiful scenery because of the incessant rain and many detours. Better rain gear will be on our wish list before we ride again. It was a challenge that we were proud to complete.- What was the date of your tour?
- May, 2016
- How many tours have you completed?
- 3
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- Much harder
- Do you recommend this tour?
- Yes
- Countries included in this tour?
- Austria, Germany, Switzerland
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★★★★★ Linda Farnworth 3 months agoNot impressed with Ave
· Prague to Vienna via Cesky Krumlov
The bikes were not good. One day the range of ebike battery barely made it, my chain came off twice, seat kept slipping down, other equipment not great, and worst of all the seats were TERRIBLE.
The ride was nice though with good scenery and a challenging ride.- What was the date of your tour?
- May 18, 2024
- How many tours have you completed?
- 4
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- Somewhat harder
- Do you recommend this tour?
- No
- Countries included in this tour?
- Austria, Czech Republic
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★★★★★ Horned Frog June 4, 2019
Fun time... but
· Lake Constance Bicycle Path
I enjoyed the tour a great deal, but the route instructions were sketchy at best, and the bike weighed only slightly less than a Sherman tank.... which would not have been much of a problem except that the route had more hills than expected. The hotels selected were all very nice.
- What was the date of your tour?
- 21 May
- How many tours have you completed?
- 4
- 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, Germany, Switzerland
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★★★★★ The dozer October 18, 2016
Challenging to peddle to fairy tale cities.
· Prague to Vienna via Cesky Krumlov
The route was challenging, navigation difficults, but beautiful UNESCO sites each night. We were just dropped off with the wrong bikes, a Garmin we could not use, and one sheet of paper with directions and overview of route. If it had not been for 5 Irish ladies on the same route we would have really struggled. They had a Garmin that worked and with intense map study did not get lost as often as we did. VERY few people spoke English. Our pick up person was very rude to the Irish ladies.
- What was the date of your tour?
- August 2015
- How many tours have you completed?
- 3
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- Much harder
- Do you recommend this tour?
- No
- Countries included in this tour?
- Austria, Czech Republic
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★★★★★ Chloek1234 December 3, 2015
Interesting tour for the well-traveled individual
· Prague to Vienna via Cesky Krumlov
I went on this tour as a BikeTours.com staff member. I think that this tour has some wonderful highlights - Prague, Cesky Krumlov, but also is a bit monotonous. I enjoy riding in more varied scenery that this tour offered. However, the bike path network within the country is extensive (and I was impressed). The accommodations and food were basic to nice. The Czech people were very kind and down-to-earth. Our guide, Jitka, was always helpful and informative. This tour is consistently hilly and is a true level 3 in that sense. I would recommend this tour to a intermediate level cyclist, who is well traveled and wants to experience the less traveled side of Europe.
- How many tours have you completed?
- 2
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- Somewhat harder
- Do you recommend this tour?
- Yes
- Countries included in this tour?
- Austria, Czech Republic
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★★★★★ joe eberly 2 months agoNice Ride
· Lake Constance Bicycle Path
This is a very easy ride with mostly flat land around a beautiful lake. We had e-bikes which made it very easy. Hotels all very nice, but no AC for hot weather. June can be risky with the weather. We had two days of five with steady rain. This is our 3rd trip with Bikes.com and was my lest favorite. We never met our local tour operator, even when we picked up our bikes. There was substantial flooding due to heavy rains and some road construction that we didn't know about until we came to it. It was at that time we had to figure an alternate route. A little heads up would have save a lot confusion, especially during our rainy days. On previous trips, the tour operator spent time going over the route with areas we needed to pay attention to. The fact that none of us spoke German didn't help in trying to understand road signs. The route is well marked but makings change from country to country, so pay attention.
- What was the date of your tour?
- Mid-June 2024
- How many tours have you completed?
- 3
- 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, Germany, Switzerland
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★★★★★ Brent September 30, 2018
Beautiful scenery
· Split to Dubrovnik: The Islands and Coastline of Croatia
Excellent support
Really challenging cycling
Doublecheck that inner tubes have been properly fitted before you start- What was the date of your tour?
- Aug. 2018
- How many tours have you completed?
- 5
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- Somewhat harder
- Do you recommend this tour?
- Yes
- Countries included in this tour?
- Croatia
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★★★★★ Raff September 29, 2017Wonderful itinerary, average biking
· Bolzano – Verona – Venice
Great towns, but not enough time to see them. The biking scenery was ok. Really poor cue sheets in English.
- What was the date of your tour?
- 9-16-17-8-22-17
- How many tours have you completed?
- 3
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- As expected
- Who is this tour suitable for?
- Solo travelers, First-time bike tourists
- Do you recommend this tour?
- No
- Countries included in this tour?
- Italy
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BikeTours.com staff reply from Brittany September 30, 2017
Thank you for your review. We'll work with our partner operator on better translated daily directions. We appreciate your time and hope to help you in the future!
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★★★★★ Ann English 10 months ago
Prefer not to be riding on hwys and in big cities
· Algarve Coastal Route
The friendly people in Portugal, the delicious and nutritious food, and most of the hotels were wonderful! The e-bikes were fine and when needed I quickly got a replacement. However, the bikes should be fitted to each person as well as the replacement bike. That was not done so the inappropriate fit gave me much shoulder and back pain. The route had way too many hwy and larger cities round abouts for us. We prefer small towns and rural/ocean scenery.
- What was the date of your tour?
- Oct 2023
- How many tours have you completed?
- We have been on 4 bike tours
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- As expected
- Who is this tour suitable for?
- Solo travelers
- Do you recommend this tour?
- No
- Countries included in this tour?
- Portugal
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★★★★★ John Matthew Schley 6 months ago
Both really great and just OK
· Algarve Coastal Route
The weather in February was perfection. We saw many beautiful sights. Each days biking was varied. We stayed in very large hotels/spas. They were objectively good hotels. We hated them. Really felt separated from environment. Felt I could have been anywhere. Restaurants we visited along the way were all excellent. My wife had a problem with her bike. The team handled it wonderfully. Every person who we interacted with on their team were gracious and helpful. While there are many examples of natural beauty in the Algarve , the amount of development, both miles of very expensive holiday homes, and strips of pizza joints and t-shirt stores made the trip not completely what we hoped for.
- What was the date of your tour?
- February 2024
- How many tours have you completed?
- 6
- 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?
- No
- Countries included in this tour?
- Portugal
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★★★★★ Jeffrey Yarne 11 months ago
Do your research
· Algarve Coastal Route
Note: we have ridden the flatter and paved bike trails of the Danube and Bruge to Amsterdam. If those rides are rated 1, this ride should be more than 1.5 primarily due to the amount of loose gravel paths coupled with deep ruts from cars. Also is you are close to 5’1” even the extra small bikes with narrow tires might be tough to handle. The area is warm in late Sept 2023. And if you are expecting smaller towns we found the stopping places generally large catering to many tourists which is the primary industry. There are some wonderful places to eat. All hotels had air conditioning although some were noisy others were nice and set back from the crowds. The Portugal people are very nice and the local tour company is as accommodating within reason although if you break a chain in the midst of no where it is a challenge. It would be good to bring at minimum a master link and chain river tool for a roadside repair.
- Countries included in this tour?
- Portugal
