Croatia Bike Tour Reviews
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★★★★★ Cycle2017 September 25, 2017Our Venice to Porec Challenge
· Venice to Trieste and Istria
This tour proved to be more challenging than anticipated, partly due to torrential rains on 2 days and windy conditions most of the week. Concerns included long riding distances with limited facilities between some of the planned stops -e.g. -few restaurants or stores to purchase snacks and more water. The signage didn't always match the tour directions, creating confusion and likely longer rides than planned. The final day -70 km, with 50% uphill is a challenge for casual riders. Casual recreational riders will find some of the days long and some of the terrain challenging. The local provider provided excellent support when we were flooded out of a hotel and unable to ride due to area flooding, and also assisted with transportation for the final transfer when a member of the group was ill, and weather conditions were miserable. Despite this, our group, 3 recreational riders and 1 experienced rider, enjoyed visiting the beautiful cities along the route -when the weather cooperated.
- What was the date of your tour?
- September 10-16
- How many tours have you completed?
- 2
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- Somewhat harder
- Do you recommend this tour?
- No
- Countries included in this tour?
- Croatia, Italy, Slovenia
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BikeTours.com staff reply from Jim Johnson, founder and president September 26, 2017
Janet, thank you for your valuable feedback, which we will pass along to the local tour company. We'll also take your comments into consideration when advising future clients.
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★★★★★ Two Michiganders November 4, 2015
Lost in Translation
· Venice to Trieste and Istria
This was our fourth tour with Bike Tours and the first with an Italian outfitter. Maybe that's where the trouble started.
We're not novices to this kind of travel and expect to spend some time lost and wandering--that's okay--to some extent. The directions for this trip were oddly and sometimes poorly translated, and there were occasions that though we'd asked for the English version, the notes were in German. The sticker signage was missing and incorrect at several critical junctures--crossing into Croatia from Slovenia, for instance. I know we weren't the only people who missed it--others at the hotel mentioned the same confusion.
I think that this part of Italy isn't quite as used to cycling (fewer cycle paths) and there were long stretches where we were riding with heavy traffic on 50-70k speed roads. The last day was very hilly (we were aware of this) and included some long slogs through unmarked Croatian campgrounds/resorts which were not mentioned in the directions. Despite the directions, knowing that you needed to be near the sea for most of the trip was helpful.
Navigation being my only caution, this was a lovely and fun trip. The towns and sites along the way were quaint and it was relaxing when we were off the main roads. I appreciated the towns we stayed in, Sagittaria Concordia, Trieste and Piran were especially memorable for the sites and ambiance of each place. The ruins in Aguilia were amazing. The hotels were all excellent, breakfasts hearty and our bags were moved as promised.
I'd recommend this to someone, but with caution regarding navigation.- How many tours have you completed?
- Four
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- As expected
- Do you recommend this tour?
- Yes
- Countries included in this tour?
- Croatia, Italy, Slovenia
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★★★★★ Labia September 6, 2018Glad we did it - but too hot in August
· · National Parks of Dalmatia by Bike/E-bike and Boat
This is our third bike tour. The boat was much nicer than others we have been on. The cabins were very large and a good size bathroom. The food was good (not great). It was nice to have two tour guides. The downside was that it was really hot and the sun too blazing to enjoy the bike rides a lot. The landscape I would also say is a bit repetitive. All in all I wish we could have done it some weeks later with fewer crowds in town and especially cooler weather.
- What was the date of your tour?
- 18 August
- How many tours have you completed?
- 3
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- Somewhat harder
- Who is this tour suitable for?
- Solo travelers, First-time bike tourists, Families with young kids, Families with teens
- Do you recommend this tour?
- No
- Countries included in this tour?
- Croatia
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★★★★★ EDWH August 23, 2017
Fun, but a few qualifications
· · National Parks of Dalmatia by Bike/E-bike and Boat
We had a great time but the parks were not quite as interesting or attractive as we had hoped. And some of the bike rides (the 3rd day in particular) difficult hills with nothing at all to see. Description said a ride around Vraner Lake and we never even saw it. That was coupled with the hottest week in the summer as temps were near or over 100 degrees Fahrenheit. Guides showed little flexibility in schedules or changes to accommodate the heat.
- What was the date of your tour?
- July 29, 2017
- How many tours have you completed?
- 25 or 30
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- Somewhat harder
- Who is this tour suitable for?
- Solo travelers, Families with teens
- Do you recommend this tour?
- No
- Countries included in this tour?
- Croatia
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★★★★★ Morgan Baumann 2 weeks ago
Excellent Trails on which to explore a lovely part of Europe
· Venice to Trieste and Istria
Traveling by bike is a wonderful way to enjoy a new place. Our accommodations were Excellent. Our guide, Tony, (with us for the first days), was first rate!- so helpful. A couple of concerns: I would not rate this as a 2 for regular bikes - even with variants, it was a lot of biking and I was disappointed not to arrive in towns sooner. Everyone in our group was similarly disappointed including those on e-bikes. I would have liked a more leisurely pace and instead the days felt rushed. The directions however were my biggest problem. For the most part they were poor. We lost so much time just trying to figure out where to go! Our last stage, into Porec was by far the easiest and so even though the ride itself was more challenging, we arrived in Porec in good time to enjoy the town. This last stage was easier because the red arrows were frequent and well placed all along the route. You only needed to glance at the map and the written directions and then just keep following the arrows. In contrast, on many of the other stages, the arrows were few and far between and often were Not where we needed to make a turn! We spent far too much time studying the map and having to reverse direction to get back on the route. It would also help if the directions noted if we were generally following a set route that was already mapped out by those small brown signs. Those signs were well placed and easy to follow.
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★★★★★ Brent September 30, 2018Beautiful 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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★★★★★ Harry Williamson 10 months agoWell done
· · Bike and Boat Croatia’s Dalmatia Coast
I thought that the tour was very well organized. The guides (Ivan and Jelena) were excellent. Ivan's command of English and tour guide experience were especially valuable. Jelena's upbeat personality and cycling experience added even more joy to the tour. Island hopping did a great job of organizing each day's rides and events and the San Snova's crew was excellent, especially Andro (Saloon manager and bartender). The Capt. and crew were very efficient and friendly.
Frankly, 2 weeks was a bit too much for me to do basically the same thing each day, I would have preferred a 1 week tour with less time spent in Split and Dubrovnik (crowded tourist towns). I do realize that most of the people on the tour were fine with the itinerary. I think that the tour information guide should more accurately describe the rigor of the tour. By the time we were barely getting started, virtually everyone (except 2 incredibly strong riders) had requested or later opted for Ebikes during the tour.
Otherwise a good tour. Also helpful that Jim Johnson was there to add his experience and fellowship.- What was the date of your tour?
- July 15- 29
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- Somewhat harder
- Who is this tour suitable for?
- Solo travelers
- Do you recommend this tour?
- Yes
- Countries included in this tour?
- Croatia
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★★★★★ Pedalann December 28, 2015
Interesting Tour around Part of the Adriatic Sea
· Venice to Trieste and Istria
This tour gave us a chance to see much of the coastal region of the old Venice/Roman Empire. We enjoyed the lovely towns, pastoral countryside and views of the Adriatic. We sometimes had difficulty navigating as the cue sheets. maps and route marks did not always agree. The tour operators had warned us that some of the routes were being revised. However, we are good navigators and did find our way without too much back tracking. Concordia, Grado, Trieste, Piran and Porec were wonderful to visit. The new sections of bike trails were joys to ride.
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★★★★★ Puiyee Tse 7 months agoToo short of the bike ride
· · UNESCO Highlights of Dalmatia by E-bike and Boat
The bike ride was too short. I would like to have double the bike ride time instead of staying on the boat. The island are great but not enough time to explore each place. The boat food was terrible.
- What was the date of your tour?
- October 2022
- How many tours have you completed?
- 0
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- Much easier
- Who is this tour suitable for?
- First-time bike tourists
- Do you recommend this tour?
- No
- Countries included in this tour?
- Croatia
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★★★★★ Steve Srebnik 7 months ago
Great experience
· Venice to Trieste and Istria
This was a great adventure for my wife and I taking us to small and not so small great beach towns as well as a pretty big city , Trieste, all in the Adriatic. Jasolo was a rocking town with a very nice beach. Most of the included breakfasts were very good and all were very acceptable. The hotels were also good, nothing special but certainly comfortable. Most of the hotel rooms were very small. Only reason I took off a star was I think I would have enjoyed it more if we were able to spend a stop over or two without a ride the next day. Since we typically arrived after 1 and sometimes closer to 2 or 3 we didn’t get to spend any significant relax time at the beaches. Overall I’d go again or do another trip. All was very well organized.
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★★★★★ Karl57 September 12, 2018
Great trip
· Venice to Trieste and Istria
Great trip. Would highly recommend. Every stopover destination was well worth exploring. If we did it again we would customize the tour with an extra day to explore each stopover destination.
- What was the date of your tour?
- September 2018
- How many tours have you completed?
- 2
- 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?
- Croatia, Italy, Slovenia
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★★★★★ Bob Weinschenk 10 months ago
Amazing trip meeting great friends
· · Bike and Boat Croatia’s Dalmatia Coast
Great opportunity to see a lot of Croatia and experience some local wineries and businesses
- What was the date of your tour?
- August 2022
- How many tours have you completed?
- 0
- 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?
- Croatia
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★★★★★ Barry humes 10 months ago
Wonderful Trip
· · Bike and Boat Croatia’s Dalmatia Coast
This boat trip was very good. We rode bikes, played in the Adriatic Sea, went to wineries, ate incredible chocolate, kayaked around Dubrovnik walled city, rafted down the gorgeous Centina River and ate incredible food. It was almost a perfect trip. I had one large misgiving. There were two boats on the trip. On one boat they had a couple of people get COVID. This information was not passed on to our boat. We interacted with that boat and were on the boat one night. Just yesterday one of our group came down with COVID. Protocol was followed except information was not passed along to us passengers. Giving passengers free choice as to what to do by being transparent was not followed.
- How many tours have you completed?
- 2
- 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?
- Croatia
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★★★★★ Sandra Page 7 months ago
Trip of a lifetime
· Split to Dubrovnik: the Islands and Coastline of Croatia
Two weeks of heaven. !! Was the perfect way to experience the coastline of Croatia and experience Split and Dubrovnik. Plenty of history combined with cycling, cruising and culinary delight. Wine, olives, chocolate, pottery and lavender for the local flare . Quaint towns, beautiful sunrise and sunsets from the boat. Our guides where amazing getting us to the best spots and being extremely knowledgeable and kept us safe !! Our guides we’re able to shift gears when needed and in the heat of July we’re able to accommodate a comfortable swim in a quiet cove everyday. The beautiful coves and swims turned out to be some of our most memorable moments.
- What was the date of your tour?
- July 2022
- How many tours have you completed?
- 3
- 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?
- Croatia
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★★★★★ Cynthia Dees 10 months ago
swim and bike tour
· · Bike and Boat Croatia’s Dalmatia Coast
They shortened the bike rides due to heat I imagine and spent too much time swimming. I would have preferred for them to give us choices...who would like to go on planned mileage...who wants it shortened?
- What was the date of your tour?
- August 2022
- How many tours have you completed?
- 1
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- Much easier
- Who is this tour suitable for?
- First-time bike tourists, Solo travelers
- Do you recommend this tour?
- Yes
- Countries included in this tour?
- Croatia
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★★★★★ Bob Weinschenk 10 months ago
Amazing trip meeting great friends
· · Bike and Boat Croatia’s Dalmatia Coast
Great opportunity to see a lot of Croatia and experience some local wineries and businesses
- What was the date of your tour?
- August 2022
- How many tours have you completed?
- 0
- 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?
- Croatia
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★★★★★ kiki1970 October 21, 2016
· Venice to Trieste and Istria
The overall experience on this bike trip was good. The rain that occurred on 4 of the 7 days of the trip was unexpected. The locals informed us that it hadn't rained in 2 months so it caught up to us. The accommodations and food were excellent. The real problems were the maps that were provided. They need to be more tour specific. When arriving in the destination city, specific directions should be included in finding that hotel. We spent too much time looking for our hotel for the evening. Also the written instructions are a translation from the German guide. In some cases the instructions didn't match what we saw on the ground or what the sign posts indicated. In general, the people that we dealt with in the States and Italy were great. I only wish that we would have taken a day break some where in the middle(Trieste?) to refresh and recuperate. We didn't know we could do it. I highly recommend this before heading into Croatia.
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★★★★★ Visitor42 July 4, 2019
Unexperienced rider review
· Venice to Trieste and Istria
That was nice and fun tour for me, however my girlfriend struggled a bit. It is not completely 2 stars. For example, last day is not plain at all and could be challenging for newbies without some experience (like myself).
It would be nice to have shortcuts for every day of this tour.
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★★★★★ Donna Schultz 9 months agoShip needs better ventilation in dining room.
· · Danube Experience Bike and Boat Passau-Vienna-Budapest-Belgrade-Iron Gates-Passau
We booked trip 3 years ago. It was cancelled twice. We are fully Covid vaccinated and boosted. The crew wore masks for the first 5 days. On day 7, my husband got Covid. The only place for exposure was the dining room. All the passengers ate together in a dining room that did not have good ventilation. There was no options for open air dining or room dining. We lost 4 days while he recovered.
After waiting so long for trip, it was disappointing there was not adequate controls to avoid virus spread.
After he got sick. I noticed at least 6 other people that were also coughing. No one was ill at beginning of trip.
We will not go on another bike boat trip that does not take precautions to reduce virus spread. There should be changes in table spacing, air flow & circulation, better air filtration, & open air dining option.
The boat was Swiss Crown.
- What was the date of your tour?
- August 2022
- How many tours have you completed?
- I have been on inn to inn tours. This was first bike boat tour
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- Much easier
- Who is this tour suitable for?
- First-time bike tourists, Solo travelers
- Countries included in this tour?
- Austria, Croatia, Germany, Hungary, Serbia, Slovakia
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★★★★★ Peter Keithly 7 months ago
Well Organized Bicycle Tour of Dalmatia Coast
· · Bike and Boat Croatia’s Dalmatia Coast
Very well organized and comprehensive adventure. Probably best for those who want to use E-Bikes. Guides were energetic and fun to be around. Waiter was wonderful and very entertaining. Food was well prepared and plentiful. Our room was comfortable and kept cool for sleeping with A/C. Top deck could have been a bit more user friendly as there was no shade provided.
- Countries included in this tour?
- Croatia
