Czech Republic  Bike Tour Reviews (page 3)

  • (4/5) Sandy89 September 18, 2018

    Tour Great/Less scenic than others

    · Prague to Dresden Along the Vltava & Elbe Rivers

    Loved the company, the equipment, and the guides! This is our third bike trip in Europe and we were on a very specific timetable. That being said, the itinerary was the only one available for our dates, and wasn't as scenic as other tours we have taken. A lot of the river paths were alongside industrial areas (as many river paths are), so some of the scenery wasn't ideal. That being said, the hotels and the meals were amazing, and the sites that we visited were interesting!

    What was the date of your tour?
    July 2018
    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?
    Czech Republic, Germany
    • First night! (photo by Sandy89)
    • Plenty of castles on the hills (photo by Sandy89)
    • On our way to a national park (photo by Sandy89)
    • What a view! (photo by Sandy89)
    • All the hotels were charming! (photo by Sandy89)
    • 5/5 Value
    • 5/5 Included meals
    • 5/5 Bikes + equipment
    • 5/5 Hotels or boat
    • 4/5 Scenery
    • 3/5 Ease of navigation
    • 4/5 Tour documents
    • 5/5 Local tour company services
    • 3/5 Route selection
    • 5/5 Guides (if applicable)
  • Prague to Dresden
    (4/5) Brian1624 September 17, 2018

    Wonderful Bike Tour

    · Prague to Dresden Along the Vltava & Elbe Rivers

    Easy Route to fallow with 90% bike paths. Good notes on what to see along the way. Hotels were good but WiFi was average.

    What was the date of your tour?
    Aug 20-26th 2018
    How many tours have you completed?
    5
    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?
    Czech Republic, Germany
    • 4/5 Value
    • 4/5 Included meals
    • 4/5 Bikes + equipment
    • 5/5 Hotels or boat
    • 5/5 Scenery
    • 3/5 Ease of navigation
    • 4/5 Tour documents
    • 4/5 Local tour company services
    • 4/5 Route selection
    • 3/5 Guides (if applicable)
  • Prague to Dresden
    (4/5) Mandy July 16, 2017

    Prague to Dresden Along the Vitava and Elbe Rivers July 30-July 7th 2017

    · Prague to Dresden Along the Vltava & Elbe Rivers

    Overall great trip! Guides were great. Needed better handouts (not self guided for guided tour) and would cut the brewery where you pour your own beer.

    What was the date of your tour?
    July 1-July 6th
    How many tours have you completed?
    6+
    Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
    As expected
    Who is this tour suitable for?
    Solo travelers, First-time bike tourists
    Do you recommend this tour?
    Yes
    Countries included in this tour?
    Czech Republic, Germany
    • 4/5 Value
    • 3/5 Included meals
    • 5/5 Bikes + equipment
    • 4/5 Hotels or boat
    • 4/5 Scenery
    • 1/5 Ease of navigation
    • 4/5 Local tour company services
    • 4/5 Route selection
    • 5/5 Guides (if applicable)
  • Prague to Dresden
    (4/5) Mikay July 5, 2017

    Beautiful, Romantic, Historic, Adventurous

    · Prague to Dresden Along the Vltava & Elbe Rivers

    This trip was a blast! It was especially cool to see how the geography and culture changed as we moved out of Czech Republic and into Germany. This tour has a little bit of everything to satisfy everyone's tastes. Our favorites were the last two days: Hrensko, thermal bathes in Bad Schandau, Fortress in Koenigstein (well worth the hike to the top), and Bastei in Oberrathen (do the hike and visit the medieval fortress). Also, as far as navigation, we used the maps.me app and mounted our smart phone to the bike, which made getting around super easy. We had turn by turn directions throughout the tour.

    A couple tips I wished the tour company had provided, major sites along the route are closed on Mondays. We traveled from Litomorice to Decin on Monday. Unfortunately the Strekov castle and restaurant was closed (we found that out after climbing to the top of the hill). Additionally when we reached Velke Brezno to visit the brewery we found out it also is closed on Mondays. Therefore, if a day of your tour falls on a Monday it would be good to prioritize scheduling one of the hiking days (e.g. Decin to Bad Schandau or Bad Schandau to Dresden). In general, it would be nice to know in advance what days the points of interest are closed, so the group can manage their time at other sites better. If the tour company does not provide this info, I would recommend looking it up in advance.

    What was the date of your tour?
    June 23, 2017
    How many tours have you completed?
    0
    Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
    Somewhat harder
    Do you recommend this tour?
    Yes
    Countries included in this tour?
    Czech Republic, Germany
    • BikeTours.com staff reply from Jim Johnson July 6, 2017

      Thanks very much for your feedback! We're glad you had a great time. We'll pass along your helpful suggestions to the local operator.

    • 4/5 Value
    • 3/5 Included meals
    • 4/5 Bikes + equipment
    • 4/5 Hotels or boat
    • 5/5 Scenery
    • 5/5 Ease of navigation
    • 3/5 Tour documents
    • 4/5 Local tour company services
    • 4/5 Route selection
  • Best of South Bohemia: Czech Republic to Its Fullest
    (4/5) Prakash May 7, 2016

    Living life in true sense

    Best of South Bohemia: Czech Republic to Its Fullest

    Hi
    I, along with my friend, had been on ' South of Bohemia' self guided tour last July. It was our first experience of this kind. And it was an absolutely satisfying tour. Few basic points I would like to point out being a first timer-
    When they are saying the difficulty level to ' moderate' they are correct.
    Whatever services they have committed, they have complied with the same.
    Very precise route maps/ guidelines/ photos/ distances had been provided.
    We're always available for any kind of help, in case needed.
    Hotels were absolutely perfect.
    Depending upon the cycling practice/ experience that you have, n to enjoy a little adventure with leisure as well, I would certainly recommend this tour.

    Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
    As expected
    Do you recommend this tour?
    Yes
    Countries included in this tour?
    Czech Republic
    • 4/5 Value
    • 5/5 Included meals
    • 5/5 Bikes + equipment
    • 5/5 Hotels or boat
    • 5/5 Scenery
    • 4/5 Ease of navigation
    • 4/5 Local tour company services
    • 4/5 Route selection
  • Prague to Dresden
    (3/5) Janna R Poll August 21, 2022

    Needs a bit more sophistication

    · Prague to Dresden Along the Vltava & Elbe Rivers

    1. There was no GPS. They insisted it was easy and we had maps, but they were in Czech and hard to read and the street were rarely marked.

    2. I had two flats within the first mile ( two more to come). They need to put liners in their tires. Our pump was also so bad that after a lot of work it was still too low to ride. Usually other riders would stop and let us borrow their more superior pumps.

    They delivered a new bike in Prague because my brakes were also broken. To get to their delivery car I had to go down a wet slope and across a divided highway. I fell on a wet grid and hurt my knee bad and ripped the entire butt out of my only pair of bike shorts for the whole trip ( remember the missing luggage). This. Detour meant we couldn’t ever seem to find the bike bath again and since we had a late start of 3:30, we rode hard for six straight hours. It was extremely dangerous after dark and we had no food out in the farmland. I was using my phone to try to find the towns with path.

    I complained about the promise of a GPS and not having one. So they forwarded maps to use on a a special app on my phone, but that took a day to understand where we were on the map. I got a GPS the third day, but it didn’t have a charge and the charging unit didn’t go with the unit I had.

    4. Not only did we have flats, but my kickstand didn’t work and more importantly, the fender supports in the front was missing some rubber tips. That meant when I put down my foot when stopping and the wheel was turned at all, the snipped off metal of the support would slash my inside knees badly. This happened a lot and was very painful and bloody.

    5. Several of the hotels had some real problems with super warm rooms, (no A/C anywhere over there), loud streets, and no ice. Two at least had fans. the nice hotel in Bad Shandeau put us alone up on the 4th floor and said we were to leave the windows closed because of smoke from the fires, which was blowing the opposite direction. Our attic room was well over 90F w no ventilation. We opened the narrow attic windows anyhow
    The best hotel was a little pensioner on the first night. That frog even gave us ice for our water bottles. It was a very hot week.

    6. The path ran right by a forest fire before Bad Schandau. Breathing was bad and stinky.

    They guys were generally responsive, though the main guy was on vacation. We are fairly unde manding most of time, changed our own FOUR flat tires, tried to find our way, dealt w the bike faults, but feel they were tired of us the first day. In fact he said if we were ‘one of their clienta it would be different. If they took the money from you, we WERE their client!

    Overall, it was a bit disappointing on the bike side, though the river is lovely and biking is still the best way to see a country!  SHOW MORE 

    What was the date of your tour?
    July2022
    How many tours have you completed?
    Five
    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?
    Czech Republic, Germany
    • 3/5 Value
    • 4/5 Included meals
    • 1/5 Bikes + equipment
    • 3/5 Hotels or boat
    • 4/5 Scenery
    • 1/5 Ease of navigation
    • 3/5 Tour documents
    • 1/5 Local tour company services
  • Prague to Vienna
    (3/5) 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
    • BikeTours.com staff reply from Lindsay Nash October 19, 2016

      Hi! Thanks so much for sharing your experience. We're glad to hear you had a good trip overall. Aren't the UNESCO sites just fascinating?
      We're sorry to hear of your trouble with the bikes and Garmin along the route. We'll share this feedback with the local operator and work to improve this service!
      Thank you again for sharing your experience and helping us to spread the joy of bicycle tourism.
      Kind regards,
      Lindsay

    • 4/5 Value
    • 2/5 Bikes + equipment
    • 3/5 Hotels or boat
    • 4/5 Scenery
    • 2/5 Ease of navigation
    • 1/5 Tour documents
    • 1/5 Local tour company services
    • 4/5 Route selection
  • Prague to Vienna
    (3/5) 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
    • Photo 1 (photo by Chloek1234)
    • Poppies! These guys were in bloom everywhere. (photo by Chloek1234)
    • Signs for the Czech Republic's extensive bike path network (photo by Chloek1234)
    • Cycle path-side adult beverages (photo by Chloek1234)
    • Our group visiting the only remaining portion of the Iron Curtain in Czechia (photo by Chloek1234)
    • 4/5 Value
    • 3/5 Included meals
    • 4/5 Bikes + equipment
    • 3/5 Hotels or boat
    • 3/5 Scenery
    • 4/5 Ease of navigation
    • 4/5 Tour documents
    • 4/5 Local tour company services
    • 3/5 Route selection
    • 5/5 Guides (if applicable)
  • Prague to Dresden
    (3/5) Joseph Tevaarwerk 12 months ago

    Nice trip, but some issues.

    · Prague to Dresden Along the Vltava & Elbe Rivers

    The trip overall was good. The hotels were from very nice to adequate, and the weather was good for biking. Luggage handling was perfect.

    The issue we had was with the bikes. In our case the bikes we rented were delivered to our hotel. I had emailed specific instructions about my wife's bike set-up regarding saddle height and handle bar height. When the bikes arrived we noticed that the saddle could not be adjusted low enough for her comfort. We had to call the AVE rep and he had to bring a different saddle stem to fix that problem.
    Another problem was with my bike. The frame size was too small for me, and the handle bars were too low for comfort. Since we had already lost time to get my wife's bike corrected, I decided that I could manage with the bike that was delivered. That was my mistake!
    Half way into the trip the front telescopic forks collapsed and I had to ride nose down, which was very uncomfortable and outright dangerous. We managed to get it pumped up at a bike shop, but they lost pressure again while biking.

    Last year we had none of these problems. The big difference was that last year we had to collect our bikes at the rental shop the day before. This gave us the opportunity to have both bikes adjusted to the right settings, and to make sure that they were of the correct frame size.

    I don't need to stress how important a reliable and well fitting bike is for these bike tours. I suggest that you make it essential that the bikes are collected at the rental site the day before the trips start. This will give the participants the opportunity to make essential corrections.
    Myself, for our next trip I will insist that we will collect the bikes at the rental shop the day before the trip starts, and that they are reliable and well fitted bikes.
    I think it is wise if you make this part of your overall policy as well.

    Joseph.

    What was the date of your tour?
    May 2024
    How many tours have you completed?
    2
    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?
    Czech Republic, Germany
    • 5/5 Value
    • 5/5 Included meals
    • 2/5 Bikes + equipment
    • 4/5 Hotels or boat
    • 5/5 Scenery
    • 5/5 Ease of navigation
    • 5/5 Tour documents
    • 2/5 Local tour company services
  • Prague to Budapest
    (3/5) Mario Ceccanese 7 months ago

    Cycling adventure

    · Prague-Vienna-Bratislava-Budapest

    Navigation tools given(Garmin + maps) were very unreliable, especially entering and leaving cities - have had tours where line by line navigation instructions were provided as well as appropriate scale maps. Our group of 6 had 3 Garmins which were rarely in agreement - we then tried to follow whatever route on which 2 Garmins agreed. Czech Republic off road trails were very rough for the bikes provided - mountain bikes would have been more appropriate or better routes. We realize that due to unforeseen circumstances due to flooding on the Danube that route changes were necessary, but new routes were poorly described, and Garmins were now of no use- we resorted to Google Maps for navigation which occasionally placed us on roads which were too busy. Safety should be a prime concern, but navigation issues made this trip much more difficult and risky than originally described.

    What was the date of your tour?
    Sept 2024
    How many tours have you completed?
    10
    Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
    Somewhat harder
    Do you recommend this tour?
    No
    Countries included in this tour?
    Austria, Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovakia
    • 3/5 Value
    • 4/5 Included meals
    • 3/5 Bikes + equipment
    • 4/5 Hotels or boat
    • 4/5 Scenery
    • 1/5 Ease of navigation
    • 2/5 Tour documents
    • 3/5 Local tour company services
    • 2/5 Route selection
  • Prague to Vienna
    (3/5) Linda Farnworth 11 months ago

    Not 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
    • 3/5 Value
    • 2/5 Bikes + equipment
    • 4/5 Hotels or boat
    • 4/5 Scenery
    • 1/5 Ease of navigation
    • 1/5 Tour documents
    • 2/5 Local tour company services
    • 2/5 Route selection
  • (3/5) Mycycle50 July 1, 2019

    Very beautiful but more difficult than advertised.

    · Prague-Vienna-Bratislava-Budapest

    Our outfitter provided lots of info- maps, gps routes and suggested sites to visit. Some very rough roads, some steep hills.

    What was the date of your tour?
    May 22 to June 15
    How many tours have you completed?
    9
    Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
    Somewhat harder
    Do you recommend this tour?
    Yes
    Countries included in this tour?
    Austria, Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovakia
    • Ceske Krumlov castle (photo by Mycycle50)
    • Photo 2 (photo by Mycycle50)
    • Cesko food (photo by Mycycle50)
    • 5/5 Value
    • 5/5 Included meals
    • 4/5 Bikes + equipment
    • 4/5 Hotels or boat
    • 5/5 Scenery
    • 3/5 Ease of navigation
    • 5/5 Tour documents
    • 4/5 Local tour company services
    • 4/5 Route selection