Czech Republic Bike Tour Reviews
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★★★★★ Joseph Tevaarwerk May 13, 2024Nice 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
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★★★★★ 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
Janna Poll Olender
Pic of what the fender was doing. The bruise was from trying to get to their van w new bike in Prague.
SHOW LESS- 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
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★★★★★ Linda Farnworth May 30, 2024Not 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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★★★★★ 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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★★★★★ Mycycle50 July 1, 2019Very 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
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★★★★★ Mario Ceccanese 11 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
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★★★★★ Elizabeth Hinz 11 months ago
Great adventure!
· Prague-Vienna-Bratislava-Budapest
Given the conditions of Danube flood and its aftermath, this was a bigger adventure than expected in problem solving logistics. People along the way were welcoming and helpful.
- What was the date of your tour?
- September 2024
- How many tours have you completed?
- 3
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- Somewhat harder
- Do you recommend this tour?
- Yes
- Countries included in this tour?
- Austria, Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovakia
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★★★★★ Brink June 13, 2019
Beautiful way to see small Czech and German towns
· Prague to Dresden Along the Vltava & Elbe Rivers
The bike path was generally well marked along the rivers and the towns picturesque. People were friendly, the food good and the hotels good, except for the hotel in Dresden.
- What was the date of your tour?
- 25 May—31 May 2019
- 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?
- Yes
- Countries included in this tour?
- Czech Republic, Germany
-
★★★★★ Donald Allen 11 months ago
Improvisation on the river
· Prague to Dresden Along the Vltava & Elbe Rivers
Due to the flooding of the Elbe river much of the bike pass was under water. The tour company rep, Lukas, did it wonderful job of working out a route for us each day. Unfortunately we had to bike some of our journey on busy highways, there just was no other way. Everything went smoothly, no small matter with the situation at hand, and we were again pleased with our trip. Looking forward to our next adventure with Bike Tours.
- What was the date of your tour?
- September 2024
- How many tours have you completed?
- 6
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- Somewhat harder
- Who is this tour suitable for?
- First-time bike tourists
- Do you recommend this tour?
- Yes
- Countries included in this tour?
- Czech Republic, Germany
-
★★★★★ Halloran911 September 14, 2017
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
-
★★★★★ 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
-
★★★★★ 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
-
★★★★★ Barry Nashen July 12, 2024Pros and cons, as in most tours
Prague - City of a Hundred Spires Bike and Boat
Pros: Flawlessly organized, excellent food options, very attentive service, comfortable cabins, excellent choice of cycling itineraries.
Cons: 100% of passengers were couples (50 yrs+), no possibility for changing tables at meal times for a variety of interactions, lack of events to encourage mingling/meeting others.- What was the date of your tour?
- July 2024
- How many tours have you completed?
- 6
- 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?
- Czech Republic
-
★★★★★ Kathleen Wilford June 29, 2024
Scenic and interesting
· Prague to Dresden Along the Vltava & Elbe Rivers
Overall--a great trip.
There was some confusion at the beginning, as we were given a different hotel name than the one we were actually scheduled to stay in. Also, connecting with the taxi driver took several calls and emails. Things went smoothly after that--we were met by the tour leaders for an informative meeting.
The maps and information were basically good. But the information should stress more strongly that riders should look for the little yellow signs. This works much better than trying to follow the maps. We also found the GPS app NOT helpful. The turn by turn uses too much battery, and the downloaded maps are no better than the paper maps.
The route was well set up, with appropriate biking distances each day and good tips on sights to see along the way. We loved the Czech Swiss national park.
Hotels were reasonable except for the U Zamku in Melnik. The room was primitive and smelled musty, and the breakfast was terrible.- What was the date of your tour?
- June 2024
- How many tours have you completed?
- 2
- 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?
- Czech Republic, Germany
-
★★★★★ 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
-
★★★★★ Gib Egge June 11, 2024
Nice ride for cultural imersion
· Prague to Dresden Along the Vltava & Elbe Rivers
Nice ride between two wonderful cities. Mainly along bike paths with the occasional road bike lane and urban, on-the-street moments when riding within larger cities. Ride has a manageable climb the first day but otherwise, not too much climbing unless you decide to embark on some optional side visits along the way. Outside of Prague, few people spoke good English, so have a good translator app with you. One member of our group had to ride the train for part of the journey and it was difficult to get him a ticket not speaking Czech. We were able to find a German-speaking ticket vendor and someone in our group could speak German. Just be aware of the language barrier in this part of Czechia. Parts of the trail on the first couple days were a bit muddy and more like a mountain bike trails. Took a bit more effort to traverse these sections. Hotels were very nice and the towns we stayed in were as well. Didn't see any other Americans along the ride. The food was very good and most places were even able to accommodate a vegan that was riding with us. We did have some mechanical issues with our bicycles that were addressed by the local tour company. Used the vendor for airport transfers and those were perfect. Navigation involved downloading Mapy.cz on our smartphones and uploading their trail maps. Maps were accurate and more or less essential for an optimum riding experience. Our hotel room the last two evenings, and the dinner we pre-paid for with biketours.com were not pre-paid by the vendor at arrival so we needed to pay for it. Currently working with them to get that refunded. If you're looking for less-traveled, easy/intermediate ride, and you are ok with navigating the language barrier, this is a good choice.
- What was the date of your tour?
- June 2024
- How many tours have you completed?
- 3
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- Somewhat harder
- Do you recommend this tour?
- Yes
- Countries included in this tour?
- Czech Republic, Germany
-
★★★★★ Karen Hanson October 17, 2023
Beautiful (and manageable) trip
· Prague to Dresden Along the Vltava & Elbe Rivers
Following the Vltava and Elbe rivers, with mostly excellent bike paths and a reasonable amount of miles per day, made for a lovely honeymoon trip! The Czech countryside was about to hit fall colors, and chestnuts were aplenty. The bikes they provided were in great shape (Trek and Specialized), and the gps files worked well. Highly recommend showing up at least two or three days early to spend extra time in Prague and get used to the time change. We weren’t able to take advantage of many of the optional side visits and biergardens along the way because many were closed already for the season, but we still enjoyed passing through small/tiny towns. And we made sure to pack our own wine and cheese for breaks! In the high season, we imagine it must be a much different scene. Overall, really enjoyed the trip and would recommend it for those who are looking for a relaxing vacation.
- What was the date of your tour?
- October 2023
- 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?
- Czech Republic, Germany
-
★★★★★ 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
-
★★★★★ Prakash May 7, 2016Living 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
