Bike Tour Reviews Dolomites To Trieste Via Lake Bled At The Foot Of The Julian Alps
Dolomites to Trieste via Lake Bled at the Foot of the Julian Alps
COUNTRY: Italy, Slovenia, Austria
Self guided from EUR € 769
Self-guided:
Wednesday, Friday, and Saturdays: May 11 - Aug 9, 2024, Aug 21 - Sep 28, 2024 (additional dates available for groups of 5 or more)
Description:
Your journey of discovery to the Julian Alps begins in the northeast Dolomites, following the River Drau through the Drau Valley before biking through the gorgeous Gail Valley on Austria's comfortable cycle paths. A little detour takes you to the…
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★★★★★ Nathan Hale 4 months agoBeautiful!
This is a gorgeous route that really lets you see the changing terrain and cultures as you bike from the Dolomites down to the sea. It's gorgeous throughout, but the highlight is definitely Bled and we were glad to take the extra day there to explore some of what it has to offer.
- What was the date of your tour?
- June 2023
- 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
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★★★★★ Gregory Lebo 7 months ago
Awesome scenery!
This route is super scenic and the routing is easy enough to follow, especially in Northern Italy, Austria and Slovenia. The biking is easy although you may want an e-bike if you like to break away from the planned route to visit some castles along the way which are generally located at high points. The accomodations were all very nice and my luggage was reliably transported every day. It’s nice to let someone else plan the details while you concentrate on riding, taking photos, and enjoying the experience.
- What was the date of your tour?
- Aug 4-11 2023
- How many tours have you completed?
- 5
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- Somewhat easier
- Who is this tour suitable for?
- First-time bike tourists, Solo travelers, Families with teens
- Do you recommend this tour?
- Yes
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★★★★★ Cati 7 months ago
Stunning, best way to travel
This was my first bike tour and, wow, it did not disappoint. Scenery from the get go was absolutely stunning. You traverse incredible border towns between Italy, Austria, and Slovenia on this entire tour, staying at lovely Inns and eating incredible food along the way. My only gripe was that the written directions were confusing at times (have given feedback) but I wouldn’t let this deter you.
- What was the date of your tour?
- September 2023
- 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
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★★★★★ Karey Schoenfeld 7 months ago
Great bike paths and scenery
The trip was great - it was a beautiful area. It was the first time we had used e-bikes, and the bikes we had were top notch. There were a few more hills than we expected, but we didn't mind with the e-bikes! The app we had for our tour was also excellent. We took the high road into Trieste to avoid the traffic, and was glad we did.
- What was the date of your tour?
- September 18, 2023
- How many tours have you completed?
- 15
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- Somewhat harder
- Do you recommend this tour?
- Yes
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★★★★★ Zinta Harrington 7 months ago
Magnificent and varied
This was our first biketour and I chose it carefully for our family of 2 adults and 2 teenagers. The route comfortable with bike paths for a good part of the way. It was exciting with 3 countries, long declines, forests, fields, Roman ruins, historic towns, fairytale Bled, majestic Trieste. The accomodation was charming and the food enticing. The support was excellent as our luggage arrived each day and the transfers were well organised.
- What was the date of your tour?
- September 2023
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- As expected
- Who is this tour suitable for?
- Families with teens
- Do you recommend this tour?
- Yes
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★★★★★ Kim L. 7 months ago
Adventure of a lifetime!
My husband and I did the self-guided tour with the extra day in Lake Bled. The logistics went smoothly. The e-bikes worked great. The accommodations were good and the scenery was stunning! We downloaded the app and were glad we brought a handlebar mount for a phone. We wish the trip was longer!
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★★★★★ Beatriz Battistella Nadas 7 months ago
Great views, wonderful little cities
It was an excellent tour, the landscapes are stunning. The hotels are very good, with comfort and well-prepared breakfast.
The bicycles corresponded to the description, the transfers took place according to schedule.
Some stretches are a little long, on the second day's stretch for several kilometers there wasn't even a cafe or snack bar for a rest.
The day of departure from Bled has a very tight schedule, little time. The hotel has breakfast scheduled at 7:30 and we must be at the train station at 7:45, an impossible schedule to keep and, as breakfast is essential for the day's cycling, it was very bad.- What was the date of your tour?
- September 2023
- How many tours have you completed?
- this is the 5th
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- As expected
- Who is this tour suitable for?
- Families with teens
- Do you recommend this tour?
- Yes
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★★★★★ Charles Anderson 7 months ago
Great Trip!
Everything went off without a hitch. The e-bikes were the way to go and made the hills and mountain pass easy to handle. The directions and hotels were excellent. Definitely recommend the extra day in Bled, Slovenia as there was a lot to see and do. Thanks BikeTours for putting together a fun trip!
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★★★★★ Timothy Mulligan 9 months ago
Amazingly good trip
This trip covers a lot of ground and a variety of spectacular scenery! My 4th bike trip and easily my favorite. We spent the extra day in Bled, which turned out to be a good decision and was a nice break after 3 days on the bikes.
- What was the date of your tour?
- June 2023
- How many tours have you completed?
- 4
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- As expected
- Who is this tour suitable for?
- Solo travelers, Families with teens
- Do you recommend this tour?
- Yes
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★★★★★ Diane Witters 10 months ago
Great first trip with BikeTours.com
Overall, we really enjoyed the experience and were impressed with the scenery, lodging, quality of the bikes (one of us had an e-bike and the other a “top bike “), and the multiple layers of navigation provided by Fun Active Tours, the local outfitter. We also appreciated the detailed instructions for the luggage and train transfers. We especially enjoyed the first 3 legs of the journey through the Dolomites of northern Italy, into Austria, and then the entry into Slovenia with views of the Julian Alps and into Lake Bled. Trieste may have its merits but the city was quite chaotic and difficult to navigate and find our hotel by bike.
- What was the date of your tour?
- June 2023
- How many tours have you completed?
- this was our first tour
- 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
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★★★★★ Emily Magnavita 10 months ago
Great trip
Trip was great, however, there was lack of communication with the company as far as planning logistics. Directions were unclear and sometimes incorrect, got lost on the route multiple times due to lack of information and description in the directions.
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★★★★★ Rhonda Barton 10 months ago
Beautiful views!
The trip was beautiful! The views through the Dolomites and Julian Alps are constantly awe provoking. The hotels were also wonderful, our favorite being Alta Post in Feistritz an der Gail!
Bikes: We paid for the upgrade but it didnt feel as though we were upgraded. The bikes we received were not well maintained. We had a bike brake on the first day of our tour and the replacement bike had a loose peddle the rest of our tour. A few of our bikes were not tuned well and gears were either difficult to shift or couldn't be geared all the way up or down. In general, we would have appreciated better maintained bikes for a 230 mile tour, it would make the days much more enjoyable. We also had to swing by the rental place for a bike pump that had the correct valve for pumping up tires. The bikes were equipped with presta valves, but the pumps were schrader valves. We also recommend placing an allen key in the repair kit. We had several items that we had to adjust, angles of the header, tightness of the bells, etc. Having an allen key would have made these adjustments easier to make.
Bike Accessories: we think you should provide or tell the riders to bring a cell phone mount for the trip. The app was nice to have but we had to constantly get the phone out of our pockets to follow along. This can get quite dangerous on certain parts of the tour.
App: the phone app was a great perk to the trip although our main complaint is that every tour participant should have access to the app. It is challenging to have only one person with the app and it doesnt seem to make much sense to limit access. Give everyone who paid for the tour access please.- What was the date of your tour?
- June 2023
- 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
- Do you recommend this tour?
- Yes
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★★★★★ Melissa Barney 10 months ago
Biking in Italy in June
I will not be recommending this trip or your company to anyone. The App was awful: only intermittently in English (otherwise in German) and when I gave 'feedback' I got no response; the App intermittently stopped working and I had to turn my phone off and on to re-boot; the App ATE UP my phone battery (a relativley new iPhone 13 with an otherwise long battery life); any highlights mentioned in the App along a particular day's travel was only a link to something that required internet or phone service (this is ridiculous; this link should have taken me to text within the App just as every other self-guided tour does within their App). The written paper description was poorly done - for some cities the description was how to 'get' into a city and other times the city/town mentioned was only a landmark of progress but this was very confusing. The pedometer on the bike did not work after the first three hours of the 7 day trip. The bikes were way too heavy; surely there is a way to make a durable bike that is at least 2 to 3 kilos lighter. Getting the bike and getting a safety helmet were in different cities!! I would ask for some of my money back if I thought this was possible as I was very disappointed in the trip.
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★★★★★ Susanne Graham 11 months ago
Wonderful experience!
I can’t think of a better way to experience a trip through Italy, Austria, and Slovenia. The weather was perfect for our trip and the scenery was epic. We loved traveling by e-bike and seeing and feeling the small towns and beautiful and unspoiled territory. We met some wonderful fellow bikers along the way. We do not want to travel any other way.
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★★★★★ Susanne Graham 11 months ago
Wonderful experience!
I can’t think of a better way to experience a trip through Italy, Austria, and Slovenia. The weather was perfect for our trip and the scenery was epic. We loved traveling by e-bike and seeing and feeling the small towns and beautiful and unspoiled territory. We met some wonderful fellow bikers along the way. We do not want to travel any other way.
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★★★★★ Dayna Stern November 9, 2022
My favorite bike tour
I love this trip! Gentle cycling, stunning scenery and nice accommodations. We requested half board which exposed us to south Tyrolean food. Highly recommended! Remember to dress warmly because you’ll be in a wooded valley part of the first few days.
- What was the date of your tour?
- September 2022
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- As expected
- Who is this tour suitable for?
- Solo travelers
- Do you recommend this tour?
- Yes
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★★★★★ Dayna Stern November 8, 2022
My favorite bike tour
I love this trip! Gentle cycling, stunning scenery and nice accommodations. We requested half board which exposed us to south Tyrolean food. Highly recommended! Remember to dress warmly because you’ll be in a wooded valley part of the first few days.
- What was the date of your tour?
- September 2022
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- As expected
- Who is this tour suitable for?
- Solo travelers
- Do you recommend this tour?
- Yes
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★★★★★ Aaron Schwartzbaum November 7, 2022
What a fun trip!
My partner and I had a ton of fun on this trip, which was our honeymoon. The stops were nice, especially with the ability to upgrade accommodations. I'd highly recommend doing the extra day in Bled if you're looking to get some relaxation in, too. Some parts of the route, especially if you're not taking the train into Bled, are would be extremely strenuous without an electric bike, I'd highly recommend one in general. There are a couple of points where there's a bit of car traffic, but I felt safe enough in a high viz. But what a fun way to travel, we saw a lot of things we wouldn't have ordinarily and the route is SCENIC as can be!
- What was the date of your tour?
- August 2022
- 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, Families with teens
- Do you recommend this tour?
- Yes
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★★★★★ Nancy Nestler September 28, 2022
Even better than I imagined!!!
We did the self-guided tour. The routes were well described. They were beautiful and varied, from bike paths in remote areas to bike lanes in busy cities. I always felt safe. The scenery was amazing from river valleys to mountain views. There were options to explore along the way. The length of each day's ride was a good amount, and it often offered a shorter or longer version so you could decide along the way what you wanted to do. The hotels were also a nice variety. I thoroughly enjoyed each day. I would highly recommend this tour. I went with a friend, but hope to do it again and take my husband.
- What was the date of your tour?
- September 2022
- 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
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★★★★★ Jean Olson September 27, 2022
Beautiful Scenery
The Dolomites were amazing. The bike paths were good and traveled through some beautiful areas. The hotels were all great. The drections from the maps and app were good, we only got a little off track a couple of times. We rode regular bikes and although the hills were tough, they were doable. I definitely want to go back to the area between Toblack and Bled and explore more.
The roads into Trieste were busy but there was a good shoulder most of the time. The views were worth the busy road. Castello Duino was cool.
- What was the date of your tour?
- September 2022
- 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
