Bike Tour Reviews Dolomites To Venice Along The Old Dolomites Railway Track
Self guided from EUR € 749
Self-guided:
Wednesdays and Saturdays: May 4 - Aug 7, 2024; Aug 21 - Sep 28, 2024. (additional dates available for groups of 5 or more)
Description:
From the northeast of the Dolomites, embark on a wonderful cycling tour through the Höhlenstein Valley, passing by the famous 'Drei Zinnen' (Three Peaks) and onto the Olympic town of Cortina d’Ampezzo. Enjoy the splendid scenery as you follow the old…
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★★★★★ Nancy 1 month agoStunning vistas
Beginning in the Dolomites, our cycle experience included amazing scenery on very nice e-bikes. The interesting accommodations added to the history and charm of the area. Some of the apparently newly paved roads had little or no traffic and we glided effortlessly downhill toward the final destination of Mestre. One day, we encountered free roaming cows, each with a cowbell and walking calmly along the side of the path and paying us no attention.
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★★★★★ Mickey Shnaiderman 2 months ago
An almost perfect tour
A very unusual and exciting way to explore to Dolomites. Riding the bicycle through the those magnificent views was truly astounding.
The routes were picked correctly both in terms of distance and terrain.
Also, the provided booklet with the brief information about the routes and food recommendation was great!
All the hotels were great with excellent service, breakfasts were good and had us full until arrival.
The bicycles were good too, although we would expect to have some help adjusting them to our sizes. My girlfriend is very short and we had to find a multi-tool to adjust her saddle horizontal position. If we had all the tools supplied, it would be much easier.
We also had one miscommunication: one of the hotels was changed, so we got the updated list of hotels before the beginning of the tour. Upon arrival, we got all the maps and another list of hotels. This printed list stated that all previous lists were invalid, so we took it for granted. At the second day of riding, which was the longest and the hardest, we arrived exhausted to the wrong hotel, only to realize we have 3 more kilometres to ride to a hotel outside the city. That, in turn, meant that we were left with only one dinner option - in the hotel itself. It was great, though, but quite expensive.
The navigation was a bit tricky too. The app is a bit primitive, sometimes got stuck, drained a lot of battery when navigating with the screen on (compared to Google Maps that takes much less battery). In one occasion it also got my phone so hot it had to shut down. In some several places the app tried to take us on to non existent roads or onto incoming traffic. It was also unaware of road constructions. Other than that, when getting the hang of this app, it wasn't that bad. We managed to find our way without too much of a hustle.
A tip to give to other riders next time: Venice has a secured parking spot for bicycles for a 10€ per bicycles. It is essentially a huge locker for the bike. Also, a big shout-out for Anthony, who called us to help finding the return place of the bikes. He also gave us the tip of riding to Venice and then leaving them in the hotel inserted of in the garage.- How many tours have you completed?
- 2
- 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?
- Yes
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★★★★★ Garry Wyndham 3 months ago
Extraordinarily varied and wonderful scenery.
This was one of our favorite ever vacations for the scenery, the food and the physical challenge. BikeTours is a great company and the tour is super value.
- How many tours have you completed?
- 3
- 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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★★★★★ Terez Maniatis 3 months ago
First trip in the dolomites
The scenery was amazing! The local tour company was not.
By the time we got our bikes they had run out of repair kits. We had to but two tire tubes at different times because of this. Would not recommend this company!- How many tours have you completed?
- Many
- Who is this tour suitable for?
- First-time bike tourists, Solo travelers, Families with teens
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★★★★★ Garry Wyndham 3 months ago
Extraordinary experience
Marvelous variety of views and experiences, geology and wonderful food. This was our second time and we had a blast. Despite one hiccup with the wrong hotel, Biketours looked after us well. Highly recommended
- What was the date of your tour?
- September 2023
- How many tours have you completed?
- 3
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- As expected
- Who is this tour suitable for?
- First-time bike tourists, Families with teens
- Do you recommend this tour?
- Yes
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★★★★★ Chris MacMillan 3 months ago
Spectacular scenery, poor bike maintenance
The scenery was spectacular and memorable. The hotels were good. However in the middle of the trip my bike handlebars came loose and the bike was very difficult to steer towards the hotel. Also I found the Funtastic navigation app to be unreliable.
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★★★★★ Rob Russell 5 months ago
Fantastic bike trip - downhill all the way!
I did this trip with my daughter who had never been to Italy. The folks at ''Fun Active Tours" were exceptional. They let us have the bikes a day early, call our hotels to make sure we had two beds as some of the hotels thought 'double' ment one bed! They let my daughter ride with the luggage transfer guy in the middle of the tour as her U-?-What was sore ;). Hotels were great and the route was unbelievable. Frendly Italians and some of the best food we've ever had. Go for it!
- What was the date of your tour?
- June 2023
- How many tours have you completed?
- 15
- 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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★★★★★ Dantzel Crane 6 months ago
Beautiful sights, okay directions
We absolutely loved our trip to Italy! It was such a treat to be able to be outside and spend significant time in the Italian countryside, seeing the beauty that is there. My only critique is that often times the directions were a bit difficult to follow. It might just be that I am unfamiliar with the Italian road system, but there were several times where we needed to check the map that was given to us by the tour company against Google maps to make sure that we were in the right place and hadn’t missed a significant turn. Otherwise, the hotels were fine but nothing special (we did not pay for upgraded hotels), the bikes were great, and we loved our time in Italy so much!
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- As expected
- Who is this tour suitable for?
- First-time bike tourists
- Do you recommend this tour?
- Yes
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★★★★★ Russ Gibfried November 7, 2022
Great locations, trip pace and places to stay
Perfect way to see Bavaria, Tyrol, the Dolomites and into Venice. Old train tracks have been converted to bike trails, so you see towns and places that you would miss in a car. The mobile app keeps you on track. I'm convinced this is the best way to see a country and all my future trips will include a one week bike tour (if possible)
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★★★★★ Sharon Aikens October 15, 2022
Spectacular scenery, great trails, mediocre hotels
The route from Toblach to Venice was fantastic. We were surprised at how much of the route was on beautiful paved trails, along rivers, mountain ridges and through lovely small villages. The bikes provided were excellent. The FunActive app is very good but, the the bikes do not come equipped with a cell phone mount so every time you want to figure out directions, you have to stop and hassle with your phone. This added a lot of time to completing the route each day. We had rented a mounted GPS for this purpose, but were told when we got there that they no longer offer this because they have the app. The ride itself is at an intermediate level of difficulty because there were a few challenging spots, mostly when the trail was steep gravel, but also a couple quite long climbs. The big disappointment were some of the hotels or hotel rooms. Many hotels were nice but they seem to reserve the worst rooms for FunActive. When we realized this, we started asking for nicer rooms. One night when we were supposed to stay in the lovely town of Belluno, we were housed in a horrible hotel far from town after after riding 75 kilometers (Hotel Villa Capenada). It was like out the the movie "The Shining." Old and tired, deserted and creepy. We were too tired to go back into town and the food at the hotel was inedible and very expensive. We never got to see Belluno. A few other hotels were barely acceptable with dusty bedspread, curtains and dirty carpet. The hotel in Mestre put us in a room that smelled like cigarettes and sewer and the floor was linoleum. On our return stay there, we insisted on a nicer room and got a lovely room on a higher floor. The moral of the story: Don't accept an unacceptable room! But BikeTours.com and FunActive need to know that this is going on. We have been on many bike tours and never require fancy accommodations but some of these were pretty disappointing. All that said, the BikeTours.com and the FunActive staffs provided excellent service in setting up the tour for us.
- What was the date of your tour?
- September 2022
- How many tours have you completed?
- 6
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- Somewhat harder
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★★★★★ Don Thain September 23, 2022
Mostly fantastic
This trip used rental bikes and was self-guided. The basics worked well with hotel bookings and luggage transfers. The bikes were fine for this but had minor deficiencies. The joining instructions were incorrect but were sorted out with a phone call. Routings were chosen to highlight scenery and views while avoiding traffic. The map sets were disappointing as directions were muddled. Other cyclists had the same complaint. But it was a great trip nonetheless.
- What was the date of your tour?
- September 2022
- How many tours have you completed?
- 3
- 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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★★★★★ Dewey Forward August 31, 2022
Spectacular if very challenging
It was certainly the most dramatic trip I’ve ever taken. By the end of the trip I was complexly familiar on how the app works and appreciated the care that went into all of the planning.
The hotels were all interesting being uniquely Italian and well placed in the towns we stayed in. All and all a lifetime memory of joy. Harder than a 1 difficulty which was advertised.- What was the date of your tour?
- August 2022
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- Much harder
- Who is this tour suitable for?
- Solo travelers
- Do you recommend this tour?
- Yes
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★★★★★ Llewellyn Fernandes August 7, 2022
Beautiful Italy from Mountains to Coast
The views of the mountains and countryside were fabulous ! And best experienced on bike. All the hotels along the way were nice and comfortable. Luggage usually delivered by 4pm, so sometimes we toured the town and had a bistro stop before ending the day at the hotel. Since my daughter was having some challenges with the distances, we just hopped on a train to complete the day's journey and toured the town. It was actually a great way to spend the day. Only issue we had was that all the instructions were in German. This did cause some challenges because there was a major detour one day. We figured it out but would have been much easier if all information was in English (as we expected since we communicated in English throughout the booking process). Otherwise it was a fabulous trip !
- What was the date of your tour?
- May 2022
- How many tours have you completed?
- 4
- 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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★★★★★ Natalie Synhavsky August 5, 2022
Loved it!
The scenery on this trip is truly amazing. The first two days were mostly on gravel paths before getting to paved connected trails and roads. The hotels weren't anything special, but we loved the biking route and would absolutely recommend this trip!
- What was the date of your tour?
- June 2022
- How many tours have you completed?
- 2
- 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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★★★★★ Alexthegr8 October 2, 2019
A Bumpy Ride at Times, but Worth It.
The scenery ranges from pleasant (Asolo to Treviso) to spectacular (Cortina to Belluno), and the hotels (all of which were nice) were conveniently located with the exception of those in Belluno and Treviso, which are located too far from the center to walk. Bikes were OK, although the pump provided did not fit the tube stem, and the extra inner tube was too large. We saw very little signage on the first day, although the frequency of signage increased over the length of the trip. The GPS, for which we paid extra, did not work, and is unnecessary in any case. All that said, we enjoyed the riding very much, and would definitely recommend it to others, most particularly if they have some prior experience (there are a few detours along the way) .
- What was the date of your tour?
- September 2019
- How many tours have you completed?
- 8
- 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
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★★★★★ Marv September 29, 2019
First European Bike trip
This was an amazing trip. Well organized, excellent hotels and breakfast. The route was beautiful. The bicycling was more challenging than we expected, but we are casual cyclists. If you are somewhat of a serious cyclist, it would be no problem. 95% of the directions were excellent. 5% were very confusing or ambiguous. Everyone in our group got lost at one point or another. Overall, well organized and beautiful trip. We will book again with Biketours.com.
- What was the date of your tour?
- 09/14/2019
- How many tours have you completed?
- 1
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- Much harder
- Who is this tour suitable for?
- Solo travelers, First-time bike tourists, Families with teens
- Do you recommend this tour?
- Yes
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★★★★★ j59fj2046r July 28, 2019
Great cycling and and absolute best way to see the Dolomites. The routes are great, with a little bit of climbing and some fun downhill sections each day. I commute to work and found the riding matched my ability, leaving enough time to stop here and there, and explore the city at the end of each stage.
TIP: The routes are mostly intuitive and easy to follow, but there are some challenges and confusing areas. If you ride this tour, skip wrestling with the paper map and use a GPS. I set aside some time before each ride to plot my route using the Komoot cycling app on my phone - I found I made fewer wrong turns and had more confidence to have fun with the ride and take in the scenery.
- What was the date of your tour?
- 2019
- How many tours have you completed?
- 1
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- Somewhat easier
- Who is this tour suitable for?
- Solo travelers
- Do you recommend this tour?
- Yes
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★★★★★ Sandy89 July 18, 2019
Unbelievable Scenery!
Our first time to the Dolomites - we will be back! The scenery was breathtaking. Everywhere you looked there was a photo opportunity. The hotels were quaint and the food was excellent although we would have liked more recommendations of food and sight seeing along the way (we were self guided). Totally recommend getting the GPS for one of the bikes if you self guide due to some tricky routing. Overall, loved this trip and would recommend it to our friends!
- What was the date of your tour?
- June 2019
- How many tours have you completed?
- 4
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- Somewhat harder
- Who is this tour suitable for?
- Families with teens
- Do you recommend this tour?
- Yes
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BikeTours.com staff reply from Chloe July 19, 2019
We couldn't agree more; the scenery on this tour is amazing!
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★★★★★ Bumble July 15, 2019
Beautiful Scenery
From the picturesque mountains in the north to the open flat lands of the south this was a joy to ride. The hotels were clean and welcoming.
- What was the date of your tour?
- June 2019
- How many tours have you completed?
- Four
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- Somewhat harder
- Who is this tour suitable for?
- First-time bike tourists
- Do you recommend this tour?
- Yes
