E-bikes available Tour Reviews (page 104)

★★★★★ (4/5) Dean Ross September 25, 2023

A big slice of Greece

· Sparta and the Mediterranean Coast

A great way to explore some of the smaller towns in Greece. There was a little more riding on roads with narrow or no shoulders than we had expected but drivers were generally courteous. We were not advised of a hotel change on the first day the ride which caused some unnecessary confusion.

Countries included in this tour?: Greece

★★★★★ (4/5) Thomas Bailey September 26, 2023

Good trip

· Mosel Bike Path: Dreamy Mosel Valley from Trier to Koblenz

I will give you the positives and then areas I think you could improve upon. 1. The route along the Mosel is absolutely fantastic. And the boat ride down the Rhine was a very pleasant surprise. 2. We stayed in the upscaled lodging, and they were all very, very good. 3. The bikes were some of the best we have rented in Europe. They were very clean and I think almost new. Areas for improvement, 1. Your representative in Germany is, at best, average. Almost no discussion about the route or functionality of the bikes. He was very anxious to get the bikes in our hands...and leave. He also stated the route is so straightforward I did not need gps, and recommended I leave it a home. That might be true if I lived there and spoke the language. Regardless, I took my garmin and was very happy I did. The written directions were extremely imprecise - and since we had upgraded our lodging, our hotels had very bad directions to get to them. I even asked about this before we left and there was little effort to make them more clear. Not sure what your quality control is for your representatives, but we have been on several biketours.com and the quality of service when you get there is very, very inconsistent. Belgium was good, France not so much. 2. I would build in more time to see some of the beautiful small towns we visited along the way - at least give that as an option for people looking for a more relaxed schedule.

Countries included in this tour?: Germany

★★★★★ (4/5) Suzanne Skinner September 29, 2023

Good but bikes poor

· Venice to Trieste and Istria

The hotels were great. The app worked intermittently which meant we got lost with some frequency. The bikes were heavy, with crazy bad seats, and in generally poor condition (worn chains). We were lucky we did not have break downs.

Countries included in this tour?: Croatia, Italy, Slovenia

★★★★★ (4/5) Stacey Davey September 30, 2023

Beautiful countryside and charming hotels

· Tauern Bike Path (Salzburg-Salzburg)

I thoroughly enjoyed the villages and sights along our six day Tauren/Salzburg self-guided trip. The countryside was breathtaking, our hotels were charming and our hotel bookings and luggage transfers were seamless. The route also took great advantage of the amazing bike routes and on our 300 kM journey, I think only 10 or 15 kM was on a major highway. The trip was considered “moderate” and involved some climbs on the first few days of our trip—particularly if you wanted to visit some of the suggested sights along the way. The one detracting factor to our experience was the quality of the bikes. They were extremely heavy and cumbersome and did not help with navigating some of the hillier terrain. The bells and the odometers (essential for way finding) did not work properly on the two women’s bikes. The vast majority of the people we came across were on e-bikes and while the route was doable on what I would consider steel townies, it limited some of the sights we visited as after we climbed the almost 4 kM hill to visit the salt mine, we started considering elevation gains before deciding which sights to take in. However, I will say that the seats were comfortable! All in all, I enjoyed the trip and would definitely recommend it to others.

Countries included in this tour?: Austria

★★★★★ (4/5) Pamela Oberst September 30, 2023

Island of Italy

· Sardinia: A Mine of Memories

Overall the trip was great. The hotels were wonderful and each had a pool which was very nice after a hot ride.
My only negative review is the company that sponsored the tour. The bikes came very late in the evening for setup. There was no time for questions and they were still setting up bikes after 21:00.
The communication was nil. I never could get the GPS to work after several attempts. Also it would be nice if each group could of had one printed map. As it was only one of our group had the route on the phone. I ask for help but the company reps were too busy. I have done several rides with Bike tours and by far the Dolcevita was the worst.

What was the date of your tour?: September 2023
How many tours have you completed?: Six
Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?: As expected
Who is this tour suitable for?: First-time bike tourists
Countries included in this tour?: Italy

5/5 Value
3/5 Bikes + equipment
5/5 Hotels or boat
4/5 Scenery
1/5 Ease of navigation
1/5 Tour documents
1/5 Local tour company services
3/5 Route selection

★★★★★ (4/5) Timothy Ricks September 30, 2023

Exquisite Visual Treats

· Lake Constance to Lake Maggiore

A few easy days, then some more challenging climbs. Finally a long descent and a ride to Locarno on Lake Maggiore. Some rain and wind added to the adventure.

Pros: Beautiful scenery. A few nice hotels. Reliable rental bikes. Memorable rides. Excellent luggage transfers.

Cons: Too much gravel and trail riding. While some hotels were very nice, many were sub-par, in our opinion. Bikes were heavy, slow and unresponsive—making the cycling harder and slower. Tour provider never met nor communicated with us directly—they just delivered written instructions and rental bikes to the first hotel. It seemed that they really were not so interested in our business.

What was the date of your tour?: September 2023
How many tours have you completed?: 15+
Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?: Somewhat easier
Who is this tour suitable for?: Solo travelers, Families with teens
Countries included in this tour?: Switzerland

4/5 Value
4/5 Included meals
3/5 Bikes + equipment
3/5 Hotels or boat
5/5 Scenery
5/5 Ease of navigation
3/5 Tour documents
2/5 Local tour company services
3/5 Route selection

★★★★★ (4/5) Mary Ricks September 30, 2023

Getting to see the real Sardinia

· Sardinia: A Mine of Memories

The tour as a whole was good. But getting our bikes and adjusting them to ride was really a nightmare. If this would have been my first trip with BikeTours I would have never come back again. We were pretty much in the town where we were getting our bikes and could have had plenty of time to get them in the afternoon and make sure everything was adjusted correctly. However we were not to get them until 6 pm, then it was changed to 6:30 and finally it was at 7. Everything was rushed and only one guy trying to get out 26 bikes. No communication. We were forced to try out bikes on the street in the dark with cars coming and going. Ebike riders were not told that they would probably have to stop and charge their battery on the really hard day or would run out of battery. And most riders were confused about which day was the day you could get assistance if needed. Again communication was missing.
Overall the hotels were great, staff at hotels were good, food was fine. The ride overall was good because of the people who were riding. We helped each other out when we didn't know the answer to questions.

Countries included in this tour?: Italy

★★★★★ (4/5) Betty Ngan October 1, 2023

An adventure

· Algarve Coastal Route

We have previously done the wonderful Danube tour and a guided boat bike tour in the Netherlands. We rode e-assisted bikes with the exception of 2 riders in our group.

The Algarve bike tour was very different, and should be rated a 2 or 3 because this trail system is not as well developed. We found it challenging even with e-assist bikes. The tour has paved, gravel and dirt roads and even a boardwalk with gates. The segments of the trail were sometimes hard to locate on the gps and sometimes the maps did not agree with the gps. On the first day we followed the blue line on the map and rode over rough gravel roads until we encountered Angus, our coordinator, who informed us that that this was not the main route. But it wasn’t marked as an alternative route on the map.

We loved the food that we found along the way. A lunch at a seaside restaurant between Tavira and Olhao was the highlight of the tour. We enjoyed the old Portugal that remains, but much of the area west of Faro has been developed for tourism, so there are large resort areas for golf and boaters. We loved the very sweet Hotel Belavista da Luz in Praia da Luz.

We would recommend this self guided tour for younger more adventurous folks who can navigate and who don’t mind riding in rough loose gravel roads and highways with some rather harrowing highway crossings. The highways in the western part of the coast were not as busy, and we found drivers were generally respectful in the roundabouts. As our mileage increased we grew stronger over the 6 day ride, and we were proud to have made it to the 6 day when a broken chain stopped our progress.

What was the date of your tour?: September 2023
How many tours have you completed?: 2
Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?: Much harder
Do you recommend this tour?: Yes
Countries included in this tour?: Portugal

5/5 Value
5/5 Included meals
5/5 Bikes + equipment
5/5 Hotels or boat
4/5 Scenery
2/5 Ease of navigation
3/5 Tour documents
5/5 Local tour company services
3/5 Route selection

★★★★★ (4/5) Todd Kadas October 2, 2023

Italian countryside, Slovenian coast, Croatian beaches. What more could you want?!

· Venice to Trieste and Istria

This trip offered a nice mix of countryside and coastal routes with plenty of options to shorten or lengthen each day's itinerary. We were lucky enough to arrive in the second town on the same night as their annual grape harvest parade. So much fun! Tractors pulling floats, free wine, marching bands, and views from the restaurants on the street.
We chose the self-guided option for this tour and met up with at least a dozen other cyclists who were doing the same. We were never alone, had amazing weather, and every day except for one (when we cycled too fast and didn't stop frequently enough), our bags were waiting for us on arrival at the hotel.

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
Countries included in this tour?: Croatia, Italy, Slovenia

5/5 Value
4/5 Bikes + equipment
4/5 Hotels or boat
5/5 Scenery
4/5 Ease of navigation
4/5 Tour documents
4/5 Route selection

★★★★★ (4/5) Rich Wilkin October 3, 2023

Which way to Santiago

· Camino de Santiago: A Pilgrim’s Route From Astorga to Santiago

E-bikes review
3 of the 4 bikes were great, they had13.5 ah batteries. They gave me a different larger bike that had a 11ah battery. Out of the 6 days , ran out of battery power 4 days. Trying to pedal uphill on a dead battery on a E-battery was very difficult and delayed us everyday. Not good, we need compensated for faulty eqyuipment. The other 3 batteries, barely had enough power to last throughout the day. We had to charge at lunch the one 11ah battery and still did not last. Either need larger batteries

Had one flat tire. The tread on this front tire had no tread at all. When we replaced , found that the tube had a repair patch that blew out.

The one white bike had missing chain guard. My right pant leg got all grease marks
Which has to be trashed and thrown away

Hotel review -

All hotels were excellent, good rooms, good breakfast, great service. Thank you

Customer service review

We had one person who got hurt on a bike crash the second day and could not continue to bike. Venessa at customer service was excellent in coordinating and getting her to next stop for rest of tour

Other concerns -

We got a gps unit, was useless, did not help one bit, not worth renting
We used phone directions when we got off track

As directions on flip chart several days got us off track and added many miles to the day. Suggestions to add more landmarks to turns

Will definitely use Biketours.com again
This was first time users, and kinda know now what toexpect

Thank you Rich, Rosemay, Lisa, Francine

How many tours have you completed?: 1
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?: Spain

5/5 Value
5/5 Included meals
2/5 Bikes + equipment
5/5 Hotels or boat
4/5 Scenery
3/5 Ease of navigation
3/5 Tour documents
5/5 Local tour company services
4/5 Route selection

★★★★★ (4/5) Female solo traveler August 6, 2016

Incredibly scenic

· Lake Constance Bicycle Path

What was the date of your tour?: July, 2016
How many tours have you completed?: 4
Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?: Somewhat easier
Who is this tour suitable for?: Solo travelers, First-time bike tourists, Families with young kids, Families with teens
Do you recommend this tour?: Yes
Countries included in this tour?: Austria, Germany, Switzerland

4/5 Value
4/5 Included meals
4/5 Bikes + equipment
3/5 Hotels or boat
5/5 Scenery
2/5 Ease of navigation
3/5 Tour documents
3/5 Local tour company services
5/5 Route selection

★★★★★ (4/5) Janie7 August 1, 2016

Excellent family tour

· Berlin – Copenhagen

Our family of 4 just returned from an excellent 11 night, 10 day self-guided ride from Berlin to Copenhagen. We found the Mecklenburg Radtour company to be extremely well organized, have good equipment and would recommend anyone interested in a great, active holiday to give this a try! This was our first experience with Biketours.com, but we met 4-5 groups of bikers who had done multiple trips with other outfitters who felt this was particularly well organized. The hotels ranged from fine to excellent, and all had terrific breakfasts! The majority of the 400 miles was on well maintained paths and roads with only a few difficult areas.

What was the date of your tour?: July 18-28
How many tours have you completed?: 1
Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?: Somewhat harder
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?: Denmark, Germany

5/5 Value
5/5 Included meals
5/5 Bikes + equipment
4/5 Hotels or boat
5/5 Scenery
4/5 Ease of navigation
4/5 Tour documents
5/5 Local tour company services
5/5 Route selection

★★★★★ (4/5) Danube fan July 31, 2016

Nice country riding along the famous Danube

· Danube Bike Path 7 Nights (Classic)

Overall our trip was fun. The hotels ranged from wonderful (in Maria Taferi and Vienna), to pretty nice for the price.

We're fairly strong road cyclists but nevertheless found the rental bikes very heavy. The mileages for the first few days were long and with those heat bikes it was tiring. We would suggest a rest day around day 3 or 4, or alternatively lower mileages on some of the early days.

We loved Passau and would recommend spending an extra day there before the bike tour. Also a day in Vienna at the end.

What was the date of your tour?: July 2016
How many tours have you completed?: 15
Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?: Somewhat harder
Do you recommend this tour?: Yes
Countries included in this tour?: Austria, Germany

4/5 Value
3/5 Bikes + equipment
4/5 Hotels or boat
5/5 Scenery
4/5 Ease of navigation
4/5 Tour documents
3/5 Local tour company services
4/5 Route selection

★★★★★ (4/5) hbth July 29, 2016

Great tour from Dolomites to lake Garda

· Dolomites to Lake Garda: Picturesque Cities and Stunning Scenery

We chose self guided tour which was perfect for our group. We biked through amazing landscape and beautiful villages with nice restaurants and friendly people.
The travel documents were very helpful and the luggage transfer was perfect. It was
just a great tour!

What was the date of your tour?: 3.-10. July
How many tours have you completed?: This was the first
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?: Italy

4/5 Value
4/5 Included meals
4/5 Bikes + equipment
4/5 Hotels or boat
5/5 Scenery
4/5 Ease of navigation
4/5 Tour documents
4/5 Local tour company services
4/5 Route selection

★★★★★ (4/5) suze July 15, 2016

Danube River Bike tour

· Danube Bike Path 8 Nights (Upscale Lodging)

We loved this bike tour. Even though Tom and I couldnt cycle due to a recent bike accident, we followed our group by car. The villages were stunning, the hotels great, except maybe the one in Tulln. All the meals were great, except maybe the one in Linz, but I think that is because there was a wedding in the hotel. Fabulous hotel in Linz. The rest of our group loved the biking part. Highlight was definetly the boatride from the hotel in Durnstein along the Danube!!!

What was the date of your tour?: June 30-July 7
How many tours have you completed?: 5
Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?: Somewhat easier
Who is this tour suitable for?: First-time bike tourists, Families with young kids, Families with teens
Do you recommend this tour?: Yes
Countries included in this tour?: Austria, Germany

3/5 Value
4/5 Included meals
4/5 Hotels or boat
5/5 Scenery
5/5 Ease of navigation
4/5 Tour documents
5/5 Route selection

★★★★★ (4/5) Heather July 5, 2016

Alsace Cycling Vacation

· Alsace Wine Country

Bike Tours Direct is a very organized company that has good connections in the area. They provide a consultation on the first day of the trip to go over maps, routes, lodgings, and recommendations (for self-guided tours). They also spend some time making sure the bike is in good condition and is adjusted to fit you comfortably. We upgraded to road bikes, I would strongly recommend this as there are some steep hills on days 3-5.
We chose B hotels. The accommodations were comfortable.
The first 2 days of cycling are peaceful and flat, riding along a canal. Starting in Colmar, the ride is along the Alsatian wine route. It becomes hilly, and this is where the picture book starts. We cycled up and down hills, though vineyards, and medieval towns. Each town has beautifully preserved architecture, historic monuments, cobble stone streets, not to mention delicious local food and wine. The Alsace region is a perfect mix of French countryside, and small medieval towns with rich history and culture.

What was the date of your tour?: June 2016
How many tours have you completed?: 2
Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?: As expected
Who is this tour suitable for?: Solo travelers
Do you recommend this tour?: Yes
Countries included in this tour?: France

4/5 Value
4/5 Included meals
4/5 Bikes + equipment
4/5 Hotels or boat
5/5 Scenery
3/5 Ease of navigation
3/5 Tour documents
4/5 Local tour company services
4/5 Route selection

★★★★★ (4/5) Jaco June 22, 2016

Great trip with good friends

· Majorca: A Loop Tour of the Beautiful Balearic Island

What was the date of your tour?: 4 June 2016 - 10 June 2016
How many tours have you completed?: 1
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?: Spain

3/5 Value
4/5 Included meals
3/5 Bikes + equipment
4/5 Hotels or boat
5/5 Scenery
4/5 Ease of navigation
4/5 Tour documents
3/5 Local tour company services
4/5 Route selection
4/5 Guides (if applicable)

★★★★★ (4/5) debo June 17, 2016

Fun trip

· · Danube Delights: Biking through Four Countries

All in all, a great trip. Some communication issues between cruise director and guides and cyclists. Cruise director clearly overwhelmed and attimes, Difficult To Follow. Bike was very comfortable and routes, interesting and scenic. Having trouble adding photos.

What was the date of your tour?: May 22-29
How many tours have you completed?: many, but not lately
Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?: Somewhat easier
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?: Austria, Germany, Hungary, Slovakia

4/5 Value
5/5 Included meals
5/5 Bikes + equipment
5/5 Hotels or boat
5/5 Scenery
3/5 Ease of navigation
3/5 Tour documents
4/5 Local tour company services
5/5 Route selection
3/5 Guides (if applicable)

★★★★★ (4/5) B and L June 15, 2016

Easy trail through historic Burgundy

· Burgundy Wine Trails: Beaune to Macon on the “Voie Verte”

Wonderful historic sites in Cluny and Cormatin. Picturesque ride through the vineyards between Santenay and Beaune. We enjoyed detours into small towns along the way. The trail was well marked and an easy ride

What was the date of your tour?: 5/30/16-6/4/16
How many tours have you completed?: 2
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
Countries included in this tour?: France

4/5 Value
5/5 Included meals
5/5 Bikes + equipment
4/5 Hotels or boat
5/5 Scenery
5/5 Ease of navigation
5/5 Tour documents
5/5 Local tour company services
5/5 Route selection

★★★★★ (4/5) Richard 69 June 8, 2016

Gute fahren

· Lake Constance Bicycle Path

Let me begin by saying that we had an amazing time. The lake is very scenic with many interesting stops along the way. The Hotel Halm in Konstanz was lovely and across the street from the train station. It also has one of the most amazing breakfasts we've ever had. We had to take a bus to the tour company where we picked up our bikes. The people there made sure that our bikes were adjusted perfectly and off we went. Passed through many interesting towns and villages along the way. For us Mainau Island was a real highlight of our journey. Although it was mentioned in our tour book, it should have been listed as a total must see. The hotels we stayed at were all very comfortable. We especially enjoyed the Park Hotel St. Leonard. However we had to ride up an absolutely soul crushing hill to get there. The hotel at the marina seemed a little out of place near a working boatyard in the middle of nowhere. However we took a short walk and found an absolutely lovely restaurant and had a spectacular meal. In Bregenz we rode the cable car up the mountain for amazing view and a fantastic lunch. One thing that would have been helpful, that we've had on other tours, would be recommendations for restaurants that feature local foods. Overall this was a great trip and we were very glad we did it, but it didn't rate quite as high as the other tours we've taken along the Danube and the Mosul.

What was the date of your tour?: May 26 - May 31
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, Families with teens
Do you recommend this tour?: Yes
Countries included in this tour?: Austria, Germany, Switzerland

4/5 Value
5/5 Included meals
5/5 Bikes + equipment
4/5 Hotels or boat
4/5 Scenery
4/5 Ease of navigation
3/5 Tour documents
4/5 Local tour company services
4/5 Route selection

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E-bikes Available Tour Reviews page 104