E-Bikes Available Tour Reviews page 5
- Albania
- Austria
- Belgium
- Bosnia and Herzegovina
- Bulgaria
- Cambodia
- Croatia
- Czech Republic
- Denmark
- England
- Estonia
- France
- Germany
- Greece
- Holland
- Hungary
- Ireland
- Italy
- Japan
- Latvia
- Lithuania
- Luxembourg
- Montenegro
- Norway
- Poland
- Portugal
- Romania
- Scotland
- Serbia
- Slovakia
- Slovenia
- South Africa
- Spain
- Sweden
- Switzerland
- Turkey
- United States
- Vietnam
- Wales
-
★★★★★ Kenneth (Doug) Mering October 2, 2023Good trip but issues
· Balkan Treasures
Trouble with maps provided. Map did always start and stop at lodging location. Not always clear on th route on the map. Did not always feel safe on the road. Scenery was great. Enjoyed it but may not do another biketours trip without a lot more research on the routes safety.
- Countries included in this tour?
- Croatia, Albania, Montenegro
-
★★★★★ Anne Stanek October 11, 2023Challenging but interesting tour.
· Castles and Wines of Portugal
This was a particularly challenging trip for us as we biked in 92 degree heat every day of the tour. The rides were long, there were many hills and it was extremely dry. Luckily, a couple of us used EV bikes which made a big difference. I think this trip would feel very different with cooler weather. All the folk who we dealt with were so warm, welcoming, helpful, etc. We visited some very cool towns - Evora and Monsaraz were my favorites. We stayed in some lovely hotels - ancient buildings fixed up comfortably with modern conveniences and a working farm. We ate fabulous breakfasts. We stopped at some interesting sites - monoliths, pottery factory, marble quarry were three favorites. It was a good trip despite the challenges.
- What was the date of your tour?
- October 2023
- How many tours have you completed?
- 10
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- Somewhat harder
- Do you recommend this tour?
- Yes
- Countries included in this tour?
- Portugal
-
★★★★★ Annik Stahl September 11, 2023Could have been better
· · Provence by Bike and Boat
The tour leader (Helmut) was great, as was the boat crew. There were some fun times biking but the miles and miles of harsh gravel was not in the description of the trip. (This was not "country roads" -- this was ROCKS and my back ached for days afterward.) Had I know, I would not have chosen this trip as I just had surgery. I found the food to be absolutely awful. The dinners were beond strange and hey, maybe something besides HAM HAM HAM every day for lunch? I lost 4 pounds during that trip.
While I know there are some great trips to be had with this company (my dad has been on several and said this one was the worst). this was not one of them. Like I said, some fun time biking but not enough to recommend this trip.
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- As expected
- Do you recommend this tour?
- No
- Countries included in this tour?
- France
-
★★★★★ 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
-
★★★★★ ArmannI September 17, 2018Nice mountain view
· Rhône River Route: Oberwald to Geneva
Good way to experiece Switzerland. More information needed regarding interesting places to visit. The first day was the most wonderful day
- What was the date of your tour?
- 26.8 - 30.8
- How many tours have you completed?
- 3
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- As expected
- Do you recommend this tour?
- Yes
- Countries included in this tour?
- Switzerland
-
★★★★★ Allen H. September 22, 2023Tour of Slovenia
· Best of Slovenia: Highlights Across the Country From Bled to Piran
The logistics of the tour was good. Hotels, Routes & baggage transfers went as planned without any issues. However the bikes were terrible. Heavy & not proper gearing for climbing hills. The poor bikes took away from the enjoyment of bike riding. I have done 10+ bike tour in Europe. The worst rental bikes ever. Also the Guibo route app was poor. Ride with GPS is much better.
- What was the date of your tour?
- Sept. 2023
- How many tours have you completed?
- 10 plus
- 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?
- Slovenia
-
★★★★★ Edward Baker August 11, 2023Could Have Been Amazing
· Royal Zealand and Copenhagen
The routes took us through some very interesting landscapes and towns. It would have been so much better if our daily information included more specifics about the areas where we traveled. Knowing more about the trails would also have been helpful. At one point, the directions were extremely confusing and led us onto an impassable trail. We understood that in some towns where we stayed the accommodations would be limited and might not have all of the amenities to which we are accustomed. With that we were fine. However, it was disappointing to see better accommodations that were available. Even worse was when the directions sent us to the better hotels only to be told that our reservation was not there and when we arrived at the hotel that was reserved, it was of a much lesser quality. This happened to us twice. At the very least, the route directions should list the correct destination hotel. We should not have to consult two different documents to find our hotel for the night. In our case, we had specifically explained that we would pay more, but wanted to have the best accommodations in each location. This did not happen, although we did pay a higher rate. Fortunately the staff at all of the hotels were exceptionally helpful, friendly, and professional. We were given very limited orientation before beginning the ride and felt that this company was unresponsive and left a lot for the rider to figure out alone. No helmets were provided which wasn't significant for us because we brought our own, but there was no communication indicating that helmets would not be provided. Having notes in the daily plan that noted restaurants along the way and at the destination each day would have been most helpful. In addition, it would have been nice to have known that in serveral locations, the only dining option would be at the hotel. We had a very enjoyable experience, but feel that it could have been far better with more information provided by the organization.
- What was the date of your tour?
- August 2023
- How many tours have you completed?
- 6
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- As expected
- Do you recommend this tour?
- No
- Countries included in this tour?
- Denmark
-
★★★★★ Sheryl Slone July 17, 2023Disappointed
· Strasbourg to Mainz: Imperial Cities and Charming Landscapes Along the Rhine
We were disappointed in the inability of the app to work for route directions. Several detours were encountered that were clearly not recent detours but alternate directions were not given. We ended up just doing a Google bike route to get from city to city.
-
★★★★★ beyeKur November 5, 2016
Downsized tour, questionable difficulty rating.
· Castles and Wines of Portugal
Overall we are all glad we did this tour, but we agreed that an honest review was required. Our group of 4, downsized the tour to 3 days of unguided cycling in the 4 star hotel option. Two of our group had, one month previous to this tour, completed a 7 day bike tour in France that was rated as a 1-2 in difficulty. So, expectations were to have a comparable tour since the difficulty rating was the same. This was not our experience however. Our contact person for the Alentejo tour was really great during the first day orientation, answered all our questions, checked us out on the bikes and gear and left us with her personal phone number in case of problems. Terrific! Our group range in age from 66-76, all fit (2 active bikers one runner) and ready for the challenge. The first 6 miles or so were on the main highway to Lisbon (fast drivers and trucks closely along side the shoulder used for biking). Then when we turned off to the quiet roads as in the suggested option, the dirt roads were not in the 1 or 2 difficulty category rating as outlined in the tour. These unpaved roads were more like 4-5 difficulty as they were often like mountain bike roads for at least 1/4 of the days' 35 mile route. Steep upgrades, deep ruts from recent rain, many rocky and sandy roads impeded travel. It rained much of this, the first day. Even though our tour operators could not control the rain, they should have reassessed the level of difficulty and road conditions and report honestly about current road conditions status of deteriorated due to recent rains. Two of our group opted out for day 2 due to exhaustion and lack of faith in level of tour difficulty, but the two who continued enjoyed the quieter country roads which were less harrowing than the dirt roads, but more trafficked and still above level 1-2. Day three was great, though still there were several long, lowest-gear slopes more of a 3-4 rating and still on medium trafficked roadways. This days' outlined tour was also changed--we walked the 3 miles each way to the top of the hill town, as the 'road' very steep and all jarringly cobbled (in the level 9-10 difficulty range). Safety concerns: due to roads with traffic, tour company should supply high viability vests and warning lights. Hotels were great, maps good. The personnel we dealt with was great!
- What was the date of your tour?
- Oct 11-15
- How many tours have you completed?
- 4
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- Much harder
- Do you recommend this tour?
- No
- Countries included in this tour?
- Portugal
-
★★★★★ Bryan October 5, 2017Austria Bike Trip
· Danube Bike Path 8 Nights (Upscale Lodging)
This was the second bike tour that we have completed; and compared to the first tour, this one felt like the local tour operator was more of a logistics company. The route was spectacular, I feel like we could have maximised the experience if we had more information, particularly when it comes to different options along the route. On several occasions we either ran out of time to see things later in the day, or arrived at the hotel around lunch time because we didn't know where we should be budgeting our time. During our Portugal trip, our local contact, Nuno, was incredible, speaking with us several times a day to ensure that we were getting the most out of the experience - this time we were flying blind on our own.
- What was the date of your tour?
- 25 Sept - 5 Oct
- How many tours have you completed?
- 1 other
- 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
-
★★★★★ Bike and ski October 17, 2019Trip review
· Vienna to Budapest (Classic)
The ride was somewhat boring, lots of farm lands. Not as scenic as I had hoped for
-
★★★★★ Barbara Stanley June 9, 2024Good trip with a few problems.
· Dolomites to Venice Along the Old Dolomites Railway Track
Instruction , hotels and app were very good overall. Could improve to have ability to put in hotel for city navigation when it really counts. I had a collision with a tram at the end of the ride but lucky that I had minimal damage. Also , in our group of 5 , one had a horrible bike and the chain kept coming off.
- Countries included in this tour?
- Italy
-
★★★★★ Sharon Aikens October 15, 2022
Spectacular scenery, great trails, mediocre hotels
· Dolomites to Venice Along the Old Dolomites Railway Track
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
- Countries included in this tour?
- Italy
-
★★★★★ Bicycling in Philly August 26, 2017· Salzburg to Vienna, Lakes Option
- What was the date of your tour?
- Aug 13-19
- How many tours have you completed?
- Greater than 10
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- Somewhat easier
- Who is this tour suitable for?
- First-time bike tourists, Families with teens
- Do you recommend this tour?
- No
- Countries included in this tour?
- Austria
-
★★★★★ Carol Dienhart October 5, 2022
Vienna to Budapest sister trip
· Vienna to Budapest (Classic)
Tour route was very well laid out, enjoyed overnight cities and accommodations. Disappointed in materials, one important guide not available in English. Made it difficult to chart routes and alternative routes and to plan for landmarks/scenery to watch for along the way.
- What was the date of your tour?
- Sept-Oct 2022
- How many tours have you completed?
- 10
- 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?
- Austria, Hungary
-
★★★★★ Cassidy 7 months agoCool but disappointed
· Washington DC Monuments at Night Bike Tour
I really enjoyed this tour overall - it's hard to go wrong with seeing all of the beautiful monuments in DC as the sun sets! That being said, our guide didn't given much history or narrative to each spot we visited, I was hoping to hear more about each monument, rather than the stats. Also I was disappointed by how the guide talked about the various war memorials - our guide did give us some background but based on the tone used, I felt like I was hearing about a fun fact, rather than a very somber event/location. Overall, I wanted to hear little known facts, local lore and knowledge but instead, I felt like I could have just looked up each site we went to on wikipedia and gotten the same information (and more) than what I heard on this tour.
Also, our guide also was biking so far ahead of everyone, it felt like he was racing to get around, leaving people behind. Given this was a tour that went into the night, he also didn't warn much about the terrain or being careful around various areas. I saw multiple people fall and one person ran into a barrier at a narrow pathway area.
- What was the date of your tour?
- April 2025
- How many tours have you completed?
- 0
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- As expected
- Who is this tour suitable for?
- Solo travelers, Families with teens
- Do you recommend this tour?
- Yes
-
★★★★★ Cathy Hendrie September 23, 2023Innsbruck to Lake Garda
· Innsbruck to Lake Garda Across the Southern Slopes of the Alps
There should be a company representative present when the bikes are delivered
Our 10 person group was divided between 2 hotels …..this should never happen…we travel as a group for a reason….to enjoy our time together…also the notification sent was inadequate -
★★★★★ Ben J. 3 months agoFun ride, slow pace
· Lisbon Food Tasting E-Bike Tour
The cycling portion was a great way to see Alfama's quirky streets, but the tastings themselves felt a bit rushed at times. While the food was delicious, I wish we had spent slightly more time enjoying the local markets.
-
★★★★★ Horned Frog June 4, 2019Fun time... but
· Lake Constance Bicycle Path
I enjoyed the tour a great deal, but the route instructions were sketchy at best, and the bike weighed only slightly less than a Sherman tank.... which would not have been much of a problem except that the route had more hills than expected. The hotels selected were all very nice.
- What was the date of your tour?
- 21 May
- How many tours have you completed?
- 4
- 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?
- Austria, Germany, Switzerland
-
★★★★★ 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
