First-Timers Bike Tour Reviews (page 36)
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★★★★★ Traveldeb October 18, 2016A Family Ride on the Danube
· Danube Family Tour 7 Nights
I was looking for a relatively easy ride for a group that included two grandchildren. This was perfect. The equipment (trailer and tag along) were just right, the easy paved course let everyone enjoy the scenery, and the accommodations were wonderful.
- What was the date of your tour?
- September 21 - 29
- How many tours have you completed?
- 10
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- As expected
- 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
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★★★★★ PattyN October 18, 2016Mosel Wine and Cake
· · Mosel & Saar by Bike & Boat
The staff on the boat spoke English and most, including our guide were completely fluent. Language was not an issue. The food was varied and healthy, although favorite part of the services onboard was tea and cake at 3pm. Although they were comfortable to sit on, the bicycles were quite heavy. Not a big deal on the flat route we were biking, but they did require more effort to pedal than I would have preferred.
- What was the date of your tour?
- September 24
- How many tours have you completed?
- Scores
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- Somewhat harder
- Who is this tour suitable for?
- First-time bike tourists, Families with teens
- Do you recommend this tour?
- Yes
- Countries included in this tour?
- Germany
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★★★★★ TexasSkier October 17, 2016Fabulous trip
· · Danube Delights: Cycling and Cruising in the Footsteps of Royalty
The number one attraction of this trip is the scenery. I was afraid that mostly flat riding through a river valley might be somewhat dull. But I was amazed at the beauty every day. I was also concerned that the rides weren't long enough to fill each day, but with the many attractions pointed out in the provided maps that was never a problem; in fact we were more likely to run out of time to do everything we wanted than we were to finish early. The boat we were on is being retired, so not much reason to comment on it except to say that it was still in pretty good shape, so if the company wants to retire it at this stage of its life, that must speak well for its replacement. The food and service onboard were excellent. Allowing us to pack a lunch from the large breakfast buffet was great as it meant we always had a good lunch with us and could decide during the day whether to stop at one of the interesting pubs along the way or have a picnic. The only conceivable complaint was with the bikes and that was extremely minor. The bikes were actually in very good shape, but some of the accessories (speedometers, bells, etc.) didn't work so well and it was difficult to find someone to get them fixed. No biggie in the greater scheme of things. Once in a while the biking directions were a little confusing, and maybe could have been communicated a little better. But at the end of the day we always made to where we were going and back to the boat, so in reality, that just added to the adventure. All-in-all just a great and very smooth running trip.
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★★★★★ Babiruth October 13, 2016
Passau to Brastilava Danube cruise and bike trip
· · Danube Delights: Cycling and Cruising in the Footsteps of Royalty
Richie from BikeTours.com and the boat staff were just great - helpful, organized, and fun!
The boat is older but being retired. Having said that, other than rough towels that needed replacing, and controlling the temperature in our cabin, the dining, lounge, lido deck, and entertainment were perfect. It's a laid back experience compared to the large ocean cruise ships which created a very 'family-oriented' feel. The scenery, historical sites, and biking in mainly Austria was just great - Austria is very well set-up for biking usually out of any car traffic. We so enjoyed and hope to do future biking excursions through BikeTours.com.- What was the date of your tour?
- 9/25-10/2/2016
- How many tours have you completed?
- first one
- 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
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★★★★★ ROCKIN ROBIN October 12, 2016
AMAZING TRIP ON THE DANUBE
· · Danube Delights: Cycling and Cruising in the Footsteps of Royalty
THIS BIKE AND BARGE TRIP ON THE DANUBE WAS ABSOLUTELY FANTASTIC. RICHIE WAS WONDERFUL AND AVAILABLE TO ANSWER QUESTIONS. THE CREW ON OUR BARGE WAS SO ATTENTIVE AND FUN TO BE WITH. THE ONLY DRAWBACK WAS THE BARGE WAS OLDER, BUT IT IS BEING RETIRED SO ALL IS GOOD FOR THE FUTURE.
- What was the date of your tour?
- OCTOBER 2016
- How many tours have you completed?
- JUST THIS ONE
- 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
- Countries included in this tour?
- Austria, Germany
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★★★★★ Mary October 10, 201660th Birthday Ride!
· Lake Constance Bicycle Path
Just returned from our ride around the Lake and it was the best way to celebrate my 60th birthday! The ride as outlined is pretty accurate with regards to level of difficulty, with the first two days of the ride the most challenging - only because of the two "hills" as we approached our hotel - we ended up having to walk the bike. The bikes were great and in top notch shape and there was more than enough storage for our 'stuff'. Each day, we started off with a healthy breakfast buffet which included options for everyone (even gluten free). Hotels were wonderful (however, if you like having a washcloth or hair conditioner; I'd suggest you bring your own as these are a little on the rare side). The trip book given to you at the start gives some wonderful 'to see' sights and is very much worth taking the time to read and review before each day's journey. Terrain was varied, as was the ride, itself. We went through villages, farm lands, the lake, campgrounds and monasteries. I felt very safe on the ride with both my personal safety and property. Very bike friendly countries and tour. Pictures show some of the sights we rode past. Enjoy the ride!
- What was the date of your tour?
- September/October 2106
- How many tours have you completed?
- 0
- 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?
- No
- Countries included in this tour?
- Austria, Germany, Switzerland
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★★★★★ Debi October 3, 2016
Wonderful trip
· · Mosel & Saar by Bike & Boat
Great boat staff and excellent dinners, wonderful scenery, excellent on board guide. Overall a great trip. I would highly recommend this trip if you want to see beautiful German villages, wine country, biking along a lovely river and learning German history.
- What was the date of your tour?
- Sept. 17-24
- How many tours have you completed?
- 2
- 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?
- Germany
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★★★★★ Robo October 1, 2016Fantastic ride
· Danube Bike Path 7 Nights (Classic)
This was our second self guided tour with Bike Tours, and once again they provided a well organised tour, hotels were very good value, and our luggage always arrived on time. The bikes were in very good condition, but slightly on the heavy side, the route was easy to navigate and depending how adventuress you are it can be adjusted to see some of the inland towns, and farming area, we added an extra day in Krems to our itinerary to enjoy the Wachau valley.
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★★★★★ Retired Teacher September 28, 2016Great Scenery, but... poor bikes
· Bicycle Paths of the Dolomites (based in one hotel)
The rental bikes were NOT up to standards. One bike had defective derailluer and and to be substituted. Pedals and seats were hard to replace with ours, mechanic had to return next day with WD430 and oversized wrenches to get pedals off.
The hotel was very cute and nice, but across plaza from 2 churches that ran LOUD bells. Hotel room had no AC and no screens on windows and we spend time killing flies! The breakfast was good, dinner was good except for one night...do not get venison (2 of 4 of us could not cut with serrated knife!) There was an alternate choice most nights had we know that is better choice.
This is NOT traditional Italian food. Villabassa and Toblach are in the German speaking section of Sud Tyrol. It is an interesting combination of Austrian and Italian 'fusion' food. White table cloths and waiters. Lots of local wines to choose from.
The bike routes were VERY Scenic and for the most part enjoyable. We got lucky and only had rain at night, but bring your rain gear just in case! There is some
gravel surface that gave some of the group tour we bumped into a little trouble, but we had no problems. Most of the rides do not take most of the day, so stop and take all the photos you want. The weather in Dolomites is about 10-15 degrees cooler than Lake Garda because it is about 4000 feet. We started with layers and soon got down to short sleeves on most days in late September.- What was the date of your tour?
- Mid-Late September
- How many tours have you completed?
- Lots
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- Somewhat easier
- Who is this tour suitable for?
- First-time bike tourists
- Do you recommend this tour?
- Yes
- Countries included in this tour?
- Italy
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★★★★★ roadrider56 September 28, 2016
Alittle bit of heaven
· Lake Constance Bicycle Path
We had an amazing time. This is our third tour with BTD and will definitely plan another tour in the future . The hotels were wonderful with amazing breakfast and some hotels had pools and offered spa packages. The routes were great although rated a level 2. I found a couple days a bit challenging considering I live in the low country yet I appreciated the challenge. The bikes were excellent considering their weight.
- What was the date of your tour?
- September8, 2016
- How many tours have you completed?
- four
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- As expected
- Who is this tour suitable for?
- Families with teens
- Do you recommend this tour?
- Yes
- Countries included in this tour?
- Austria, Germany, Switzerland
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★★★★★ Ron1 September 26, 2016
· Lake Constance Bicycle Path
- What was the date of your tour?
- 9-8 to 9-16
- How many tours have you completed?
- 2
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- As expected
- Do you recommend this tour?
- Yes
- Countries included in this tour?
- Austria, Germany, Switzerland
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★★★★★ Halle96 September 26, 2016One of Top 5 trips in 30 years travelling
· Danube Bike Path 8 Nights (Upscale Lodging)
- What was the date of your tour?
- Sept 2016
- How many tours have you completed?
- Just this one
- 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
-
★★★★★ Marko September 23, 2016
Good experience overall
· Danube Bike Path 8 Nights (Upscale Lodging)
We enjoyed the tour from Passau to Vienna very much, it was very scenic and overall a great experience. I would have rated the experience higher except some of the hotels were not really 4 star or better and the directions need to be improved.
In particular the Römerhof Hotel in Tulln (regardless of assigned rating) is just not very nice. The property is needs updating and painting. Our room was small, had ineffective air conditioning, needed painting and was really a 2 or 3 star experience. The Römerhof Hotel was by far the least desirable overnight stay on the trip, and we would not want to stay there again. I suggest the tour company reconsider this location for the "upscale lodging" tour.
For the most part the directions and maps were outstanding, except for the last day. The final day directions could really be improved for the area around Korneuburg and into Vienna. This is the most difficult section of the journey but the directions are the least descriptive. It was very hard to stay on track with the directions here. We met several other travelers that got off course in this section.
All in all we liked the tour and would recommend it. Thanks for the opportunity to provide feedback, we appreciate it! Marko and Janet
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★★★★★ tyrrell2016 September 20, 2016
best trip ever!!
· Danube Bike Path 8 Nights (Upscale Lodging)
-flat great condition bike dedicated pavement path -90 percent of the time
-the places you are on the road, the roads are not too busy and there are so many cyclist and there are signs for drivers to be aware of cyclists
-we got the electric bikes...they were a lot of fun!
-trails marked well
-bike and equipment very nice. saddlebags are waterproof
-excellent staff, great support and guidance
-lots of bike shops along the path in case you break down. the company will reimburse you. you also have a small repair kit on board and the option to call them for assistance.
-this was our first bike tour.
-maps were good
-the bike path was not too crowded...but we did go after labor day.
-very scenic
-very safe
-we did the upscale hotels. they were solid-but considering we were going through small villages they were the best of the village. fyi...air conditioning is not like in the USA. I can't imagine doing the tour in July ugh
The hotels are very friendly and are very aware of the bike arrangement.
-we did self guided and felt very comfortable with this particular itinerarytips
-be prepared for rain...it can happen. we got water proof socks, pants, jacket, shoes and gloves. it came in very handy one day. Eddie Bauer waterproof shoes were great for us. Lightweight and comfortable. my husband wants to buy another pair for backup.
-hat for sun and bug protection. We did not wear helmets because we were on bike paths.
-sunscreen for face, body and lips
-lightweight sunglasses
-consider bike gloves....the last day i got sun poison on my hands
-bring baby wipes. my husband got oily adjusting his chain
-bring washcloths (disposable)-we got dusty on the trail and none of the hotels provided wash cloths. also...bring shampoo and conditioner. many of the hotels only offered a liquid body wash.
-bring a little pharmacy antibiotics, miralax, monistat, tylenol, allergy meds,
-plan on layers for clothing and packing
-get good socks from a running store...my feet got hot- What was the date of your tour?
- September 3rd thru 11th 2016
- How many tours have you completed?
- our 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?
- No
- Countries included in this tour?
- Austria, Germany
-
★★★★★ paula12 September 19, 2016I Would Go Back Tomorrow...
· Tauern Bike Path (Salzburg-Salzburg)
I've been to Europe a dozen times, but seeing the Salzburg
area by bike was the best trip yet. Such beautiful scenery.
Loved the e-bike!- What was the date of your tour?
- Sept 12-19
- How many tours have you completed?
- no others
- 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?
- Austria
-
★★★★★ diane g September 18, 2016
Salzburg to Salzburg has fantastic scenery but directions provided are unbelievably poorly developed
· Tauern Bike Path (Salzburg-Salzburg)
Salzburg to Salzburg over 6 days is higher than a level 2. The terrain is hilly. I do not recommend this self guided tour because the german-speaking outfits they contract with provide totally inadequate self-guiding instructions. They do not know what a cue sheet is. They do not provide any directions as to north, south, east, west; they do not provide any street names. AND, the directions in English are very obviously translated very poorly from the German. In addition, there is no way to find your hotel once off the bike path. You have to depend upon good route finding skills for this hotel finding as well as the entire trip. We had this same experience with bike tours.com 7 years ago and thought they might have gotten better at directions. We gave bike tours feedback at that time, and our friends gave feedback on their german-speaking directions on their self-guided tour, and nothing changed. Hence I am writing this review without making a customer complaint becaue I do not believe bike tours will fix this problem. AND, THIS TOUR REQUIRES ONE TO CONSULT 3 SETS OF INSTRUCTIONS THROUGHOUT THE TRIP. 2 sets of friends had exactly the same experience. 2 stars are for getting our luggage to each hotel before we arrived; and the hotels were gracious and accommodating.
- What was the date of your tour?
- September 2016
- How many tours have you completed?
- 6
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- Somewhat harder
- Do you recommend this tour?
- No
- Countries included in this tour?
- Austria
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BikeTours.com staff reply from Jim Johnson September 19, 2016
This is a tour with one of our most popular operators—we send hundreds of clients with them each year—and they get routinely positive reviews. The Tauern Bike Path is also one of our more popular and long-standing tours.However, this is a new routing of a long-standing tour (that had also received good reviews), and it’s obvious they cut some corners on the directions and tour materials. We apologize for this.
I’ve actually ridden the Tauern Bike Path three times since its opening about 20 years ago. In fact, my first tour on it was before I started BikeTours.com, and it was part of my inspiration for starting the company. So it saddens me when anyone has a negative experience on it.
We also apologize for the level of difficulty, which should have been a level 3. In its previous form (the tour actually went mostly in the opposite direction), the tour was a level 2.
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★★★★★ Cramaz September 11, 2016
The Great Tour of Salzburg
· Tauern Bike Path (Salzburg-Salzburg)
This ride took us through some of the most beautiful scenery imaginable. While there were a couple of difficult hills, the majority of the ride was quite manageable and structured so that there was plenty of time to sightsee on the way and at each destination. The towns we stayed in all had something a little different to offer and all had plenty of good places to eat and relax. As a self-guided tour, this would be hard to beat. The Tauern bike path is a great way to see this part of Austria.
- What was the date of your tour?
- 28th August to 5th September 2016
- 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
- Countries included in this tour?
- Austria
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★★★★★ Julius August 28, 2016Lovely ride
· Rhine Bike Path: Mainz to Cologne
I decided on the spur of the moment to treat myself to a bike tour. The Mainz to Cologne route appealed to me because I did it by boat many years ago. It was one of the most enjoyable holidays I've ever had. The scenery was impressive, the ride was nice and easy and the hotels were sufficiently comfortable. Having done bike trips before where I carted my own luggage it was an absolute luxury to have my luggage looked after by the tour company. This was done in a very efficient way. The trip is quite easy. Before this, the last time I was on a bike for more than 10km was about 10 years ago. I had no problems, other than some saddle soreness after the first day. I would recommend proper cycling shorts, that makes life in the saddle a little easier.
- What was the date of your tour?
- 14-19 August 2016
- 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?
- Germany
-
★★★★★ Marta72 August 23, 2016
Perfect family trip
· Lake Constance Bicycle Path
Very recommended trip for families with kids that can bike. Km per day were not demanding (around 30km). You can stop to visit, to have a bath in the lake, to take a boat...very nice environment, very safe and relax way to travel. All roates are well indicated.
- What was the date of your tour?
- 6-12 August
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- Much easier
- Who is this tour suitable for?
- First-time bike tourists
- Do you recommend this tour?
- Yes
- Countries included in this tour?
- Austria, Germany, Switzerland
