First Timers Bike Tour Reviews
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★★★★★ Mama May 22, 2016Danube family bike tour???
· Danube Family Tour 7 Nights
This trip did not turn out to be anything like we expected. Although the hotels and the scenery were beautiful the support from The Bike Company was useless. When a child with a temp of 104 needed a hospital they had no suggestions on where to go or how to get there. The maps they provided were useless and the directions given to us on the first night we're completed in about 20 minutes. The bikes were inconsistent some had water bottle holders some not. The day at the spa although nice contain total nudity. American children aren't used to that. The Farm Hotel turned out to be 3 goats. The bike ride into Venice was four miles of City biking. bike trails in Vienna are gorgeous but not particularly child friendly. The Danube bike paths all though lovely contained many areas where the speed limit was 70 kilometers an hour. We had seven and 10 year old children riding.The bike support was not given by the tour company but by another tour company. Support really meant they just transported our luggage. This would have been a beautiful ride for adults and teenagers. Not young children. the maps need to be completely redone.
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★★★★★ Debra Miller 7 months agoA Bit Disappointing
· Danube Bike Path 7 Nights (Classic)
Cycling along a paved path along the Danube was relaxing for our group of four. Day three was truly beautiful with cobblestone roads and colorful houses in the villages. Wish we had gone earlier in the year as many restaurants and shops were closed for the season.
- What was the date of your tour?
- September 2023
- How many tours have you completed?
- 4
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- As expected
- Who is this tour suitable for?
- First-time bike tourists
- Do you recommend this tour?
- No
- Countries included in this tour?
- Austria, Germany
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★★★★★ May 9 months agoFirst family cycling trip completed!
· Danube Bike Path 8 Nights (Upscale Lodging)
Overall a satisfactory trip! The GPS is very useful for navigation. The hotels are great! Just on first day, we find that 2 of the 4 bikes are not fit. We have enter our age and height and has not been told specifically what kinds of bikes will be assigned. I found that they just give standard bikes for adult female and male disregard our height and age (Asians in average are shorter than Westerners.) The person, Robert, arrived for “bike fitting” was not helpful at all. He suggested my daughter to cycle 30km to their bike shop to change bike. When we asked him to call customer service, he said he didn’t have Wi-Fi. So, Eurobike send a staff without communication methods to help customers’ solve problems? Finally, Robert had to use my phone to call the CS number. And in the phone, he said we are “bla, bla, bla.” Is it the customers cannot voice their requests, even the bikes are not fit and customers have to take the risk of getting hurt or accident? and seems to Robert, customers’ requests are “bla, bla, bla..” And customers need to take the riding risk to go 30km to change bike? Later he mentioned it may need to charge EUR 50 per bike change if need to switch bikes in Passau. I have emailed biketour and I am grateful that next day the 2 bikes were changed without additional charges. In second day, Simon is much more helpful. Simon helps us do the testing & it works. Simon is v polite and helpful. Passau is the starting point of Danube cycle path. I feel strange that the outsource company does not have a bike rental centre there. This is our first family cycling trip and it did create stresses at the beginning. The outsource company probably need to have better communication with biketour.
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★★★★★ diane g September 18, 2016Salzburg 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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★★★★★ ontherun August 10, 2019Great country to visit but maybe not with BikeBoatTours
· · Amsterdam – Bruges by Bike and Boat – Fluvius (and reverse)
We certainly enjoyed the country and the flat bike trails (lol!) but the company that provided our tour was mediocre at best. They had no concern for safety - did not require helmets, nor did the guides wear them. The bikes had no water bottle holder and the lights on the bikes did not work. Also, after strongly encouraging us to download Ride with GPS, they sent us the daily route but then: did NOT have holders on the bikes to put our phone on and it's illegal there to ride with a phone in your hand! Also, they did not follow the routes as stated in the Ride with GPS so the app was constantly beeping that we were off track and was, essentially useless. The guides seemed to be suffering from burnout. They were nice but did not offer any information unless asked and were extremely disorganized throughout the trip. The food on the boat was adequate but repetitive - same breakfast every day and we had to make our own lunch from the same food every day....unless it ran out and then we were stuck with prosciutto and bread that day. The boat itself was nice and the cabins were nice. Cleaning was not done during the trip unless asked.
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★★★★★ Richard Rogers 7 months agoNot as I had expected
· · Provence by Bike and Boat
Not expecting to ride as a group. The riding involved more road riding and realize that a leader was necessary. The riding in Southern France is not as developed as Central Europe.
- Countries included in this tour?
- France
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★★★★★ Jim Brewer September 25, 2018Mainz to Cologne
· Rhine Bike Path: Mainz to Cologne
The Rhine Valley was beautiful. The hybird bikes were very good. Maps and directions for the tour were very poor at best. Extremely difficult to find Hotels and the key sights mentioned by the tour. We experienced extremely high temperatures but had A/C most nights. The night without A/C resulted in very little sleep and NO biking the next day. The night that they shut off the A/C in the middle of the night resulted into a lot of lost sleep. Bottom line even with average high temperatures you need A/C every night and all night long.
Others on the same tour with the same maps etc also had difficulties finding the Hotels each evening.- What was the date of your tour?
- 22 Jul 18--28 Jul 18
- How many tours have you completed?
- 1
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- As expected
- Do you recommend this tour?
- No
- Countries included in this tour?
- Germany
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★★★★★ Pedals August 8, 2017Great and not so great
· Tauern Bike Path (Krimml-Passau)
Having just come off 2 weeks biking in France we had something to compare this trip with.
The first 3 days or so were magic - lovely views, fantastic track surface and finally cool weather. The accommodation was great,especially after we were upgraded twice, and can be recommended.The bike gear was top class but my bike however was not. Euro Velo bike hires have to realise that the standard puffy commuter seat they supply are not comfortable for guys used to proper bike seats - enough said. Also on the second day when I went to use the smallest front chain ring it turned out that 2 of the mounting bolts were missing and it got wrecked so one third of my gears were gone. Managed to get this repaired after a couple of days but wasn't really satisfactory. This should not happen!
The directions and maps hardly ever match up completely on these type of trips but we were certainly not happy to discover at the end of a long hot day that the instructions for the approach to Salzberg were in fact for someone coming from completely the opposite direction - a victim of cut and past to be sure, as was the odd paragraph still in Austrian, but this should have been edited properly. A shame as the general standard of the material presentation was of a high quality.
Be aware if you want to do this trip that the last few days are along the stop bank beside the river and are boring - very little in the way of scenery and culture. Next time we will detour inland.
Sorry but overall a 3 star effort.
Warning - in case you may be considering a taxi ride from Innsbruck to Krimml to start your trip make sure that the driver is legitimate. Ours was a temporary fill in, had not driven out of town for 4 years and was a thoroughly unsafe driver. Much too fast and I suspect maybe on something. He almost ran off the road a number of times and clipped the inside kerb a couple of times . Haven't been so scared in our lives as passengers apart from jeep trips in Nepal and Pakistan. This should not happen in a first world country and if it had been practical solution we would have got out and walked!!
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★★★★★ Marion Van Kirk 11 months ago
Beautiful Austria and Germany
· Tauern Bike Path (Krimml-Passau)
Biking was more difficult than expected. Luckily the women had e-bikes. Most of the hotels were excellent and food was great. Trip started in Neukirchen am Grossvenediger instead of Krimml due to closed hotels. The hotel in vicinity of Burghausen was too far from the town to be able to enjoy the beautiful city and castle and this was a huge disappointment since there were 3 other hotels within the city.
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★★★★★ 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
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★★★★★ Jackie10 June 14, 2019
Recommend with caution
· Salzburg to Vienna, Lakes Option
This bike tour is through the most beautiful Austrian countryside. The accommodations are great, luggage transfers flawless and great breakfasts included. The directions are horrible, especially the 1st and 3 rd days. Make sure you have a GPS with you. The poor directions added unnecessary frustration to the trip. The bikes are up right commuter bikes and uncomfortable for the mileage involved. If you are accustomed to a decent road bike you probably won't be happy. Most cyclists we saw were on e-bikes which makes the poor ergonomics more tolerable. This tour would be a 5 star with accurate directions and decent equipment. So bring a GPS and your own bike and have a blast!
- What was the date of your tour?
- June 2019
- How many tours have you completed?
- Two
- 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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★★★★★ Diane Griffin 5 months ago
Disappointing - don't go during shoulder season
· Danube Bike Path 7 Nights (Classic)
I've done four self-guided trips and this trip was my least favorite. The marketing material pitches "storybook villages" but most days are spent riding through corn fields. The hotels were outside of towns and hard to walk to restaurants. Because it was shoulder season, there were very few restaurants open.
First day's hotel was outside of town and front desk advised that we go to the mall for lunch. Fortunately we found a fun restuarant down on the river. The initial meeting with the bike company was disorganized and very brief. He barely talked about the tour, he didn't have tools to swap out pedals, there were too many of us attending the meeting and he said he didn't have time to answer questions - only 60 minutes alotted. We asked for spare tubes for the two road bikes but never got them. Skinny tires get flats!!
The "castle" we stayed in one night was not nice. It was clearly getting renovated - the rooms were nice but there were only five rooms. The property was overgrown and rundown, and with only five rooms it felt very creepy and unoccupied.
Breakfast at the castle - no protein - no eggs, no yogurt. We're on a bike tour and need energy! No fruit, no granola. Breakfast was just six slices of cucumbers, 10 cherry tomatoes, hard rolls, deli meat/cheese. Bar wasn't open for post-ride beer/wine.
Donauhotel Letternof - 11k from Enns, very remote, had to walk to a campground for food. Closest restaurant is cash only, need reservations. Front desk tried to make res but couldn't get through. The ONLY local taxi was working in Linz, not available for us. It was due to rain very hard. Hotel loaned us umbrellas and we went back to the campground for dinner.Day 3 - arrived at Cafe Braun (the meeting point) at 4:30 and called for shuttle (runs 3-6pm) told to go to a camping store(?) and get the bus as they don't have anyone to pick us up. One guy in our party was willing to make the 3k very steep climb to get us a ride. This hotel was nice but since it was past high season everything in this cute village was closed. Only one restaurant was open.
Last day - Vienna - hotel was so far from center city and far from anything interesting. Very long and confusing ride through busy city. Very limited restaurants. Shortest riding day and yet our bags didn't arrive until 5pm. -
★★★★★ Bryan October 5, 2017
Austria 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
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★★★★★ Canada November 4, 2015A bit of a disappointment
· Lake Constance Bicycle Path
We booked the high end tour and in general were very pleased. Most of the hotels were lovely and located conveniently to the bike path. One exception was the Marina hotel we were sent to. We passed by beautiful villages but instead of staying in these lovely locations, we were sent to a marina where there no amenities nearby. We explored through the nearby campsite and located a restaurant much more reasonably priced than the marina hotel restaurant. When we had asked at the hotel about nearby restaurants, the hotel said there were no others nearby. It was also very noisy as they were working on the boats. Also we were disappointed with how little you actually got to bike along the lake. Being as this is a huge vacation area most of the lakefront had homes on them. So we were sharing the road much more than expected with often little or no views of the lake.
The bike tour company was great and the bikes were of a good quality (though with the bumpy terrain shocks would have been appreciated).A lovely touch was the beautiful room at the Hotel Halm in Constance where there was a bottle of wine waiting and a lovely corner room.
- How many tours have you completed?
- Three
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- As expected
- Who is this tour suitable for?
- First-time bike tourists
- Do you recommend this tour?
- No
- Countries included in this tour?
- Austria, Germany, Switzerland
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★★★★★ Ginny50 June 8, 2016
A Challenging and Rainy Ride
· Lake Constance Bicycle Path
This was a good tour and we enjoyed the adventure, but I can honestly say I would not recommend it to a beginner. Many of the reviews said this was a good ride for beginners. My husband and I started riding 2 years ago so we are slow but steady riders. We rode the Danube path (Passau to Vienna) last year with no problems so this one sounded like a good tour for us.
We booked this ride based on the level 2 status and the few reviews we saw. In my opinion it is more of a level 3-4. The gently rolling hills were very steep on the first 2 days. It would have been easier with an e-bike but for beginners it was almost impossible with a regular bike. Most of the time the paths were paved but several sections were packed “gravel.” These paths were well maintained and easy, but often a bumpy ride. The biggest problem was these paths were not much more than 2 feet wide so if you are a slow rider you tend to collect 30 faster bikers behind you with no way to pass.
The Lake Constance cycle route is one of the most popular bicycle routes in Europe.
This just about sums it up - the most popular path in Europe. It was over-crowed almost to the point of being dangerous in many sections. We wondered about the high level of bike traffic during the month of May, until we were enlightened that we were enjoying “Pentecost Holidays” with the throngs of locals.
The bikes provided by the company were wonderful. I highly recommend this tour company/bike shop and crew. My husband was not happy with his first bike and they quickly swapped it out with no question.
When we received our tour documents we noticed one day stated that the ride was 35miles/55km. Most of those miles were on a shared road with cars - Not a dedicated bike path. Cars whizzing past you on a busy road is not fun for us. That day our bikes took a train ride! FYI - When I asked one of the tour guides if many people ditched this ride mid-way he did say that quite a few riders just gave up. I can see why!
Each hotel was fabulous. The rooms were lovely and the food excellent.
We really did enjoy this trip and we pushed ourselves more than we ever thought we could. We had 2 good days of seeing the lake and views, but missed seeing the beautiful scenery because of the incessant rain and many detours. Better rain gear will be on our wish list before we ride again. It was a challenge that we were proud to complete.- What was the date of your tour?
- May, 2016
- How many tours have you completed?
- 3
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- Much harder
- Do you recommend this tour?
- Yes
- Countries included in this tour?
- Austria, Germany, Switzerland
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★★★★★ Horned Frog June 4, 2019
Fun 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
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★★★★★ Bean October 14, 2019
Beautiful Area - Terrible Bikes
· · Provence by Bike and Boat
Great way to see Provence, but the bikes were really really heavy and the guide was not very good.
- What was the date of your tour?
- Sept 28-Oct 5
- 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
- Do you recommend this tour?
- No
- Countries included in this tour?
- France
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★★★★★ Mary Gallagher 9 months ago
Great biking - barge was ok
· · Provence by Bike and Boat
Biking in Provence was outstanding- but the cabin we stayed in (Cabin 1) was not satisfactory. Crew we’re great and tour leader was knowledgeable and experienced. Unfortunate about our accommodations.
- Countries included in this tour?
- France
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★★★★★ Jon Kramp 9 months ago
A fine tour with issues
· · Provence by Bike and Boat
The bike/boat tour started off by my not being able to initially find the boat. The route of the tour is normally serviced by two boats with the boats sailing the route in opposite directions during each week. Due to low bookings, only one of the two boats servicing the route was in operation. The boat I expected to sail on was the one that was out of service and docked and it took some time to find the boat that was in service.
The boat I actually sailed on, Caprice, is a converted cargo barge. The cabins contained the expected features for a 'standard' category passenger river vessel. However, the cabins are on the small side. The dining/lounge area was also on the small side considering that the boat was operating at full passenger capacity. Food service was very good and the crew was helpful. Snacks and drinks were available at the end of the days cycling.
The biking route and sights seen along the way were as advertised. However, there were two cycling related issues:
1) The tour description of 'There will be some hills' is correct for most days but that there were two climbs each of about 5km length.
2) All but five of the tour members selected to book an electric bike for the tour. Only one of the tour members completed the tour without the use of a non-electric bike because of the slope and length of the climbs. Booking an electric bike for this tour is recommended for most people.One day of the tour included a continuous 5km stretch of gravel surface. The tour used multiple types of roads. The major roads were all in fine condition. The smaller one lane roads, mainly used by farmers to reach the fields, were often in poor condition with pot holes common. It should be noted that all of the bikes offered on the tour were if good quality and in good repair. During the tour there was only one minor issue with any of the bikes.
It should be noted that some days on this tour were a bit long considering that temperatures were in the mid 90'sF to just over 100F range. On one day, for example, biking started about 8 AM and ended slightly before 6 PM. Hydration was an issue but the biking part of the tour included multiple stops each day to refill water bottles and/or purchase drinks.
A printed map of the biking route was not provided and is not available. Those doing the tour non-guided, only done by 2 people on selected days on my tour departure, will need to have a mobile phone to access route information.
- What was the date of your tour?
- July 2023
- How many tours have you completed?
- 5
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- Much harder
- Do you recommend this tour?
- Yes
- Countries included in this tour?
- France
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★★★★★ Mary Gallagher 9 months ago
Disappointing Accommodations
· · Provence by Bike and Boat
Recently returned from Provence bike and barge and very disappointed with cabin accommodations. Bathroom sink located in main cabin from which we heard gurgling and draining from other cabins. Also heard loud banging from floor probably due to mechanical issues due to location of cabin - farthest on the bow. Overall not suitable for guests. Crew, guide and food were great- but cabin (#1) was not acceptable.
- Countries included in this tour?
- France
