First Timers Bike Tour Reviews (page 14)
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★★★★★ Martine September 17, 2018Good bike trip
· · Danube Delights: Cycling and Cruising in the Footsteps of Royalty
It was very nice to stay on board ship the whole week instead packing up and moving every few days. Food was delicious on board.
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★★★★★ Miles September 17, 2018Exceeded our expectations!
· Danube Bike Path 7 Nights (Classic)
With perfect weather, my wife and I had a great ride. The first three days, about 44 miles each, was tiring but the last couple of days were just about right. Be warned that about 15-20% of the bike paths/roads next to the Danube were shared with cars and no designated bike lanes. They were more like side access roads to properties on the Danube but cars don’t slow down for bikes.
The rental bikes looked like they were new and performed flawlessly. We used one regular bike and one e-bike and charging the e-bike at each night at the hotels wasn't an issue. Although the entire ride was essentially flat, there were a couple of hotels (Maria Talferl and Hotel Steigenberger in Krems) which required quite a bit of effort to get to because they were up on a hill.
Each of the selected hotels were an added special experience as they were surprisingly high quality and provided a great breakfast.
Of special note on the hotels, the Schloss castle in Aschach was quite an experience with 15 foot tall ceilings and a main residence floor which was a museum. The hotel in Maria Talferl, which is up on a hill, had spectacular views of the Danube and the valley below.
We took our first bike trip with Biketours.com last year down the Neckar river where we ate and slept on a boat each night as we rode our bikes down the river. Although this time we were on our own when it came to lunch and dinner, we preferred this type of trip over the boat as you get to sleep in a nice, comfortable hotel at night and eat where you want in each town. Looking at Yelp reviews, we were able to find great restaurants in each destination town and that really added to the experience of getting to know the local environment.
Overall, this was a memorable and very enjoyable trip and one which we would highly recommend.- What was the date of your tour?
- Aug. 25-31 2018
- How many tours have you completed?
- 2 including 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
-
★★★★★ Joyce September 18, 2018The Mosel Valley Bike & Barge adventure is a perfect combination of stunning scenery, exercise and wine!
· · Mosel & Saar by Bike & Boat
Excellent help from the BikeTours.com staff – especially Liv! Comfortable accommodations aboard the MS Patria, delicious food, staff exceeded all expectations, bikes were good, pedaling was easy, scenery beautiful, route went thru interesting and historic villages and cities. With a group of 29, there was something for everyone – every day – and no complaints from anyone!
BTC staff review “Liv helped our group of 29 get booked……and was accommodating with every change and request along the way. Everyone thought a group that large would be impossible to book…but, Liv made it easy!- What was the date of your tour?
- Sept 1 - Sept 8
- How many tours have you completed?
- 8
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- As expected
- Do you recommend this tour?
- Yes
- Countries included in this tour?
- Germany
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★★★★★ Murphycreek September 18, 2018Can't think of a better way to see Holland
· Best of Holland South: Canals, Windmills & Historic Towns
We did this tour in late August, 2018. We are reasonably fit early 70 year olds from California. Neither of us had been on a bicycle in years. We loved it. Some observations:
-Probably the best, unique thing was the route. We were given a little GPS thing that told us where to go, turn by turn. It didn't just go from A to B. It took us through charming town centers, on farm roads through the polders, along rivers and canals, by windmills, through North Sea dunes, through tiny villages and suburbs. Even through an industrial park (think bulb and flower industries).
-The hotels ranged from very charming to just fine, and all were within a stroll of the heart of town.
-The bicycles were top notch, like new, lovingly maintained.
-The distances were just right. At the end of each day, we felt exercised but hardly exhausted, and deeply appreciated a cold beer.
-The weather was good. Pleasantly warm, some sun and some overcast. It started to rain just once, and around the next bend was an appealing hotel with a good lunch.
-We liked Peter-the-bike-guy very much. He has a stringy tour de France look, speaks excellent Euro-English, gave us clear, concise instruction on how to do things, and was amusing. Also, he was quite gracious when we told him about the bike falling into the canal.
-If we were doing the trip again (or knew beforehand what we know now), we would have made one change. We would have arranged to stay two nights in Gouda and Delft, and would have arrived a day earlier in Utrecht (we did stay an extra day in Leiden). This would have allowed us to spend time with the museums and other charms of these wonderful cities.
-Finally, we loved being immersed in Dutch bike culture. Everybody bikes, bikes are everywhere, isolated bike lanes go most places, cars respect bike rights, and oh-by-the-way people looked conspicuously leaner than in the rest of Europe, let alone in America.- What was the date of your tour?
- August 19
- 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?
- Holland
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★★★★★ Vistoso September 19, 2018Perfect weather, Awesome scenery!
· Lake Constance Bicycle Path
- What was the date of your tour?
- 9/7/18
- How many tours have you completed?
- 1
- 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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★★★★★ John49 September 19, 2018
Great trip around Lake Konstanz
· Lake Constance Bicycle Path
This was an easy 5 day bike ride around a beautiful lake with lots to see and do along the way. We used the rental bikes and they looked so heavy that I thought I'd never be able to ride it, so I was pleasantly surprised to find that it was very easy to pedal and well suited to all terrains we subjected them to. I can't think of a single suggestion for improvement.
- What was the date of your tour?
- September 5 2018
- How many tours have you completed?
- Many, but usually self guided.
- 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, Switzerland
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★★★★★ jhnyc September 22, 2018Fantastic!
· Cycling the Altmühl Valley - Round trip from Regensburg
My 10 year old nephew and I had a wonderful ride through the Altmuehl Valley. The riding was safe (almost entirely on bike paths) and very doable for a 10 year old. Beautiful scenery every day and plenty of fun things to explore along the way. The hotels were quaint and lovely - all offered great breakfasts to get us started each day. The bikes were nice and maps generally very helpful. I would definitely book another trip.
- What was the date of your tour?
- July 2018
- 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 young kids, Families with teens
- Do you recommend this tour?
- Yes
- Countries included in this tour?
- Germany
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★★★★★ Jiggy September 23, 2018
Fun time was had by all
· · Mosel & Saar by Bike & Boat
Our group of 29 people had a wonderful time enjoying the scenery and relaxed atmosphere of the Patria. Although the cabins are quite small we made the best of it....and felt it was good value for the money. Was surprised with the lack of safety talk regarding the bikes and also the boat
- What was the date of your tour?
- sept 1, 2018
- How many tours have you completed?
- 3
- 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?
- Germany
-
★★★★★ Minna September 23, 2018
Amazing Experience
· · Mosel & Saar by Bike & Boat
- What was the date of your tour?
- 9/1/2018
- How many tours have you completed?
- First one
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- Much harder
- Who is this tour suitable for?
- First-time bike tourists
- Do you recommend this tour?
- Yes
- Countries included in this tour?
- Germany
-
★★★★★ Miguel September 24, 2018
· · Mosel & Saar by Bike & Boat
- What was the date of your tour?
- Sep1-8
- How many tours have you completed?
- 1
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- Somewhat easier
- Who is this tour suitable for?
- Solo travelers, First-time bike tourists
- Do you recommend this tour?
- Yes
- Countries included in this tour?
- Germany
-
★★★★★ Danube September 24, 2018
Bucket list complete!
· Danube Bike Path 7 Nights (Classic)
A great way to tour the Danube, beautiful scenery and an amazing vacation. There are some uphills and busy sections, and a few more signs in some areas would be really helpful.
- What was the date of your tour?
- September 10 -16, 2018
- How many tours have you completed?
- none
- 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
-
★★★★★ Jan1 September 25, 2018
Wonderful bike trip
· · Mosel & Saar by Bike & Boat
This was my first bike n boat trip. It was better than I expected. I had taken a big river boat trip and this was so much better. The trails and small towns and vineyards were amazing. I would do this again. The crew was the best!
- What was the date of your tour?
- Sept. 1
- How many tours have you completed?
- First one!
- 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?
- Germany
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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
-
★★★★★ Monica and Ross September 26, 2018
Beautiful Bavaria
· Cycling the Altmühl Valley - Round trip from Regensburg
A fantastic self guided tour through beautiful scenery, historic towns and points of interest. Accomodation was top notch, and baggage transfer was seamless, bikes were well matched to the task. A couple of the days were a little long and prevented visiting points of interest. An update on changed conditions would have been handy (the low river flow in the Danube prevented the boat from getting to Weltenberg Kloster,meant an unexpected cycling leg).
- What was the date of your tour?
- 3 September to 9 September
- 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?
- Germany
-
★★★★★ 4studs2duds September 27, 2018
· Danube Bike Path 7 Nights (Classic)
- What was the date of your tour?
- Sept. 6-11, 2018
- How many tours have you completed?
- 7
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- Much easier
- Who is this tour suitable for?
- Solo travelers, First-time bike tourists, Families with young kids
- Do you recommend this tour?
- Yes
- Countries included in this tour?
- Austria, Germany
-
★★★★★ mon1ca September 27, 2018go with the flow
· Danube Bike Path 8 Nights (Upscale Lodging)
This was a trip I had been looking forward to for a few years. It was planned with my "biking buddy" and we had two other people who had agreed to go along for the ride. Unfortunately, both my bike buddy and myself broke our wrists in biking accidents in Passau the day before the trip was to start.
It was such a huge disappointment to us and our two non-riders did complete the ride without us. They thoroughly enjoyed it and were able to compete it without too much effort on their e-bikes.
First off, I want to say that both my friend and I (who both broke our wrists) are fairly experienced e-bike riders. I will say that switching fro our 26" wheels in the USA to 29" wheels on European e-bikes was difficult -- especially for those under 5'4". That being said, the bikes are truly nice, it just takes a bit to get used to them.
I can't say enough good things about the tour company who arranged for us to ride each day with the person delivering luggage from hotel to hotel. Without the effort on the part of the bike tour company, we would have incurred a significant expense, on top of the bike tour we couldn't actually ride to complete.
Our hope is to go back next year and try again -- primarily because of the service of the bike tour company.
We chose the 8-day upscale tour and were happy we did The hotels were all very nice and worth the extra amount. -
★★★★★ MAURICE September 28, 2018
It was absolutely wonderful!
· Lake Constance Bicycle Path
We biked around lake Konstanz and were so lucky to have perfect weather. The bikes were excellent and so were the hotels and luggage transfer. We felt the maps could use a little bit of improvement, that would be our only minor complaint.
- What was the date of your tour?
- September 6, 2018
- 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, Switzerland
-
★★★★★ Two Floridians September 30, 2018
Exceptional biking vacation!
· Lake Constance Bicycle Path
The Lake Constance ride was much nicer than we anticipated. Unlike the US, the area caters to cyclists with a significant portion of the ride on dedicated trails. The towns are charming and the open area between was beautiful. We recommend having GPS accessible as navigation was a bit confusing at times, but very doable. The trail is very flat and suitable to riders with moderate athleticism. Enjoy!!
- What was the date of your tour?
- September 2018
- How many tours have you completed?
- 6
- 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, Switzerland
-
★★★★★ Moody Group October 11, 2018Fun Experience
· Tauern Bike Path (Krimml-Passau)
The biking was a great experience based on something we have not done before. The bike route took us through the beautiful country side and charming communities of Austria and Germany. However, when the bicycles were delivered to our hotel in Salzburg no one from the bike company remained to provide assistance as we were lead to believe. Directions were not always clear so making decisions for the correct direction was sometimes difficult.
Accommodations in Salzburg and Obernburg am Inn were quaint, cozy and delightful and the staff were very pleasant and accommodating. However the accommodations at a couple of the other hotels were not very favorable. The Elevators/Lifts to the rooms at Hotel Gloecklhofer Burghausen were not available in our section of the hotel and the staff did not offer assistance. The staff at Hotel Spitzburg in Passau were not not very helpful or friendly. They seemed disinterested,. Example: On our last day in Passau we asked for an early wake up call to catch an early morning train. This did not happen. Fortunately we had set our own alarm and woke up on time. Then when we went down to the lobby that morning it was dark and no one was around. The door back to the rooms locked behind us and the lobby door to the street was locked. Fortunately we somehow managed to get the door open and were able to leave to catch our 7:25 AM train.Our overall experience was good and we did have a great time with our friends.
- What was the date of your tour?
- Started in Salzburg on Sept 18th.
- How many tours have you completed?
- First one.
- 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
-
★★★★★ WallyB November 12, 2018
Excellent Service
· Danube Bike Path 8 Nights (Upscale Lodging)
Biketours did an excellent job putting this together. To begin they were exceptionally accommodating when, three days prior to our arrival, my wife had a small accident in which she strained her groin and they were able to meet a last minute request to upgrade to an e-cycle with no issues.
The pre trip check in was informative. The maps were exceptionally detailed which made navigating the route very easy. They also gave detailed written information of the sites you would see along the way and at your destination. I would recommend reading up on the route the night before and planning one or two site seeing adventures to supplement your day of cycling. These are especially cool as they are self planned and you are not limited to the tours that your tour or cruise company sets out thus you can get off the beaten track a bit more and feel a little less like a tourist. Perhaps our favourite stops was the Hinterhaus ruin in Spitz. It required a 1km backtrack from a really neat ferry, asking for directions and a walk up a trail but when we arrived we were the only people there - a thousand year old castle in the middle of wine country in Austria all to ourselves - spectacular.
The biking was what we expected. As we were heading with the river it was slightly downhill however this was pretty much imperceptible. We were provided with odometers that made navigating with the well marked maps very easy. We found with our various detours and occasional trek past a required turn that we were putting in about 50-60 km per day - about the right amount of distance and interesting scenery so that it didn’t not seem like a slog while still feeling like we got a good day of exercise in. The bikes were serviceable road bikes, not spectacular but new and well tuned. If you own a hybrid mountain road bike like I do expect these to be a bit heavier and have thicker tires. You were given enough bags to take your day to day stuff including a front bag with a clear top to allow the map to be front and centre when you rode and a pannier for the more heavy items.
Accommodations were amazing. The hotels ranged from upscale basic to positively spectacular. I suspect that the hotels vary slightly from tour to tour, however, if you find you are staying at the Schloss Dürnstein you are in for a treat - our favourite hotel by far. The breakfasts at every hotel were simply over the top, I would try to list the spread but it would take too much effort. We were able to eat enough at breakfast that snacks and water were all we needed during our day of cycling. We then would eat an early-ish dinner and make out just fine. Our luggage was always there when we arrived, we were even early on a couple of occasions (we hadn’t figured out how to read the tour guide prior to leaving at that point) and it preceded us and the hotel was accommodating enough to let us check in early.
Finally at the end of the tour, Biketours was able to also help us out by booking an extra night in Vienna. Which, due to my own flight booking error, I discovered I had to cancel. No real questions, they cancelled and gave us a refund - again Biketours made it easy for us. SHOW MORE
