France Bike Tour Reviews page 15
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★★★★★ Jack Luther
Slow and Easy Cycling the Loire Valley
Loire Valley Châteaux & Gardens Tour
In the fall of 2016 my wife and I went on this adventure. This was our second Bike Tours vacation and again it exceeded our expectation in every way. Each day we enjoyed beautiful scenery and toured amazing chateaux followed by an evening relaxing with exceptional wines and cuisine in small French villages. As always the trip ended all too soon but the video I made and posted here helps us relive one of our best vacations ever.
- What was the date of your tour?
- September 2016
- How many tours have you completed?
- Three with Bike Tours. com
- 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?
- France
Video: Cycling in the Loire Valley
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BikeTours.com staff reply from Brittany
Jack, we're so glad to hear that you and your wife had such a great time on tour! Your video puts me in the valley immediately. We hope to help you with your next tour and thanks for taking the time to review.
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★★★★★ Shlomo
Great trip in the Loire
Loire a Velo: Orleans to the Atlantic
It was my first multi-day bike trip and it was great. All the equipment and instructions were 100% .
2 comments: No one from the local company met us (so, for example, I couldn't ask how to reset the distance meter). And, there was no mobile number to which I could WhatsApp in case of problem (and I had no local calls package). Other than that it was great.- What was the date of your tour?
- Oct. 6th 2017
- How many tours have you completed?
- 0
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- As expected
- Who is this tour suitable for?
- First-time bike tourists, Families with teens
- Do you recommend this tour?
- Yes
- Countries included in this tour?
- France
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★★★★★ Jack Luther
Beer and Wine Along the Rhine with Martin Luther as a Travel Companion
Strasbourg to Mainz: Imperial Cities and Charming Landscapes Along the Rhine
My wife and I have previously done the BikeTours.com tour from Munich to Salzburg as well as the Loire Garden and Chateaux Tour and greatly enjoyed both of those. We invited good friends who are also cyclists to join us on this tour. All of us agreed that it was one of our best vacations ever and having
friends riding with us added to the pleasure. We do the tours "self guided" and enjoy the freedom of being able to explore off route if we want to. For example, on this trip we rode up into the vineyards near Nierstein, Germany which was not on the route but gave us some beautiful views and a wine tasting at the Huff Winery. There were a few days with some light rain but nothing that we were not prepared for. We stayed in the Category A hotels which were all of excellent quality and located close to the attractions we were interested in seeing. The written directions and the "E" stickers on posts along the way were often missing or confusing but the GPS offered by BikeTours worked very well. I would strongly recommend that anyone doing this tour "self-guided" absolutely plan to use the GPS mapping. The local tour company, Eurobike, does an excellent job. We have never had even the first problem with the bicycles or any of the services they provide.- What was the date of your tour?
- Sept 17 - 22, 2017
- How many tours have you completed?
- 4
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- Somewhat easier
- Who is this tour suitable for?
- Solo travelers, First-time bike tourists, Families with teens
- Do you recommend this tour?
- Yes
- Countries included in this tour?
- France, Germany
Video: Video 1
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BikeTours.com staff reply from Brittany
We're delighted to have helped you on your third BikeTours.com tour and to hear that it was a great success! Your experience is exactly what we hope to bring to clients on each tour. It's a pleasure to have the time to explore sites, scenery, and of course, vineyards. We think these are some of the best parts of a vacation. We'll be sure to work with our partner operators and improve at keeping you on the right path. Thank you very much for your feedback!
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★★★★★ Lori22
Best trip ever!
Provence by Bike and Boat
Couldn’t have asked for a better guide for my first bike tour. Hugo was so much fun, so enthusiastic, shared so much history and knowledge about the area and even made movies with the video and pics that he took which captured all the different things and places we experienced. The crew and the other bikers were so much fun as well. For my friend and I, who do not bike much, the e-bike was the ticket. Loved my e-bike.
- What was the date of your tour?
- October 7, 2017
- How many tours have you completed?
- This was my first bike tour
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- Somewhat harder
- Who is this tour suitable for?
- Solo travelers, First-time bike tourists
- Do you recommend this tour?
- Yes
- Countries included in this tour?
- France
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★★★★★ Dona2017
Freiburg and the Alsatian Wine Road
- What was the date of your tour?
- 9/24/17 to 10/1/17
- 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 young kids, Families with teens
- Do you recommend this tour?
- Yes
- Countries included in this tour?
- France, Germany
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BikeTours.com staff reply from Brittany
We're glad you enjoyed your cycling vacation. Thank you for the review and the great pictures!
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★★★★★ Croissant Lovers
Early Fall Wine Country Tour
Alsace Wine Country
Beautiful countryside, quaint towns, idyllic bike paths along canals, vineyards forever. Lodging was excellent even on the lower priced end. Included breakfasts were excellent. Found that opportunities for lunch were nonexistent or limited so we learned to buy lunch food & wine first thing in the morning. Route finding was challenging at times as we were self guided. Local tour operator provided good orientation. 21 speed bikes were very heavy and awkward with handlebar pack.
- What was the date of your tour?
- September 26-October 1
- 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
- Do you recommend this tour?
- Yes
- Countries included in this tour?
- France
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BikeTours.com staff reply from Brittany
We're glad you had a great time on tour and great advice for future clients regarding lunch along the way! I love the handlebar bag but I understand it isn's for everyone as they can be bulky. We hope to help you plan a future tour.
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★★★★★ mamacababy
One of our best bike tours ever
Alsace Wine Country
This bike tour was way more than we expected. Espace Randonnee gave us wonderful maps, directions, and bikes. I had an ebike for the first time and it was awesome. We rode down beautiful canal paths, and into picture book villages, laced with window boxes of geraniums. The accommodations were good to excellent, and we opted for the meal plan which we love because dinner was always arranged for you, and local specialties were served. The weather was perfect - all things considered, this was one of our top 2 bike tours ever!
- What was the date of your tour?
- September 25, 2017
- How many tours have you completed?
- 9
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- As expected
- Do you recommend this tour?
- Yes
- Countries included in this tour?
- France
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BikeTours.com staff reply from Brittany
We're delighted to hear you had a great time in the Alsace region! We think slow travel is the best way to enjoy the local experiences. Thank you very much for your review and please let us know when you're ready to take another bike tour.
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★★★★★ Coco
Biking in Burgundy--fabulous!
Burgundy Wine Trails: Beaune to Macon on the “Voie Verte”
This was a perfect way to spend a birthday with 5 close friends! The bike routes wound through vineyards in the midst of the crush, or on paved paths through forests and alongside canals.
- What was the date of your tour?
- mid-September
- How many tours have you completed?
- 5
- 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?
- France
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★★★★★ Coco
Fantastic way to experience Burgundy
Burgundy Wine Trails: Beaune to Macon on the “Voie Verte”
We were 6 friends on a self guided tour of the Burgundy Wine Trails. Having done many cycle tours in different European countries, I can say this one falls in the top of our list. The trails wind through vineyards and charming villages and navigation was very easy using the app. We LOVED Beaune and Dijon had a charm of it's own. The wines were fantastic and overall epicurean experience unparalleled. The only downside to this trip (and reason I am not giving it 5 stars) was two of the five hotels we stayed in were substandard. The Athanor in Beaune has a great location and warm welcoming lobby, but the rooms were dirty, there were no mattress pads on the beds, peeling paint in the bathroom etc. The Heloise in Cluny had a beautiful restaurant, but the rooms, while spacious, were extremely old and tired with ragged bedding and dark dingy halls.
- What was the date of your tour?
- September 13-20, 2017
- 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?
- Yes
- Countries included in this tour?
- France
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BikeTours.com staff reply from Brittany
We're glad to hear this Burgundy trail ranks high on your list of tours! We'll work with the tour operator regarding the substandard hotels to ensure quality for future clients. Thank you very much for your feedback and we hope to help you and your group in the future plan another dreamy vacation.
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★★★★★ JayF
Some Surprises!
South of France: UNESCO World Heritage Sites
We had some terrific rides on this tour. The most notable being the third day of riding with a stop at Minerve. The scenery was incredible. The first two days also had some great vistas.
We took the time to explore the first night's village of St. Guilhume le Desert. Worth the time. We also stopped and walked the cave at Clamuse. The vineyards on the hillsides and in the valley were treats to cycle through. We enjoyed exploring the villages in which we stayed such as Villeneuvette and Siran.
The accommodations were all adequate with a couple highlights with the Chateaus in Lignan sur Orb and Siran. La Source in Villeneuvette was also charming.
The staff at all the accommodations were all very helpful and friendly.
The included meals were lovely.I do have some criticisms/suggestions:
1. When we booked this trip we wondered how we were going to achieve our usual daily mileage of 80-100kms. The tour is rated a 3 "rolling, hilly terrain". Discover France rates it as Hobby or Active. We were surprised when meeting with our Discover France contact at the 1st hotel that every ride except the canal ride into Carcassonne is rated Active/Pro. We have cycled frequently in rolling, hilly terrain such as Kentucky, rolling hills do not have names (as at least one of the climbs did). There were a few long climbs that by no measure qualify as rolling hilly terrain. We are also familiar with categorized climbs so we adjusted our expectations and pedaled. One steep incline on a rare broken pavement type road will stay with me for a while.
2. Discover France titles this ride "The Best of Languedoc" which is exactly what it is, you may want to adjust Biketours.com title as Narbonne is not on the itinerary.
3. A shorter road bike option into Carcassonne should be provided. There is a hybrid bike ride along the canal or a long road bike option. The weather was not co-operative on that day and we had to make our own shorter road option into Carcassonne.
4. The Hotel Montmorency was the smallest room on the trip and frankly a let down after the Chateau de Siran. At the end of the trip with all your stuff for two days it gets cramped. As well the hotel is really an annex of another with check in at the Chateau du Hotel, although there is no mention of the need to go across the street to check in. Checking in through a 4 star hotel had me questioning "why are we not staying here?". As noted previously the staff were excellent at Hotel Montmorency (really Chateau du Hotel), strictly room size issue. The location cannot be beat either.
5. Another day in Carcassonne might be offered as an option. The medieval city and the other sites in Carcassonne cannot be done justice in half a day. To chose between riding and properly seeing a place such as Carcassone is one that should not have to be made.- What was the date of your tour?
- Sept 14-20 2017
- How many tours have you completed?
- Countless
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- Somewhat harder
- Who is this tour suitable for?
- Solo travelers
- Do you recommend this tour?
- Yes
- Countries included in this tour?
- France
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BikeTours.com staff reply from Jim Johnson, Founder and president
I very much appreciate your detailed feedback, which I've passed along to our tour team. We will also inform the local tour company of your helpful comments. I'm glad you had some great rides despite some of the surprises!
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★★★★★ Allen
Fabulously beautiful towns and good routes
Alsace Wine Country
Bike Tours was excellent. Very helpful.
E bikes helped. Good bikes
Routes were varied and interesting with few busy roads.
Route maps were frustrating at times because some roads poorly marked.
Escape Rondonne's Thomas was poor for the introduction meeting- rushed and confusing; but the company did handle our bags well.- What was the date of your tour?
- 9/16-20/17
- How many tours have you completed?
- 18
- 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?
- France
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★★★★★ ozfamily
Beautiful Trip Needs Logistics Tweaks
Alsace Wine Country
The positive: The route after the first day is spectacular - beautiful canals, villages, vineyards. Accommodations mostly fine, but see the needs improvement section. We especially liked the hotel in Sermersheim - tiny town but lovely place to stay. Bikes were great.
Needs Improvement: The first day out of Strasbourg is mostly a wasted day. Even the person who gave us our orientation the first day said there is really nothing to see this first day. Coupled with the fact that it is a hellacious route to get out of Strasbourg - very complicated and not well explained by the guide or by the instructions given to us, I would have started the tour on day two (save for the accommodations that first night). Also, the instructions are not always accurate. Sometimes they said we could eat lunch in certain towns, but there were not places available, based on day of the week closures. It would be helpful to note towns where train stations are available in case someone is sick or injured.... I would not have people stay in Barr - there was absolutely nothing to do and most places to eat were closed.- What was the date of your tour?
- 9/15/17
- How many tours have you completed?
- 0
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- As expected
- Do you recommend this tour?
- Yes
- Countries included in this tour?
- France
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★★★★★ Coasters
A glimpse of the Loire valley
Loire Valley Châteaux & Gardens Tour
A fabulous way to experience the countryside around the Loire valley. GPS maps made this trip very pleasurable
- What was the date of your tour?
- Sept 11-17
- How many tours have you completed?
- 5
- 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?
- France
