Italy Bike Tour Reviews (page 16)
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★★★★★ NotLance October 11, 2017
Great way to experience Sardinia
· Sardinia: A Mine of Memories
The Sardinia: A Mine of Memories tour was great. We choose a guided trip and the two guides we were assigned were great fun, becoming family. Our group of 17 ranged from casual/infrequent riders to advanced, some on road bikes, hybrids, and some on e-bikes (all bikes in great shape), and it proved to be a great combination with everyone happy. Two days of significant elevation gain (which became known as "beautiful views") , others along rolling mostly coastal or scenic roads, all with fun breaks for coffee, lunch, gelato and beer. Great dinners and accommodations were all good. Sardinian drivers were really courteous in the short heavily trafficked stretches. Our second tour with Biketours.com and we will be back.
- What was the date of your tour?
- Sept 20-27
- How many tours have you completed?
- 3
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- As expected
- Do you recommend this tour?
- Yes
- Countries included in this tour?
- Italy
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★★★★★ Karey Schoenfeld 7 months ago
Great bike paths and scenery
· Dolomites to Trieste via Lake Bled at the Foot of the Julian Alps
The trip was great - it was a beautiful area. It was the first time we had used e-bikes, and the bikes we had were top notch. There were a few more hills than we expected, but we didn't mind with the e-bikes! The app we had for our tour was also excellent. We took the high road into Trieste to avoid the traffic, and was glad we did.
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★★★★★ Cati 7 months ago
Stunning, best way to travel
· Dolomites to Trieste via Lake Bled at the Foot of the Julian Alps
This was my first bike tour and, wow, it did not disappoint. Scenery from the get go was absolutely stunning. You traverse incredible border towns between Italy, Austria, and Slovenia on this entire tour, staying at lovely Inns and eating incredible food along the way. My only gripe was that the written directions were confusing at times (have given feedback) but I wouldn’t let this deter you.
- What was the date of your tour?
- September 2023
- 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?
- Italy, Slovenia, Austria
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★★★★★ jmain October 9, 2017Great way to explore this wonderful part of Italy
· Umbria’s Green Valleys From the Pilgrimage Town of Assisi
Self guided tour with a lot of useful information about places to investigate. Clear route instructions and maps. One bike had a problem with the gears but was quickly sorted by the agents, who were very attentive. A good selection of hotels, and BikeTours was able to negotiate a different hotel for our last night, which was helpful (our request to change not due to the quality of the hotel originally offered, but for some personal practical reasons)
- What was the date of your tour?
- 29.9.17
- How many tours have you completed?
- 4
- 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?
- Italy
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BikeTours.com staff reply from Brittany October 10, 2017
It's great to hear you enjoyed all of the aspects about this tour. Umbria is such a beautiful region to explore. Thank you very much for your review!
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★★★★★ Gregory Lebo 7 months ago
Awesome scenery!
· Dolomites to Trieste via Lake Bled at the Foot of the Julian Alps
This route is super scenic and the routing is easy enough to follow, especially in Northern Italy, Austria and Slovenia. The biking is easy although you may want an e-bike if you like to break away from the planned route to visit some castles along the way which are generally located at high points. The accomodations were all very nice and my luggage was reliably transported every day. It’s nice to let someone else plan the details while you concentrate on riding, taking photos, and enjoying the experience.
- What was the date of your tour?
- Aug 4-11 2023
- How many tours have you completed?
- 5
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- Somewhat easier
- 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?
- Italy, Slovenia, Austria
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★★★★★ Emil Barbosa and Debbie Gundersen August 4, 2022Absolutely Lovely
· · Venice to Mantua by Bike and Boat (and reverse)
Our boat was super comfortable! The food was outstanding. Our guides Elena and Alex we’re professional and fun. Easy riding with many unique stops along the way. We highly recommend this bike and boat tour!!
- What was the date of your tour?
- July 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
- Do you recommend this tour?
- Yes
- Countries included in this tour?
- Italy
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★★★★★ dave403 May 8, 2016Outstanding route and operator for central Italy - Awesome trip!
· Tuscany and Umbria: Cycling in the Heart of Italy
Really excellent self-guided trip run by a first class small operator (Petra and Paulo). Stunning terrain, mostly in Umbria which is quieter and perhaps even more charming than Tuscany. Accommodation was excellent quality and value. Not over-the-top fancy but great. Breakfasts good - usual European-style. Generally on our own for dinners and so many incredible choices - Umbria has first class food and wine. Luggage transfers perfect. Directions provided excellent. Relatively challenging rides which we expected. At the higher end of level 3. Terrain is hilly (and gorgeous) which isn't an issue where roads are switch-backed. Tougher when they're not but we managed fine. Best to be in decent shape. We're 60 and in good fitness. Winter training via spin classes helpful. Would be more challenging on hybrids - we upgraded to road bikes and were happy we did, riding with our own shoes and clips. Took an extra day in Orvieto which helped give a recovery day and was very interesting/worthwhile. Lots of history and art along the way. Great trip! Highly recommend this operator and this trip.
- How many tours have you completed?
- 4
- 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?
- Italy
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★★★★★ Mark eisenberg 7 months ago
Self guided bike trip in Umbria
· Umbria’s Green Valleys From the Pilgrimage Town of Assisi
This was the perfect self guided bike trip. The roads were quiet or on dedicated bike trails. The directions on GPS were easy to follow. The hill towns were magnificent. We chose the hotel upgrade and were very happy with the accommodations. It is in fact true that one can't find a bad meal in Umbria
- What was the date of your tour?
- September 2023
- How many tours have you completed?
- 6
- 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?
- Italy
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★★★★★ Julie June 11, 2017Loving Italy!
· Dolomites to Venice Along the Old Dolomites Railway Track
We just finished this tour and it was amazing! My husband and I rode it with our two teenage daughters. It was the perfect level for all of us- not too difficult, but had some challenges. We loved the quaint Italian mountain towns. We rode on roads that the Giro d'Italia had done the week before. We bought cherries from an orchard that was right on our route. we had cappuccinos and gelato everyday! It was truly a wonderful experience!
- What was the date of your tour?
- June 2017
- How many tours have you completed?
- 4
- 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?
- Italy
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★★★★★ Gary O August 1, 2019An excellent bike tour to include
· Tuscany Getaway: 4 Nights in Siena, Montalcino & Pienza
This was our first time in Italy and the self guided trip was and excellent way to experience all the charms and challenges of this amazing place. Everything from our briefing to the charming and very comfortable hotels was excellent and exceeded our expectations. The bike ride was suitably challenging with regular touring bikes, and proved to be an excellent workout. Towns and villages along the way were all an added bonus. Our tour hosts were excellent and even provided a ride back to Sienna to gather my car on the last day. Thank YOU!
- What was the date of your tour?
- July 10 - 14
- How many tours have you completed?
- over 12
- 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?
- Italy
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★★★★★ Ken1126 June 8, 2017Bolzano to Venice
· Bolzano – Verona – Venice
Overall the trip was very nice and I plan to use Bike Tours again soon. We arrived Bolzano via train from Munich and the scenery through the Austrian Alps was fantastic. Our first hotel is Bolzano, Hotel Scala, was very nice and we enjoyed the extra night we had booked, including a tram ride. We were a little surprised to have almost 30 people in our tour orientation. With so many people, there was little time for one on one instruction on the equipment and it was a struggle to get questions answered. The bikes, one e bike and one hybrid, were in great condition and were pleasant to ride. We were fortunate to have the tool kit which included a spare tube because on our last day the e bike had a flat in the back. The e bike had an extra (gear??) cable in the back we were not familiar with but managed to figure it out. It would be nice if the bikes had shocks to absorb the rough surfaces but I'm sure there is a reason they don't.
Our second hotel, in Trento, was not as nice as Bolzano and had no air conditioning. Since it was hot and humid the entire trip, ac turned out to be a big issue for us. Some hotels had it but it was not very effective or efficient. The next trip we book will include the upgraded hotel package.
Navigation into and out of the cities proved to be our biggest challenge. Following the arrows was great until you missed one and it required constant vigilance. Trying to follow the road book instructions was difficult, the mileage references never seemed to matched and street names were hard to find. I also found that often it would have been easier to join the route directly from our hotel rather than getting to a central starting point indicated in the road book.
We booked an extra night in Mestre and were glad we did. The Hotel Venezia Mestre had great ac, several English language tv stations, and great location to catch the bus to Venice and airport (VCE-Marco Polo).
Overall a great trip and looking forward to our next one.- What was the date of your tour?
- May 27, 2017
- 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?
- Italy
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★★★★★ Frankie April 26, 2016
Great trip
· Bolzano – Verona – Venice
The trip was a lot of fun and our guide was the best
- How many tours have you completed?
- 5
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- As expected
- Who is this tour suitable for?
- Families with teens, Solo travelers, First-time bike tourists
- Do you recommend this tour?
- Yes
- Countries included in this tour?
- Italy
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★★★★★ erinmargo April 26, 2016Best vacation ever
· Cycling and Cooking in Tuscany
There were so many positives on this trip. We were fortunate to have a fun group of like minded people on our tour. The villa is spectacular, Pometti was a fabulous, down to earth host, the food awesome, wine so good I shipped a bunch home and every location we visited was special. Marco & Guiliana are such a great team and excellent tour leaders. I have told many people about this wonderful experience and recommended to many.
- How many tours have you completed?
- 1
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- As expected
- Who is this tour suitable for?
- Families with teens, Solo travelers, First-time bike tourists
- Do you recommend this tour?
- Yes
- Countries included in this tour?
- Italy
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★★★★★ Nils Martin Sellgren August 5, 2022
A wonderful trip through an amazing landscape in early summer blossom.
· Dolomites to Trieste via Lake Bled at the Foot of the Julian Alps
We had an easy descent down a long valley from Toblach into Austria. Options with bus and train for mountain climbs. Experienced beautiful towns, among beatiful town of Bled, and even exhibition at a roman town excavation in Slovenia.
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★★★★★ CathyB April 22, 2016Fantastic
· Bolzano to Verona: Orchards, Mountains & Timeless Culture
I did this tour (self-guided) in the Fall of 2014 and it was the best trip of my life. The Hotels were all clean, safe, and ideally situated in the towns. The maps were great. There were a few frustrations when navigating alone, but nothing I couldn't figure out. The company provided me with a route map and also with written directions; even after I left the map in a bar one nigh (oops) I was able to navigate fine with the written directions. The stickers used to place the route were also very helpful. Difficulty-wise, the first couple days were mostly flat and on well paved, well laid out bike paths; as the tour went on the terrain got hillier, but there were only a couple serious climbs (and even they weren't that bad). It was a great way to see parts of Italy that you wouldn't normally see if limited to a train, and it took me through some charming little towns that would escape most tourists attention. Experiences like hiking up a mountain to visit a mostly ruined castle, or dropping in on a winery outside of Verona and being fussed over by a sweet old Nonna, or an old, chain-smoking man draping his coat over my shoulders in a cafe, will never be forgotten. This was my second time in Italy and my first bike tour. I would strongly recommend learning a little bit of Italian as English is not widely spoken in the smaller towns; my smattering really helped me. Also, don't lose your map in a bar.
- 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
- Do you recommend this tour?
- No
- Countries included in this tour?
- Italy
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★★★★★ Linda Croft 7 months agoA Scenic Paradise
· Bicycle Paths of the Dolomites (based in one hotel)
What an outstanding cycling paradise! The Dolomites are breathtaking. The bike tour operator in Italy was fabulous. I rented an e-bike and it was brand new! The information package was well organized and the trail maps were great. I had no problems with the shuttle on the day I took it. The cycling paths were very well marked with no question as to which way to my destination. The hotel was beyond expectations! I stayed in Dobbiaco at Hotel Laurin’s. The staff were fabulous. The breakfasts were delicious and the 5 course dinner was outstanding every night! The garden, spa and pool area were so relaxing. The value for a solo traveller like myself was unbelievable. I highly recommend this trip!
- Countries included in this tour?
- Italy
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★★★★★ bobe September 20, 2018Chilling in Italy
· Florence to Rome
Awesome time riding through the Tuscan and Umbrian countryside from Florence to Rome. Was all we expected and more with the added knowledge of having the 'Eurobike' crew on hand if we needed them (not that we did). Well organised, great equipment and excellent signage to ensure we didn't end up in France. Can't wait to do it all again farther down South.
Rob, Elano, Maggie and Dave x- What was the date of your tour?
- 25/08/2018
- How many tours have you completed?
- 1
- 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?
- Italy
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★★★★★ CapeCodders October 4, 2017
Best vacation EVER !
· Tuscany and Umbria: Cycling in the Heart of Italy
A big thank you to the entire staff at BikeTours and a special thank you to our Umbrian Tour operators Pablo and Petra. Everything was incredible ! The biking was phenomenal, the scenery, the food, and hotels exceeded all of our expectations. Pablo and Petra went above and beyond providing detailed maps and GPS tracks for our self guided tour in addition to historical facts and sites to be seen in each of the beautiful villages we visited .
- What was the date of your tour?
- 9/26/17 - 10/4/17
- How many tours have you completed?
- First bike tour, but avid cyclists
- 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?
- Italy
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BikeTours.com staff reply from Brittany October 5, 2017
We're glad to hear you had a great time on tour and thank you for the pictures! I visited Umbria by bike this year and what a hidden gem. We hope to help you plan another bike tour in the future!
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★★★★★ Natalie Synhavsky August 5, 2022
Loved it!
· Dolomites to Venice Along the Old Dolomites Railway Track
The scenery on this trip is truly amazing. The first two days were mostly on gravel paths before getting to paved connected trails and roads. The hotels weren't anything special, but we loved the biking route and would absolutely recommend this trip!
- What was the date of your tour?
- June 2022
- How many tours have you completed?
- 2
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- Somewhat easier
- 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?
- Italy
