Italy Bike Tour Reviews (page 3)
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★★★★★ John 327 September 15, 2018Fun Trip
· Apulia and Basilicata: Alberobello to Lecce
We were on a self guided trip but wound up meeting several fun people we wound up riding with. Scenery was great, the bikes were excellent and well suited to the ride. The accommodations ranged from good to excellent and we found the locals to be engaging and often very helpful. It seemed as though they were happy we were there. One of the bigger surprises was the quality of the local wines. They were excellent and very reasonably priced. The written directions were sometimes a bit confusing, but frankly that added to the fun and adventure. On some of the longer stretches in the countryside it was difficult to find water so it is a good idea to carry an extra bottle in your pannier.
- What was the date of your tour?
- 9/2
- How many tours have you completed?
- 4
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- Somewhat harder
- Who is this tour suitable for?
- Solo travelers, Families with teens
- Do you recommend this tour?
- Yes
- Countries included in this tour?
- Italy
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★★★★★ Steve Srebnik November 7, 2022Great experience
· Venice to Trieste and Istria
This was a great adventure for my wife and I taking us to small and not so small great beach towns as well as a pretty big city , Trieste, all in the Adriatic. Jasolo was a rocking town with a very nice beach. Most of the included breakfasts were very good and all were very acceptable. The hotels were also good, nothing special but certainly comfortable. Most of the hotel rooms were very small. Only reason I took off a star was I think I would have enjoyed it more if we were able to spend a stop over or two without a ride the next day. Since we typically arrived after 1 and sometimes closer to 2 or 3 we didn’t get to spend any significant relax time at the beaches. Overall I’d go again or do another trip. All was very well organized.
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★★★★★ Suzanne Skinner 7 months ago
Good but bikes poor
· Venice to Trieste and Istria
The hotels were great. The app worked intermittently which meant we got lost with some frequency. The bikes were heavy, with crazy bad seats, and in generally poor condition (worn chains). We were lucky we did not have break downs.
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★★★★★ Chloe March 31, 2017A Taste of Italy
· A Taste of Italy: Emilia-Romagna
- What was the date of your tour?
- 3/9-3/16
- How many tours have you completed?
- 2
- 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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★★★★★ Dickiev01 July 18, 2019
Interesting Scenery
· Apulia and Basilicata: Alberobello to Lecce
A scenic and pretty tour displaying the unique attributes of the region. The roads were generally rural and low volume thoroughfares with a few busy areas, but all in all a wonderful and decently designed tour. We upgrade our bikes so we will rate them higher than normal
- What was the date of your tour?
- June 8th, 2019
- 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?
- Italy
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★★★★★ Karl57 September 12, 2018
Great trip
· Venice to Trieste and Istria
Great trip. Would highly recommend. Every stopover destination was well worth exploring. If we did it again we would customize the tour with an extra day to explore each stopover destination.
- What was the date of your tour?
- September 2018
- 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?
- Croatia, Italy, Slovenia
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★★★★★ Pamela Oberst 7 months agoIsland of Italy
· Sardinia: A Mine of Memories
Overall the trip was great. The hotels were wonderful and each had a pool which was very nice after a hot ride.
My only negative review is the company that sponsored the tour. The bikes came very late in the evening for setup. There was no time for questions and they were still setting up bikes after 21:00.
The communication was nil. I never could get the GPS to work after several attempts. Also it would be nice if each group could of had one printed map. As it was only one of our group had the route on the phone. I ask for help but the company reps were too busy. I have done several rides with Bike tours and by far the Dolcevita was the worst.- What was the date of your tour?
- September 2023
- How many tours have you completed?
- Six
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- As expected
- Who is this tour suitable for?
- First-time bike tourists
- Countries included in this tour?
- Italy
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★★★★★ San2C July 16, 2019Wonderful Experience
· Dolomites to Trieste via Lake Bled at the Foot of the Julian Alps
The greatest surprise was that every day was a different experience. Hotels were comfortable, and the change in landscape was delightful. A few of the days would have been extremely challenging for us without E-Bikes and a GPS for guidance.
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★★★★★ Mary Ricks 7 months ago
Getting to see the real Sardinia
· Sardinia: A Mine of Memories
The tour as a whole was good. But getting our bikes and adjusting them to ride was really a nightmare. If this would have been my first trip with BikeTours I would have never come back again. We were pretty much in the town where we were getting our bikes and could have had plenty of time to get them in the afternoon and make sure everything was adjusted correctly. However we were not to get them until 6 pm, then it was changed to 6:30 and finally it was at 7. Everything was rushed and only one guy trying to get out 26 bikes. No communication. We were forced to try out bikes on the street in the dark with cars coming and going. Ebike riders were not told that they would probably have to stop and charge their battery on the really hard day or would run out of battery. And most riders were confused about which day was the day you could get assistance if needed. Again communication was missing.
Overall the hotels were great, staff at hotels were good, food was fine. The ride overall was good because of the people who were riding. We helped each other out when we didn't know the answer to questions.- Countries included in this tour?
- Italy
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★★★★★ Bumble July 15, 2019Beautiful Scenery
· Dolomites to Venice Along the Old Dolomites Railway Track
From the picturesque mountains in the north to the open flat lands of the south this was a joy to ride. The hotels were clean and welcoming.
- What was the date of your tour?
- June 2019
- How many tours have you completed?
- Four
- 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?
- Italy
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★★★★★ Emily Magnavita 10 months ago
Great trip
· Dolomites to Trieste via Lake Bled at the Foot of the Julian Alps
Trip was great, however, there was lack of communication with the company as far as planning logistics. Directions were unclear and sometimes incorrect, got lost on the route multiple times due to lack of information and description in the directions.
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★★★★★ Diane Witters 10 months ago
Great first trip with BikeTours.com
· Dolomites to Trieste via Lake Bled at the Foot of the Julian Alps
Overall, we really enjoyed the experience and were impressed with the scenery, lodging, quality of the bikes (one of us had an e-bike and the other a “top bike “), and the multiple layers of navigation provided by Fun Active Tours, the local outfitter. We also appreciated the detailed instructions for the luggage and train transfers. We especially enjoyed the first 3 legs of the journey through the Dolomites of northern Italy, into Austria, and then the entry into Slovenia with views of the Julian Alps and into Lake Bled. Trieste may have its merits but the city was quite chaotic and difficult to navigate and find our hotel by bike.
- What was the date of your tour?
- June 2023
- How many tours have you completed?
- this was our first tour
- 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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★★★★★ Todd Kadas 7 months ago
Italian countryside, Slovenian coast, Croatian beaches. What more could you want?!
· Venice to Trieste and Istria
This trip offered a nice mix of countryside and coastal routes with plenty of options to shorten or lengthen each day's itinerary. We were lucky enough to arrive in the second town on the same night as their annual grape harvest parade. So much fun! Tractors pulling floats, free wine, marching bands, and views from the restaurants on the street.
We chose the self-guided option for this tour and met up with at least a dozen other cyclists who were doing the same. We were never alone, had amazing weather, and every day except for one (when we cycled too fast and didn't stop frequently enough), our bags were waiting for us on arrival at the hotel. -
★★★★★ Boot September 21, 2017
Weather restricted tour
· Dolomites to Trieste via Lake Bled at the Foot of the Julian Alps
Unfortunately we ran into a patch of bad weather...snow, rain etc so we were not able to enjoy the gorgeous scenery so much....we know we missed a lot of countryside and we don't have many pictures to show from our trip...these are the chances you take when signing up!
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★★★★★ kiki1970 October 21, 2016
· Venice to Trieste and Istria
The overall experience on this bike trip was good. The rain that occurred on 4 of the 7 days of the trip was unexpected. The locals informed us that it hadn't rained in 2 months so it caught up to us. The accommodations and food were excellent. The real problems were the maps that were provided. They need to be more tour specific. When arriving in the destination city, specific directions should be included in finding that hotel. We spent too much time looking for our hotel for the evening. Also the written instructions are a translation from the German guide. In some cases the instructions didn't match what we saw on the ground or what the sign posts indicated. In general, the people that we dealt with in the States and Italy were great. I only wish that we would have taken a day break some where in the middle(Trieste?) to refresh and recuperate. We didn't know we could do it. I highly recommend this before heading into Croatia.
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★★★★★ Mickey Shnaiderman 7 months ago
An almost perfect tour
· Dolomites to Venice Along the Old Dolomites Railway Track
A very unusual and exciting way to explore to Dolomites. Riding the bicycle through the those magnificent views was truly astounding.
The routes were picked correctly both in terms of distance and terrain.
Also, the provided booklet with the brief information about the routes and food recommendation was great!
All the hotels were great with excellent service, breakfasts were good and had us full until arrival.
The bicycles were good too, although we would expect to have some help adjusting them to our sizes. My girlfriend is very short and we had to find a multi-tool to adjust her saddle horizontal position. If we had all the tools supplied, it would be much easier.
We also had one miscommunication: one of the hotels was changed, so we got the updated list of hotels before the beginning of the tour. Upon arrival, we got all the maps and another list of hotels. This printed list stated that all previous lists were invalid, so we took it for granted. At the second day of riding, which was the longest and the hardest, we arrived exhausted to the wrong hotel, only to realize we have 3 more kilometres to ride to a hotel outside the city. That, in turn, meant that we were left with only one dinner option - in the hotel itself. It was great, though, but quite expensive.
The navigation was a bit tricky too. The app is a bit primitive, sometimes got stuck, drained a lot of battery when navigating with the screen on (compared to Google Maps that takes much less battery). In one occasion it also got my phone so hot it had to shut down. In some several places the app tried to take us on to non existent roads or onto incoming traffic. It was also unaware of road constructions. Other than that, when getting the hang of this app, it wasn't that bad. We managed to find our way without too much of a hustle.
A tip to give to other riders next time: Venice has a secured parking spot for bicycles for a 10€ per bicycles. It is essentially a huge locker for the bike. Also, a big shout-out for Anthony, who called us to help finding the return place of the bikes. He also gave us the tip of riding to Venice and then leaving them in the hotel inserted of in the garage.- How many tours have you completed?
- 2
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- Somewhat harder
- 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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★★★★★ Jane Fletcher 7 months agoGood trip - lots of orchards and vineyards
· Innsbruck to Lake Garda Across the Southern Slopes of the Alps
I enjoyed this trip through the Dolomites but didn’t see as much of the craggy Dolomites as I expected. We were almost always in the flat valley with the mountains along the side of the valley. As we went south the mountains seemed to shrink. I enjoyed the Germanic nature of northern Italy and was very interested to learn more about its history and how Austrian the residents still feel. It didn’t feel like we were in Italy until we arrived in Trento on market day. And then it was almost like a switch flipped and we were in Italy. The architecture as well as the countryside changed and became more Mediterranean influenced. Our ride was generally on bike paths that were very busy with cyclists. Weekends were especially busy but even during the week the paths were busy but it was great to see so many people out riding their bikes. Along the paths we found several bike bars that served drinks and snacks to cyclists and they were perfect places to find a WC. We enjoyed the scenery and marveled at the thousands of acres of apple orchards that we rode through. The hotels were generally fine but the hotel in Riva del Garda was a disappointment. I paid extra for single rooms after a friend had to cancel her trip and this room was a real disappointment, it was more like a cell.
- What was the date of your tour?
- September 2023
- How many tours have you completed?
- 20+
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- Much 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?
- Austria, Italy
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★★★★★ Visitor42 July 4, 2019
Unexperienced rider review
· Venice to Trieste and Istria
That was nice and fun tour for me, however my girlfriend struggled a bit. It is not completely 2 stars. For example, last day is not plain at all and could be challenging for newbies without some experience (like myself).
It would be nice to have shortcuts for every day of this tour.
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★★★★★ Jane Fletcher 7 months agoGreat to have one hotel as a home base
· Lake Garda (based in one hotel)
Lake Garda was beautiful and we enjoyed staying in Desenzano. Our hotel in Desenzano was in the perfect location, right on the water and close enough to the old town to walk to dinner.
The day trips for biking out of Desenzano were variable in terms of how much we enjoyed them. We really liked Verona but the biking back from Verona was not very enjoyable because of the traffic and a lot of not very scenic areas. However, the day we rode to Brescia, another city, was a good biking day as the route we were on had pretty good cycling infrastructure that kept us separated from cars even though we were entering the city. There was, however, on that day a closed road that we had to navigate around. Luckily with both google maps and ride with gps we were able to find a good alternate route to get around the closure. We used rides with gps to navigate the routes provided by the tour company rather than their app as rides with gps allowed us to enter our individual hotel and ride directly there. It was also better with turn by turn directions. The tour literature said that their app would work on airplane mode if you downloaded the maps ahead of time, we didn’t find that to be the case. Also, their app tended to lose where we were while rides with gps did not lose us.
Our favorite riding day was the day we rode a loop route in the countryside without a city destination. Lots of nice scenic views without having to negotiate city traffic.
One day I had a problem with my e-bike, it wouldn’t change power levels, so I called the emergency number and they wanted me to call the guy who manages the bikes but since we were out on the tour I asked if she could call him for me. She said she would and that he would call me back. He never called back. The next day one of our group decided not to ride so I used her bike. However, there were several other bikes that had been delivered. I called the emergency number again later that day to say that I had not gotten a call back but that several bikes had been delivered and was one of them for me. She didn’t know but again told me to call the guy who manages the bikes. This time I did call him and he seemed to imply that the bike that said reserved was for me. We had a little bit of a language barrier. So, the next day I rode the reserved bike and all was good. All of that to say it would be great if the tour company could work on their communication with customers. The replacement bike for me was apparently there the morning after I called but I didn’t know that.
All in all it was a good trip and we saw some wonderful sites from Lake Garda to Verona to Brescia and in the countryside.
- What was the date of your tour?
- September 2023
- How many tours have you completed?
- 20+
- 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
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★★★★★ Cycletourer October 16, 2016Go when it is Sunny!
· Piedmont Region by E-Bike: The Italian Garden of Eden
The sunny moments were heavenly, the hotels, food, wine all excellent. We went too late in the season (Oct 8-18) and the weather was mostly cool and rainy. Our few sunny breaks were heavenly, and if you go in September, you will do fine.
- What was the date of your tour?
- Oct 8-15
- How many tours have you completed?
- 6
- 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?
- Italy
