Bike Tour Reviews page 104
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★★★★★ Spain October 12, 2019An Adventure
· Vienna to Budapest (Classic)
We selected a self guided tour which we have done several times in the past. Unfortunately the gps link did not work for us so we used the cue sheets and map. We got lost several times which was an adventure but difficult on the larger mileage days and in bad weather. There were many more miles on roads than we expected. Often the traffic was heavy and fast and the cycle paths in poor condition.We managed as we are experienced riders but it was not what we expected. We were glad to have the suspension of hybrid bikes. However when by the river on a good cycle path the ride was beautiful. We enjoyed the ferry rides. We were 15 riders and all liked the accommodations!
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★★★★★ Dotty October 12, 2019Beautiful bike trip through the Umbrian countryside
· Umbria’s Green Valleys From the Pilgrimage Town of Assisi
Beautiful tour through the countryside. Lots of old mountaintop towns to explore (Assisi, Montefalco), beautiful scenery, and lots of agriculture (olive trees, vineyards, vegetables, tobacco). Food prepared by Carla at Countryhouse Casco dell'Acqua was the best we had in Italy.
- What was the date of your tour?
- 9/26/19 - 10/1/19
- 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, Families with teens
- Do you recommend this tour?
- Yes
- Countries included in this tour?
- Italy
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★★★★★ Razz October 12, 2019Bruge to Amsterdam by Bike & Boat
· · Bruges – Amsterdam by Bike and Boat
I loved seeing Belgium and Netherlands by the calm pace of the bike and barge. It was exciting to see and experience the cities, small towns and villages, countryside, canals, forests, and farms & communities where people lived. The barge was comfortable, staff was great and the food on the barge was fabulous. I would definitely consider another trip by bike and barge.
- What was the date of your tour?
- September 21-28, 2019
- 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 young kids, Families with teens
- Do you recommend this tour?
- Yes
- Countries included in this tour?
- Belgium, Holland
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★★★★★ BobW October 12, 2019
Great Tour
· Vienna to Budapest (Classic)
Yes highly recommend this. Mostly off road on good or at least reasonable paths. Bikes were heavy but sturdy and quite fun to ride. The geometry of the bikes means that you can get a good view of the countryside as you pedal through it. The standard of the hotels was good and we had no language problems. The guides and maps were pretty good but we also used a supplementary map we purchased. It is usually a bit tricky getting out of towns back on to the trail. My favourite place was Gyor which was unexpectedly really nice - great central old town. We added on days at either end so we got to see Vienna and Budapest properly - worth doing. We only had one significant problem which was the bikes were incorrectly sized - not sure whether our fault or theirs - but this was swiftly rectified on Day Two.
- What was the date of your tour?
- 21st Sept 2019
- How many tours have you completed?
- first of this type
- 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?
- Austria, Hungary
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★★★★★ colrip7 October 11, 2019Great area for a bike tour
· Lake Constance Bicycle Path
6 of us made this tour. None of us were "experienced" riders, but we all had fun. A couple of things I would change if it were up to me - the ParkHotel St Leonard in Uberlingen is a little over 2km, all uphill from the main town. The hotel is very nice, but we didn't like the uphill ride and all of us wanted to go into town, but none of us wanted to redo the uphill ride. The other thing is the third day ride from Uberlingen to Lindau was too far for us to do in one day while trying to see all the sights along the way. We cheated and took the ferry from Friedrichshafen to Lindau.
All of the hotels were very nice, clean and very accommodating. Our luggage was always at the hotel before we were.
The bikes were in fine shape and we had no trouble with the bikes. We had a mixture of regular bikes and ebikes.
All in all we had a great time and would recommend this trip, but I would look for a slightly different itinerary.
Liv at BikeTours was extremely helpful and we are grateful to her for her help.- What was the date of your tour?
- Sept 17, 2019
- 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?
- Austria, Germany, Switzerland
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★★★★★ Rodhonaker October 11, 2019Very good bike tour
· Danube Bike Path 8 Nights (Upscale Lodging)
Very relaxed enjoyable ride down the Danube. Lots of places to stop for local food and drink. Flat trail all the way from Vienna to Passau and an opportunity to take bikes on ferry boats to shorten the daily travel. Bike tours provided an excellent biking experience and we will likely book another tour.
- What was the date of your tour?
- Aug31, 2019 to Sept 12
- How many tours have you completed?
- 6
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- Much 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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★★★★★ Michelle2019 October 10, 2019· Provence’s History, Landscapes, and Luberon National Park
I would not recommend ChainGang as a tour operator for this area. Far better and more savvy operators with better maps and navigation are out there. At the end of the trip no one from the company checked in with us. A bit strange having all their equipment. Their printed material in a folder was ridiculous. We asked for map holders and ended up using clothes pegs and a plastic bag. Why the maps?
- What was the date of your tour?
- 17 Sept - 3 Oct
- How many tours have you completed?
- Several
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- As expected
- 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 Chloe October 11, 2019
Hi Michelle, and thanks kindly for the review. We appreciate you letting us know that the maps and navigation left something to be desired. On many self-guided tours, the operator will not meet with you at the end of the tour. They will simply pick up the equipment from the final hotel. However, each operator handles this differently. Based on the rest of your review values, it seems like you enjoyed the other aspects of the tour. We certainly hope so!
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★★★★★ Cyllene October 9, 2019Fabulous trip!
· Danube Bike Path 7 Nights (Classic)
We thoroughly enjoyed our experience. There were a couple of directional issues, but we got to our destination each day & enjoyed every mile we pedaled.
- What was the date of your tour?
- Sept 19-26, 2019
- 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, Families with teens
- Do you recommend this tour?
- Yes
- Countries included in this tour?
- Austria, Germany
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★★★★★ Lady Di October 9, 2019Interesting trip
· UNESCO Sites of Albania
We had a wonderful international group with ages from early 40es to one man turning 78 on the trip. Learning about the history of Albania was very interesting and cycling to sites from BC era was fascinating. It was like someone turned the clock back in time. We stayed in a wide variety of places and all okay with several being very unique in a good way. Food was very good but watch out for the wine in small towns as it’s homemade and not very good but the beer was good. Bikes were okay and front shocks very appreciated. If in doubt get an ebike. Our leader,Ted, and the sag/bike driver were very skilled at leading us and taking card of the bikes.
- What was the date of your tour?
- September 23-October 1st.
- How many tours have you completed?
- 8
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- As expected
- Do you recommend this tour?
- Yes
- Countries included in this tour?
- Albania
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★★★★★ Chrisdrew October 9, 2019Incredible Trip
· Treasures of the Donegal Coast
We travelled from Dublin to Donegal with high hopes and this trip turned out to exceed the expectations.Seamus who met us in Donegal has outlined a trip that gets better as each day passses. The openess of the green Ireland countryside along the N. Atlantic is spectacular. The towns en route are quaint & very picturesque (Donegal, Killybegs, Carrick and Ardara). The tour is hilly but very manageable with lots of great places for picturea and stops. Definitely do the breakouy day trips with the 2 night stays in Carrick in Ardara-we worth it.
- What was the date of your tour?
- September 22-October 1
- 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
- Do you recommend this tour?
- Yes
- Countries included in this tour?
- Ireland
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★★★★★ DougC October 9, 2019Great trip through beautiful country!
· Camino de Santiago: From León to Santiago
This was my fifth trip I've booked through BikeTours.com and it reinforced why I keep coming back. The itinerary was great and the riding was spectacular. It was a nice mix of road riding and trail riding. We toured medieval castles, monasteries, churches and countless small villages and hamlets. Our guides were fantastic. They knew the route extremely well so were able to get us to the best places, from an old monastery slightly off the route that many miss to the best restaurants in each town. Jose (our bike guide) and David (our support van driver) were both incredible. Though no technical single track, there was some spectacular trail riding interspersed with road riding on country roads. There are a few days of big hill climbs but each one had views that made it all worthwhile. I highly recommend this trip to anyone with an itch to explore NW Spain by bike.
- What was the date of your tour?
- 22-28 SEP 2019
- How many tours have you completed?
- 5
- 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?
- Spain
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★★★★★ Timr October 9, 2019Great Long Tour of Czechia, Slovakia, Austria and Hungary
· Prague-Vienna-Bratislava-Budapest
We had never been to this part of the world but were intrigued by the great cities of Prague, Vienna and Budapest as well as by the innumerable castles, chateaus, and charming small towns. We were not disappointed. Nearly 3 weeks of cycling the area satisfied exceeded our expectations. As we self-guided, we had to be ever vigilant with navigation, but the Garmin never failed to deliver (although some unexpected road construction sometimes required creative navigation). Hotels were all in the range of good to excellent. Tour provider CZ Tours was always responsive to our concerns and always made sure luggage and other transfers happened in a timely way. Very happy with this excellent adventure.
- What was the date of your tour?
- September 18-October 9, 2019
- How many tours have you completed?
- 7
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- Somewhat harder
- Do you recommend this tour?
- Yes
- Countries included in this tour?
- Austria, Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovakia
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BikeTours.com staff reply from Chloe October 10, 2019
Tim - thanks kindly for this review! We're so delighted that you enjoyed this part of the world - we also feel it's a bit of a hidden (and lesser-traveled) gem. We love that you embraced creative navigation. And thank you for noting this tour requires attention to navigation. We really appreciate knowing these aspects so we may better assist future clients in booking tours that fit their preferences. Thanks again, and so, so glad you are happy with your adventure.
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★★★★★ jpatrick October 9, 2019
Danube upscale bike path trip report
· Danube Bike Path 8 Nights (Upscale Lodging)
Our group of five guys in their 50's and 60's had a great experience biking down the Danube. We booked separate rooms with the upscale lodging option. All hotels except one were very good to excellent. The route was well identified with maps provided at the briefing, the bicycles were great (21 speed, upright style) and the scenery was superb. All details with Bike Tours were without incident. Daily rides were generally in the 40
miles/day range which was not an issue for our group. The terrain is flat to down hill. although we did have a significant headwind the last couple of days. I would rebook with Bike Tours without hesitation. -
★★★★★ Stanthepianoman October 8, 2019It was the trip of a lifetime.
· Dolomites to Trieste via Lake Bled at the Foot of the Julian Alps
The scenery was amazing! The bike paths and back roads were awesome. With a couple of changes I would give the trip a 5 star review: First, they shouldn't give an option to ride the train to Jessenice to Bled. This town is scary and hard to navigate. The ride over the pass was minor from what we were told.
Second, the Hotel Roma in Civedale is a dump. Hard beds and rude employees. All the other hotels and inns ranged from nice to awesome.
Third, we should have stayed in Bled and extra day. Our own fault on this one.
Last, the ride in to Trieste was dangerous. It was like riding the gauntlet. I would have liked to drop off our bikes out of town and walked or Ubered in to the city. This is a big busy city and many in our group were unhappy with the danger involved.- What was the date of your tour?
- Sept 2019
- 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, Slovenia, Austria
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BikeTours.com staff reply from Chloe October 9, 2019
Hi Stan, thanks so much for this review. We're overjoyed to hear you thought this was the trip of a lifeitme. That's what we are striving for! We appreciate you sharing your thoughts regarding the Hotel Roma and the ride to Trieste. We haven't heard it described as dangerous before and will surely pass your feedback onto the tour operator. Thanks for noting that you wish you had stayed an extra day in Bled - perhaps future clients will opt to do so.
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★★★★★ DRC1 October 8, 2019Great intro to Extremadura
· Cycling Spain’s Land of the Conquistadors
An area with tons of sites and (relatively) little visited. Can you say Juradilla de la Vera? The Paradors are outstanding. Only down side of trip is that it involves a substantial amount of blacktop. Plus side of that is that it is usually lightly trafficked. We had ebikes and grateful we did because some of the days are long and with a difficulty greater than I would have otherwise enjoyed. The bikes were first rate, German built with Bosch drives. Can’t comment on support because we needed none.
- What was the date of your tour?
- Sept/Oct 2019
- How many tours have you completed?
- 10
- 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?
- Spain
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★★★★★ lifejazz October 7, 2019Amazing Sights in Provence
· Provence Getaway: The Secrets of Southern France (4 nights)
We enjoyed our bike tour through Provence. Our first time to use e-bikes, which given the winds and the hills, seemed like the thing to do. Really enjoyed the e-bikes for their ease of use and making the windy or hilly sections enjoyable. The orientation was very thorough and the combination of the gps and the paper charts made navigation very easy. The two hotels were, not to understate it, wonderful. Excellent accommodations, lovely people, great food. We even got attached to a French Bulldog, Cinquante, belonging the owners of the hotel in Collias. Quite the character! On the whole the ride was through vineyards and side roads. The only unpleasant bit was from Collias to Tarascon. We spend too much time on heavily trafficked shoulder-less roads with trucks and cars whizzing by at 50 miles an hour a couple of feet from us. We've been riding for several decades and as a practice, I would never ride on that kind of road. So that bit needs some adjustment (which is why this is a four star instead of a five star review). But other than that, the rest of the ride was a delight.
- What was the date of your tour?
- 9/16-20
- 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?
- Yes
- Countries included in this tour?
- France
