Bike Tour Reviews page 6
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★★★★★ Casey York 5 months agoAmazing way to travel!
· · Bruges – Antwerp – Amsterdam by Bike and Boat
Can’t wait to go on another trip! The barge was comfortable, food tasty, guide and staff wonderful and I really enjoyed the whole itinerary. The fortified cities shaped like stars were so unique and I enjoyed sailing on the boat, enjoying a happy hour glass on the deck after a long day biking.
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★★★★★ John Thell 5 months ago
Great adventure
· Lake Constance Bicycle Path
Wonderful experience. Using ebikes made the trip very doable. The hotels were great - locations,food, service, and comfortable. Not having to worry about luggage was a great relief. The only thing that was frustrating was poor maps in a couple of the larger towns - finding the hotels can be a challenge. Usually the locals were very helpful in giving directions. Would recommend a gps system for our next trip. We were very pleased overall and biking around Lake Constance was more than we imagined.
- What was the date of your tour?
- September 2022
- How many tours have you completed?
- One
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- Somewhat easier
- Who is this tour suitable for?
- 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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★★★★★ Paul Clark 5 months agoCycling a Disappointment but Good travel Itinerary
· Florence to Rome: Calm, Mystical and Unexplored Countryside
My partner had a biking accident and, after completing the first day’s 60 km ride nonetheless, we decided to take the train and just enjoy this lovely part of Italy. There was just too much traffic and too few shoulders on the roads for us to feel safe and relax. The hotels were comfortable and clean and typically in the historic centre of these charming little towns. There were many sites to see and the daily hiking up and down the local hills while site seeing provided more than adequate exercise. Overall, a wonderful experience-despite the biking misadventure-which we will remember forever.
- Countries included in this tour?
- Italy
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★★★★★ Ellen Steury 5 months agoFantastic touring company and lovely scenery
· Portugal's Atlantic Coast
My husband and I took an unguided trip of 6 days, along with a younger woman (age 50) who was on her first time bike tour. The preparatory information the company provided, and the interactions we had with various staff both before and during the trip put this local bike tour company in a class of it’s own — first rate. The company has put together a great information packet to help you maximize your enjoyment on the trip — recommending sites and restaurants — and loaded it on apps for your mobile device. During the trip, they provided true 24 hour assistance. They immediately pick up the phone. I know this because I had a couple of mishaps (unrelated to the biking or the equipment) and I twice contacted the company for assistance. The response was immediate, to the point, and without hesitation, even when it incurred private transportation to take me from one hotel to the next. The person who met us to deliver the bikes and fit them to us did an excellent job. He covered all the details and answered all the questions. The hotels were an interesting mix of spacious-modern and historic-antique, with only one (in a small beach town) a little worn. All in all, this was the most smoothly run bike trip with the most accessible and responsive staff that my husband and I have encountered in our 10 bike trips over 8 years. Their attention to detail and focus on giving the client a good experience shows. It’s real. My compliments to the local tour company. At our ages (83 and 70), the hills with heavy electric bikes was a bit challenging, but this is disclosed by the tour advertising. For our 50 year old friend on her first long distance bike trek, it was a piece of cake. She handled it with ease and wants to do more such trips.
- What was the date of your tour?
- September 2022
- How many tours have you completed?
- 10
- 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?
- Portugal
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★★★★★ Sharon Aikens 5 months agoSpectacular scenery, great trails, mediocre hotels
· Dolomites to Venice Along the Old Dolomites Railway Track
The route from Toblach to Venice was fantastic. We were surprised at how much of the route was on beautiful paved trails, along rivers, mountain ridges and through lovely small villages. The bikes provided were excellent. The FunActive app is very good but, the the bikes do not come equipped with a cell phone mount so every time you want to figure out directions, you have to stop and hassle with your phone. This added a lot of time to completing the route each day. We had rented a mounted GPS for this purpose, but were told when we got there that they no longer offer this because they have the app. The ride itself is at an intermediate level of difficulty because there were a few challenging spots, mostly when the trail was steep gravel, but also a couple quite long climbs. The big disappointment were some of the hotels or hotel rooms. Many hotels were nice but they seem to reserve the worst rooms for FunActive. When we realized this, we started asking for nicer rooms. One night when we were supposed to stay in the lovely town of Belluno, we were housed in a horrible hotel far from town after after riding 75 kilometers (Hotel Villa Capenada). It was like out the the movie "The Shining." Old and tired, deserted and creepy. We were too tired to go back into town and the food at the hotel was inedible and very expensive. We never got to see Belluno. A few other hotels were barely acceptable with dusty bedspread, curtains and dirty carpet. The hotel in Mestre put us in a room that smelled like cigarettes and sewer and the floor was linoleum. On our return stay there, we insisted on a nicer room and got a lovely room on a higher floor. The moral of the story: Don't accept an unacceptable room! But BikeTours.com and FunActive need to know that this is going on. We have been on many bike tours and never require fancy accommodations but some of these were pretty disappointing. All that said, the BikeTours.com and the FunActive staffs provided excellent service in setting up the tour for us.
- What was the date of your tour?
- September 2022
- How many tours have you completed?
- 6
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- Somewhat harder
- Countries included in this tour?
- Italy
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★★★★★ Elizabeth Bevier 5 months agoTuscany Umbria biking
· Tuscany and Umbria: Cycling in the Heart of Italy
It was a fun experience although a bit more strenuous than we anticipated. Lesson learned - check the difficulty level when you book a bike tour.
The ebikes worked well and we were able to follow the directions on our self-guided tour. Our luggage was always at the next hotel before we arrived.Looking forward to doing another bike tour at some point in the future.
- What was the date of your tour?
- October2022
- How many tours have you completed?
- 1
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- Somewhat harder
- Do you recommend this tour?
- Yes
- Countries included in this tour?
- Italy
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★★★★★ Astrid Kaulitz 5 months agoGreat week on the bike in a beautiful countryside
· Castles and Wines of Portugal
The combination of plan, map and digital tour-advise was great to find our way.
The tour was all in all beautiful and interesting. The planning had been done before covid and was not adjusted now. Some recommondations were wrong this way. day2 : Cafe Pola could not be found, Manizolas Farm could not be passed. There was a huge fence. day 4: there was no leather factory any more, day 7: Tasca do Anotonio dos Potes does not exist any more.
Mario was always to be reached and helped promptly. Very nice!
Hotels were a good choice, every spot was different. only the Solar de Alqueva in Reguengos de Monsaraz was a bit uncomfortable. Breakfast poor.
I had expected more knowlege about the wine. The wine tasting was mostly in the day either in the morning (wine and bike is not that becomming) or in the early afternoon. You never really could plan how long the trip was - so we had to taste the wine at night with the meal, but had no instructions.Anyway we had a great week.
- What was the date of your tour?
- September 2022
- How many tours have you completed?
- 8
- 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?
- Portugal
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★★★★★ Melanie Wood 5 months agoLovely scenery and great Accommodations
· Medieval Villages of Catalonia
Lovely to ride all those miles on paths and low traffic roads. The ebikes were super and welcomed on a couple of paths that had been damaged by a huge storm the first night of the ride. Our hotels were great and got better further in the trip. Nice rooms and very helpful staff.
- What was the date of your tour?
- October 7 2022
- How many tours have you completed?
- Total about 12, but this is the 4th with BikeTours.com
- 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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★★★★★ Kim Hopkins 5 months agoSimply Magical!!
· Three Lakes Tour: From Geneva to Annecy
It's difficult to find words to adequately describe this bike tour… 'Magical' is the one that comes the closest! We found breathtaking beauty and so much history at every turn on our trip. We couldn’t believe that each day could bring more wonderment than the last. We had to pinch ourselves on a regular basis to make sure we weren’t dreaming. The route was stunningly beautiful with distances of 30-50 miles per day. We upgraded our accommodations on day 3 to A+ and spent the night at Château de la Tour du Puits and would definitely recommend spending the extra money to do this! We would also recommend staying a few extra days in Annecy at the end of the tour. It is a beautiful city and there is much to experience and explore. The tour staff was very helpful and responsive whenever we had questions and communicated with our group via WhatsApp. Our group of 4 rented 2 gravel bikes and 2 ebikes. This was a great combination for us that allowed our group to keep the same pace. We are already brainstorming our next European bike tour!
- What was the date of your tour?
- October 3-6, 2022
- How many tours have you completed?
- This was my first
- 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?
- France, Switzerland
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★★★★★ Nancy Mackay 5 months agoGreat experience
· · Provence by Bike and Boat
This trip was a wonderful way to see the areas from Aigues Mortes to Avignon with a very experienced guide. Much information was shared with our group that was beyond our expectations. The pace of the daily ride was comfortable and our skilled and enthusiastic cook always had a great treat waiting for us when we arrived back at the boat. The crew on the Caprice are thoughtful and kind and made us feel at ease.
- What was the date of your tour?
- October 2022
- How many tours have you completed?
- 12
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- Somewhat easier
- Who is this tour suitable for?
- First-time bike tourists, Solo travelers
- Do you recommend this tour?
- Yes
- Countries included in this tour?
- France
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★★★★★ Becky Foster 5 months agoLoire Valley - Bike Trip you Want to Take!
· Loire Valley Chateaux and Gardens Tour
This was a great choice for a bike trip! The roads are narrow and beautiful, but the drivers in France are incredibly patient. Each day we saw one or two chateaux. They are all quite different from one another, so I loved visiting every one! Our guide, Sam, was fantastic. He was personable and encouraged each of us in the way we needed. We upgraded to two chateaux and I would highly recommend doing that.
- What was the date of your tour?
- Sept/Oct 2022
- How many tours have you completed?
- 3
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- Somewhat easier
- Do you recommend this tour?
- Yes
- Countries included in this tour?
- France
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★★★★★ Charlotte Dewar 5 months ago
A beautiful journey
· · Provence by Bike and Boat
We loved this trip. It was wonderful you hired a professional guide in Arles to spend 1.5 hours with us talking about the history, the Roman architecture and Van Gough. Provence is so beautiful and we are very blessed with the good weather and a wonderful group of travelers who cared for each other and enjoyed the company of each other on this trip.
As a professional travel planner for 30 years, I wish to share my honest feedback so you may improve your tours for future clients.
1. The chef Irene made the most delicious dinners for us every evening. We were always looking forward to her food at the end of long and exciting journey.
2. Our Captain was excellent and so was the assistant Phillipo. 3 crew members worked together beautifully and treated us like royalty.
3. Our guide Hens is not as professional. He never counted the number of guests. We had people falling off the bike everyday, no major injuries. Hens was out at the front riding quite fast. He rarely looked back and kept an eye on the group. Every time we had an accident, we had to send someone from behind to catch up with him and asked him to stop and wait for the folks falling behind.
4. The internet on the boat is very choppy. I had important business to communicate with my travelers going to Asia. Most of the time I couldn't receive or send emails. My PayPal app, my airb&b app and my VRBO app all stopped working. I had free roaming data on my phone and that had issue working on your boat either. it's very important you have a functional internet on the boat so people like myself could still carry on business while we are on your trip.We love the concept of bike and boat! We will come back for more of your tours. I am considering introducing your product to my high-end Chinese clients.
I am raving about this trip to all my friends in California. Thank you for putting together a fantastic journey for us.
- Countries included in this tour?
- France
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★★★★★ SALLY ROTH 5 months ago
Great mix of countryside villages, rolling hills, and coastal towns
· Portugal's Atlantic Coast
The hotels were all comfortable and quiet and convenient to restaurants and sightseeing.
Nuno and Bernardo with Portugal Nature Trails were very helpful in setting us up before the trip and shuttling us at the end and provided interesting information about the areas we were in. I also appreciated the extra accommodation made to collect us and drop us before and after the trip in locations different than the standard trip (collect at Porto airbnb and deliver to Lisbon hotel which saved us travel time)
We were expecting paper maps based on prior trips through biketours and while the app on our smartphones worked for navigation, they made it hard to take photos along the bike trip and to preserve our phone power. It would have been helpful to know in advance so that we could prepare accordingly. Hotels weren't always prepared for charging batteries but we worked it out.
The gps contradicted itself often with confusing left and right turns but the map lines worked.
The only surprise extended climb was heading up to Sintra which was tough even with electric assist but I probably didn't pay close attention.
This is my second biketours trip and I would recommend them wholeheartedly.- What was the date of your tour?
- Sept/Oct 2022
- How many tours have you completed?
- 2 self-guided through biketours and 1 self-guided with campgear coast to coast in US
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- As expected
- Who is this tour suitable for?
- Solo travelers, Families with teens
- Do you recommend this tour?
- Yes
- Countries included in this tour?
- Portugal
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★★★★★ Amy Lynch 5 months ago
It was a beautiful trip! Well organized and easy to follow!
· Three Lakes Tour: From Geneva to Annecy
It was an amazing vacation. The route was charming, beautiful and somehow more spectacular every day. We had great weather which made for great photos! It was a special way to explore France and love it even more.
- What was the date of your tour?
- October 2023
- 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?
- France, Switzerland
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★★★★★ Ellen Hatfield 5 months ago
Great trip!
· Loire Valley Chateaux and Gardens Tour
This trip was a great way to explore the Chateaus of the Loire Valley. The trip was over nice roads and was very scenic. We were a returning group with experienced riders, so we had a lot of fun and traveled at a good pace. Our guide, Sam Taylor, really made the trip. He was fun, engaged with us, knew his stuff and can change a tire at a remarkable pace. He is a fantastic guide.
The only thing I would recommend is having the chateau tours included in the tour price. It was a real hassle having to get tickets for a large group at the site. I guess I thought the tickets were included in the tour. We had someone from our group pay for the tickets, but then we had to do a money exchange everyday which was a pain.
I also thought some wine was included but we could get more if we wanted. We paid for- What was the date of your tour?
- Sept 2022
- How many tours have you completed?
- 2
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- As expected
- Do you recommend this tour?
- Yes
- Countries included in this tour?
- France
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★★★★★ Tonja clark 5 months ago
Best trip ever!
· Three Lakes Tour: From Geneva to Annecy
This was a perfect trip! The scenery was amazing, the weather perfect, and the length of the daily rides was very doable.
The entire trip was made easier because of how well it was organized.
I love the self guided, without the hassle of moving our bags from place to place. Annecy is a wonderful city, so I recommend spending extra time there. We returned to Geneva by bus which went very smoothly.
I recommend doing the A+ hotels, you won't want to miss the Chateau; it was a treat. It's beautiful, the staff was incredibly friendly and the food was delicious.- What was the date of your tour?
- October 2022
- How many tours have you completed?
- One
- 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?
- France, Switzerland
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★★★★★ Amy Lynch 6 months ago
It was a beautiful trip! Well organized and easy to follow!
· Three Lakes Tour: From Geneva to Annecy
It was an amazing vacation. The route was charming, beautiful and somehow more spectacular every day. We had great weather which made for great photos! It was a special way to explore France and love it even more.
- What was the date of your tour?
- October 2023
- 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?
- France, Switzerland
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★★★★★ Amy Lynch 6 months ago
It was a beautiful trip! Well organized and easy to follow!
· Three Lakes Tour: From Geneva to Annecy
It was an amazing vacation. The route was charming, beautiful and somehow more spectacular every day. We had great weather which made for great photos! It was a special way to explore France and love it even more.
- What was the date of your tour?
- October 2023
- 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?
- France, Switzerland
