Bike Tour Reviews page 76
- Albania
- Austria
- Belgium
- Bosnia and Herzegovina
- Bulgaria
- Cambodia
- Croatia
- Czech Republic
- Denmark
- England
- Estonia
- France
- Germany
- Greece
- Holland
- Hungary
- Ireland
- Italy
- Japan
- Latvia
- Lithuania
- Luxembourg
- Montenegro
- Norway
- Poland
- Portugal
- Romania
- Scotland
- Serbia
- Slovakia
- Slovenia
- South Africa
- Spain
- Sweden
- Switzerland
- Turkey
- United States
- Vietnam
- Wales
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★★★★★ Catherine Cram June 11, 2023Convenient Way to Explore!
· Bicycle Paths of the Dolomites (based in one hotel)
We enjoyed our self-guided bike trip in the Dolomites, with great support from BikeTours.com. We appreciated the detailed route information and app support. My only complaint is that I would liked to have had a better bike to ride instead of the heavy, upright positioned bike provided. The bike didn't make the hills easy and it would have been more enjoyable to be on a lighter, more responsive bike.
- What was the date of your tour?
- May 31st-June 6th, 2023.
- 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, Families with teens, Families with young kids
- Do you recommend this tour?
- Yes
- Countries included in this tour?
- Italy
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★★★★★ Dave Carlstrom June 10, 2023
On the road again... our third Biketours.com adventure
· Lake Constance Classic (11-nights)
Thankfully I’m not unduly worse for wear after almost three weeks and hundreds of kilometers of European cycling… though I did take four tumbles. The most serious (and ignominious) was in an Austrian grocery store parking lot when my pants cuff caught on the pedal and over I went – hard, attracting the immediate attention of several shoppers (“Carnage on lane one”) who with some difficulty got me back on my feet. At first I was pretty sure I’d broken something important, but all limbs are yet attached and seemingly intact… albeit a bit looser.
I pedaled the balance of the day’s distance but at my compatriots’ urging skipped the following day’s segment in favor of bus/train passage to St. Gallen, Switzerland. The next day was a scheduled no biking day so I had two days to recover, sorta. The next day – our last of actual cycling – with some anxiety I got back on my trusty velocipede and, sure enough, one click later fell again… though this time comparatively softly albeit in front of a bus. I made it the remaining 45K to destination without further incident.
Our merry band included Seattleites Curt and Brenda Burnett, Gerry Champagne, and friends until recently from Fairbanks Ron and Jeanine Woolf. Fine folks all, we really did have a good time together.
Our odyssey began with six days at a rental house in Eguisheim, France, followed by an eleven day clockwise circumnavigation of Lake Constance that touched Germany, Austria, and Switzerland.
Here are a few day-by-day snippets of my adventure:
Sunday, April 30th. Aloft en route to Paris Delta served the worst dinner I’ve ever ingested on an international flight: the “beef” entre was the consistency of spam, reminiscent of the mystery meat of junior high cafeteria days, and dished out in a biodegradable cardboard clamshell.
Monday, May 1st. Having hobbled off the plane I was semi-involuntarily consigned to a wheelchair for the lengthy transfer to the airport train station. Manly hombre that I am, I dared not disclose to the friendly pusher that I had come to Europe for three weeks of cycling. Arrived Colmar, in Alsace, just before midnight via a 180 MPH TGV with a transfer in Strasbourg and, coincidentally, six minutes prior to the Woolfs’ arrival. Settled into our very nice rental house.
Tuesday, May 2nd - Thursday, May 4th. Daily e-bike excursions to nearby picture-perfect towns with eat-in dinners crafted by chefs Burnett and Woolf. Imbibed copious amouints of wine, certainly did our part for the local viticulture industry.
I developed a serious case of ABC – Asymmetrical Butt Chafing – which was ameliorated by liberal bi-daily nether regions applications of Bag Balm – my personal favorite posterior palliative, see https://bagbalm.com/. SHOW MORE
Friday, May 5th. Hung out at the house, pas mal.
Saturday, May 6th. Day trip with Burnetts to the tourist mecca of Colmar where, alas and alack, Curt was pickpocketed! Charge and debit card cancellations ensued, not good.
Sunday, May 7th. Auto trip to a German mountain hiking lodge, an intermediate stop on our way to Konstantz, the starting and ending point of our main event circumnavigation of the eponymous lake.
Monday, May 8th. Had to beat feet to get Burnetts’ rental car back by a 10:30 am deadline… made it with a full five minutes to spare. Checked in at the stunning four star Hotel Halm where the breakfast buffet includes champagne and cheesecake. Woolfs arrived by train, Gerry direct from Seattle via Zurich. Got our e-bikes.
Tuesday, May 9th. Pedaled forty some K to Gailingen, a bit of a shakedown cruise. Great scenery and picture postcard-worthy medieval villages. Adequate lodging, but not a Hotel Halm.
Wednesday, May 10th. Roundtrip to Rhine Falls, Europe’s largest. Second night in Gailingen, first of nearly nightly self-catered hotel room team happy hours.
On previous European bike tours we’ve grumbled about route instructions encrypted by by non-native English speakers. This time the tour operator-provided guidebook was completely devoid of route guidance… we were on our own, taking turns as Google Maps-assisted trail breaking pathfinders with plenty of navigational errors. But we always (eventually) got to where we were going.
Thursday, May 11th. Return to Konstanz for a Hotel Halm reprise. Got soaked during the last couple clicks of the day’s ride.
Friday, May 12th. To Radolfzell via Mainau Island, the latter a facsimile of sorts of Butchart Gardens.
Saturday, May 13th. A mere sixteen K to Ludwigshafen.
Sunday, May 14th. Forty K to Friedrichshafen, home of the Zeppelin Museum to which I made a solo afternoon excursion via city buses. Turns out the Hindenberg was 245 meters from stem to stern, almost three football fields.
Monday, May 15th. Day of my aforementioned parking lot tumble. Overnight in Bregnz, Austria. I was very sore, somewhat bruised, had marginal repose.
Tuesday, May 16th. Having shipped my bike with the luggage I patronized buses and trains to our next destination, St. Gallen, Switzerland. As it happened today was Jeanine’s turn to tumble, hard, while passing a path-blocking truck.
Wednesday, May 17th. Today was a scheduled non-cycling day so while others toured about (monastery, waterfalls chocolate factory, shopping) I rested my bruised corpus in the hope that I might be sufficiently healed for the morrow’s last lap back to Konstanz.
Thursday, May 18th. 14K of almost continuous downhill on the 46 K journey back to our starting point. Celebratory dinner, a bit melancholy to be soon parting ways.
Friday, May 19th. Train to Zurich for a twelve hour Swissair flight to San Francisco and a connection home to Seattle.
Great trip, a good time had by all (despite bumps and bruises).
D. Carlstrom. May, 2023
SHOW LESS- Countries included in this tour?
- Austria, Germany, Switzerland
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★★★★★ Stanley Holman June 9, 2023
Excellent tour.
· Medieval Villages of Catalonia
This self-guided tour was easily managed. The cycling was moderate, and most of the route was on either dedicated bike routes or calm roads. A reasonably accomplished cyclist would not need to dis-mount for the occasional steep or rough section (always short.) There was plenty of time to move from hotel to hotel and there were only 3 days when a move was required. There were numerous opportunities for refreshments along the way. AND the scenery was grand! Such a lovely way to see the countryside - riding through farmed fields, villages and towns. Able to smell the air and the scents of the flowers, hear the birds and feel the sun and the breeze. It was a great experience. And the hotels were excellent with delicious breakfasts.
- What was the date of your tour?
- May/June 2023
- How many tours have you completed?
- 1
- 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?
- Spain
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★★★★★ Karen Goodkin June 9, 2023
Water, windmills and tall skinny houses
· Amsterdam to Bruges: Cycling through South Holland and Zeeland
Loved everything about this trip. The route took us through beautiful areas, all avoiding cars and large roads. Accommodations were excellent and the choice of towns and small cities for overnight stays were charming and worth our while. Distinctive too. Bikes were incredible! All in all, an excellent bike trip.
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★★★★★ Harry Dobrowolski June 9, 2023Best of Slovenia
· Best of Slovenia: Highlights Across the Country From Bled to Piran
11 days was perfect to enjoy the beautiful bike tour of Best of Slovenia. Food and Hotels had been outstanding. It’s worth to book hotel upgrades. Standard rooms are very small.
- What was the date of your tour?
- May/June 2022
- How many tours have you completed?
- more than 20
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- As expected
- Do you recommend this tour?
- Yes
- Countries included in this tour?
- Slovenia
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★★★★★ Michael Beiley June 8, 2023Top quality bike trip
· Vienna to Budapest (Classic)
Excellent,. Dedicated bikepaths or other bikepaths along most of the route, app very easy to follow, beautiful scenery, many places to stop along the way, biking all flat and most days biked between 30-40 miles. Hotels were very nice, near bikepath and near city center and restaurants. Rented hybrid bikes were very nice but needed a few adjustments along the way. Bike company picked up and delivered without any glitches. Highly recommend for beginners to intermediate riders.
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★★★★★ Mike Brinkley June 7, 2023Spectacular
· Innsbruck to Lake Garda Across the Southern Slopes of the Alps
Spectacular scenery with an excellent local bike company who was very organized and helpful. Maps were good and the bike paths well marked in almost every place. The hotels were good and mostly in locations easy to find. Excellent trip.
- What was the date of your tour?
- May 2023
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- As expected
- Do you recommend this tour?
- Yes
- Countries included in this tour?
- Austria, Italy
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★★★★★ Susanne Graham June 7, 2023Wonderful experience!
· Dolomites to Trieste via Lake Bled at the Foot of the Julian Alps
I can’t think of a better way to experience a trip through Italy, Austria, and Slovenia. The weather was perfect for our trip and the scenery was epic. We loved traveling by e-bike and seeing and feeling the small towns and beautiful and unspoiled territory. We met some wonderful fellow bikers along the way. We do not want to travel any other way.
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★★★★★ Susanne Graham June 7, 2023
Wonderful experience!
· Dolomites to Trieste via Lake Bled at the Foot of the Julian Alps
I can’t think of a better way to experience a trip through Italy, Austria, and Slovenia. The weather was perfect for our trip and the scenery was epic. We loved traveling by e-bike and seeing and feeling the small towns and beautiful and unspoiled territory. We met some wonderful fellow bikers along the way. We do not want to travel any other way.
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★★★★★ Juan Pablo Beca June 7, 2023A nice and perfect organization
· Tuscany Getaway: 4 Nights in Siena, Montalcino & Pienza
Routes and the booklet given to us were very clear and helpful. We would have liked to receive details of each of our two bikes sot to ask for change. In fact we did not need so heavy bikes for the roads of our tour, and one as 27 and the other was 29" wheels for same height of the two of us.
- Countries included in this tour?
- Italy
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★★★★★ Jeff Pinkerton June 6, 2023.
· UNESCO Sites of Albania
For half a century—in our lifetime--Albanians lived in a society not dissimilar to that of North Korea today—no freedom of speech, freedom of religion (in fact, Hoxha declared Albania to be the first “atheist state”) or even freedom of movement. People were encouraged to spy—then report—on their neighbors (even family members) who were subsequently detained and tortured; many executed. Factories were demolished; their education system was mostly just indoctrination. The citizens had little-to-no awareness of the outside world. The President convinced the citizens that they were under threat of attack, so they armed themselves and built defensive turrets pointed at the (ostensible) enemy. It’s only in the past quarter-century that the country emerged from darkness. Today it is a member of NATO but not yet a part of the EU; it is working its way back into the sunlight. Albania has a strong affinity for America. They thank Woodrow Wilson for ‘creating’ it following WW I and Bush I and Clinton for supporting their membership into NATO. We saw quite a number of American flags here.
My image of the country was something more ‘basic’ than has presented itself here in the capital of Tirana. First example: When arriving at the airport in any foreign country, you go through immigration. Typically, it’s cumbersome, lengthy and heavy on the bureaucracy. Here, you approach a ‘gate’, and scan your passport; then that gate opens, and you move forward a couple of steps to a camera. The image from your passport matches the photo from the camera and you’re in. Nothing to it! The US could learn from them.
The capital, Tirana, is fairly modern with notable architecture.
Looks like there’s nothing behind Are there warts Did someone take a
The façade growing alongside bite out of this one?Traffic moves swiftly, there are bike lanes and charging stations for taxis on the main drag downtown.
I spent quite a bit of time wandering around town. As Anthony Bourdain says when visiting a new place: “Get curious, get hungry, get lost”. I did—especially the latter.
We certainly don’t see these in Denver.They sell things in the capital of Tirana—but apparently you have to know what you’re looking for.
Shoes Purses JewelryThis is a pop-up library in the middle of a park downtown. And this fellow is guarding a bakery.
Why Albania, you may ask
Actually, Kathleen found it; we were scheduled to come here last year, but her skiing accident postponed that by a year. That fall spooked her, so she hung up her biking helmet. My interest in coming is to offset some of the recent experiences in Asia. This time I wanted a ride that was, shall I say, ‘civilized’ unlike the stupidly long days in Thailand, the humidity of Borneo, the challenging trails of Madagascar, the ineffective guide of Vietnam or the absolutely stupid obstacle course of Laos. Albania—being European—seemed to be more civilized’ and promised to be none of those. It’s also a place I’ve never been and heard that it had great scenery and great food. Both of which were born out. SHOW MOREQuestion: What do the following countries have in common: China, Russia, Viet Nam, Laos & Cuba? Answer: All communist countries where I’ve biked, so that just left Albania and North Korea that are ‘unbiked’; making that one more reason to go (that last one will probably have to wait).
The ride/ riders:
There are 19 of us on the bike tour: Three Germans, five Canadians, the rest from the UK and me—the only Yankee. All but one is >50 (he’s the son of one of the other riders). Three other solo travelers (one female), four couples and a platoon of Canadian women traveling together. A total of nine guys, ten women. I’m the oldest by a decade or so.Our Albanian guide speaks fluent English. The three Germans speak passable English. Of course, the platoon of Canadians is perfectly understandable. The British, however, continue to perversely insist that they speak English. They don’t. They think they do, they say they do, but they don’t. Jon Oliver, I understand; James Corden, I understand; this batch of Limeys, I don’t.
Eight days of riding, no more than 45 miles/day; 19,000 feet of elevation gain (Oof!).
Things that caught my eye:No, this is not an epithet, it means Apparently you need authorization to nudge your vehicle “for sale “ along
You see a lot of this here. There is very little mechanization of farming in the countryside.
What there is, though, is acres and acres of airable fields that are not being farmed. Apparently, there are not enough people to do the work necessary. Virtually every other place I’ve been, this land would be put to productive use.
There are natural springs all along the Defensive turrets (as mentioned previously)
way where the locals get their clean water
Isn’t “Money Get” a No, this restaurant does not Yes, there is really a person
better name for it anyhow? serve Mexican food under there
This is the name of a gas station.
After all, once I fill up aren’t I . . . On my way?
The saddles on donkeys are wooden—and
built such that the rider sits sideways
Food
As mentioned above, I had heard that the food in Albania was commendable. Serious understatement. If you want meat (or even a lot of fish), this isn’t the place. However, if you want vegetables and cheese presented in an unfathomable number of ways, this is where you belong. Further, dinner is served family style (probably, because we’re a congruent group), and comes in waves. First the salad, then the hummus (and its brothers), then the vegetable plate, then the bell peppers doused in cheese, then . . . I counted 8 servings in one night. Eight; no, that’s not a typo.We had fish—the whole damn thing—one night (we were staying at a fish farm) and lamb one other night (we were staying at a shepard’s lodge). Other than that, it was almost all veggies. Oh, and yes, they have good beer here. Food is served family style, which is basically a sit-down version of a pig-out buffet.
My only complaint is that their French fries are limp, and catsup is unknown in these parts.
Other observations:
Albania is 90% Muslim. That said, I never saw a mosque or a woman wearing traditional Muslim garb.Inter-religion marriage is OK. Marriage with the neighboring countries (Greece, Montenegro, Macedonia, . . ) OK. Homosexual marriage is not OK. In fact, those who are gay are still pretty much in the closet for fear of harassment.
Many roadside restaurants and gas stations lack toilet seats. Lids yes, but seats—not so much.
I saw no younger people outside of the main city—only older folks. There also appear only be white people here—no folks of color to be found anywhere
They do a good job with energy conservation: virtually all toilets are dual-flush, and they make good use of motion-detector lights. That said, though, it’s very common for the electricity to go out for a couple of minutes at a time.
Gasoline prices here are lower than the surrounding countries, so it’s typical for Montenegrins or Kosovars or Macedonians or Greeks to come over here to fill up their tanks. I also noticed that gas and diesel are the same price (for whatever reason, the price for diesel is substantially higher at home)
Things in general are inexpensive here. A beer from the minibar is $2.00 (whoever heard of a minibar price being low?). The entire tour which includes lodging, food, transportation, a guide, an assistant guide, a driver/van comes out to roughly $125day; one can hardly stay home for that amount.
In the rural areas, there are no younger people—they’ve all left for the cities for better opportunities. What’s left are older people to man the farms. What happens when they die off?
We had breakfast every morning at the hotel; every one of them served coco puffs (I didn’t know they were still around). Many meals come with French fries—soggy French fries; Kathleen would be appalled.
Electric switches are the opposite of ours. To turn a light on, you push it down.
The way the head guide handled drinks is genius: instead of each of us paying for drinks daily, getting change (times 20 people), he just said “I’ll tell you nightly how much a beer (wine, etc.) costs. You keep track of that amount nightly and pay me at the end of the trip”. Absolutely brilliant.
The gas stations / rest stops alongside the highways have full bars. So not only can you fill up your tank, but you can also get tanked.
Water in the countryside is clean, potable and plentiful. In the metro areas, you purchase bottled water.
In many cases, we were the only tourists there at the hotel / guest house / lodge where we stayed.Roughly five million people speak Albanian—98% of them are in Albania. The language is seldom spoken outside of Albania and Kosovo (which citizens of both countries consider to be an ‘annex’ of Albania)
Hot chocolate is an unknown here. The one time I thought I was successful in ordering one, they delivered something better described as ‘scalding hot chocolate pudding’.
The guides also function as waiters and busboys as well as guiding duties. They work awfully hard.
The ride:
Day 1: We took a short spur road that took us into the country of Macedonia to see a church where colorful angry birds guard the place
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In Macedonia, they speak a different language and use the Cyrillic alphabet.Day 2: Moderate climbing; verdant green everywhere. Did a pleasant lap around a lovely lake which reminded me of Penticton, BC. Near our hotel, we witnessed them taking dirt out of the lake to fill in a dock they were expanding.
(Yes, the scooper machine on the left is actually sitting in the water)And here it is in action: https://photos.app.goo.gl/jaGLrVavXhi5Hh8N7
At the end of the day, we stayed in a town that had this very
impressive Greek Orthodox church:Day 3 had 3800 feet of elevation gain. Many of the roads were under repair or rutted or potholed or gravelly. I got in just before the rain started. Whew. At one point, we had to stop the ride because there was traffic—this being on the main road through this part of the country.
Day 4 had some of the best scenery I’ve ever observed—anywhere. This place is green, green, green. It has mountains that rival the alps, beautiful valleys. I was sorry when the day ended (I must note, however, that is also had some of the worst roads I’ve experienced outside of SEAsia—albeit intermittently).
Day 5: Mostly downhill and again, stupendous scenery—jut more and more of it! This place has the green of Ireland, the hills of Bhutan, the rolling fields of Denmark and the bucolic-ness of Iceland. There were times I felt that we were riding in the Roaring Fork Valley or the lovely entrance into Telluride
The end of the day brought us to the town of Gjorokaster which is the location of an immense fort / castle at the top of a hill where they prefer you walk on the paved sidewalks:
This fort was built entirely of stones at the top of a hill back in the 12th century. It housed over 5000 soldiers and is huge
Many houses in Gjirokastër have a distinctive local style that has earned the city the nickname "City of Stone", because most of the old houses have roofs covered with flat dressed stones.
This is what they mean by having a tile roofDay 6 started out just right—a 10-mile shuttle to the top of a hill followed by a 10-mile coast down the other side with another spate of beautiful scenery along the way. Think of shuttling to the top of Rocky Mountain National Park, then coasting down. It was a hoot.
Part of the way we were alongside the border with Greece, so the signage is in both languages:
Clearly there is a lot of traffic between the two countriesWe ended up on the coastline after having visited some historically significant (to them) pile of rocks and ultimately at a hotel which is literally on the beach. Note, though, that the beaches here are rocky; not amenable to walking on. We even took a ferry ride that is pulled back and forth with cables
The van driver, Tani, is the handsome fellow there in frontDay 7 was another wonderful experience. We had to hump our way to the top (3300’ of elevation gain), but once we did, we had views of the ocean to the left and the mountains to the right with an occasional small village to make the scenery even more dramatic.
This is akin to the Amalfi coast of Italy, or, better yet, the Big Sur coast of central California (a route I’ve always wanted to bike, so ended up coming from 6,500 miles away to do a close approximation of it).
Once we descended, we were on the ocean—with fields and grape vineyards a part of the viewDay 8
This is the big honker. On our final day, we climb 5500 feet today—the equivalent of riding from Estes Park to Granby over the continental divide via Trail Ridge Road through Rocky Mountain National Park. I’m seriously apprehensive. I’ve not done that much of a climb anytime in the past decade.Worse yet, we started the ride by climbing out of the city where we spent the preceding night. Over the first 4 mile stretch we averaged 10% grade and hit steeps as much as 17% which is probably twice as much pitch as I’ve ever done. That led to the next stretch of 3300’ of up. No breaks.
This is what we looked at as we started the day
Traffic jam at the half-way point—looking down at what we’ve done so far
And this is what lies ahead of us at said half-way point
(The axes are in metric—we are one of only three countries that uses the English system)But the ride was worth it; the views were spectacular all along the way. [There is no photo from the top. It rained as we approached the peak, so we were all eager to get past that]. And of course, the wonderful descent that took us back to sea level. There was a sense of exhilaration and accomplishment as we approached our hotel. I actually was a bit wistful because I knew this was the end of the trip. Actually, sorry to see come to an end
Our hotel had a lovely setting and was a great way to cap off the rideSo, over the 8 days of riding, we started at sea level, we climbed to 3000’ and descended yet again. Overall, we climbed over 19,000 feet. We biked through larger cities and to villages that are little more than bumps in the road. We’ve seen a wide variety of foliage, foods, people and architectural styles. We saw several UNESCO cultural sites and beautiful churches (but not too many, though), swam in the Ionian Sea, ate wonderful meals (too many for sure). This is a very varied tour that provided a great representation of the country.
Ebike
I feel I’m confessing to having an STD or having fathered a child outside of marriage. Nevertheless, I fell off the wagon and used one for the first time. Here’s why: On prior trips I was almost always the last one in and felt like I was holding up the train. I didn’t want to stop to take a photo because that just put me all the further behind and wanted to avoid the not-entirely-pleasant biking experiences recently in Madagascar, Borneo, Vietnam and LaosHaving an ebike allowed me to see the surrounding scenery—not just fixate on my front tire and to occasionally even pass someone. I’m good at distance, but poor at speed and worse yet on the climbs (I’ve been passed by runners going uphill)
The overall ride has 19,000 feet of elevation gain. The last day requires a climb of 5500’. Two other days are >3500’. I haven’t done 3500’ since 2018; it’s been a decade since I’ve done 5500’ or more. I wanted to enjoy this ride, not torture myself. There were five other slackers such as me (three females, two other males). But I am consoled in that one of the other males is the head guide himself.
I didn’t turn on ‘power assist’ on the flats or even on modest inclines (which sounds noble of me; it’s not—these things are HEAVY—more than 50 pounds which makes it more than twice as heavy as my bike at home). Consequently, I feel that I got a workout and earned some number of calories I ingested along the way.
Summary
This was a very good ride. We had spectacular scenery, good weather (it tried to drizzle on two days, but was sunny most of the rest), no wind, never hot, not humid, great food (90% vegetables) and the best guide ever. The daily distances were just about right—we were typically in before 4:00 (even with what I consider to be an unnecessary and overly-long coffee stop each morning)Notably, this was good group of fellow riders. There were no whiners, no showboats, nobody was late. We even had two RNs and two MDs (one of whom did her own patch job when she torqued her Achilles—Wilderness First Responders at its finest.)
Dr. Kelly with her redneck ankle splintKelly went to Zanzibar and Cameroon as a part of her medical training (she also has the most delightful infectious laugh). The other MD (Rhonda) is not a biker, but she signed up for this, never whined, did the entire ride and did NOT have an ebike. Impressive. Kelly’s sister, Sheri was the spark plug of the week.
Both MDs, Kelly and Rhonda, are interested in volunteering for Narayan’s trip in Bhutan in November
I mentioned that I was the only Yank as it happens two couples have dual citizenship—one of whom has a brother in Longmont whom he visits from time to time. He, Murray, and his wife, Sue, are delightful; I spent quite a bit of time with them and hopefully we’ll get to see them in the future. Murry, by the way is a relative of Alex Lowe of mountaineering fame. He is also a PhD geologist who lent his expertise on several occasions. Sue is an RN and did part of her training in Uganda. Each are inveterate travelers.
My good buddies Murray & Sue
Another dual-citizenship couple live in Carbondale and for years owned/ran the Woody Creek Tavern just outside of Aspen. He, Kevin, is an extraordinary cyclist. At age 65 he was always first in the pack and rode apace with the head guide who had an ebike. (Kevin’s wife, Laura, was never far behind). Kevin has ridden the Leadville 100 14 times and even won it once (he still has the record as the oldest winner). They’ve also done several bike rides with Spice Roads—including some of the same ones I’ve done.The platoon of Canadian ladies was a hoot; I really enjoyed them. Only one was a serious rider; all were there to have a good time—which they did. I had a great time with them.
Next stop—the airport
“All our bags are packed, we’re ready to go.. .”Our super great guides—head guide, van driver, assistant guide
Erlis Tani Kristi
The group
I’ve done 29 of these bike tours now covering 19 different countries.
This one might be my most favorite trip ever. What makes a trip good?• A beautiful country with good food, good weather and good roads
• A strong guide staff who is knowledgeable, helpful and informative
• A great group of fellow ridersCheck, Check and Check
Onward
SHOW LESS- Countries included in this tour?
- Albania
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★★★★★ John Whitworth June 6, 2023Danube Bike Path 8 Nights (Upscale Lodging)
· Danube Bike Path 8 Nights (Upscale Lodging)
We had a fantastic week biking and exploring the towns and cities along the Danube in Austria. All of the accommodation and dinners that were booked for us by BikeTours.com were fantastic and certainly lived up to the "upscale lodging" description. They also did a fantastic job moving our luggage between our hotel making that process seamless. Would more than recommend this trip to anyone, also early June turned out to be a fantastic time to do this trip as we had perfect weather and beautiful spring flowers everywhere.
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★★★★★ Kathy Sommer June 6, 2023Wonderful tour!
· · Holland’s Super Tulip Tour
This tour was so much fun!! Our week was May 6-13. The weather was cool (50-65 degrees) and cloudy, some rain but no matter, we were prepared. Our guide Rosanne was fabulous, always cheerful, full of information and always willing to talk and be with us. The boat crew was equally wonderful - Hans, Tessi, Jon - we enjoyed each of them completely and felt completely taken care of. Meals were meticulously prepared, the tables set with touches of flowers, special napkin folds, cookie-cutter butter chunks, chocolates, just charming touches. The chef Hans always provided tupperware with salads or delicious leftovers for lunch, or we could make sandwiches from the buffet table. We were never hungry! Jon the skipper came and chatted with us daily, always with a big smile.
The Holland terrain and bike paths were positively delightful. Rosanne took us to numerous small museums during the days of riding as well as after the rides. The Anna Antal barge was delightful as well. Small rooms as expected but completely fine and comfortable. Thank you for such an enjoyable trip!- What was the date of your tour?
- May 6-13
- How many tours have you completed?
- 2
- 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?
- Holland
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★★★★★ Patrick Gillet June 5, 2023Dalmatio Yacht/Bike Tour on Yolo
· · Coastal Islands of Southern Dalmatia
The Crew and guides we had on the M.V. Yolo were fantastic and everything exceeded our expectations.
- What was the date of your tour?
- May 26 - June 2, 2023
- How many tours have you completed?
- 7
- 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?
- Croatia
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★★★★★ John Hastie June 5, 2023Wonderful trip!
· A Taste of Italy: Emilia-Romagna
Evrything was great, but we didi have a couple of issues:
* The Garmin GPS unit was programed for an incorrect departure hotel. Destpite our attempts to join up with the route, it constantly told us we were off course. We ended up abandoning it and using google maps to get from point to point.
* Our hotel in Parma informed us that our reservation didn't include breakfast, which was unexpected.Other than that, the trip was wonderful.
- What was the date of your tour?
- May 2023
- How many tours have you completed?
- many self-guided. two through tourig companies.
- 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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★★★★★ Geraldine Donato June 5, 2023Couldn’t have been better!
· Amsterdam to Bruges: Cycling through South Holland and Zeeland
We did a self-guided tour with a 2-hour “tutorial” from Peter of Tulip Tours before we started out. He made sure we were fit properly to our bikes and understood everything about the navigation system so our ride was seamless! We planned an extra night in a couple of cities so we could enjoy more of the local activities and food (!) and decided to do more of that on our next tour. All the hotels were located convenient to town centers except the water hotel in Dordrecht, which was uniquely wonderful. Thank you to Tulip Tours for a wonderful biking experience in Holland and Belgium!!
- What was the date of your tour?
- May 2023
- 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, Families with teens, Families with young kids
- Do you recommend this tour?
- Yes
- Countries included in this tour?
- Belgium, Holland
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★★★★★ Peggy Lister June 3, 2023Algarve self guided bike tour
· Best of the Algarve by Road Bike
Great experience! The accommodations and the daily breakfasts were all top notch!
- Countries included in this tour?
- Portugal
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★★★★★ Karla Frank June 3, 2023
Perfect Portugal Cycling
· Best of the Algarve by Road Bike
We can’t say enough about how wonderful this trip was! It was perfect in every way. Our holidays always include cycling so this was the perfect way for us to see the Algarve region of Portugal. Algarve Bike Tours was top notch in every way. They arranged everything for the trip including hotels, cycling routes, bike rentals, and luggage transfers. Everything went off without a hitch. The hotels were all different styles, and included a fantastic breakfast to fuel our ride for the day. The cycling routes were just the right amount of distance and climb to challenge us but not exhaust us. The bicycles were in good condition and met all our needs. We brought our own pedals, clips, shoes, saddles and helmets. Also, we never had one flat! Our luggage was always at the hotel when we arrived and the hotels were happy to accommodate us if we arrived a little before check in time.
We can’t say enough about the Algarve region! The roads were nice, the people friendly, the scenery beautiful, the food and coffee plentiful and delicious! Motorists were very considerate of bicycles, even in the busier city areas.
We have done many cycling holidays and this rates at the top, if not the top of all our trips!- What was the date of your tour?
- May 2023
- How many tours have you completed?
- This is our first with biketours.com. We have done over 20 bike holidays.
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- As expected
- Do you recommend this tour?
- Yes
- Countries included in this tour?
- Portugal
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★★★★★ Diane and Bob June 2, 2023Amazing Historical sights as well as beautifu lAtlantic coast scenery.
· Portugal's Atlantic Coast
This was definitely a trip of a lifetime. We added extra nights at several of the towns, so we could enjoy many of the gorgeous seaside towns and sights. We upgraded for ocean views and it was spectacular. Although we were not prepared for the strenuous climbs on several of the days nor the difficulty on the hybrid route.The hybrid route was more like mountain biking. I strongly recommend e bikes. two iphones and a back up battery power pak to ensure you don't run out of power before you arrive at each town. This gives you offline excellent directions. Miriam was our planner with bike tours and she spent many hours answering questions in a timely manner and helping us plan lots of the details. I would highly recommend her as an agent with Bike Tours. We have done most of our 10 European trips with Bike Tours and it is by far the best company we have used. Our next couple trips will be Scotland,the Danube to Budapest or the Rhine. If you want to enjoy smaller less crowded towns, go on a bike trip. Start or end with a larger more commercial city.
Breakfast although always the same were very delicious at each stop. Of the towns visited Sintra was historic with beautiful castle and palace, but Ericeria was beautiful seaside experience. Be sure you book an extra night in Peniche and arrange to go to Berlengas via boat. Well worth it and take the glass bottom boat there or rent a kayak and paddle around. Good little restaurant there also.
All around this trip was a 10!!!! Will post a few pictures in the next week. I have over 1,000 so want to post the best ones.- What was the date of your tour?
- May 2023
- How many tours have you completed?
- 10
- 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?
- Portugal
