Primarily Bike Paths Tour Reviews

  • Danube Family Tour
    (1/5) Mama May 22, 2016

    Danube family bike tour???

    · Danube Family Tour 7 Nights

    This trip did not turn out to be anything like we expected. Although the hotels and the scenery were beautiful the support from The Bike Company was useless. When a child with a temp of 104 needed a hospital they had no suggestions on where to go or how to get there. The maps they provided were useless and the directions given to us on the first night we're completed in about 20 minutes. The bikes were inconsistent some had water bottle holders some not. The day at the spa although nice contain total nudity. American children aren't used to that. The Farm Hotel turned out to be 3 goats. The bike ride into Venice was four miles of City biking. bike trails in Vienna are gorgeous but not particularly child friendly. The Danube bike paths all though lovely contained many areas where the speed limit was 70 kilometers an hour. We had seven and 10 year old children riding.The bike support was not given by the tour company but by another tour company. Support really meant they just transported our luggage. This would have been a beautiful ride for adults and teenagers. Not young children. the maps need to be completely redone.

    How many tours have you completed?
    8
    Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
    As expected
    Who is this tour suitable for?
    Families with teens
    Do you recommend this tour?
    No
    Countries included in this tour?
    Austria, Germany
    • 1/5 Value
    • 3/5 Included meals
    • 2/5 Bikes + equipment
    • 4/5 Hotels or boat
    • 5/5 Scenery
    • 1/5 Ease of navigation
    • 3/5 Tour documents
    • 1/5 Local tour company services
    • 2/5 Route selection
  • Vienna to Budapest
    (1/5) Eric September 3, 2019

    Lackluster field tour!!

    · Vienna to Budapest (Classic)

    Hate to be the negative Nelly,but this tour was nowhere near where i'd hoped it to be...It really shouldn't be listed as a Danube River tour,as the only day i saw the river all day,was the last.Several days of riding through corn and sunflower fields on unmarked trails with poor direction. Let me be clear,I chose to follow the map and directions given,as I had no cell phone service in Europe. The last tour I did was Prague to Dresden.Clearly marked trails,with a GPS that wasn't great,but sufficient. Apparently I got my hopes up too high after that one.Spent most of my time checking and double checking Km markers in the guide Vs. Km markers on the bike. Not the relaxing ride I had hoped for.I,along with several other riders,spent some extra time looking for the actual trail. I was watching many people do the same as me...looking for the trail!! Too many unmarked junctions,this trail is really undeveloped in this part of Europe,which was unfortunate-this is what i went for,the ride.A lot of off road time,which would be fine,if I wasn't so busy checking and double checking maps.Really stressful when it should've been relaxing. The positive is the towns were great,the hotels were all very nice,the bike was better than I expected and handled everything-including the off road,and my luggage was always where it was supposed to be.I just so badly wish the ride would've been more relaxing....As i said when i began-the last day of the tour was what I had hoped for the whole length of the tour,relaxing and enjoyable.Unfortunately,it was the only one...

    What was the date of your tour?
    8-13-19
    How many tours have you completed?
    4
    Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
    Somewhat harder
    Do you recommend this tour?
    No
    Countries included in this tour?
    Austria, Hungary
    • BikeTours.com staff reply from Chloe September 4, 2019

      Eric, thanks kindly for your review. We're sorry to hear that this tour was not what you'd expected. We hope that your feedback may serve to educate future clients. As you have noted this tour is quite different from the Danube Bike Path from Passau to Vienna, as it doesn't follow the river. And, it's a more rustic trail that requires navigating, as opposed to the Prague to Dresden tour. We're glad to hear you enjoyed the towns, hotels, bike, and that the luggage transfer was well executed. Thanks again for your feedback - we appreciate the time you took to share your thoughts.

    • 2/5 Value
    • 4/5 Included meals
    • 4/5 Bikes + equipment
    • 4/5 Hotels or boat
    • 1/5 Scenery
    • 1/5 Ease of navigation
    • 2/5 Tour documents
    • 2/5 Local tour company services
    • 1/5 Route selection
  • Dolomites to Trieste
    (1/5) Melissa Barney 9 months ago

    Biking in Italy in June

    · Dolomites to Trieste via Lake Bled at the Foot of the Julian Alps

    I will not be recommending this trip or your company to anyone. The App was awful: only intermittently in English (otherwise in German) and when I gave 'feedback' I got no response; the App intermittently stopped working and I had to turn my phone off and on to re-boot; the App ATE UP my phone battery (a relativley new iPhone 13 with an otherwise long battery life); any highlights mentioned in the App along a particular day's travel was only a link to something that required internet or phone service (this is ridiculous; this link should have taken me to text within the App just as every other self-guided tour does within their App). The written paper description was poorly done - for some cities the description was how to 'get' into a city and other times the city/town mentioned was only a landmark of progress but this was very confusing. The pedometer on the bike did not work after the first three hours of the 7 day trip. The bikes were way too heavy; surely there is a way to make a durable bike that is at least 2 to 3 kilos lighter. Getting the bike and getting a safety helmet were in different cities!! I would ask for some of my money back if I thought this was possible as I was very disappointed in the trip.

    Countries included in this tour?
    Italy, Slovenia, Austria
  • Danube Bike Path
    (2/5) Debra Miller 6 months ago

    A Bit Disappointing

    · Danube Bike Path 7 Nights (Classic)

    Cycling along a paved path along the Danube was relaxing for our group of four. Day three was truly beautiful with cobblestone roads and colorful houses in the villages. Wish we had gone earlier in the year as many restaurants and shops were closed for the season.

    What was the date of your tour?
    September 2023
    How many tours have you completed?
    4
    Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
    As expected
    Who is this tour suitable for?
    First-time bike tourists
    Do you recommend this tour?
    No
    Countries included in this tour?
    Austria, Germany
    •  (photo by Debra Miller)
    •  (photo by Debra Miller)
    •  (photo by Debra Miller)
    •  (photo by Debra Miller)
    •  (photo by Debra Miller)
    •  (photo by Debra Miller)
    • 2/5 Value
    • 4/5 Included meals
    • 2/5 Bikes + equipment
    • 3/5 Hotels or boat
    • 2/5 Scenery
    • 4/5 Ease of navigation
    • 3/5 Tour documents
    • 1/5 Local tour company services
    • 3/5 Route selection
  • Danube Bike Path
    (2/5) May 8 months ago

    First family cycling trip completed!

    · Danube Bike Path 8 Nights (Upscale Lodging)

    Overall a satisfactory trip! The GPS is very useful for navigation. The hotels are great! Just on first day, we find that 2 of the 4 bikes are not fit. We have enter our age and height and has not been told specifically what kinds of bikes will be assigned. I found that they just give standard bikes for adult female and male disregard our height and age (Asians in average are shorter than Westerners.) The person, Robert, arrived for “bike fitting” was not helpful at all. He suggested my daughter to cycle 30km to their bike shop to change bike. When we asked him to call customer service, he said he didn’t have Wi-Fi. So, Eurobike send a staff without communication methods to help customers’ solve problems? Finally, Robert had to use my phone to call the CS number. And in the phone, he said we are “bla, bla, bla.” Is it the customers cannot voice their requests, even the bikes are not fit and customers have to take the risk of getting hurt or accident? and seems to Robert, customers’ requests are “bla, bla, bla..” And customers need to take the riding risk to go 30km to change bike? Later he mentioned it may need to charge EUR 50 per bike change if need to switch bikes in Passau. I have emailed biketour and I am grateful that next day the 2 bikes were changed without additional charges. In second day, Simon is much more helpful. Simon helps us do the testing & it works. Simon is v polite and helpful. Passau is the starting point of Danube cycle path. I feel strange that the outsource company does not have a bike rental centre there. This is our first family cycling trip and it did create stresses at the beginning. The outsource company probably need to have better communication with biketour.

    What was the date of your tour?
    July 2023
    How many tours have you completed?
    First bike tour
    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?
    Austria, Germany
    • 3/5 Value
    • 3/5 Included meals
    • 2/5 Bikes + equipment
    • 5/5 Hotels or boat
    • 4/5 Scenery
    • 4/5 Ease of navigation
    • 4/5 Tour documents
    • 2/5 Local tour company services
    • 4/5 Route selection
  • Tauern Bike Path
    (2/5) diane g September 18, 2016

    Salzburg to Salzburg has fantastic scenery but directions provided are unbelievably poorly developed

    · Tauern Bike Path (Salzburg-Salzburg)

    Salzburg to Salzburg over 6 days is higher than a level 2. The terrain is hilly. I do not recommend this self guided tour because the german-speaking outfits they contract with provide totally inadequate self-guiding instructions. They do not know what a cue sheet is. They do not provide any directions as to north, south, east, west; they do not provide any street names. AND, the directions in English are very obviously translated very poorly from the German. In addition, there is no way to find your hotel once off the bike path. You have to depend upon good route finding skills for this hotel finding as well as the entire trip. We had this same experience with bike tours.com 7 years ago and thought they might have gotten better at directions. We gave bike tours feedback at that time, and our friends gave feedback on their german-speaking directions on their self-guided tour, and nothing changed. Hence I am writing this review without making a customer complaint becaue I do not believe bike tours will fix this problem. AND, THIS TOUR REQUIRES ONE TO CONSULT 3 SETS OF INSTRUCTIONS THROUGHOUT THE TRIP. 2 sets of friends had exactly the same experience. 2 stars are for getting our luggage to each hotel before we arrived; and the hotels were gracious and accommodating.

    What was the date of your tour?
    September 2016
    How many tours have you completed?
    6
    Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
    Somewhat harder
    Do you recommend this tour?
    No
    Countries included in this tour?
    Austria
    • 3/5 Value
    • 4/5 Included meals
    • 3/5 Bikes + equipment
    • 4/5 Hotels or boat
    • 5/5 Scenery
    • 1/5 Ease of navigation
    • 1/5 Tour documents
    • 1/5 Local tour company services
    • 3/5 Route selection
  • Vienna to Budapest
    (2/5) Ron S September 11, 2017

    Classic

    · Vienna to Budapest (Classic)

    Nice hotels. Great company rep. (Joseph ) Lousy route. Too many dirt trails including one which may have been a garbage dump.l Less than twenty five percent of the route was along the Danube. The signage was not good. I have run four trips thru Bike Tours but this one is not a winner. All the others were great. One participant who had a patellar injury rented an electric assist bike but the battery pack did not hold charge very long. We had additional niggling bike problems.

    What was the date of your tour?
    9/2/2017
    How many tours have you completed?
    4 thru Bike Tours
    Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
    As expected
    Do you recommend this tour?
    No
    Countries included in this tour?
    Austria, Hungary
    • 2/5 Value
    • 3/5 Bikes + equipment
    • 5/5 Hotels or boat
    • 2/5 Scenery
    • 1/5 Ease of navigation
    • 1/5 Tour documents
    • 5/5 Local tour company services
    • 1/5 Route selection
  • Vienna to Budapest
    (2/5) Sequoia August 18, 2019

    Not quite the Danube River Trip we expected

    · Vienna to Budapest (Classic)

    Too much of the trip was off the river, and off trails. Going through corn fields was not our favorite. Dams should be called levees. The route through Budapest on sidewalks was difficult, too busy with trucks and traffic. It is not a bicycle friendly city. Hotel could have been closer to the river. We would recommend 2 nights in Bratislava, there is so much to see there. Add another day to sleep over in Hainburg. We loved the hotel in Vienna. We recommend the lower trail through the National Park on day one, to go swimming!!! The day one detour was difficult because of traffic, maybe there's a walk around the detour on bike path instead of so much road. We loved Gyur. Three days were totally off the river. We enjoyed the ferry rides very much. The last two days were on the river and were the best days.

    What was the date of your tour?
    July
    How many tours have you completed?
    over 10
    Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
    Somewhat easier
    Do you recommend this tour?
    No
    Countries included in this tour?
    Austria, Hungary
    • 2/5 Value
    • 5/5 Bikes + equipment
    • 5/5 Hotels or boat
    • 2/5 Scenery
    • 3/5 Ease of navigation
    • 4/5 Tour documents
    • 3/5 Local tour company services
    • 2/5 Route selection
  • Strasbourg to Mainz
    (2/5) pmcmanamon September 21, 2018

    Tour instructions were outdated, and hard to follow

    · Strasbourg to Mainz: Imperial Cities and Charming Landscapes Along the Rhine

    The cities we visited were great, and so were the hotels. I was warm, so air conditions would have been nice, but not a big deal. The tour instructions consisted of a generic book with instructions, and a generic set of maps. The maps were not that detailed. When the maps disagreed with the instructions the maps were right. The signage along the routes changed since they made the instructions . We were told to look for a large E along European bike paths, but it appears to have been replaced by a circle with 15 inside it, i guess for the # of countries in the EU. The bikes were great. The luggage was always delivered on time. I downloaded a Eurobike app to help with the directions, but it did not work well. In order to update my positions I had to quit the app, and restart it. The Biketours people did suggest a new app, RidewithGPS, that worked much better. Because they did not have cues the pass could not tell me ahead of a turn, but it did tell me if we go off course.
    I think the local tour company, Eurobike, needs to update their instructions. I also would appreciate if they made unique instructions for each tour. The instructions start and end at a city center. When we got close I would use google maps to find the hotel directly, rather than going to the city center and then to the hotel. My ideal would be a unique set of instructions for a tour, with small maps above or below each instruction. We have had that with other tours, but different providers. On this tour I could not mount my instructions and maps so I could see both while riding, I picked the instructions. In some cases they recommend stopping at a certain place for lunch, but you cannot see if from the tour route, and there is no map to locate it.

    What was the date of your tour?
    Sept 15,2018 start date
    How many tours have you completed?
    this is the 4th
    Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
    As expected
    Do you recommend this tour?
    No
    Countries included in this tour?
    France, Germany
    • 3/5 Value
    • 4/5 Included meals
    • 4/5 Bikes + equipment
    • 4/5 Hotels or boat
    • 3/5 Scenery
    • 1/5 Ease of navigation
    • 1/5 Tour documents
    • 4/5 Local tour company services
  • Strasbourg to Mainz
    (2/5) Christopher Blair September 17, 2022

    Strasbourg - Mainz

    · Strasbourg to Mainz: Imperial Cities and Charming Landscapes Along the Rhine

    It was okay.
    First day, bags were not picked up. Had to call. Delivered after dinner time. Expected some explanation or perhaps an apology. Nothing.

    What was the date of your tour?
    Sept 2022
    Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
    Much easier
    Do you recommend this tour?
    No
    Countries included in this tour?
    France, Germany
    • 3/5 Value
    • 2/5 Bikes + equipment
    • 4/5 Hotels or boat
    • 3/5 Scenery
    • 1/5 Ease of navigation
    • 2/5 Tour documents
    • 1/5 Local tour company services
    • 1/5 Route selection
  • Rhine Bike Path
    (2/5) Jim Brewer September 25, 2018

    Mainz to Cologne

    · Rhine Bike Path: Mainz to Cologne

    The Rhine Valley was beautiful. The hybird bikes were very good. Maps and directions for the tour were very poor at best. Extremely difficult to find Hotels and the key sights mentioned by the tour. We experienced extremely high temperatures but had A/C most nights. The night without A/C resulted in very little sleep and NO biking the next day. The night that they shut off the A/C in the middle of the night resulted into a lot of lost sleep. Bottom line even with average high temperatures you need A/C every night and all night long.
    Others on the same tour with the same maps etc also had difficulties finding the Hotels each evening.

    What was the date of your tour?
    22 Jul 18--28 Jul 18
    How many tours have you completed?
    1
    Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
    As expected
    Do you recommend this tour?
    No
    Countries included in this tour?
    Germany
    • 1/5 Value
    • 4/5 Included meals
    • 5/5 Bikes + equipment
    • 2/5 Hotels or boat
    • 5/5 Scenery
    • 1/5 Ease of navigation
    • 1/5 Tour documents
    • 2/5 Local tour company services
    • 3/5 Route selection
  • Dolomites to Trieste
    (2/5) GregR October 6, 2019

    Too much highway biking

    · Dolomites to Trieste via Lake Bled at the Foot of the Julian Alps

    What was the date of your tour?
    September 2019
    How many tours have you completed?
    4
    Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
    As expected
    Do you recommend this tour?
    No
    Countries included in this tour?
    Italy, Slovenia, Austria
    • 3/5 Value
    • 3/5 Included meals
    • 3/5 Bikes + equipment
    • 3/5 Hotels or boat
    • 2/5 Scenery
    • 2/5 Ease of navigation
    • 3/5 Tour documents
  • Aare Cycle Route
    (2/5) John Parsons December 7, 2015

    Can't recommend it

    · Aare Cycle Route: Along the Jura, Aare, and Rhine Rivers

    Food organization poor. Rhine River portion very industrial

    How many tours have you completed?
    1
    Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
    Somewhat harder
    Do you recommend this tour?
    No
    Countries included in this tour?
    Switzerland
    • 1/5 Value
    • 3/5 Included meals
    • 5/5 Bikes + equipment
    • 2/5 Hotels or boat
    • 2/5 Scenery
    • 2/5 Ease of navigation
    • 2/5 Tour documents
    • 4/5 Local tour company services
    • 2/5 Route selection
  • Tauern Bike Path
    (3/5) Pedals August 8, 2017

    Great and not so great

    · Tauern Bike Path (Krimml-Passau)

    Having just come off 2 weeks biking in France we had something to compare this trip with.
    The first 3 days or so were magic - lovely views, fantastic track surface and finally cool weather. The accommodation was great,especially after we were upgraded twice, and can be recommended.

    The bike gear was top class but my bike however was not. Euro Velo bike hires have to realise that the standard puffy commuter seat they supply are not comfortable for guys used to proper bike seats - enough said. Also on the second day when I went to use the smallest front chain ring it turned out that 2 of the mounting bolts were missing and it got wrecked so one third of my gears were gone. Managed to get this repaired after a couple of days but wasn't really satisfactory. This should not happen!

    The directions and maps hardly ever match up completely on these type of trips but we were certainly not happy to discover at the end of a long hot day that the instructions for the approach to Salzberg were in fact for someone coming from completely the opposite direction - a victim of cut and past to be sure, as was the odd paragraph still in Austrian, but this should have been edited properly. A shame as the general standard of the material presentation was of a high quality.

    Be aware if you want to do this trip that the last few days are along the stop bank beside the river and are boring - very little in the way of scenery and culture. Next time we will detour inland.

    Sorry but overall a 3 star effort.

    Warning - in case you may be considering a taxi ride from Innsbruck to Krimml to start your trip make sure that the driver is legitimate. Ours was a temporary fill in, had not driven out of town for 4 years and was a thoroughly unsafe driver. Much too fast and I suspect maybe on something. He almost ran off the road a number of times and clipped the inside kerb a couple of times . Haven't been so scared in our lives as passengers apart from jeep trips in Nepal and Pakistan. This should not happen in a first world country and if it had been practical solution we would have got out and walked!!

    What was the date of your tour?
    mid July 2017
    How many tours have you completed?
    4
    Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
    As expected
    Who is this tour suitable for?
    Solo travelers, First-time bike tourists, Families with teens
    Do you recommend this tour?
    Yes
    Countries included in this tour?
    Austria, Germany
    • 3/5 Value
    • 4/5 Included meals
    • 3/5 Bikes + equipment
    • 4/5 Hotels or boat
    • 4/5 Scenery
    • 2/5 Ease of navigation
    • 3/5 Tour documents
    • 3/5 Local tour company services
    • 4/5 Route selection
    • 1/5 Guides (if applicable)
  • (3/5) Marion Van Kirk 10 months ago

    Beautiful Austria and Germany

    · Tauern Bike Path (Krimml-Passau)

    Biking was more difficult than expected. Luckily the women had e-bikes. Most of the hotels were excellent and food was great. Trip started in Neukirchen am Grossvenediger instead of Krimml due to closed hotels. The hotel in vicinity of Burghausen was too far from the town to be able to enjoy the beautiful city and castle and this was a huge disappointment since there were 3 other hotels within the city.

    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?
    First-time bike tourists, Solo travelers, Families with teens
    Do you recommend this tour?
    No
    Countries included in this tour?
    Austria, Germany
    • 4/5 Value
    • 4/5 Included meals
    • 5/5 Bikes + equipment
    • 3/5 Hotels or boat
    • 4/5 Scenery
    • 3/5 Ease of navigation
    • 4/5 Tour documents
    • 4/5 Local tour company services
    • 3/5 Route selection
  • Salzburg to Vienna
    (3/5) Bicycling in Philly August 26, 2017
    · Salzburg to Vienna, Lakes Option

    What was the date of your tour?
    Aug 13-19
    How many tours have you completed?
    Greater than 10
    Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
    Somewhat easier
    Who is this tour suitable for?
    First-time bike tourists, Families with teens
    Do you recommend this tour?
    No
    Countries included in this tour?
    Austria
    • 2/5 Value
    • 3/5 Included meals
    • 2/5 Hotels or boat
    • 4/5 Scenery
    • 2/5 Ease of navigation
    • 2/5 Tour documents
    • 2/5 Local tour company services
    • 2/5 Route selection
  • (3/5) Jackie10 June 14, 2019

    Recommend with caution

    · Salzburg to Vienna, Lakes Option

    This bike tour is through the most beautiful Austrian countryside. The accommodations are great, luggage transfers flawless and great breakfasts included. The directions are horrible, especially the 1st and 3 rd days. Make sure you have a GPS with you. The poor directions added unnecessary frustration to the trip. The bikes are up right commuter bikes and uncomfortable for the mileage involved. If you are accustomed to a decent road bike you probably won't be happy. Most cyclists we saw were on e-bikes which makes the poor ergonomics more tolerable. This tour would be a 5 star with accurate directions and decent equipment. So bring a GPS and your own bike and have a blast!

    What was the date of your tour?
    June 2019
    How many tours have you completed?
    Two
    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?
    Austria
    • 5/5 Value
    • 4/5 Included meals
    • 2/5 Bikes + equipment
    • 5/5 Hotels or boat
    • 5/5 Scenery
    • 1/5 Ease of navigation
    • 4/5 Tour documents
    • 4/5 Local tour company services
    • 5/5 Route selection
  • Danube Bike and Boat
    (3/5) Jan 2018 September 24, 2018

    Beautiful bike tour through Austria !

    · · Danube Discovery: Bike and Boat through Enchanting Capitals

    Our room on the ship had a broken thermostat so we were freezing most of the time...the food was good but we wanted more green veggie salads..the tour guide was very hard to understand, but the bike baths were smooth and mostly flat, so the biking through little villages was unforgettable!!!

    What was the date of your tour?
    Sept. 10-17
    How many tours have you completed?
    0
    Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
    As expected
    Who is this tour suitable for?
    First-time bike tourists
    Do you recommend this tour?
    No
    Countries included in this tour?
    Austria, Germany, Hungary, Slovakia
    • 3/5 Value
    • 3/5 Included meals
    • 3/5 Bikes + equipment
    • 3/5 Hotels or boat
    • 5/5 Scenery
    • 3/5 Ease of navigation
    • 3/5 Tour documents
    • 4/5 Local tour company services
    • 4/5 Route selection
    • 3/5 Guides (if applicable)
  • Danube Bike and Boat
    (3/5) Elizabeth Gray 6 months ago

    Beautiful trip on the Danube

    · · Danube Bike and Boat: Passau-Budapest-Passau – MS SE-Manon

    This scenic trip is beyond description!!! Boating on this beautiful river, in and out of small towns, bustling cities and incredible mountain and grapevine views was fabulous!
    The boat was nice, clean ( very cold pool) and plenty of service, however; instructions were poor at best.
    There were a couple that provided directions on the routes and many other events upon the boat, SE Mannon, however one spoke no English and the other struggled with describing in English the sometimes complicated routes. 85% of the travelers were non English speakers and were well informed by the German speaking gentleman. Many English speakers became lost in Bratislava and some in Vienna. The routes were beautiful and not too challenging to ride if you paid close attention during the briefings and asked a lot of clarifying questions. When you are t quite sure, ask again until you do. We found not understanding the German and Austrian speakers frustrated them a great deal but don’t get offended. You need the correctly translated information. As simple as “up stream or down stream” can be miscommunicated.
    We had one bike that needed to be changed out, however, the people checking the bike said it was ok and we suffered 2 days with a bike that was not shifting properly. Day 3, new bike, no more problems.
    Do not waste your money on ANy of the drink packages! It is only honored after 4 pm, even soda or coffee is charged outside the 4 pm- 11 pm hours. Dinner drinks are included in restaurant. Breakfast includes coffee but not soda as many drink in AM. Bring snacks back on board if you want anything to eat outside breakfast or dinner.
    Now for the food: we had “guess that dish” every night Everything was covered in some kind of gravy. Pork for dinner the first 3 nights! Desserts were the most disappointing. Very bland puddings, and some had breakfast cereals mixed in. After day 2, we started eating dinner out when possible. One night we had spaghetti which wasn’t too bad however we couldn’t get any Parmesan cheese or extra bread to fill up. Breakfasts offered many options, however, the omelettes were not always cooked through. Stick with the waffles, they were good. Plenty of meats and bread to make sandwiches for your lunch ride. We generally stopped at a pub or beer garden for goulash or French fries and beer! Lots of little places to choose from although good places could be recommended in the route book! No one on board would suggest any restaurants in the towns. That was disappointing. We found a great restaurant on top of a hotel in Vienna with a fabulous view of the city and river.
    In our info from Biketours. Com, we were told not to book travel from the boat before 12. The boat wanted us out of our cabins by 8:30. We waited up on top of the boat until our taxi arrived at 11:00. We were the last party to leave. None of the Americans got off the boat until 10-10:30. Lack of communication again.
    It was nice unpacking only once for our bike tour, however we will probably stick with the bike/hotel version in the future! Croatia here we come in 2024!!! Still had a blast with our party of 6! Thanks Biketours!  SHOW MORE 

    Countries included in this tour?
    Austria, Germany, Hungary, Slovakia
    •  (photo by Elizabeth Gray)
    •  (photo by Elizabeth Gray)
    •  (photo by Elizabeth Gray)
    •  (photo by Elizabeth Gray)
    •  (photo by Elizabeth Gray)
    •  (photo by Elizabeth Gray)
  • Danube Bike Path
    (3/5) Diane Griffin 4 months ago

    Disappointing - don't go during shoulder season

    · Danube Bike Path 7 Nights (Classic)

    I've done four self-guided trips and this trip was my least favorite. The marketing material pitches "storybook villages" but most days are spent riding through corn fields. The hotels were outside of towns and hard to walk to restaurants. Because it was shoulder season, there were very few restaurants open.
    First day's hotel was outside of town and front desk advised that we go to the mall for lunch. Fortunately we found a fun restuarant down on the river. The initial meeting with the bike company was disorganized and very brief. He barely talked about the tour, he didn't have tools to swap out pedals, there were too many of us attending the meeting and he said he didn't have time to answer questions - only 60 minutes alotted. We asked for spare tubes for the two road bikes but never got them. Skinny tires get flats!!
    The "castle" we stayed in one night was not nice. It was clearly getting renovated - the rooms were nice but there were only five rooms. The property was overgrown and rundown, and with only five rooms it felt very creepy and unoccupied.
    Breakfast at the castle - no protein - no eggs, no yogurt. We're on a bike tour and need energy! No fruit, no granola. Breakfast was just six slices of cucumbers, 10 cherry tomatoes, hard rolls, deli meat/cheese. Bar wasn't open for post-ride beer/wine.
    Donauhotel Letternof - 11k from Enns, very remote, had to walk to a campground for food. Closest restaurant is cash only, need reservations. Front desk tried to make res but couldn't get through. The ONLY local taxi was working in Linz, not available for us. It was due to rain very hard. Hotel loaned us umbrellas and we went back to the campground for dinner.

    Day 3 - arrived at Cafe Braun (the meeting point) at 4:30 and called for shuttle (runs 3-6pm) told to go to a camping store(?) and get the bus as they don't have anyone to pick us up. One guy in our party was willing to make the 3k very steep climb to get us a ride. This hotel was nice but since it was past high season everything in this cute village was closed. Only one restaurant was open.
    Last day - Vienna - hotel was so far from center city and far from anything interesting. Very long and confusing ride through busy city. Very limited restaurants. Shortest riding day and yet our bags didn't arrive until 5pm.

    What was the date of your tour?
    September 2023
    How many tours have you completed?
    Four
    Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
    As expected
    Who is this tour suitable for?
    First-time bike tourists
    Do you recommend this tour?
    No
    Countries included in this tour?
    Austria, Germany
    • 2/5 Value
    • 2/5 Included meals
    • 5/5 Bikes + equipment
    • 3/5 Hotels or boat
    • 2/5 Scenery
    • 3/5 Ease of navigation
    • 3/5 Tour documents
    • 2/5 Local tour company services
    • 2/5 Route selection