Primarily Bike Paths Tour Reviews page 3
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★★★★★ Carol Dienhart October 5, 2022
Vienna to Budapest sister trip
· Vienna to Budapest (Classic)
Tour route was very well laid out, enjoyed overnight cities and accommodations. Disappointed in materials, one important guide not available in English. Made it difficult to chart routes and alternative routes and to plan for landmarks/scenery to watch for along the way.
- What was the date of your tour?
- Sept-Oct 2022
- 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?
- No
- Countries included in this tour?
- Austria, Hungary
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★★★★★ Fred Inglis November 7, 2022
The hotels were first class and the staff very helpful. The trip itself was away from the Danube for most of the mileage covered and there were too many rough parts along the trail , i.e. tractor tracks with gravel ruts that were uncomfortable to traverse and longer than comfortable sections of heavily used roads. We took a day of rest in Gyor and this was a very pleasant place to spend time touring on foot. Vienna and Budapest are wonderful cities to explore on foot and via trams also.
· Vienna to Budapest (Classic)
Biking is a wonderful way to explore a different country and there were pleasant surprises in a couple of restaurants we came across in small towns along the way.
Unfortunately our maps were in German as they had run out of English versions, which made it more difficult to orient oursenves. -
★★★★★ Janna R Poll August 21, 2022Needs a bit more sophistication
· Prague to Dresden Along the Vltava & Elbe Rivers
1. There was no GPS. They insisted it was easy and we had maps, but they were in Czech and hard to read and the street were rarely marked.
2. I had two flats within the first mile ( two more to come). They need to put liners in their tires. Our pump was also so bad that after a lot of work it was still too low to ride. Usually other riders would stop and let us borrow their more superior pumps.
They delivered a new bike in Prague because my brakes were also broken. To get to their delivery car I had to go down a wet slope and across a divided highway. I fell on a wet grid and hurt my knee bad and ripped the entire butt out of my only pair of bike shorts for the whole trip ( remember the missing luggage). This. Detour meant we couldn’t ever seem to find the bike bath again and since we had a late start of 3:30, we rode hard for six straight hours. It was extremely dangerous after dark and we had no food out in the farmland. I was using my phone to try to find the towns with path.
I complained about the promise of a GPS and not having one. So they forwarded maps to use on a a special app on my phone, but that took a day to understand where we were on the map. I got a GPS the third day, but it didn’t have a charge and the charging unit didn’t go with the unit I had.
4. Not only did we have flats, but my kickstand didn’t work and more importantly, the fender supports in the front was missing some rubber tips. That meant when I put down my foot when stopping and the wheel was turned at all, the snipped off metal of the support would slash my inside knees badly. This happened a lot and was very painful and bloody.
5. Several of the hotels had some real problems with super warm rooms, (no A/C anywhere over there), loud streets, and no ice. Two at least had fans. the nice hotel in Bad Shandeau put us alone up on the 4th floor and said we were to leave the windows closed because of smoke from the fires, which was blowing the opposite direction. Our attic room was well over 90F w no ventilation. We opened the narrow attic windows anyhow
The best hotel was a little pensioner on the first night. That frog even gave us ice for our water bottles. It was a very hot week.6. The path ran right by a forest fire before Bad Schandau. Breathing was bad and stinky.
They guys were generally responsive, though the main guy was on vacation. We are fairly unde manding most of time, changed our own FOUR flat tires, tried to find our way, dealt w the bike faults, but feel they were tired of us the first day. In fact he said if we were ‘one of their clienta it would be different. If they took the money from you, we WERE their client!
Overall, it was a bit disappointing on the bike side, though the river is lovely and biking is still the best way to see a country! SHOW MORE
Janna Poll Olender
Pic of what the fender was doing. The bruise was from trying to get to their van w new bike in Prague.
SHOW LESS- What was the date of your tour?
- July2022
- How many tours have you completed?
- Five
- 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?
- No
- Countries included in this tour?
- Czech Republic, Germany
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★★★★★ Richard 69 May 29, 2022A nice ride
· Strasbourg to Mainz: Imperial Cities and Charming Landscapes Along the Rhine
This is our eighth time cycling in Europe so we are experienced cyclers. This is the first and only time we had any problems. When we arrived in Strassbourg in the evening and checked our bikes we noticed right off that one of the bikes had a problem. We called Eurobike the next morning to resolve the issue and we were underwhelmed by their response. After several phone calls and two and a half hours taken out of the day we planned to spend sightseeing in Strassbourg I finally demanded that they bring us another bike which they reluctantly agreed to do. If we had not taken an extra day in Strassbourg there would have been no way for us to complete the first leg of our tour. So there was that.
We have always chosen the B level hotels and have always been more than satisfied. This tour the hotels were hit and miss. The Hotel Ibis in Heidelberg gave us a room that was literally the size of a closet nd it was more than a mile walk to get to the historic old town. The hotel Asgard in Worms was also a long way from the city center. I will say that all the hotels served a good breakfast.
The bikes were the typical rental bikes that we always get so they are a little heavy and slow so no surprises there. But we found the road surfaces to be very rough in many places which made for very slow travel and we found ourselves reaching our destinations much later than we planned.
We cycled through forests and lots of farmland which was fine but we really did not cycle along the Rhine as much as we would have liked. The scenery was pleasant enough but not nearly as spectacular as other tours we’ve taken.
The printed directions are always confusing and at times our route was not as well marked as we would have liked so there was a lot of stopping to check our phones. We found the app that we downloaded to be very helpful.
It’s always fun and exciting to be cycling in Europe and we did enjoy ourselves and had many fine meals along the way. Unfortunately this ride did not compare favorably with the other seven tours we’ve taken. -
★★★★★ Sheryl Slone 9 months ago
Disappointed
· Strasbourg to Mainz: Imperial Cities and Charming Landscapes Along the Rhine
We were disappointed in the inability of the app to work for route directions. Several detours were encountered that were clearly not recent detours but alternate directions were not given. We ended up just doing a Google bike route to get from city to city.
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★★★★★ James Hutcherson September 21, 2022Could have been better
· Loire a Velo: Orleans to the Atlantic
This tour was our 12th bicycle tour, but the first in France. Distances were good, weather cooperated, Hotels were excellent. Route was very well sign posted. We found the route much more difficult than we expected. Many hills. The previous reviews and description did not even mention that aspect. These would have not caused much of a problem if we had opted for ebikes, and the vast majority of riders that we encountered did have ebikes. I would disagree that this tour would be labeled as family friendly, unless the family has no kids. One difficulty we had was that there were no intermediate stops for coffee, snacks, lunch, water, etc. I would recommend packing those items from the departure town each day. While the route does generally follow the river, most of the route is not next to the river and it is not visable most of the time. I hope this review does not deter anyone from this tour, since the castles, hotels, food should be enjoyed. Just a little heads-up advice.
- What was the date of your tour?
- September 2022
- How many tours have you completed?
- 12
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- Much harder
- 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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★★★★★ Jonathan M September 16, 2018Great trails, not well organized
· Cycling the Altmühl Valley - Round trip from Regensburg
This trip follows well marked German bike trails which are very easy to navigate and quite scenic. The hotels are fabulous. However, we did not have a good experience with the German bike company (Radweg Reisen) that operates the trip on the ground. We were self-guided, and our information package was not available the day we arrived, so we didn't have maps and guiding information in advance. When the packet arrived the next morning, we discovered that it contained very little about sights near the tour route. We were able to Google plenty of side trips but wondered: isn't that the job of the tour company? Also, our bikes were delivered late on the day we were supposed to start, so we lost a morning of biking (and actually the bikes were eventually delivered not by the tour company but by an English family to whom the bikes had been misdelivered). We called Radweg Reisen but their corporate office was located hundreds of km away. We have been on lots of trips with biketours.com and find that the smaller shops are much more attentive and give better service. Radweg Reisen is too big to care about 2 self-guided bikers.
- What was the date of your tour?
- 8/25-8/30
- How many tours have you completed?
- 10
- 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?
- No
- Countries included in this tour?
- Germany
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★★★★★ Scott Katzer September 29, 2022
Enjoyed the trip but some things can be improved
· Cycling the Altmühl Valley - Round trip from Regensburg
The sites and surroundings were great and we lucked out with the weather as it rained almost every other day. Although we completed the tour with no issues, it was a bit complicated at times. The information between Bike Tours and the tour company Ragwed wasnt always fluid and simple questions seemed to take a bit of time to answer which is a problem when trying to book flights. The information given with the tour company package was a bit limited. Although maps were included, they are not provided with any sort of turn by turn direction. This isnt a big deal for most days as the trail is obvious but entering a city has its own challenges. It is recommended for anyone going on this tour to have GPS on their phone which we had to use (and incur roaming charges) several times. The signage in some locations simply dont exist and some roads were even closed during our tour due to construction. It would be wise for this tour company to occasionally ride their own route and note any changes.
The hotels were nice for the most part and breakfasts were good. The only one that I felt could be improved was the Regensburg location (IBIS Hotel). While it was nice and fine for the stay, its location is a decent distance from the Old Town (30 minute walk minimum) when there are tons of other places right in the Old Town area to stay. The other locations had hotels right in the middle of the main area (The one in Belingres was real nice). Mileage was fine and a majority was on bike paths/trails. My only request would have been providing the option to use a GPS on this tour as many of the paths either were not labeled or so close to the country roads that its hard to tell them apart. The bikes could be improved a bit as they are a bit bulky and heavy and really could do without the bright red advertising all over it. I will give kudos to the luggage people as we never had to wait for our luggage to arrive and they were usually there by 3pm at the latest.- What was the date of your tour?
- September 2022
- How many tours have you completed?
- 6
- 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?
- No
- Countries included in this tour?
- Germany
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★★★★★ Dre22 June 15, 2019· Mosel Bike Path: Dreamy Mosel Valley from Trier to Koblenz
- What was the date of your tour?
- May 30 thru June 5
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- As expected
- Who is this tour suitable for?
- Families with teens
- Do you recommend this tour?
- Yes
- Countries included in this tour?
- Germany
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★★★★★ CynFul September 24, 2019
· Mosel Bike Path: Dreamy Mosel Valley from Trier to Koblenz
The scenery along the route was breathtaking and every town on the tour was welcoming.
Most of the riding was on a well maintained bike path (many taking us through wine vineyards) although we were diverted to the road (both in-town and along busy thoroughfares) a time or two but besides the rides through the towns the riding along the roads was along a designated area for bikes and the vehicular traffic was mindful of the cyclists. The accommodations were very comfortable and having prepaid for daily breakfast and dinner we didn't have to make any choices where to eat and all-in-all each of our meals were satisfactory at minimum. Although the pre-tour preparation for our self-guided bike tour was very detailed with BikeTours.com the execution (by the German based company) left something to be desired. The riding instructions/maps we were given were based on the standard route so they didn't take our particular stops into consideration; we therefore spent a good amount of time lost on our bikes. This was also because the general riding directions/instructions provided by the German tour company were not very detailed and again, did not provide specific details relative to our daily stops. The equipment provided by the German tour company was fair; the two women's bikes were like beach cruisers so easy to get on/off, the e-bike was fantastic (appeared to be brand new) and the other men's bike worked fine although it seemed a bit big for the rider and it was the smallest men's frame the local company had available. The handlebar box and panier for each bike was adequate for transporting our personal items.We LOVED the area, just wish we had spent less time being lost and more time exploring the beautiful, friendly towns scattered along the Moselle.
- What was the date of your tour?
- September 6-13, 2019
- How many tours have you completed?
- This was the first for me
- 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?
- Germany
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★★★★★ Water Bound September 15, 2018Disappointed
· · Mosel & Saar by Bike & Boat
- What was the date of your tour?
- 9/1-9/7/18
- How many tours have you completed?
- -1- before this one
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- As expected
- Who is this tour suitable for?
- First-time bike tourists, Families with young kids
- Do you recommend this tour?
- No
- Countries included in this tour?
- Germany
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★★★★★ Z1201 July 6, 2019
The bicycle trip was great the ship
· · Mosel & Saar by Bike & Boat
- What was the date of your tour?
- 22.6.19
- How many tours have you completed?
- 2
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- Somewhat easier
- Do you recommend this tour?
- No
- Countries included in this tour?
- Germany
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★★★★★ Ginny50 June 8, 2016· · Neckar & Rhine Rivers by Bike and Boat
This was an enjoyable bike/boat tour. The crew and staff were very nice. The riding days were usually short and manageable. The rainy weather was an issue which made for slippery riding on cobblestones. Due to the rains the Neckar River was closed and our ship was diverted. The company handled the diversion to the best of their ability and these detoured riding days were okay. We ended up in the town of Speyer, which was our favorite stop of the entire tour. One major complaint was the rooms on the ship were very small. They did state that in the promotional information, but we were not expecting that tiny. Everyone complained about the tiny rooms. We just laughed and dealt with it but it did make for close quarters. If you travel in May bring rain gear!
- What was the date of your tour?
- May/June 2016
- How many tours have you completed?
- 3
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- As expected
- Who is this tour suitable for?
- Solo travelers, First-time bike tourists, Families with teens
- Do you recommend this tour?
- Yes
- Countries included in this tour?
- Germany
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★★★★★ Hutch September 10, 2019Not what was expected.
· Aare Cycle Route: Along the Jura, Aare, and Rhine Rivers
This was our 9th bike trip in Europe, previous ratings and reviews of trips had been pretty acurate. But this trip was not what we expected. We might have a different view if we were in our 20s or 30s so any review submitted should be evaluated with that in mind. The trip was very intensive even with ebikes (our first use of ebikes) and only serious cyclists should forego those. There were many large hills and rough surfaces (30-40% gravel). Sporadic beautiful scenery, but not even close to what we have experienced before. Hotels were all clean and about half were really nice, but several were positioned away from main points of interest and the bike route and since the stopover sites were larger cities they were hard to find (maps to hotels were not detailed, thankfully we had google maps). On the positive side, the bike route is signed very well and we had no trouble finding our way between cities. Finding good stops along the route for lunch/coffee/etc was not as easy as we had experienced on previous trips. In short, we would not classify this route as recreational or recommend it as a family trip.
- What was the date of your tour?
- Aug 2019
- How many tours have you completed?
- 11
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- Much harder
- Who is this tour suitable for?
- Solo travelers
- Do you recommend this tour?
- No
- Countries included in this tour?
- Switzerland
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BikeTours.com staff reply from Chloe September 11, 2019
Hi Hutch, and thanks for the review. We appreciate your feedback that this tour was tougher and the scenery was different than what you had expected. We hope these details may help inform future clients to make the best decision possible. It seems this tour has intermittently beautiful scenery; we certainly do get spoiled on many tours where it's constantly scenic. We're glad you enjoyed the well-signed bike route and were able to navigate with the assistance of google maps. We're hoping the next one suits you better. Thanks again!
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★★★★★ Dagbjört September 9, 2018
· Rhône River Route: Oberwald to Geneva
* It was our 3d tour that we have booked with BikeTours and always been very pleased with the organizing, until now, we are sad to say.
* We never meet anyone from the tour company and that was very strange.
* Accommodation on one of the "hotels" was very poor, very cheep hotel, that was right across the street from the train/bus station and that was very disturbing through the night.
* It was only breakfast that was incl in the price. Maybe you should considered to have dinner incl. also.- What was the date of your tour?
- 26th of august 2018
- How many tours have you completed?
- 3
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- Somewhat harder
- Do you recommend this tour?
- Yes
- Countries included in this tour?
- Switzerland
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★★★★★ ArmannI September 17, 2018
Nice mountain view
· Rhône River Route: Oberwald to Geneva
Good way to experiece Switzerland. More information needed regarding interesting places to visit. The first day was the most wonderful day
- What was the date of your tour?
- 26.8 - 30.8
- How many tours have you completed?
- 3
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- As expected
- Do you recommend this tour?
- Yes
- Countries included in this tour?
- Switzerland
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★★★★★ Brittany at BikeTours December 3, 2015Beautiful scenery and quaint villages!
· Tauern Bike Path (Krimml-Passau)
I went on this tour as a BikeTours.com staff member. The scenery was absolutely breathtaking! The tour is 80% downhill. This made for cycling near the Austrian Alps fantastic. This tour is mostly on dedicated bike paths and quiet back roads, except for brief moments of cycling near the main road. The route maps are more basic which allow for more adventure. I would recommend this tour for a first-time traveler and casual cyclist.
- How many tours have you completed?
- 3
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- Somewhat easier
- Who is this tour suitable for?
- First-time bike tourists
- Do you recommend this tour?
- Yes
- Countries included in this tour?
- Austria, Germany
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★★★★★ Rick1 October 4, 2017
A nice blend of mountain valleys and river cycling
· Tauern Bike Path (Krimml-Passau)
The first 3 days from Krimml to Lofer were terrific; the scenery spectacular and the hotels great, the directions and signage generally good. The signage into Salzburg was deficient with at least 1 key turn ("Morzg") not signed at all. The Hotel was a significant step down from the first 3.The directions to the Glockhofer in Burghausen and the signage was also totally deficient....it would have been better if the hotel was in the main square, rather than in an industrial/commercial part of town. The hotel was a business hotel which was totally out of character with everything else we saw and a real disappointment (though the staff in the hotel were great). Happily, the next stop in Obernburg, the Gasthof zur post was wonderful. Passau hotel was ok.
Over all, we felt that the trip could easily have been done in 1 fewer day and would recommend that the written instructions be tailored to the exact Hotel being used. -
★★★★★ Moody Group October 11, 2018
Fun Experience
· Tauern Bike Path (Krimml-Passau)
The biking was a great experience based on something we have not done before. The bike route took us through the beautiful country side and charming communities of Austria and Germany. However, when the bicycles were delivered to our hotel in Salzburg no one from the bike company remained to provide assistance as we were lead to believe. Directions were not always clear so making decisions for the correct direction was sometimes difficult.
Accommodations in Salzburg and Obernburg am Inn were quaint, cozy and delightful and the staff were very pleasant and accommodating. However the accommodations at a couple of the other hotels were not very favorable. The Elevators/Lifts to the rooms at Hotel Gloecklhofer Burghausen were not available in our section of the hotel and the staff did not offer assistance. The staff at Hotel Spitzburg in Passau were not not very helpful or friendly. They seemed disinterested,. Example: On our last day in Passau we asked for an early wake up call to catch an early morning train. This did not happen. Fortunately we had set our own alarm and woke up on time. Then when we went down to the lobby that morning it was dark and no one was around. The door back to the rooms locked behind us and the lobby door to the street was locked. Fortunately we somehow managed to get the door open and were able to leave to catch our 7:25 AM train.Our overall experience was good and we did have a great time with our friends.
- What was the date of your tour?
- Started in Salzburg on Sept 18th.
- How many tours have you completed?
- First one.
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- Somewhat harder
- Who is this tour suitable for?
- Solo travelers, First-time bike tourists, Families with teens
- Do you recommend this tour?
- Yes
- Countries included in this tour?
- Austria, Germany
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