Navigation Contact Client portal login

Primarily Bike Paths Tour Reviews  page 4

  • (3/5) James Hutcherson September 21, 2022

    Could 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
    Loire a Velo
    • 3/5 Value
    • 3/5 Bikes + equipment
    • 5/5 Hotels or boat
    • 3/5 Scenery
    • 5/5 Ease of navigation
    • 2/5 Tour documents
    • 2/5 Local tour company services
    • 4/5 Route selection
  • (3/5) Mychelle October 29, 2019

    Do Your Research

    Lake Constance Bicycle Path (Upscale Lodging)

    My husband and I did the Lake Constance Self Guided bike tour. When we arrived at our hotel we dropped off our bags and we took a taxi to the bike company to pick up our bikes (per our instructions). We were greeted by a man that spoke only German. The maps and instruction he gave us were not clear (some of them were in German as well). The monitor on the bike was not in English (he got a translator over the phone to help him change it). I had upload the suggested Bike app on my phone ahead of time with the trail map but it would not work once we arrived. The first 24 hours of our trip did not go smooth (prior to our ride). I ended up going to the Visitor's Center in town and found someone that spoke English to walk me through the route. I got a much better trail map from them as well. Once we got through the hump of what we felt was very poor planning on the part of this company everything else went well. The hotels were wonderful, the bike trail was breathtaking, the weather was mostly sunny (a little rain) and the trail is well marked. I emailed this company during our trip to let them know about our problems and they were little help.

    What was the date of your tour?
    June 2019
    How many tours have you completed?
    2
    Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
    As expected
    Who is this tour suitable for?
    Solo travelers, First-time bike tourists, Families with young kids, Families with teens
    Do you recommend this tour?
    No
    Countries included in this tour?
    Austria, Germany, Switzerland
    Lake Constance Bike Path
    • 4/5 Value
    • 4/5 Included meals
    • 5/5 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
    • 5/5 Route selection
  • (3/5) Linda Farnworth May 30, 2024

    Not impressed with Ave

    Prague to Vienna via Cesky Krumlov

    The bikes were not good. One day the range of ebike battery barely made it, my chain came off twice, seat kept slipping down, other equipment not great, and worst of all the seats were TERRIBLE.
    The ride was nice though with good scenery and a challenging ride.

    What was the date of your tour?
    May 18, 2024
    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, Czech Republic
    • BikeTours.com staff reply from andrea October 7, 2024

      Thank you for your review. We are sorry that the e-bikes were not up to your expectations and effected your experience. We greatly appreciate all client feedback as it helps us determine how we can improve and provide better services to all of our travelers.  Our local partner has since addressed this issue regarding any negative reviews of the e-bikes by switching service providers that deliver the bikes and purchased a new fleet of e-bikes to improve their services aiming to provide the best overall tour experience for their clients. Additionally they has assured us that they will make sure that clients will receive an e-bike in the perfect condition moving forward. Let us know if we can help you in the future, and thank you again for taking the time to evaluate this tour for us.

    • 3/5 Value
    • 2/5 Bikes + equipment
    • 4/5 Hotels or boat
    • 4/5 Scenery
    • 1/5 Ease of navigation
    • 1/5 Tour documents
    • 2/5 Local tour company services
    • 2/5 Route selection
  • (3/5) The dozer October 18, 2016

    Challenging to peddle to fairy tale cities.

    Prague to Vienna via Cesky Krumlov

    The route was challenging, navigation difficults, but beautiful UNESCO sites each night. We were just dropped off with the wrong bikes, a Garmin we could not use, and one sheet of paper with directions and overview of route. If it had not been for 5 Irish ladies on the same route we would have really struggled. They had a Garmin that worked and with intense map study did not get lost as often as we did. VERY few people spoke English. Our pick up person was very rude to the Irish ladies.

    What was the date of your tour?
    August 2015
    How many tours have you completed?
    3
    Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
    Much harder
    Do you recommend this tour?
    No
    Countries included in this tour?
    Austria, Czech Republic
    • BikeTours.com staff reply from Lindsay Nash October 19, 2016

      Hi! Thanks so much for sharing your experience. We're glad to hear you had a good trip overall. Aren't the UNESCO sites just fascinating?
      We're sorry to hear of your trouble with the bikes and Garmin along the route. We'll share this feedback with the local operator and work to improve this service!
      Thank you again for sharing your experience and helping us to spread the joy of bicycle tourism.
      Kind regards,
      Lindsay

    Prague to Vienna
    • 4/5 Value
    • 2/5 Bikes + equipment
    • 3/5 Hotels or boat
    • 4/5 Scenery
    • 2/5 Ease of navigation
    • 1/5 Tour documents
    • 1/5 Local tour company services
    • 4/5 Route selection
  • (3/5) Chloek1234 December 3, 2015

    Interesting tour for the well-traveled individual

    Prague to Vienna via Cesky Krumlov

    I went on this tour as a BikeTours.com staff member. I think that this tour has some wonderful highlights - Prague, Cesky Krumlov, but also is a bit monotonous. I enjoy riding in more varied scenery that this tour offered. However, the bike path network within the country is extensive (and I was impressed). The accommodations and food were basic to nice. The Czech people were very kind and down-to-earth. Our guide, Jitka, was always helpful and informative. This tour is consistently hilly and is a true level 3 in that sense. I would recommend this tour to a intermediate level cyclist, who is well traveled and wants to experience the less traveled side of Europe.

    How many tours have you completed?
    2
    Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
    Somewhat harder
    Do you recommend this tour?
    Yes
    Countries included in this tour?
    Austria, Czech Republic
    Prague to Vienna
    • 4/5 Value
    • 3/5 Included meals
    • 4/5 Bikes + equipment
    • 3/5 Hotels or boat
    • 3/5 Scenery
    • 4/5 Ease of navigation
    • 4/5 Tour documents
    • 4/5 Local tour company services
    • 3/5 Route selection
    • 5/5 Guides (if applicable)
    • Photo 1 (submitted by Chloek1234)
    • Poppies! These guys were in bloom everywhere. (submitted by Chloek1234)
    • Signs for the Czech Republic's extensive bike path network (submitted by Chloek1234)
    • Cycle path-side adult beverages (submitted by Chloek1234)
    • Our group visiting the only remaining portion of the Iron Curtain in Czechia (submitted…
  • (3/5) Mario Ceccanese October 11, 2024

    Cycling adventure

    Prague-Vienna-Bratislava-Budapest

    Navigation tools given(Garmin + maps) were very unreliable, especially entering and leaving cities - have had tours where line by line navigation instructions were provided as well as appropriate scale maps. Our group of 6 had 3 Garmins which were rarely in agreement - we then tried to follow whatever route on which 2 Garmins agreed. Czech Republic off road trails were very rough for the bikes provided - mountain bikes would have been more appropriate or better routes. We realize that due to unforeseen circumstances due to flooding on the Danube that route changes were necessary, but new routes were poorly described, and Garmins were now of no use- we resorted to Google Maps for navigation which occasionally placed us on roads which were too busy. Safety should be a prime concern, but navigation issues made this trip much more difficult and risky than originally described.

    What was the date of your tour?
    Sept 2024
    How many tours have you completed?
    10
    Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
    Somewhat harder
    Do you recommend this tour?
    No
    Countries included in this tour?
    Austria, Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovakia
    Prague to Budapest
    • 3/5 Value
    • 4/5 Included meals
    • 3/5 Bikes + equipment
    • 4/5 Hotels or boat
    • 4/5 Scenery
    • 1/5 Ease of navigation
    • 2/5 Tour documents
    • 3/5 Local tour company services
    • 2/5 Route selection
  • (3/5) Mycycle50 July 1, 2019

    Very beautiful but more difficult than advertised.

    Prague-Vienna-Bratislava-Budapest

    Our outfitter provided lots of info- maps, gps routes and suggested sites to visit. Some very rough roads, some steep hills.

    What was the date of your tour?
    May 22 to June 15
    How many tours have you completed?
    9
    Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
    Somewhat harder
    Do you recommend this tour?
    Yes
    Countries included in this tour?
    Austria, Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovakia
    Prague to Budapest
    • 5/5 Value
    • 5/5 Included meals
    • 4/5 Bikes + equipment
    • 4/5 Hotels or boat
    • 5/5 Scenery
    • 3/5 Ease of navigation
    • 5/5 Tour documents
    • 4/5 Local tour company services
    • 4/5 Route selection
    • Ceske Krumlov castle (submitted by Mycycle50)
    • Photo 2 (submitted by Mycycle50)
    • Cesko food (submitted by Mycycle50)
  • (3/5) joe eberly July 1, 2024

    Nice Ride

    Lake Constance Bicycle Path

    This is a very easy ride with mostly flat land around a beautiful lake. We had e-bikes which made it very easy. Hotels all very nice, but no AC for hot weather. June can be risky with the weather. We had two days of five with steady rain. This is our 3rd trip with Bikes.com and was my lest favorite. We never met our local tour operator, even when we picked up our bikes. There was substantial flooding due to heavy rains and some road construction that we didn't know about until we came to it. It was at that time we had to figure an alternate route. A little heads up would have save a lot confusion, especially during our rainy days. On previous trips, the tour operator spent time going over the route with areas we needed to pay attention to. The fact that none of us spoke German didn't help in trying to understand road signs. The route is well marked but makings change from country to country, so pay attention.

    What was the date of your tour?
    Mid-June 2024
    How many tours have you completed?
    3
    Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
    Somewhat easier
    Who is this tour suitable for?
    First-time bike tourists, Families with teens
    Do you recommend this tour?
    Yes
    Countries included in this tour?
    Austria, Germany, Switzerland
    • 4/5 Value
    • 5/5 Included meals
    • 5/5 Bikes + equipment
    • 4/5 Hotels or boat
    • 5/5 Scenery
    • 3/5 Ease of navigation
    • 3/5 Tour documents
    • 1/5 Local tour company services
    • 4/5 Route selection
  • (3/5) Horned Frog June 4, 2019

    Fun time... but

    Lake Constance Bicycle Path

    I enjoyed the tour a great deal, but the route instructions were sketchy at best, and the bike weighed only slightly less than a Sherman tank.... which would not have been much of a problem except that the route had more hills than expected. The hotels selected were all very nice.

    What was the date of your tour?
    21 May
    How many tours have you completed?
    4
    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, Switzerland
    • 5/5 Value
    • 2/5 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
    • 3/5 Route selection
  • (3/5) Ginny50 June 8, 2016

    A Challenging and Rainy Ride

    Lake Constance Bicycle Path

    This was a good tour and we enjoyed the adventure, but I can honestly say I would not recommend it to a beginner. Many of the reviews said this was a good ride for beginners. My husband and I started riding 2 years ago so we are slow but steady riders. We rode the Danube path (Passau to Vienna) last year with no problems so this one sounded like a good tour for us.
    We booked this ride based on the level 2 status and the few reviews we saw. In my opinion it is more of a level 3-4. The gently rolling hills were very steep on the first 2 days. It would have been easier with an e-bike but for beginners it was almost impossible with a regular bike. Most of the time the paths were paved but several sections were packed “gravel.” These paths were well maintained and easy, but often a bumpy ride. The biggest problem was these paths were not much more than 2 feet wide so if you are a slow rider you tend to collect 30 faster bikers behind you with no way to pass.
    The Lake Constance cycle route is one of the most popular bicycle routes in Europe.
    This just about sums it up - the most popular path in Europe. It was over-crowed almost to the point of being dangerous in many sections. We wondered about the high level of bike traffic during the month of May, until we were enlightened that we were enjoying “Pentecost Holidays” with the throngs of locals.
    The bikes provided by the company were wonderful. I highly recommend this tour company/bike shop and crew. My husband was not happy with his first bike and they quickly swapped it out with no question.
    When we received our tour documents we noticed one day stated that the ride was 35miles/55km. Most of those miles were on a shared road with cars - Not a dedicated bike path. Cars whizzing past you on a busy road is not fun for us. That day our bikes took a train ride! FYI - When I asked one of the tour guides if many people ditched this ride mid-way he did say that quite a few riders just gave up. I can see why!
    Each hotel was fabulous. The rooms were lovely and the food excellent.
    We really did enjoy this trip and we pushed ourselves more than we ever thought we could. We had 2 good days of seeing the lake and views, but missed seeing the beautiful scenery because of the incessant rain and many detours. Better rain gear will be on our wish list before we ride again. It was a challenge that we were proud to complete.

    What was the date of your tour?
    May, 2016
    How many tours have you completed?
    3
    Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
    Much harder
    Do you recommend this tour?
    Yes
    Countries included in this tour?
    Austria, Germany, Switzerland
    • 4/5 Value
    • 5/5 Included meals
    • 5/5 Bikes + equipment
    • 5/5 Hotels or boat
    • 3/5 Scenery
    • 3/5 Ease of navigation
    • 3/5 Tour documents
    • 4/5 Local tour company services
    • 3/5 Route selection
  • (3/5) William McGill II August 3, 2022

    Lake Constance Up Scale Lodging- +’s and -‘s

    Lake Constance Bicycle Path (Upscale Lodging)

    We enjoyed the scenery, weather, bikes and the people we met on the trail. The local bike company provided maps and directions were lacking organization, accuracy and specific detail for our trip. As an example they did not include directions to the route from the starting hotel nor to the ending hotel. One of the “upscale”hotels was far from the lake in an area with undeveloped, unkempt grass like a vacant lot. Only after painful and time consuming negotiation did the local bike company agree to deliver the bikes to our starting hotel. We previously took a Danube and Mosel upscale lodging bike tours and received great customer service from the local bike companies. I recommend that until the local company selling this tour significantly improves its customer service Bike Tours stop selling this tour.

    Countries included in this tour?
    Austria, Germany, Switzerland
    Lake Constance Bike Path
  • (3/5) Canada November 4, 2015

    A bit of a disappointment

    Lake Constance Bicycle Path

    We booked the high end tour and in general were very pleased. Most of the hotels were lovely and located conveniently to the bike path. One exception was the Marina hotel we were sent to. We passed by beautiful villages but instead of staying in these lovely locations, we were sent to a marina where there no amenities nearby. We explored through the nearby campsite and located a restaurant much more reasonably priced than the marina hotel restaurant. When we had asked at the hotel about nearby restaurants, the hotel said there were no others nearby. It was also very noisy as they were working on the boats. Also we were disappointed with how little you actually got to bike along the lake. Being as this is a huge vacation area most of the lakefront had homes on them. So we were sharing the road much more than expected with often little or no views of the lake.
    The bike tour company was great and the bikes were of a good quality (though with the bumpy terrain shocks would have been appreciated).

    A lovely touch was the beautiful room at the Hotel Halm in Constance where there was a bottle of wine waiting and a lovely corner room.

    How many tours have you completed?
    Three
    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, Switzerland
    Lake Constance Bike Path
    • 3/5 Value
    • 3/5 Bikes + equipment
    • 3/5 Hotels or boat
    • 3/5 Scenery
    • 4/5 Ease of navigation
    • 3/5 Tour documents
    • 4/5 Local tour company services
    • 4/5 Route selection
  • (3/5) Joseph Tevaarwerk May 13, 2024

    Nice trip, but some issues.

    Prague to Dresden Along the Vltava & Elbe Rivers

    The trip overall was good. The hotels were from very nice to adequate, and the weather was good for biking. Luggage handling was perfect.

    The issue we had was with the bikes. In our case the bikes we rented were delivered to our hotel. I had emailed specific instructions about my wife's bike set-up regarding saddle height and handle bar height. When the bikes arrived we noticed that the saddle could not be adjusted low enough for her comfort. We had to call the AVE rep and he had to bring a different saddle stem to fix that problem.
    Another problem was with my bike. The frame size was too small for me, and the handle bars were too low for comfort. Since we had already lost time to get my wife's bike corrected, I decided that I could manage with the bike that was delivered. That was my mistake!
    Half way into the trip the front telescopic forks collapsed and I had to ride nose down, which was very uncomfortable and outright dangerous. We managed to get it pumped up at a bike shop, but they lost pressure again while biking.

    Last year we had none of these problems. The big difference was that last year we had to collect our bikes at the rental shop the day before. This gave us the opportunity to have both bikes adjusted to the right settings, and to make sure that they were of the correct frame size.

    I don't need to stress how important a reliable and well fitting bike is for these bike tours. I suggest that you make it essential that the bikes are collected at the rental site the day before the trips start. This will give the participants the opportunity to make essential corrections.
    Myself, for our next trip I will insist that we will collect the bikes at the rental shop the day before the trip starts, and that they are reliable and well fitted bikes.
    I think it is wise if you make this part of your overall policy as well.

    Joseph.

    What was the date of your tour?
    May 2024
    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?
    Czech Republic, Germany
    Prague to Dresden
    • 5/5 Value
    • 5/5 Included meals
    • 2/5 Bikes + equipment
    • 4/5 Hotels or boat
    • 5/5 Scenery
    • 5/5 Ease of navigation
    • 5/5 Tour documents
    • 2/5 Local tour company services
  • (3/5) Janna R Poll August 21, 2022

    Needs 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 

    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
    Prague to Dresden
    • 3/5 Value
    • 4/5 Included meals
    • 1/5 Bikes + equipment
    • 3/5 Hotels or boat
    • 4/5 Scenery
    • 1/5 Ease of navigation
    • 3/5 Tour documents
    • 1/5 Local tour company services
  • (3/5) Sheryl Slone July 17, 2023

    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.

    What was the date of your tour?
    July 2023
    Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
    As expected
    Do you recommend this tour?
    No
    Countries included in this tour?
    France, Germany
    • 1/5 Value
    • 3/5 Included meals
    • 1/5 Bikes + equipment
    • 3/5 Hotels or boat
    • 5/5 Scenery
    • 1/5 Ease of navigation
    • 2/5 Tour documents
    • 1/5 Local tour company services
    • 1/5 Route selection
  • (3/5) mb001 October 28, 2019

    Fun trip with lots of biking.

    Vienna to Budapest 5-nights (Active)

    My friend and I did this trip in early Oct. The first hotel in Vienne is Hotel Arcortel and not near any restaurants or pubs but close to the start of the trip. I would suggest booking a few days before in the city center if you plan on seeing Vienna. We stayed next in Hotel Devin in Bratislava. The hotel here and city were great. Everything walking distance. Next was Hotel Barrokk in Gyor. This was a very nice hotel and city that you could walk to a variety of restaurants and shopping. Then day 3 we biked 124km to Esztergom. There is an option to take a train for half of this trip. We did the biking and found it a very long day, but doable. We had electric bikes and it was a good thing! This day of biking was the most difficult not only because of the distance, but the terrain. You are in remote Hungarian countryside with no one around for hours. The bike trail or paths are poorly marked in some areas you find yourself on dirt farm land. Unfortunately we were lost a lot! The hotel in Esztergom was the Hotel Bellevue. This hotel is set on a busy street with no options to walk to any other restaurants or shopping. We were not aware that dinner must be booked ahead of time. After talking our way into a reservation, we found the buffet was average. If possible stay in the city and not this hotel. On the last day we left and needed to catch the ferry across the river. We were lucky as the week we were there was the last week of the season for the ferry. We rode to Budapest and again found some of the trails or paths poorly marked. We ran into a guided tour along the way and the guide told us about an app called mapy.cz and it has the entire map of the bike path we used and saved us several times. It was great to finish in Budapest as it is a very large exciting city with so much to do! The NH Hotel was easy to get to and situated close to many sites.

    What was the date of your tour?
    10/6-10/10/19
    How many tours have you completed?
    4
    Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
    As expected
    Do you recommend this tour?
    No
    Countries included in this tour?
    Austria, Hungary, Slovakia
    Vienna to Budapest 5-nights
    • 4/5 Value
    • 3/5 Included meals
    • 5/5 Bikes + equipment
    • 3/5 Hotels or boat
    • 4/5 Scenery
    • 3/5 Ease of navigation
    • 3/5 Tour documents
    • 4/5 Local tour company services
    • 3/5 Route selection
  • (3/5) Josée May 3, 2024

    Not our dream trip

    Vienna to Budapest 5-nights (Active)

    We booked the active tour because we did not have time to do the classic. 80-100 km per day were too much, specially when 1 day/4 was 100% rain. We cannot control temperature on a cycling trip, but to cycle 50-60 km in the rain would have been much better than 100km that day. On top of that, our hotel was booked at 130km instead of 100 by mistake. The hotel was nice enough to send a van and a trailer to pick us up. We were soaked!!! Out of 5 hotels, I would consider that 3 nights were more 3.5 stars than 4 and the 2 other nights were 4 to 5 stars. In some small towns, where nobody speak English, it would have nice have more guidance to know where to go to buy the ferry tickets and to know that not all countries use Euros and where to change money for cash only situation. Also, the ferry schedule was not clear, and found out that they take breaks in the morning and can cause a delay.
    We were 3 (1 road bike + 2 e-bikes). The roads were rough in some areas with deep puddles of water during the rain. Of course, a flat happened and we struggled to find a pump for the road bike. The pumps that were given to us were for the e-bikes and did not fit. In a small town with no English speaking around, we managed to resolve the situation. Also, the first morning we started the trip, we had to go to a bike store to ask for extra tires in case of a flat. There were not given to us at the beginning. Thank god we went! Having done 2 cycling trips (Portugal and Croatia) in the past year, we found that the Vienna to Budapest was a bit boring. The landscape was not very different from start to beginning and the distances were long in between the little cities we visited.
    Minimum information were given to us and it would have been nice to have suggestions for restaurants and more details, etc, etc. We received that info with the other companies we used for the other trips.
    A water bottle or a shirt from your company would have been also a nice surprise.
    The trip was OK, but can be improved in many ways for the price we paid.
    We were happy for the quick response when we had the issue with the hotel at 130km instead of 100
    The NH Danube or NH Budapest (We had to change room at 11h00 pm because there was a heating problem that made the room like a sauna and the window handle was broken, so we could not open it….) are more 3 stars hotels. The loft in Bratislava was VERY VERY Nice and the Barok in Gyor was great also. We expected more at the to pass on Esztergom, because we could not come back the next day to visit. I heard that the 30km we missed were worth the views and cycling.
    I would recommend the trip to people that did not cycle in Portugal, Croatia and want a flat route.
    4 days were a lot concerning the distances, but 6 days would have make it long for the lack of change of scenery. This is my opinion!

    Countries included in this tour?
    Austria, Hungary, Slovakia
    Vienna to Budapest 5-nights
  • (3/5) Kitty Brodie July 31, 2024

    Not quite what we expected

    Vienna to Budapest 5-nights (Active)

    We booked a self-guided 5-day tour from Vienna to Budapest.
    There were a few things that did not sit well with us on the organizational front.
    The tour itself was great once we got started and the cities/hotels en route were great.
    The bike service was great... we had a mechanical issue on Day 1 of riding, and the bike was replaced the next morning.

    Organizationally:
    Confirmation of tour was delayed until the 1 day before the original day of departure.
    When I tried to cancel because we wanted to book something that was confirmed, I was told this was not possible.
    That seemed unfair, when the tour operator has the right to cancel, but not the client.

    The initial orientation meeting on "Day 1" in Vienna did not happen until "Day 2".
    Nothing at all was arranged for "Day 1" other than the hotel in Vienna.

    The 5 day tour turned out to be 5 nights, with the 1st night in Vienna, where we already were staying.
    So not 5 nights on the road, but 5 nights in hotels. Starting on the morning of "Day 2" makes the tour really only a 4 day tour in my opinion.

    The bikes that were brought to us on the morning of "Day 2" were not the right bikes that we had ordered.

    Pick up time for our bags from the hotel was not mentioned in the orientation meeting.
    Consequently, we missed the pickup time on the first hotel and had to pay for a taxi to bring the bags to the next hotel.
    This again seemed unfair.

    What was the date of your tour?
    May 2024
    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, Families with young kids
    Do you recommend this tour?
    No
    Countries included in this tour?
    Austria, Hungary, Slovakia
    Vienna to Budapest 5-nights
    • 1/5 Value
    • 5/5 Bikes + equipment
    • 5/5 Hotels or boat
    • 5/5 Scenery
    • 5/5 Ease of navigation
    • 5/5 Tour documents
  • (3/5) Richard 69 May 29, 2022

    A 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.

    What was the date of your tour?
    May 18-25 2022
    How many tours have you completed?
    8
    Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
    Somewhat harder
    Do you recommend this tour?
    No
    Countries included in this tour?
    France, Germany
    Strasbourg to Mainz
    • 4/5 Value
    • 5/5 Included meals
    • 1/5 Bikes + equipment
    • 2/5 Hotels or boat
    • 2/5 Scenery
    • 2/5 Ease of navigation
    • 2/5 Tour documents
    • 1/5 Local tour company services
    • 3/5 Route selection
    • 1/5 Guides (if applicable)
  • (3/5) Karen and Martin Keller 6 months ago

    All bike tours are not equal

    Vienna to Budapest (Classic)

    We are experienced bike tourists and have used several bike tour companies as well as planning our own tours. For this tour in particular: Accommodations were all very nice. The luggage transfers were timely and efficient and Roman, the driver, was great. The GPS worked well. The bikes were average and in good repair. A suggestion would be to have various saddle options. Overall the items and logistics of the bike tour co operator were in control of were very good. Specific to our experience, the actual mileages were different than initial itinerary causing final day plans in Budapest to be foiled. In our opinion, this stretch of the Danube radweg is not as scenic as the Passau to Vienna section. To no one’s fault, our specific tour was plagued by extreme heat and 3 days of solid torrential rain, which made this a less than ideal experience. Tour operator came through to try to assist us with alternative transportation options, which we appreciate.

    What was the date of your tour?
    July 4 - 10, 2025
    How many tours have you completed?
    17
    Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
    As expected
    Who is this tour suitable for?
    Solo travelers
    Do you recommend this tour?
    No
    Countries included in this tour?
    Austria, Hungary
    • 4/5 Value
    • 5/5 Included meals
    • 3/5 Bikes + equipment
    • 5/5 Hotels or boat
    • 3/5 Scenery
    • 4/5 Ease of navigation
    • 4/5 Tour documents
    • 5/5 Local tour company services
    • 4/5 Route selection

Toll Free

+1-833-216-0635

Local + International

+1-215-613-0874

Email

Contact Form
info@biketours.com

Mailing Address

BikeTours.com
PO Box 30
Dimock, PA 18816
USA

Office Hours

Monday–Friday: 24 hours a day