Provence Bike Tour Reviews
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★★★★★ Matthew Mink 3 weeks agoA reasonable option for early November
· South of France: UNESCO World Heritage Sites
We lucked out with the weather with temperatures in up to 20 degrees C. Only a spot of rain which we were prepared for. Enjoyed the kindness of the people in this part of France. The food and wine were great. Highlight was staying at a converted lemonade factory in Olonzac and Minerve. Gravel canal route was a bit monotonous on the on day into Carcassonne and probably put us at risk of a puncture but the bikes did well.
- What was the date of your tour?
- Nov 2024
- How many tours have you completed?
- Lots
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- As expected
- Who is this tour suitable for?
- First-time bike tourists, Solo travelers, Families with teens
- Do you recommend this tour?
- Yes
- Countries included in this tour?
- France
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★★★★★ Ron Walker 2 months agoHighly Recommended Itinerary
· · Provence by Bike and Boat
This was a great trip and I'm giving it 4 stars rather than 5 only because I wasn't crazy about our boat, the Caprice. The dining area is just way too cramped when the boat is fully booked. From what I saw of the L'Estello, which does the same route, it might be a better choice. Otherwise, it was great. We did a ride out of Amsterdam earlier this year, and riding around Provence is about 100x more interesting than riding Friesland. I'd highly recommend that area to everyone. Specific to the local operator, the e-bikes were excellent, loved our guide, food was terrific and the team was very focused on providing a great experience for the guests.
- What was the date of your tour?
- September 2024
- How many tours have you completed?
- 7
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- Somewhat easier
- Who is this tour suitable for?
- First-time bike tourists, Solo travelers, Families with teens
- Do you recommend this tour?
- Yes
- Countries included in this tour?
- France
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★★★★★ ALEX BERESNIEWICZ 2 months ago
Great trip
· · Provence by Bike and Boat
Beautiful countryside with little climbing made for a totally enjoyable trip. Our guide, Alex, was absolutely amazing, our care on board the boat was flawless, and the meals at dinner were all excellent. Five stars!!
- Countries included in this tour?
- France
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★★★★★ M. Jane Hughes 2 months agoAmazing countryside
· Cycling Paradise of Provence - to and from Avignon
We love the self guided. We come and go as we like. Stop and experience what we want. Loved the lavender fields but loved the tarragon ones as well. Friendly and helpful people. The rides were set to go by many amazing sites. Loved it.
- What was the date of your tour?
- September 2024
- How many tours have you completed?
- Two
- 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?
- France
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★★★★★ Brian Deutscher 2 months ago
South of France Tour
· · Provence by Bike and Boat
A great way to review, cities and the countryside in the south of France. Our group of six enjoyed each day. E bikes allowed as to cover significant distance and enjoy the sites without having to exhaust our selves. Winds were particularly high the first couple of days.
Unless your a person who regularly bikes 50 kms, I would recommend the ebikes.- Countries included in this tour?
- France
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★★★★★ Janet Fraser 3 months ago
How a tour guide can ruin what could have been a great experience
· · Provence by Bike and Boat
While the cycling was good, scenery lovely, other passengers and crew delightful, the irritatingly arrogant sexist and intrusive behaviours by our tour guide (Heim) who claimed to have built the company, put a huge damper on the trip for many of us. Although we enjoyed the bikes, the meal times were chaos due to too many passengers in too small a space. Also the general condition of the boat, Caprice, needs improvement.
- What was the date of your tour?
- Aug, Sept 2024
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- As expected
- Who is this tour suitable for?
- First-time bike tourists, Solo travelers
- Do you recommend this tour?
- No
- Countries included in this tour?
- France
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★★★★★ B. Powell 5 months ago
Quintessential Provence!
· Cycling Paradise of Provence - to and from Avignon
A great sampling of quintessential Provence villages and sights... hilltop villages, wild poppies, fields of lavender. We thoroughly enjoyed all the scenery and activities along the way.
The first day of riding between Avignon and CdP was congested with car traffic (as to be expected close to a bigger city/area), but the other days were primarily smaller roadways and paths and very enjoyable and scenic. We did the add-on day to Arles and were really glad that we included that city in our tour. It felt complete to conclude the trip in Arles. A few of the gps routes lead us into the city center at end of day (instead of directly to hotel), but it was easy to navigate to hotels, and the gps tracks were otherwise very helpful to follow.
We opted for the self-guided tour but felt very supported by the local tour operator who was very responsive to any inquiries we had via WhatsApp.
We have many good memories of this trip!
- What was the date of your tour?
- June 2024
- How many tours have you completed?
- 3
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- As expected
- Who is this tour suitable for?
- First-time bike tourists, Solo travelers
- Do you recommend this tour?
- Yes
- Countries included in this tour?
- France
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★★★★★ David Frac 6 months ago
Wonderful bike trip!
· Cycling Paradise of Provence - to and from Avignon
We very much enjoyed the bike trip in Provence. The e-bikes provided were fantastic. The routes selected were so nice! Maybe 10% of the trip was on traffic roads, the rest was on bike paths, quiet country roads or even gravel roads through farmlands. We really appreciated the hand-off of the equipment, everything about the bikes was very well explained. We also appreciated the pre-tour meeting, where we went over every detail of the trip and received recommendations. We really appreciated receiving the GPX files ahead of the trip, so we could download them and follow the GPS guidance. The towns we visited were so very nice, we appreciated the care given to the construction of the route. The accommodations at the various hotels were excellent. The one thing I will mention about this trip is the Mistral Winds, which I had never heard of before. We were lucky, we only had one day of moderate winds, but I understand they can be strong at times. On the first day of our bike trip, from Avignon to Châteauneuf-du-Pape, we actually found two bike paths that were not on your printed directions or gpx files. The first was apparently some brand new four lane bike path that a local told us about. This is soon after you cross the Rhone river from Avignon. The second was near Châteauneuf-du-Pape, we happened to see some cyclists on this path, and took that instead of riding on the road.
I wish I could be more specific about where these two trails were, but the details have slipped my mind. If you can somehow update your routes/directions for these bike paths, I think it would help future bikers.- What was the date of your tour?
- May 2024
- How many tours have you completed?
- This was our third bike tour.
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- As expected
- Who is this tour suitable for?
- First-time bike tourists, Families with teens
- Do you recommend this tour?
- Yes
- Countries included in this tour?
- France
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★★★★★ David Brown 7 months ago
Magical Mystery Tour
· Cycling Paradise of Provence - to and from Avignon
Cycling around Provence is a wonderful experience. The countryside is exquisite and the towns magical.
Our tour was perfectly organised. Our bikes were quality and were delivered to our hotel on time with a thorough explanation on how to use the ebike. Our tour organiser met us to make sure we had everything we needed for our self guided cycling three days. She was very thorough and lovely.
We had great weather which always helps. The maps they provided are amazing. You pretty much avoid all main roads and cycle on picturesque little pathways and side roads. We felt very safe. Was a magical experience.- What was the date of your tour?
- May 2024
- How many tours have you completed?
- 1 now
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- As expected
- Who is this tour suitable for?
- First-time bike tourists, Solo travelers, Families with teens
- Do you recommend this tour?
- Yes
- Countries included in this tour?
- France
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★★★★★ Francisco Averhoff 7 months ago
Great location- tour operator lacking
· Cycling Paradise of Provence - to and from Avignon
Recommend the trip, with another tour company, not Walk Inn. Service and access to assistance was very poor
- Countries included in this tour?
- France
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★★★★★ Beth Alcorn 7 months ago
Cycling the south of France
· South of France: UNESCO World Heritage Sites
Excellent trip and experience. Every detail was covered from the first pick up and orientation to the drop off of our bikes. Route instructions were spot on, accommodations amazing and overall route beautiful. Highly recommend this trip!
- What was the date of your tour?
- April 2024
- 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?
- Yes
- Countries included in this tour?
- France
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★★★★★ Francisco Averhoff 7 months ago
Great location- tour operator lacking
· Cycling Paradise of Provence - to and from Avignon
Recommend the trip, with another tour company, not Walk Inn. Service and access to assistance was very poor
- Countries included in this tour?
- France
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★★★★★ Francisco Averhoff 7 months ago
beautiful countryside
· Cycling Paradise of Provence - to and from Avignon
the hotels were very nice (we upgraded) and the bike riding was very doable and the countryside was beautiful. we have done 5 self guided bike tours through biketours.com and have been very satisfied, however for this trip the actual travel agency in France (Walk Inn) was unsatisfactory: 1. they did not meet with us and did not go over the routes; 2.did not meet with us to go over the bike equipment; 3. we had trouble with the GPS system on our phones and they provided no assistance; 4. the written maps/routes did not match the routes on the GPS (once we were able to get it on our phone); 5. the GPS routes that we finally downloaded were often for the trip going in the opposite direction which made the navigation more challenging; 6. Finally, the hotel transfers and bike provider were subcontracted by Walk Inn making coordination difficult and furthermore, Walk Inn did not answer our calls using the phone number provider for emergency contact. Overall because of the in country travel agency , Walk Inn, this trip was only fair and could have been excellent.
- Countries included in this tour?
- France
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★★★★★ Margaret October 17, 2023Beautiful arrangements, somewhat difficult cycling
· Canal du Midi: Carcassonne to Sete, the South of France and the Sea
Carcassone is stunning. All of the hotels were good to excellent. The terrain is quite varied. The cycling was more difficult than I expected -- there are some serious climbs on the first two days, and most of the route is on public roads so you have to deal with cars. The tour company did their best to avoid traffic but they can't create a bike path where there is none. Fortunately, French drivers are used to bicyclists. I would recommend this trip to experienced cyclists but not to newbies.
The preparatory material was good. We were given printed maps and also an app for our phones. Both were good but the app was great because you could use it while you were on the bike, and it gave you an audible warning if you got twenty meters off the trail. The app also kept track of the percentage of the daily ride you had covered, and had a few more features. This was the first time I'd had an app and I really appreciated it.- How many tours have you completed?
- 4 counting this one
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- Somewhat harder
- Who is this tour suitable for?
- Solo travelers, Families with teens
- Do you recommend this tour?
- Yes
- Countries included in this tour?
- France
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★★★★★ Shannon McDougall October 6, 2023
Great Trip
· Cycling Paradise of Provence - to and from Avignon
This was a great trip with well organized logistics and routes. We downloaded a GPX file reader and found the daily routes were easy to follow. The files need to be updated for day 4 and day 6 as routes had a couple of deadends but we managed. Overall all a great trip, not too difficult!
- Countries included in this tour?
- France
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★★★★★ Richard Rogers October 2, 2023
Not as I had expected
· · Provence by Bike and Boat
Not expecting to ride as a group. The riding involved more road riding and realize that a leader was necessary. The riding in Southern France is not as developed as Central Europe.
- Countries included in this tour?
- France
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★★★★★ Charles Hammer September 20, 2023What we hoped for; got more
· Provence’s History, Landscapes, and Luberon National Park
We chose this ride because the average daily ride is longer than some. Had been to other parts of Province before but this was new and special, enhanced hugely by what the guides brought to the experience. A cautionary note: there are several days of not so gradual elevations. Strong riders made the climbs on traditional bikes, but others really needed what the e bikes brought to the experience.
- What was the date of your tour?
- September 2023
- How many tours have you completed?
- 3
- 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?
- France
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★★★★★ Eric Meer September 19, 2023
Great Trip for September!!
· South of France: UNESCO World Heritage Sites
Trip went very smoothly. Towns were beautiful and quaint, hotels were accommodating as advertised, ebikes were brilliant and easy to use. Would definitely recommend standard bike seats or gel seats vs. the wider ones. 4-5 days takes a toll on the sitting muscles :). Would recommend adding a 2nd night in Bezier and doing only 1 night in Carcassonne.
Also, would recommend the company update it's map of Montpellier train station. The meeting point didn't match the map, but we figured it out.
- What was the date of your tour?
- September 2023
- How many tours have you completed?
- This was the first
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- As expected
- Who is this tour suitable for?
- First-time bike tourists, Families with teens
- Do you recommend this tour?
- Yes
- Countries included in this tour?
- France
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★★★★★ Joanna Havener September 14, 2023
Loved every minute!
· · Provence by Bike and Boat
Our tour leader was fun, knowledgeable and very safety conscious. The route was almost all flat, only one big climb on Wednesday. The ship's crew was helpful and saw to it that my husband had potato chips in his lunch. They accommodated my wish for vegetarian meals. The small towns were charming and I loved learning about their history. Highly recommend this trip. (My husband and I are in our 70s and the ebikes were a great help to us.)
- Countries included in this tour?
- France
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★★★★★ Annik Stahl September 11, 2023
Could have been better
· · Provence by Bike and Boat
The tour leader (Helmut) was great, as was the boat crew. There were some fun times biking but the miles and miles of harsh gravel was not in the description of the trip. (This was not "country roads" -- this was ROCKS and my back ached for days afterward.) Had I know, I would not have chosen this trip as I just had surgery. I found the food to be absolutely awful. The dinners were beond strange and hey, maybe something besides HAM HAM HAM every day for lunch? I lost 4 pounds during that trip.
While I know there are some great trips to be had with this company (my dad has been on several and said this one was the worst). this was not one of them. Like I said, some fun time biking but not enough to recommend this trip.
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- As expected
- Do you recommend this tour?
- No
- Countries included in this tour?
- France
