Rhine Bike Tour Reviews (page 6)
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★★★★★ Bruce 4 months ago
Very cold & windy, a bit of hail and even snow; still a great trip
· Mosel Bike Path: Dreamy Mosel Valley from Trier to Koblenz
We've enjoyed many self-guided bike trips in Europe and this is a great one with normal weather.
Bike Tours highly professional staff slightly modified the standard tour to meet our request, which was promptly and accurately accomplished. The Radreisefreunde representative, a very pleasant person, met us at the first hotel and supplied the bikes. We rode them around the hotel area before confirming they were the right size and in proper working order. We selected one "uniframe" (sloped top tube) bike and one with a horizontal (AKA men's) top tube. Both were 21 speeds and very suitable for the flat bike trip. The standard "Mosel bikeline" booklet for Metz to Koblenz was supplemented with a custom booklet for us, Trier to Koblenz, the portion, we biked. The supplemental booklet provided more details and is very much a worthwhile addition. Thank you!
All hotels were very clean, well located in the core of each city and allowed easy access to sites, restaurants, etc. Staff were universally welcoming. Special mention as to the Gästehaus Weingut Seminarshof restaurant in Trittenheim...it is located in the same hotel where we stayed. Two related pictures are attached. Mmmmm!
Breakfast were included and were pretty much same, same. Most of the food was good, especially fresh breads/rolls. The coffee....well, if you're accustomed to the good stuff, downgrade your expectations offered at most hotels.
The trip is on dedicated bike paths, shared bike/pedestrian paths and a little along shoulders of roads or on very quiet roads. The route is generally well signed and it's pretty obvious how to proceed. However, per usual, we got lost a handful of times and realized such quickly and course corrected.
We supplemented the booklets using our cell phone and an e-sim from Airalo, with O2 the actual German cell coverage firm. When switching on the service, it instantly connected and provided fast worthwhile assistance to the route and hotels. We used it sporadically each day and 1GB of data ($5.00USD) was more than enough, can be tipped up easily or buy a larger package up front. All hotels supplied free WiFi. Note: the Airalo e-sim we used is data only, no local phone number is included.
Had the weather been much better, we would have lingered at more cafes along the route, as we enjoy delicious treats mid-day and good coffee.
- What was the date of your tour?
- April 2024
- How many tours have you completed?
- 10
- 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?
- Germany
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★★★★★ Lee Chestnut 3 months agoGreat Scenery, History, and Acomommdations. Not much Support
· Rhine Bike Path: Mainz to Cologne
We enjoyed seeing the Rhine Valley and historic villages. Our accommodations were great and the food was great.
Unfortunately, the Rhine was near flood stage and much of the given route was flooded. After contacting the local operator for direction, I was told to find my own route or take a train, at my own expense.
We found our own way using Google maps and talking with other cyclists.
The main reason I use a tour operator is to have local support when difficulties arise. We didn't receive that support.
It seems the operator could come up with secondary routes that are safe and beautiful (which we came up with on our own) and supply them to their guests as needed.- What was the date of your tour?
- June 2024
- How many tours have you completed?
- 6
- 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?
- Germany
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BikeTours.com staff reply from jan July 18, 2024
Thank you for sharing your experience. We're glad you enjoyed the Rhine Valley, our accommodations, and the food.
We apologize for the inconvenience caused by the flooding and the delay in support from the local operator. Many local companies faced similar issues during this period, which led to the disruptions and staffing issues.
Your feedback on having secondary routes is invaluable, and we will work on improving our services to ensure better support. We appreciate your resourcefulness in navigating the situation.
We apologize once again and hope to serve you better in the future.
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★★★★★ Peter Wiedenbeck 2 months ago
Wonderful week of biking in a beautiful place
· Mosel Bike Path: Dreamy Mosel Valley from Trier to Koblenz
I’d like to give a 4-1/2 star rating because, although it was wonderful and we definitely recommend it, there is still room for improvement
Pros: Wonderful route – the vast majority of the time you are biking on paved dedicated bike paths along the river, separate from the roadway and train tracks. There are a few areas where the bike path is adjacent to the road (especially along the Rhine from St. Goar to Koblenz) and at least one short stretch on packed dirt through the woods. Most of the routes are extremely well-marked. You have to be watchful for turns in towns, where it can be easy to miss the small sign with the arrow to turn, especially when looking at all the sites in the towns. We did better when we stopped at each signpost and made sure we were headed the right way. The Hotels were all very nice and had generous breakfast buffets, which made for a great start every morning. Note that hotels in Germany don’t have AC and often don’t have fans. I had a spray bottle to mist myself while riding and that helped at night, too. Next time, I’ll bring a small fan to help on those hot nights. We didn’t opt for the dinner plan, but did eat in the hotels several times and had excellent meals and service. The organized wine tasting was fun and we did a few more on our own. Luggage transfers all went very well. We added an extra hotel night at each end (Trier and Koblenz), which we would do again. Trier has an amazing amount of Roman history and fabulous restaurants. The extra day also gave us time to ride the other way (upstream on the Mosel) to Saarburg. In Koblenz, we spent an entire day at Ehrenbreitstein Fortress (take the cable car up and across the Rhine to get there). The map book was very helpful and detailed the type of trail for each section. But, oops, one page on the Rhine was replaced by a duplicate page along the Mosel. The specific directions packet included detailed distances between towns and possible sites to see. But…. See cons below.
Cons: Bikes: we had conventional bikes (not ebikes), and they could have been better maintained. The chains were a bit dry and downshifting often didn’t work. That was not a huge issue on the flat trail, but in towns, it was a problem. The odometer on one of the bikes quit working after 3 days. The seats are not touring seats – they are wide and therefore chafed. Despite doing lots of riding in prep and wearing padded shorts, we were painfully chafed by the end of the trip. We couldn’t figure out how to use the pump without letting out air, but were able to use a pump at one of the hotels. Detours: Our biggest issue is that it is clear the route was not checked early in the season and the directions adjusted. There was a lot of construction in many of the towns that invalidated the directions in the packet. Construction that clearly would be going on all summer. For example, Day 1, leaving Trier, the booklet says: “Start at Kaiser-Wilhelm bridge and cycle along the left bank of the Moselle” Well, the bike path itself is being reconstructed beneath the bridge - it is down to dirt, covered with equipment and bike path entrance blocked off. No detour signs giving you an alternate route. It took us an extra 10 km of going one way then another over a frustrating hour before we were on our way. Not a great start to the trip. There were similar long-term construction issues in at least two other places (Karden and Koblenz). If the route had been checked, a single sheet in addition to the bound booklet could have provided alternate ways to leave town/get to hotels with much less frustration.
All that said, it was a wonderful experience and we highly recommend it. It is beautiful country, well-maintained bike paths, lovely vineyards and great wine. Being able to have the hotel reservations and luggage transfers all done for us was a pleasure. When there was an issue with the ferry to St Goar, customer service was very responsive and got things straightened out right away. Transportation to Trier and from Koblenz was very easy to arrange on the regional German trains. SHOW MORE- What was the date of your tour?
- June 2024
- How many tours have you completed?
- This was our first
- 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?
- Germany
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★★★★★ Clair Robbins 2 months ago
A great trip through Germany!
· Mosel Bike Path: Dreamy Mosel Valley from Trier to Koblenz
The tour was beautiful, great scenery and easily bike able! We used the luxury package and were very impressed with the accommodations. Four out of the five hotels exceeded our expectations. Overall we had a great time biking, trying wine, and visiting castles. We found the pacing to be good. A nice amount of biking each day with time to explore along the way. Only a few pieces were stress. It was difficult to navigate the final city due to ongoing construction. And our last day involved a boat trip and it was difficult to coordinate getting the tickets for the boat. That being said, it was an amazing trip and we would go again!
- What was the date of your tour?
- July 2024
- How many tours have you completed?
- This was the first one
- 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?
- Germany
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★★★★★ Elizabeth Schlosser 1 month agoCharming tour
· Mosel Bike Path: Dreamy Mosel Valley from Trier to Koblenz
Good bikes, lucky it was cool weather for most of the trip, charming hotels . We had some small problems following the maps, the day into Koblenz was boring along a highway.
- What was the date of your tour?
- July, 2024
- How many tours have you completed?
- 3
- 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?
- Germany
