Slovakia Bike Tour Reviews (page 5)
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★★★★★ Azmina Karim-Bondy August 5, 2022The title is good and descriptive
· Danube Cycle Path Passau – Budapest
Cycling is a great way to see the country. Having the self-guided books were great and the tour representatives were very responsive. However, we found sometimes the instructions in the booklets were not as clear as they could be and sometimes did not have the correct information for our trip. Overall, though we had a great experience, the hotels were good, the luggage transfer worked well and we saw some wonderful sights!
- What was the date of your tour?
- June 2022
- How many tours have you completed?
- 1
- 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?
- Austria, Germany, Hungary, Slovakia
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★★★★★ Brian Bronson August 4, 2022Far exceeds expectations
· · Danube Discovery: Bike and Boat through Enchanting Capitals
What a deal. 8days 7 nights w attentive staff. Amazing biking. Great food. Fun times. Would love to do it again w other friends. Highly recommend for a wonderful time on the Danube.
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★★★★★ John McNeiece August 4, 2022Trip of a lifetime
· · Danube Experience Bike and Boat Passau-Vienna-Budapest-Belgrade-Iron Gates-Passau
We had been anticipating this trip for two years and it lived up to all our expectations and more. Riding bikes in 6 different countries over 14 days was amazing! The bikes were great. The boat was perfect. The staff was nothing but helpful and professional. We are already planning a follow-up tour. The folks at biketours.com did a great job with all the details!
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★★★★★ Gary Hirschkron August 4, 2022
Gorgeous Trip!
· Danube Cycle Path Passau – Budapest
Absolutely glorious!
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★★★★★ Hugh Larkin August 4, 2022
2 Bucket list items completed
· · Danube Discovery: Bike and Boat through Enchanting Capitals
We have wanted to do a bike & boat tour as well as a bike tour along the Danube for many years (we previously did multi-week self-supported bike tours). In 2019, we thought we would be doing the latter for 2020, but a virus shut down everything. Even after the shutdown, BikeTours.com kept us informed and motivated about bike touring once a normalcy to life returned.
In late 2021, when we could see travel was resuming, we began to look at various tours offered and found the Passau-Budapest-Passau boat & bike tour that fit very nicely into our developing "2022 grand Europe tour".
BikeTours personnel quickly responded to all questions we had which made the booking extremely easy. And they and the tour operator provided us all the booking info before we departed for europe over a month before we were to experience this event.
Once in Passau, and aboard ship (we were able to board early), we were able to unpack and relax. Our rented e-bikes were like new and were pre-adjusted to our heights. Instructions regarding operation and charging were clearly given.
At all times, the crew was very courteous and helpful, which was extremely appreciated as we were the only "native-english" speakers onboard. The food was excellent and plentiful, and we appreciated the vegetarian options provided.
Every day's itinerary was clearly provided, including detailed maps. The bikes worked wonderfully and provided us an opportunity to try an e-bike. We enjoyed the extra guided excursions into Bratislava and Vienna.
Disembarking the Prinzessin Katherina was also painless. Before reaching Passau, the crew made taxi arrangements for us and many others. Hard to beat service like that!
Overall, we had a wonderful tour. Plus we ticked off 2 b-list items. We are now wondering what will be our next BikeTours.com tour!
- What was the date of your tour?
- June 2022
- How many tours have you completed?
- 12 (2 weeks to 4 months long)
- 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, Hungary, Slovakia
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★★★★★ Laura Snyder August 4, 2022
A great, beautiful challenge
· Danube Cycle Path Passau – Budapest
This was a great challenge. The Danube Bike Trail is magnificent - it's something that everyone who enjoys biking should do at least once in thier lives. And parts of it they should do more than once. This tour was perfect for obtaining an understanding of the trail. When I do it again, I'll bike fewer kilometers per day in order to have more time and energy to visit the beautiful and fascinating places along the way.
The support provided by the local company was good. Suitcase delivery was dependable. When, two days into my trip, I realized that it would be better to have an e-bike, they delivered one to me that very day. (Unless you are in very good shape and know exactly what you are doing, I highly recommend you go for an e-bike).
I preferred the trail from Passau to Bratislava. After Bratislava the trail changes - it is not as well sign-posted (it's especially poor in Hungary), and the surfaces at times are challenging (several gravel roads, unpaved paths, and at one point you follow a dirt path in between train tacks and an agricultural field without a single sign post to be found). Also after Bratislava siginificant portions of the path are so far from the river you cannot see it, which makes the lack of sign posting a bigger problem. Arriving in Budapest was a shock to my system - after two weeks of peaceful countryside, I wasn't ready for the hustle, bustle and noise of the city.I don't recommend getting the meals package. I did and regretted it. While some of the restaurants offered excellent meals as well as excellent service, most did not. Most of the restaurants offered me highly limited choices of mostly bland, uninteresting food and resentful service, I guess because I was paying less than the customers ordering a la carte? Whatever their reasons were, they definitely made me feel like a second-class customer. I would have been happy to pay more for more interesting food and kinder service.
My biggest critique is that it was impossible to reach anyone at Biketours.com by phone. Covid or not, I strongly fault them for this - it's not right to sell complex and costly tours like this without being willing to speak with your customers. It would have been extremely helpful for me to be able to speak with someone knowledgeable at least once while planning my trip to be sure I was making the right choices for me.
I did this tour as a woman in my mid-50s, traveling alone. I never felt unsafe. If I can do this tour, anyone who can ride a bike can do it. But I do recommend an e-bike.
- What was the date of your tour?
- April-May 2022
- How many tours have you completed?
- 1
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- Somewhat harder
- Who is this tour suitable for?
- First-time bike tourists, Solo travelers, Families with teens
- Do you recommend this tour?
- Yes
- Countries included in this tour?
- Austria, Germany, Hungary, Slovakia
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★★★★★ Jaime Bodden August 3, 2022Fairytale in Bavaria
· · Danube Delights: Biking through Four Countries
A great tour! Equal parts countryside with quaint villages and urban culture with metropolitan experiences. Our tour packed in a lot - each day provided a unique experience and bike ride, from forests to fields, riverside and city streets. The recommendations from out boat guide encouraged frequent stops to enjoy local gems - something that is often lacking on bigger tours. The timing in between stops never felt rushed, and there was a nice balance of being on the boat and off.
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★★★★★ Steven Froehlich August 3, 2022
Amazing Trip
· Danube Cycle Path Passau – Budapest
My wife and I had an amazing adventure down the Danube. Accommodations were lovely, charming, distinct, beautiful. Hosts were gracious and hospitable. We purchased the half board, and the meals were generous, delicious, and varied. The European colleagues were available for assistance, and were helpful. The bike path from Passau to Vienna was extremely well maintained, and in most places very clearly marked. The path from Vienna to Budapest included several river crossings (some by boat), and while the path seemed less clearly marked and in some stretches was less well developed (gravel & field paths), the GPX files provided by the team in Vienna provided exact navigation. The US colleagues were wonderful to work with in arranging the trip details.
- What was the date of your tour?
- May 2022
- How many tours have you completed?
- 1
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- Somewhat easier
- Who is this tour suitable for?
- First-time bike tourists, Solo travelers, Families with teens, Families with young kids
- Do you recommend this tour?
- Yes
- Countries included in this tour?
- Austria, Germany, Hungary, Slovakia
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★★★★★ Lisa Mendis August 2, 2022
Magical!!
· · Danube Delights: Biking through Four Countries
The best ever bike tour!! We biked some of the most beautiful sections of the Danube and we also had other excursions plus the activities on the boat. The Sun deck was lovely - what a treat after biking to sit up there and watch the pastoral sights go by! The food was really good. I am lactose intolerant and the chef always had an alternative for me - even with the multiple course meals. Thank for Biketours.com for finding this fantastic tour!
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★★★★★ Htim November 21, 2019Historic Cities,Castles and Countryside
· Prague-Vienna-Bratislava-Budapest
Delightful and sometimes challenging tour through southern Chechia, Austria, Slovakia and Hungary. Good to excellent accommodations. Many old castles, chateaus, and classic walled medieval towns made for an enchanting experience. The tour provider was excellent. The routes were interesting and sometimes challenging. Most cycling was on paved roads but there were several stretches of unsaved roads and even trails. Navigation with the Garmin unit provided proved generally very good, but some independent navigation skills were sometimes needed, such as when there were unexpected detours for construction. Bicycles were adequate.
- What was the date of your tour?
- September to October 2019
- How many tours have you completed?
- 12
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- As expected
- Who is this tour suitable for?
- Solo travelers, Families with teens
- Do you recommend this tour?
- Yes
- Countries included in this tour?
- Austria, Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovakia
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★★★★★ mb001 October 28, 2019Fun 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.
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★★★★★ Timr October 9, 2019
Great Long Tour of Czechia, Slovakia, Austria and Hungary
· Prague-Vienna-Bratislava-Budapest
We had never been to this part of the world but were intrigued by the great cities of Prague, Vienna and Budapest as well as by the innumerable castles, chateaus, and charming small towns. We were not disappointed. Nearly 3 weeks of cycling the area satisfied exceeded our expectations. As we self-guided, we had to be ever vigilant with navigation, but the Garmin never failed to deliver (although some unexpected road construction sometimes required creative navigation). Hotels were all in the range of good to excellent. Tour provider CZ Tours was always responsive to our concerns and always made sure luggage and other transfers happened in a timely way. Very happy with this excellent adventure.
- What was the date of your tour?
- September 18-October 9, 2019
- How many tours have you completed?
- 7
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- Somewhat harder
- Do you recommend this tour?
- Yes
- Countries included in this tour?
- Austria, Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovakia
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BikeTours.com staff reply from Chloe October 10, 2019
Tim - thanks kindly for this review! We're so delighted that you enjoyed this part of the world - we also feel it's a bit of a hidden (and lesser-traveled) gem. We love that you embraced creative navigation. And thank you for noting this tour requires attention to navigation. We really appreciate knowing these aspects so we may better assist future clients in booking tours that fit their preferences. Thanks again, and so, so glad you are happy with your adventure.
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★★★★★ Nitronan September 4, 2019
Good trip
· · Danube Discovery: Bike and Boat through Enchanting Capitals
Boat crew was fantastic, cruise director was a hoot. Very accomodating.
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★★★★★ Todd August 27, 2019
What a Great Way to See Europe!
· Danube Cycle Path Passau – Budapest
We did the cycle trip from Passau to Budapest. Its two trips really as the trip to Vienna is a bit different than the trip from Vienna to Budapest in terms of cycle experience but each were satisfying in their own ways. The paths in Austria were better generally than the paths in Slovakia and Hungary. The entire way was well signed generally with just a couple exceptions, and easy to follow with the map. Navigating the larger towns and cities was a bit more challenging. The services support was great from the tour operator, our luggage arrived reliably every day and the accommodations were very satisfactory overall. We had a problem with the Hotel Peklo in Komarno in that they provided us a room that (1) had obviously been a smoking room recently, and (2) had been flooded from the bathroom the day before (hotel explained) and the carpet was still wet and eventually left a musty smell in the room. The room should never have been offered. Additionally, management made no attempt to assist us in covering over the wet area so that we wouldn't slip on the tile in the bathroom. Would not recommend this hotel for your stay. Otherwise, the trip was excellent and I would recommend this cycle adventure without reservation!
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★★★★★ jackie20 July 9, 2019
· · Danube Delights: Biking through Four Countries
- What was the date of your tour?
- Jun 2019
- How many tours have you completed?
- 5
- 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, Hungary, Slovakia
-
★★★★★ 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
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★★★★★ antovince June 29, 2019
Fun trip!
· · Danube Discovery: Bike and Boat through Enchanting Capitals
