Bike Tour Reviews page 153
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★★★★★ Thomas Wall November 7, 2022Enjoyable ride with lots of canal views
· Garonne Canal: From Bordeaux to Toulouse
In order to ensure we had dedicated bike paths I think we sacrificed variety. The scenery was beautiful but we saw a lot of the canal. Enjoyed the small towns and our hosts were great! Small hiccup with luggage transfer was a bit aggravating. All-in-all, an enjoyable trip.
- What was the date of your tour?
- September 2022
- How many tours have you completed?
- This was the second
- 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?
- No
- Countries included in this tour?
- France
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★★★★★ Ricardo Hein November 7, 2022Nice biking vacation
· Danube Cycle Path Passau – Budapest
The Danube is beautiful and the Austrian portion is beautiful. After Vienna it turns flat and less developed. The opportunity to share with people is limited by the places to stay, I didn't like to stay away from the towns in isolated guest houses, when guest homes were available in small towns.
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★★★★★ Fred Inglis November 7, 2022The 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.- What was the date of your tour?
- September 2022
- How many tours have you completed?
- 9
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- As expected
- Who is this tour suitable for?
- First-time bike tourists, Families with teens
- Do you recommend this tour?
- No
- Countries included in this tour?
- Austria, Hungary
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BikeTours.com staff reply from JV November 9, 2022
Thanks for your feedback, Fred. Next year the German map language issue will no longer be problem as our new process will prevent this from happening. Cheers and happy cycling!
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★★★★★ Alex Beresniewicz November 8, 2022Nothing Special
· Berlin – Copenhagen
Mostly flat riding through the countryside without much opportunity to see anything historic or even scenic outside of the cities where you start and finish. The bikes provided were excellent and the hotels were for the most part good, (sometimes daily distance seems to have forced the choice of where to stop for the night, and that means hotel choices are few...). I didn't choose this tour, my partner did, and it's not one I would consider repeating or recommending.
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★★★★★ Ronald Rettig-Zucchi April 26, 2023Super tulip
· · Holland’s Super Tulip Tour
A bit like giligan’s island. It was staffed by excellent people but the boat was substandard. It seems the boat was rented by the outfitters on April 1 but not really checked out for fitness. They did a cruise on April 6 during which plumbing problems developed which they did not completely fix before starting pour cruise on April 15. The problem continued and we had to spend a night in a hotel. A very nice hotel provided by the outfitters. In all it was okay but still avoidable.
- What was the date of your tour?
- April 2023
- 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
- Do you recommend this tour?
- No
- Countries included in this tour?
- Holland
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★★★★★ Osmo S May 10, 2023Beautiful Garda landscapes, but some discomforts
· Lake Garda (based in one hotel)
Having had many tours with daily changing hotels, I liked this time this one based on one hotel. The daily tours were mostly beautiful landscapes, and also some very attractive human creations, especially Verona. Some problems still: the quality of bike lanes varied from very well made and clearly marked to muddy dirt roads and at some places within hard traffic. On the first day there was a mess on returning from Riva del Garda, most of the group missing the boat because of problems with bike transportation.
The EuroBike app was really good and showed clearly the way and its quick turns.- Countries included in this tour?
- Italy
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★★★★★ Marion Van Kirk May 15, 2023Beautiful Austria and Germany
· Tauern Bike Path (Krimml-Passau)
Biking was more difficult than expected. Luckily the women had e-bikes. Most of the hotels were excellent and food was great. Trip started in Neukirchen am Grossvenediger instead of Krimml due to closed hotels. The hotel in vicinity of Burghausen was too far from the town to be able to enjoy the beautiful city and castle and this was a huge disappointment since there were 3 other hotels within the city.
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★★★★★ Morgan Baumann May 18, 2023Excellent Trails on which to explore a lovely part of Europe
· Venice to Trieste and Istria
Traveling by bike is a wonderful way to enjoy a new place. Our accommodations were Excellent. Our guide, Tony, (with us for the first days), was first rate!- so helpful. A couple of concerns: I would not rate this as a 2 for regular bikes - even with variants, it was a lot of biking and I was disappointed not to arrive in towns sooner. Everyone in our group was similarly disappointed including those on e-bikes. I would have liked a more leisurely pace and instead the days felt rushed. The directions however were my biggest problem. For the most part they were poor. We lost so much time just trying to figure out where to go! Our last stage, into Porec was by far the easiest and so even though the ride itself was more challenging, we arrived in Porec in good time to enjoy the town. This last stage was easier because the red arrows were frequent and well placed all along the route. You only needed to glance at the map and the written directions and then just keep following the arrows. In contrast, on many of the other stages, the arrows were few and far between and often were Not where we needed to make a turn! We spent far too much time studying the map and having to reverse direction to get back on the route. It would also help if the directions noted if we were generally following a set route that was already mapped out by those small brown signs. Those signs were well placed and easy to follow.
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★★★★★ Russ Deuell May 23, 2023
Trip of a lifetime that the guide fell short on!
· · Holland’s Super Tulip Tour
Biking through Holland was an amazing adventure. Having an E-Bike made it much more relaxing since you could always turn on the power assist if needed, which we didn't need. THere were many great biking trails that were very relaxing to ride on and see the great scenery of Holland.
The boat, captain, chef and serving assistant made the trip very enjoyable.
The guide, well it seemed like it was the first time Annette did this trip. She easily got lost 3-4 times a day. She would ask for input on what we wanted and then ignore the input if it didn't match what she had planned for the day. Several times she ignored the bike crossing lights and almost got riders that were following hit. This made the rides very stressful. The group also asked to bike faster so we could spend more time at some of the sights. She insisted this was not possible but managed to do exactly that on the last day when weather was going to be an issue later in the afternoon. We also had a flat tire one day and she didn't have a replacement tube. She had to go find another group that had one and then had to have someone from the group change the tube because she couldn't do it herself She managed to make the daily rides very stressful. I would not recommend a trip with her.- What was the date of your tour?
- May 2023
- How many tours have you completed?
- 1
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- Much easier
- Who is this tour suitable for?
- First-time bike tourists
- Do you recommend this tour?
- No
- Countries included in this tour?
- Holland
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★★★★★ John Cooley June 20, 2023Great trip---but could have been better
· · Coastal Islands of Southern Dalmatia
This was a great trip, however the lead guide was difficult to get along with ---the second guide was new and fantastic. The lead guide was overly strict and a bit condescending. We did not bike one of the days because he decided since there was rain we would not cycle. That was VERY disappointing. I was on a boat bike trip in Belgium and Netherlands and we biked rain or shine. The time we started biking was a bit late too-----it did not leave much time for for activities after biking.
The saving grace for the trip was the staff was fantastic on the Yolo.
One additional note is that this should be E-bike only....there is no way for a regular bike to keep up with ebikes on the terrain on this trip. One of the passengers insisted on riding a regular bike and on two separate days had to switch bikes with the guide in the rear so he could make it. He should have been told to switch to an ebike by the guides.
- What was the date of your tour?
- June 2023
- How many tours have you completed?
- 3
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- Somewhat harder
- Who is this tour suitable for?
- Solo travelers
- Do you recommend this tour?
- Yes
- Countries included in this tour?
- Croatia
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★★★★★ Sharon Johnson July 5, 2023Sail and bike to picturesque villages and nature reserved
· · Sail & Bike to Picturesque Villages and Nature Reserves
Great experience on a tall ship sailing vessel. Food was average. Crew was very good but English translations on biking details was lacking.
- What was the date of your tour?
- June 2023
- 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
- Do you recommend this tour?
- No
- Countries included in this tour?
- Holland
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★★★★★ Sheryl Slone July 17, 2023Disappointed
· 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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★★★★★ MAC July 21, 2023Pretty Area
· Alsace Wine Country
The vendor with whom you contracted has room for improvement. The documentation supplied by was inadequate. Using street names as a frame of reference in the towns we visited was the first issue. Street names are few and far between. It was not unusual to see other "green bags" (the color of the panier and handlebar bags used by this vendor) riding around in various directions looking for the same route as our group.
The two hotel rooms they booked for us in Kayserberg were not air conditioned! That day, the high was in the mid 80's and the route had multiple climbs. Riders need to be able to get their core temperature down for comfortable sleep.
Navigation out of town from the hotel and into the end town hotel was particularly poor. Luckily, We had programmed the addresses of each hotel into our contacts and relied on Siri most afternoons to find our hotel.
- What was the date of your tour?
- July 2023
- How many tours have you completed?
- 30
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- As expected
- Do you recommend this tour?
- Yes
- Countries included in this tour?
- France
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★★★★★ William McGill II August 3, 2022Lake 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
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★★★★★ Larry Cady August 5, 2022Great route but TERRIBLE directions
· Innsbruck to Lake Garda Across the Southern Slopes of the Alps
The good things about the Euro Cycle tour were:
1. Very nice route through the Italian Tyrol
2. Generally very nice hotels.
3. Bike were adequate but so-so quality. On other tours I have had better quality bikes.The BAD thing - Directions were very poor. The main problem was there were no turn by turn directions to the hotels. This is standard on other tours. The printed directions routed you into the center of a town and then stopped. You were given the address of the hotel, but not directions on how to get there. Sometimes we were given a map of the town, but not always. We ended up using Google Maps on our phones to get the hotels. In one town (Maran), the hotel was well away from the town center and difficult to find. We spent a lot of time tracking it down.
I would not take a Euro Cycle tour again. Other tour companies you represent are fine and I intend to take more tours - but not with Euro Cycle.
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★★★★★ 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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★★★★★ Kevin Rudd August 24, 2022Could have been better
· Sweden’s West Coast: Helsingborg to Gothenburg
The ride was generally good. The route was relatively remote with few points to stop and places along the route to interact with the citizen of the areas visited. Poor preparation of the e-bikes two of the 6 bikes were not at the pick up location and not properly charged. The first day was difficult riding heavy bikes without power. Very disappointing start to our trip.
Hotel accommodations were fair. The opening property was excellent, while the balance were two and three star quality properties. That said, all the people at the hotels and the bike rental location were friendly and helpful. I would have welcomed better hotel locations and would be willing to pay more. Self-guided does not need to be budget.
In general, of the other guided and self-guided rides in Europe this ride was 4th of 4.
- How many tours have you completed?
- 4, 2 guided and 2 self-guided
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- As expected
- Do you recommend this tour?
- No
- Countries included in this tour?
- Sweden
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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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★★★★★ Mike Corney September 21, 2022
Vienna - Budapest
· Vienna to Budapest (Classic)
I rate the tour over 6 attributes: Terrain, Scenery, Bikes & Equipment, Hotels, Directions / Maps and Cycling Infrastructure over the toute.
Terrain - was as advertised - mostly flat
Scenery - was disappointing. I expected to be cycling along the Danube. For large parts of the route the Danube was nowhere in sight.
Hotels - Hotels and the food that they provided were very good.
Directions / Maps - These left something to be desired. The directions were in English, but the maps were in German. It was often difficult to match up the written directions with the maps. Finding our way into and out of towns and locations of hotels was particularly difficult.
Cycling Infrastructure - This was often poor. The designated route often had us on busy roads. We had to traverse unpaved portions of the route that were often little more than tractor ruts in a field. Paved paths were often in poor condition with many uneven patches and bumps. Very poor. -
★★★★★ Karen Metsos September 24, 2022Not the Best
· Andalusia: Southern Spain
This was our third bike tour and to be honest we were disappointed in general. While the hotel accomodations and the towns that you slept in were great and places I would visit again, but the overall biking experience was a different story. The bike journey each day was mostly about trying to get to the next town. The experience along the way in terms of where you cycled and the towns you went through was a let down. For example having done the Passau to Vienna cycle a few years back the lunch stops and places to take breaks were amazing, charming, convenient and scenic. This trip didn't offer any of that. The lunch locations were simply a place to rest and keep going. The tour operator in the self guided books didn't offer any recommendations of where to stop for lunch or breaks compared to the previous 2 tours we did (Passau to Vienna and Puglia). On the previous two tours these types of tips and recommendations added extreme value to our trip.
A couple of tips... if you do decide to do this cycle definitely spend the extra 30 euros for the GPS as it will vastly improve the navigation experience as bikes aren't set up to display the guide book and if the tour operator is reading this, having an upgraded room option would be a good idea as the hotels were great as well as the towns. On a couple of the locations we paid extra for an upgraded room upon checkin and it made a difference!- How many tours have you completed?
- 3
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- Somewhat harder
- Do you recommend this tour?
- No
- Countries included in this tour?
- Spain
