Bike Tour Reviews page 156
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★★★★★ David Turner 10 months agoBeautiful Scenery, Too Many Busy Roads
· Emerald Tour of Slovenia’s Gems
This was our sixth European cycle trip and the first one that we felt the description of was misleading. The information indicated that 80% of the route was on country roads. To us that means small quiet roads that go through villages with infrequent cars or farm equipment. We found that far too often we were cycling on secondary roads with fast moving cars, trucks and buses and no shoulder. There were several close calls with cars passing us on curves. We expect traffic entering and leaving cities, but this was stressful and unpleasant. The few designated bike lanes and small roads were fine and made for enjoyable cycling.
There was severe weather forecast for the first day of our ride. We, and some other cyclists expressed concern about the weather to the representative that we met prior to the start of the ride. He absolutely downplayed our concerns at our first meeting and also the morning we were to begin when the rain was torrential. Wisely we decided to take the train to a station close to our destination. We still got drenched getting to and from the station. The other four cyclists tried to ride and had to be rescued after 10 km. Luckily some very kind people helped them out.
The Guibo navigation system worked well, however on one cycle day, the route ended 15 km. from our hotel. We had to self navigate the rest of the route. We managed, but there was a bit of stress figuring out the best route with the least amount of traffic. A less experienced group could have found themselves in a difficult situation.
The scenery, the people and the food were all good, but we would not recommend this ride to others. We realize that weather is out of anyone’s control, but we felt our concerns were taken lightly and the advice given was poor.
- What was the date of your tour?
- September 2024
- How many tours have you completed?
- 6
- Do you recommend this tour?
- No
- Countries included in this tour?
- Slovenia
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★★★★★ James Hutcherson 10 months ago
Flood of decades
· · Danube Delights: Biking through Four Countries
Can’t change the weather. Boat crew and food was excellent. Everyone tried their best to make the trip as good as they could. Kudos to all involved. Bikes were excellent and well maintained.
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★★★★★ PAULINE MOENCH 10 months agoTRIP OF DREAMS THAT FELL FAR SHORT
· · Danube Delights: Biking through Four Countries
Not much to say here since our boat never left the dock. Our host, Lesley, was a peach and completely competent. If not for him, we would have left on day two. My biggest disappointment was only having bus tours to Budapest and Bratislava. I would have appreciated a little creativity added in to take us to a couple more places. The tour people were awful with their communication, telling us for three days in a row that we might leave when we knew we were going nowhere. The crew was great, the food was not the greatest, but no complaints. I have a special diet that they were over the top accommodating of. You drastically need to improve your beverage packages—not enough provided for the $$$ we paid up front. 498 euros for the two of us when we wound up spending most of our day off the boat was out of line. If we had been cycling every day, I would not have purchased a package, considering you did not include what are everyday cocktails in the USA, like Manhattans.
For the rooms, rather than having that dopey pull-out at the end of the bed, leave that area under the bed open for luggage storage. Also, get rid of the carpet. Beds were very comfortable. We would have liked to have left our sliding door open a bit. Some kind of stop at the base so they can be open six or eight inches would have been appreciated. I’m sure the daily bike routes would have been great if we had been able to utilize them.
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★★★★★ Anne Temple 10 months agoBeautiful but given bike with defective wheel and inadequate spares/pump
· Innsbruck to Salzburg: Through the Alps Along River Cycle Trails
The ride is beautiful, hotels very comfortable with pleasant employees and great breakfast. Our rating would be higher except for our experience with one bike and the repair kit provided by the operator in Innsbruck. Also, if you are not familiar with Garmin, be sure you have a good alternative.
We had two flats in the same place on the inner seam of the back tire. We understand that tire changes were our responsibility and were prepared to handle them. We were provided with only one spare, no co2 cartridge because the operator was out of the attachment needed to use them, and a small inefficient pump. The advice given to us if we were to get a flat was to change the tire, pump it up as best we could with the inefficient pump and then go to a service station where we could then fill the tire up to its required PSI. This is a rural route with few service stations and much time was wasted.
The morning after the first flat we spent a couple of hours locating a bike shop that was open (tried 3) that had the right size spares. In addition we purchased a better pump which we were very glad to have with the second flat. That second flat occurred on the ride to Lofer. A biker who helped us noted that we didn’t have enough tread (profile) on the tires and we were lucky we hadn’t had rain.
Helmut was unable to provide a different bike for the last leg into Salzburg. Rather than spending the time finding a new back tire to buy and thus getting a much later start that we were comfortable with, we elected to take transport to Salzburg.
A special thanks to Helmut for his responsiveness and assistance.
- What was the date of your tour?
- September 2024
- Countries included in this tour?
- Austria
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★★★★★ Bob Sterndale 10 months agoBeautiful trip but problems
· Tauern Bike Path (Krimml-Passau)
The scenery was breathtaking, the bike paths mostly fine but with seriously difficult and dangerous exceptions, the hotels very pleasant and the e-bikes fine with one exception.
The trip started on the wrong foot at the first hotel: Hotel Krimml Fälle. We were assigned a room with no heat (as were others) on a cold day. After two hours of lame diversions and excuses, while we sat in the lobby to keep warm, we were given a heated room. In all other respects the hotel and restaurant were fine.
Getting to Krimml is a bit confusing. OBB will sell you a train ticket (from Salzburg for us) all the way to Krimml. The trip involves a narrow-gauge train from Sell am See to Mittersill hbf (end of line) and a bus trip from Mittersill to Krimml. There is a bus stop in the middle of Krimml village, steps from our hotel.
The first day of biking were delightful. The hotel in Sell am See was beyond our expectations.
The second day of biking started well but we encountered a long section of closed trail. We were in a narrow valley with little development. The only parallel path was a shoulder-less two-lane highway with plenty of high-speed traffic, not an acceptable bike route. Trees and brush had been trimmed along the nice paved bike path recently. All the slash had been left on the path, for 2 or 3 days from its appearance. We picked our way through the mess for maybe a couple kilometers. Then we came to a section with blown down trees obstructing the path, another ½ to 1 Km. Getting through this required some bushwhacking with the heavy e-bikes. Not fun.
Day three of biking was fine until we came to a flooded underpass on the outskirts of Salzburg. We needed to cross the A1 highway to get to Salzburg. A bad storm a few days before had caused numerous problems across Austria. We did find an alternate route but advance knowledge would have saved us a few Km of pedaling.
Day 4, however, brought us to highway biking. As we approached the village of St. Radegund we were directed onto a busy, shoulder-less two-lane road for a steep ascent of a kilometer or more. It was a strenuous ride even with the e-bikes. Your web sites offers this description of the tour:
“The tour route is mainly on dedicated bicycle paths (about 80% of the time). The remainder of the tour is on quiet roads and dirt or gravel roads. This tour is suitable for families with children.”
This stretch alone disqualifies the tour as a family-safe route. The experience continues:
A short distance beyond the scary hill climb is a 5.2 Km stretch of riding on the same road. The tour map shows this section as a bike path on the side of the road pavement. The “bike path” in this area is about 18” wide, separated from the high-speed traffic by a 4” wide white stripe. Narrative direction for this day’s route were not helpful, signage was poor, the “pink” house referred to is now yellow.
The unpleasant day was capped by a steep climb to the hotel in Burghausen. Pushing a heavy e-bike up a hill doesn’t work! You need to pedal it up so that it assists with its own heavy weight.
Day 5 brought us to Bad Fussing. This day was mostly uneventful. Directions to the hotel in Bad Fussing were vague, calling for riding 4 Km on a busy road with no shoulder. Instead, we found a bike path at the German side of the bridge that led right in to downtown Bad Fussing. The directions should include this route. Plan your day to allow an hour or two at one of the baths, you will be glad you did!
Day 6 was uneventful, mainly along the Inn River to Passau.
One e-bike problem: the rear disc brake on one of the 4 bikes was useless, apparently the brake pads were worn away (bikes had coaster brakes too). In all other respects bikes were fine. Battery capacity was generous. I think the lowest reserve at the end of any day for any of us was 50%.
An otherwise delightful trip was marred by surprise bike path closures and stretches of unsafe highway biking. This is not for children. The scenery was awe inspiring. Hotels were good to excellent. E-bikes were good except for one problem that didn’t spoil the trip.
We would have wished for more current information on bike path conditions from the local partner. We provided reports to them of closed paths as we encountered them.
Your tour description misrepresents the conditions of the route. We would not have booked the trip if had been accurately described. SHOW MORE- What was the date of your tour?
- Sept 16, 2024
- How many tours have you completed?
- about ten
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- Somewhat harder
- Do you recommend this tour?
- No
- Countries included in this tour?
- Austria, Germany
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BikeTours.com staff reply from jan October 3, 2024
Thank you for your business and detailed feedback. Unfortunately the storm that hit your area during your vacation impacted 1000s of folks which resulted in the on the ground teams being totally overwhelmed. Unfortunately we cannot control mother nature. That said, thank you for traveling with us and we hope to see you again!
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★★★★★ Mary Schmidt 10 months ago
Unable to review as the Vivienne never left port in Vienna - Please contact me. I would have loved to have been able to review.
· · Danube Delights: Biking through Four Countries
Dear Team at BikeTours.com,
I hope you all are doing well. I am writing regarding my recent river cruise, Danube Delights aboard the Vivienne on September 15, which unfortunately was impacted by flooding, causing the cancellation of several key ports of call and remained docked in Vienna for 7 nights. While I understand that weather conditions are beyond anyone’s control, missing out on many destinations left me disappointed, as I had been looking forward to the full experience. My husband and I had been planning this for over a year and celebrating our 40th Wedding Anniversary.
Our cruise director did his best to keep the passengers entertained and informed but was getting very mixed messages from someone. It started the first day in Passau with the hired transportation did not have a concrete deportation location. It was 2:30pm before we were even contacted to tell us to go to the bus station and we would be transported to Vienna. After boarding the Vivienne we were told that we would be docked in Vienna for a couple of days and for those interested we could take the bus to Budapest and Bratislava on the next two days. It was a very long bus ride but a nice trip to both.
Starting on Wednesday, day 3, we were then told we MAY leave every evening, so we needed to be back on boat at 5 or maybe a different time and were not able to take any extended excursions due to the possibility of debarking. Thursday we were led to believe we may leave later in the night. Then Friday, we were instructed to be back on the boat at 11:00 am because we might leave. It was determined after we came back that we were not going to be able to leave. We would have loved to have taken the train to visit another location Wednesday - Friday. The last day, Saturday, was the worst, we had to sit on the boat because there would be announcements at 9:00 am, then stay on because we might leave at 11:00am, then wait again until after 1:00pm and then there was a decision to let us off. It was obvious the boat wasn’t going anywhere due to the 24 hours it would have taken to cruise back to Passau and there was another cruise scheduled. Also, we were extremely far back in the line of boats that would have moved before us.
Given these unforeseen circumstances, I am inquiring about a future cruise credit (FCC) toward another cruise or a refund. We were so excited to do our first River cruise as a way to travel and have the ability to bicycle and I would love the opportunity to schedule another boat/bike cruise and fully experience the journey.
I appreciate your understanding and consideration of this request, and I look forward to your response.
Sincerely,
Mary Schmidt- What was the date of your tour?
- September 15, 2024
- How many tours have you completed?
- This would have been our first but can't count due to not leaving port.
- 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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★★★★★ Joann Schmidt 10 months ago
Not what I was expecting
· · Danube Delights: Biking through Four Countries
Our river/bike cruise turned into a floating hotel in Vienna. Our boat never left the dock all week because of historical flooding on the Danube. The boat and cruise personnel were all fine but just wish we could of actually seen something of the countries we were hoping to see on the river. Not sure if I would ever sign up for one of these again.
- What was the date of your tour?
- September 2024
- How many tours have you completed?
- just this one
- Countries included in this tour?
- Austria, Germany, Hungary, Slovakia
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BikeTours.com staff reply from jan October 7, 2024
The storm that hit your area during your trip effected 1000s of travelers and overwhelmed our local partners and ground crews. Our apologies but we cannot control mother nature. Thanks for your business and we hope you'll give us another chance!.
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★★★★★ Mario Ceccanese 10 months ago
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
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★★★★★ Scott Jacobson 9 months ago
Swiss crown bike tour
· · Danube Experience Bike and Boat Passau-Vienna-Budapest-Belgrade-Iron Gates-Passau
Due to captain error, and running the boat onto a sandbar, we weren’t able to see the Iron Gates. Very upsetting since that was the main purpose of paying for this trip. Due to captain error, didn’t dock in Passau, long bus ride to train station. Amwater ways went to Iron Gates same day we were supposed to. Next time, I will go with that boat tour.
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★★★★★ Linda Cooper 9 months ago
Made the most of being stuck at the dock.
· · Danube Delights: Biking through Four Countries
An act of nature meant that the boat never left the dock. The company made a point to provide activities and bike routes for 7 days in Vienna. Bike Tours was non existent when it came to communicating the changing conditions before the tour started.
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★★★★★ Sallie Williams 9 months agoSeveral issues with this bike tour
· Best of San Diego E-Bike Tour
This bike tour had a challenge from the beginning with a group that was too large - 14 people, three of whom were kids, teens or younger, led by one tour guide on a route that was constantly either in traffic or in areas heavily trafficked by pedestrians. There was one section of Little Italy that was particularly difficult because there were several blocks given over to an outdoor Art Fair and the streets were closed off. Wouldn't this be something that the organizers should have known about so that the tour could have been rerouted?
Our guide, Cassie, did her best but it was a real challenge to keep everyone together and safe and thus, felt a bit stressful. E-bikes were ok, but the blue ones with the fat tires were clearly a challenge for several of the riders.
That said, San Diego is a beautiful city and seeing it on a bike is a good way to do it, and Cassie did a nice job with her talking points on the stops. Here are my suggestions if you take this tour:
- Bring water, as it's not provided. There is a stop to buy water, but it's two hours into the tour. Also note that many of the bikes do not have a holder for a water bottle.
- The notes say that a basket or bike bag is included. What was included was a very small bag only large enough to accommodate a phone and a small snack, definitely not a water bottle.
- Consider taking a small backpack for water, phone, sunglasses, and snacks and also to stow a clothing layer you might want to peel off.
Lastly, I will say that my husband and I have done a dozen or more bike tours in various parts of the U.S. and abroad over the past several years and I would generously put this one in the bottom 50%.
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★★★★★ William Edsell 9 months agobike tour with friends
· · Danube Discovery: Bike and Boat through Enchanting Capitals
the bike and boat tour is a good way to sample some of the countries on the Danube. Unfortunately the boat was very old and had many problems. The main issues for me were the rooms were very musty and caused problems with my sinus and no way to let fresh air into the cabin. Also there seemed to be limited or no internet on the boat and because we traveled through remote areas it was not possible to use mobile phone connection. You would think a starlink antenna would solve that problem. The staff were great, very friendly and helpful with everything. The bar had limited options. Food options were Ok but seemed inconsistent. Overall I enjoyed the experience with my friends but disappointed in the boat. On our last day the boat broke down and we have to wait several hours to get on the boat and then take a bus to Passeau to catch our train.
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BikeTours.com staff reply from Jan October 29, 2024
Thanks for your review. Though we can't speak to the fresh air issues - very few reviews (if any) have alluded to this but we'll investigate - I can tell you that many of the ships in Europe providing this type of holiday are slowly upgrading their internet infrastructure and moving to starlink. Though boat owners are very handy savvy folks, many are not tech people but they (with some help) are catching on to the market need for consistent high speed internet.
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★★★★★ Jen D 2 months agoBeautiful Scenery
· Romantic Road from Würzburg to Donauwörth
We found the first half of this tour fabulous. Wurzburg was a highlight, especially since we were there during wine festival - it was very lively. For the first 3 days we enjoyed riding through lots of little towns and took our time enjoying coffee/lunch stops. It was interesting to see the scenery change during the second half (more rural farms). We found, however, that there were fewer little towns to stop in or explore. This made stopping for coffee/lunch challenging or impossible. Luggage transfer was totally reliable. Hotels were a bit of a mix. GHotel in Wurzburg was nice, but basically a big box hotel by a busy road. Hotel Gerberhaus in Rothenburg was quirky - the room was small and hot, the shower didn't work well. Hotel Sinas Brettl in Nordlingen was quite disappointing - they seemed to be building the hotel as they ran it. We arrived early afternoon and there was no one present except a construction worker. We killed time at a coffee shop and came back. The same construction worker called the hotel owner who explained where our key was. We stepped over cords etc. to get to our room which was set up for just 1 person. It was loud. Hotel Zu den Drei Kronen in Donauworth was fine, not special. Our room had 2 twin beds - looked like a university dorm room. It was also set up for just 1 person. Staff quickly addressed that. I will also note that we were worried about the weather for a few days, so rushed more than usual. We wondered what we would have done had we been caught in a lightening storm with no towns nearby. Overall we enjoyed our trip, but the hotels need more attention and some of the routes should consider stops for lunch/rests. Bikes were excellent.
- What was the date of your tour?
- May 2025
- How many tours have you completed?
- 5
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- Much 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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★★★★★ Tom Jones 1 month ago
Memorable bike tour
· Dolomites to Trieste via Lake Bled at the Foot of the Julian Alps
Just wrapped up a memorable bike tour from the Dolomites to Trieste — and wanted to share a few highlights and lessons learned.
First, a big shoutout to Taylor at BikeTours.com, who was a fantastic Tour Advisor. When our bikes didn’t show up at the first hotel as expected, we gave her a call — and she jumped in right away. Thanks to her help, the bikes arrived in time for us to start riding the next morning without delay.
What I learned:
• Expect the unexpected. Our first day brought heavy rain — and we got soaked. If you’re doing a similar trip, pack good rain gear!
• Bring biking tools. While the bikes were in excellent shape, having a small tool kit (for tightening loose seats or making minor adjustments) came in handy.
• Stay connected. I recommend buying an eSIM for mobile data before the trip. Just don’t forget to turn on data roaming!
• Be prepared for little expenses. Public WCs often cost 1€, so keep some coins handy. And at hotels, you’ll need to pay a local tax (around 3€) — some places only accept cash for that.
• Illness can happen. I haven’t been sick in years, but picked up a cough midway through the trip. I ended up skipping the last day of riding — and that meant a taxi ride to the next hotel, which cost about $100 USD.
• Extra hotel nights aren’t cheap. If you decide to extend your stay somewhere, budget about $200 USD per night, especially if you want breakfast included.The ride itself:
The scenery was absolutely beautiful (except for the rainy day), and the routes between hotels didn’t have too many steep climbs. That said, for me, it was still a challenging ride — definitely pushed my limits, but in a good way.
All in all, a wonderful trip with a few good reminders: plan ahead, be flexible, and enjoy the ride
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★★★★★ Steve Lilley 4 weeks agoChallenge completed!
· Vienna to Budapest (Classic)
As a couple we enjoyed completing the challenge in extremely hot conditions.
We were disappointed in not sighting or swimming in the Danube more often: it’s a mighty impressive river!
Riding enabled greater appreciation of the country and people than by car: crops and farming in particular.
The final ferry ride for over an hour was a great finale! -
★★★★★ Steve Lilley 3 weeks ago
Challenge completed!
· Vienna to Budapest (Classic)
As a couple we enjoyed completing the challenge in extremely hot conditions.
We were disappointed in not sighting or swimming in the Danube more often: it’s a mighty impressive river!
Riding enabled greater appreciation of the country and people than by car: crops and farming in particular.
The final ferry ride for over an hour was a great finale! -
★★★★★ Leslie Wilson 10 months agoVery disappointing
· Lake Garda (based in one hotel)
The bikes,local tour provider & maps where not an acceptable standard or adequately explained to our bike group. We all goind this to be very disappointing.
- What was the date of your tour?
- September 2024
- How many tours have you completed?
- 4
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- As expected
- Who is this tour suitable for?
- Solo travelers, Families with teens
- Do you recommend this tour?
- No
- Countries included in this tour?
- Italy
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★★★★★ MM 10 months ago
Flood Trip
· · Danube Delights: Biking through Four Countries
We were bussed from Passau to Vienna to meet the boat, which never left port for the week due to flooding. All week we were told their was a possibility of leaving port, so there were days we had to stay around the boat to wait for details, which hampered our daily plans. It would have been better to just tell us up front we would be there all week, so our plans for the day could be made.
The cruise director did everything he could to make the trip memorable, which is was, with the constraints he had.
Breakfast's were fabulous, lunches provided were good! Dinners were a little lacking, but adequate. Drinks were fine, but more options for daily drink tickets would have been appreciated. The Vivienne was beautiful! -
★★★★★ Carol Bly 10 months ago
Not what hoped for. Poor directions. Unsafe routes and not well marked.
· Tauern Bike Path (Krimml-Passau)
Loved quiet rides in country and thru villages but dangerous conditions were not marked due to recent storms. We should have been notified and got onto dangerous routes.
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★★★★★ Shirley Santucci 10 months agoDisappointed
· Danube Bike Path 8 Nights (Upscale Lodging)
Total lack of communication in not informing us that our biking would end 2 days early, which meant missing out biking through the Wachau valley . When I contacted Bike Tours that my husband was ill and could not make the trip. I should have been informed then that there were changes to the scheduled tour. The welcome meeting & bike fitting was a joke. There was absolutely no value in that 15 minute meeting. I had to adjust the handle bars myself and struggle through removing the battery for charging at the 1st two hotels that did not offer charging in the bike storage area. The electric bike itself was very good quality and comfortable to ride. The printed trip itinerary was easy to follow but did not offer much in the way of "do not miss" highlights along the way. In my opinion, only three of the hotels were worth the upscale category. I would not recommend this bike tour for anyone that has experienced quality bike tours previously.