Bike Tour Reviews page 172
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★★★★★ John Parsons December 7, 2015Can't recommend it
· Aare Cycle Route: Along the Jura, Aare, and Rhine Rivers
Food organization poor. Rhine River portion very industrial
- How many tours have you completed?
- 1
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- Somewhat harder
- Do you recommend this tour?
- No
- Countries included in this tour?
- Switzerland
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★★★★★ John (Jay) Bonitt August 12, 2022Significant elevation!
· Tuscany and Umbria: Cycling in the Heart of Italy
This was our fourth self-guided Biketours.com trip, the firs three were five-star successes. This one was the most disappointing, not because of the region or places to stay…all were good! But, this trip had over 16,400 ft. Of elevation..even on E-bikes (for the first time) it was VERY difficult. We saw only one or two road bikers the entire trip, whereas on the previous trips we saw lots of road bikes. As experienced bike tours.com travelers we’re pretty attuned to following direction…this particular trip had poor written and app directions. If you are interested in this particular trip you had better be in the best shape of your life. It is not a moderate level trip…even on an e-bike.
- What was the date of your tour?
- June 2022
- How many tours have you completed?
- 6
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- Much harder
- Do you recommend this tour?
- No
- Countries included in this tour?
- Italy
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★★★★★ MM September 27, 2024Flood 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! -
★★★★★ Gabby 2 months agoNot as expected.
· Venice to Florence: From Rialto Across the Sea to Ponte Vecchio
The route wasn’t as exciting as expected.
The basic bike offered is AWFUL, not suitable for these kind of trips. You have to pay for the “upgrade” one.
Customer service wasn’t good. They couldn’t accommodate any changes, even when requested 48 hours in advance.
Most hotels were disappointing although well located, with the exception of the first one in Mestre. It was in the middle of nowhere, it doesn’t make sense to start the trip from that place.
Not the best trip we’ve done for sure.- How many tours have you completed?
- 10 +
- Do you recommend this tour?
- No
- Countries included in this tour?
- Italy
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★★★★★ Leslie Wilson September 26, 2024Very 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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★★★★★ John Zimmerman September 24, 2024Washout
· Danube Bike Path 7 Nights (Classic)
So I picked the worst possible week to do this, the trip was canceled by the tour company after 2 days because of flooding. I'm still waiting to hear from them. The bike was very nice, it had fenders, which came in handy in the steady rain I biked in the 2 days I was on the tour. The path was well marked, almost all that I was on was paved. One downside was because of the rain, the restaurants along the trail were closed, so when I most needed a hot drink, none were to be found. I couldn't use the turn by turn app because of the rain, but the trail guide book was very nice, and the directions were easy to follow. Conclusion, September is not a good month to do this, it was around 50 degrees the entire time I was on the cycle path. I want to attempt this again, there is a 99 percent chance that the weather will be better.
- What was the date of your tour?
- September 2024
- How many tours have you completed?
- this was the first one
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- Much 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
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★★★★★ Thell John September 14, 2024Couldn’t do it
· Classic Vienna Bike Tour
Terrible rain and wind. Didn’t cancel 24 hours in advance so had to eat the fee
- What was the date of your tour?
- September 2024
- 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, Families with teens
- Do you recommend this tour?
- Yes
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★★★★★ Kenneth Moffat September 25, 2023The scenery was great the bike company very poor
· Innsbruck to Lake Garda Across the Southern Slopes of the Alps
The bikes should be delivered to the hotel we are assigned to.
No one reviewed the tour nor did we get a bike fitting.
The group should all stay in the same hotel. We do not want separate hotels.
There was more than one occasion when the hotel did not have all of us booked in the hotel.
The bike tools were not adequate to fix some of the bike issues we had.
None of us would use this company again.
I should mention the liaison person Penelope was very nice. -
★★★★★ JEAN1999 July 16, 2016Unforgettable Experience
· Baltic Capitals: Historic Cities of Vilnius, Riga and Tallinn
Tour did not meet my expectations.
The pace was actually 12 to 15 mph and not 8 -9 mph as advertised, we always seemed to be late; and the only time that could be made up was during the riding. I would not describe the pace as casual. Unless you were a strong rider or had an e-bike, we felt we could not stop for pictures for the fear of getting lost. One rider dropped a bottle at the start of the ride and by the time it was put away, she could not see anyone up the road and did not know which way to go, so she decided to get on the sag wagon. On-going bicycle problems which should have been resolved the first day. Riders kept getting 'lost' due to inadequate group management which caused delays. Some riders kept having problems with their bikes, brakes improperly adjusted, loose handlebars (to store the bikes in the trailer, handlebars are loosened), group start riding despite not everyone being ready. Riders brought much more luggage than is recommended and there was inadequate space on the bus for all the luggage which ended up in aisle. Every seat on the bus was occupied; back row of bus has inadequate viewing and cannot hear instructions, sight descriptions over the speakers. One bus driver had unhealthy health habits, such as directly drinking from the 5 liter jugs used to fill up rider water bottles; he was always the first off and last one on despite record temperatures (one time after everyone got on-board, he went for a smoke with bus off); the other two drivers kept bus comfortable at all times and never got lost using their Garmin. Five nights were in hotels without AC, which is generally not a problem except that we had near record temperatures of 32 deg C on those days. Even though riding miles on the beach is considered 'fun', most of us did not consider it safe having to dodge bathers and children (it was record heat and the beach was very crowded). Your suggested tipping is ridiculous; seasoned Europeans riders within our group recommended a maximum of 20 Euros per person for the entire trip (bus driver was tipped separately). We had 15 riders, two guides would have been helpful to avoid losing riders along the way. I had never been on a multi-day bike tour, but others in the group had been on several and they did not think this tour met expectations.
Now the positives. The bus broke down on the worst possible day but we were able to proceed after a 6 hour delay for a new bus to arrive (this was handled well). The tour guide was very knowledgeable and had lots of information to share.
I will post more details on TripAdvisor -
★★★★★ Joaney September 9, 2018Really sorry we took this trip
· Alsace Wine Country
While we knew we signed up for a self-guided trip, we had no idea just how little this tour company would provide to us. Starting with bikes that have no water bottles moving quickly onto very poorly written directions and a GPS that was outdated years ago, the trip proved a disappointment each day. Most of the hotels had no a/c (in the middle of the summer) and we had paid for the more upgraded choices. While I must admit that we were guided onto mostly non-traffic bike paths whenever possible, we felt that all we did was ride all day long, with no pointers of what we might be passing of interest. We got lost a fair amount of times, and luckily we had a 23 yr.old, engineering graduate, who helped us decipher where we were vs. the directions. The weather could not have been more beautiful, thankfully, since there was no "back-up" should it turn terrible. We had to have our luggage ready by 9am, there went those leisurely mornings we thought we would have, only to notice that they were never picked up before we finished breakfast at 10am. The bikes were of good quality and thankfully also, we had no flat tires or breakdowns. I know I am spoiled from having taken many bike trips with reputable companies like Backroads and Duvine, etc. This trip was suggested by the friends we traveled with and the woman was smart in getting an e-bike. The rest of us had to walk our bikes up to one of the hotels that was perched on the highest point of the town. Only to finally reach the destination and to be told by the desk manager that if we had intended to eat there, he was sorry they were full for the evening...and that "he constantly tells the bike trip organizers that they should warn their bikers to make arrangements in advance." Clearly we were given no such instructions. We were LUCKY the manager was able to find us a taxi to take us to town for dinner. It was rather surreal. The food in this region was boring and repetitive. How many tart flambees does one want to eat?
- What was the date of your tour?
- July 10-15, 2018
- How many tours have you completed?
- 20+
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- Somewhat harder
- Do you recommend this tour?
- No
- Countries included in this tour?
- France
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★★★★★ Melissa Barney June 20, 2023Biking in Italy in June
· Dolomites to Trieste via Lake Bled at the Foot of the Julian Alps
I will not be recommending this trip or your company to anyone. The App was awful: only intermittently in English (otherwise in German) and when I gave 'feedback' I got no response; the App intermittently stopped working and I had to turn my phone off and on to re-boot; the App ATE UP my phone battery (a relativley new iPhone 13 with an otherwise long battery life); any highlights mentioned in the App along a particular day's travel was only a link to something that required internet or phone service (this is ridiculous; this link should have taken me to text within the App just as every other self-guided tour does within their App). The written paper description was poorly done - for some cities the description was how to 'get' into a city and other times the city/town mentioned was only a landmark of progress but this was very confusing. The pedometer on the bike did not work after the first three hours of the 7 day trip. The bikes were way too heavy; surely there is a way to make a durable bike that is at least 2 to 3 kilos lighter. Getting the bike and getting a safety helmet were in different cities!! I would ask for some of my money back if I thought this was possible as I was very disappointed in the trip.
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★★★★★ Amanda Jennings September 25, 2023Serious amounts of traffic
· Algarve Coastal Route
This ride has you in a lot of heavy traffic and even on the motorway at some places. The ride takes you through heavily touristed areas and then areas with nothing. This country very much highlighted the haves and the have nots in the country. I did not like the ride, it wasn't worth all of the traffic that we had to deal with.
- What was the date of your tour?
- September 2023
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- As expected
- Do you recommend this tour?
- No
- Countries included in this tour?
- Portugal
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★★★★★ Emily I 3 days agoTour was cancelled morning we supposed to go.
· Loire Valley & Chambord E-Bike Tour with Food Tasting from Amboise
Would have appreciated knowing sooner about the cancellation so we could have made other plans. The bike tour was the main reason we came to Amboise.
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★★★★★ Eric September 3, 2019Lackluster field tour!!
· Vienna to Budapest (Classic)
Hate to be the negative Nelly,but this tour was nowhere near where i'd hoped it to be...It really shouldn't be listed as a Danube River tour,as the only day i saw the river all day,was the last.Several days of riding through corn and sunflower fields on unmarked trails with poor direction. Let me be clear,I chose to follow the map and directions given,as I had no cell phone service in Europe. The last tour I did was Prague to Dresden.Clearly marked trails,with a GPS that wasn't great,but sufficient. Apparently I got my hopes up too high after that one.Spent most of my time checking and double checking Km markers in the guide Vs. Km markers on the bike. Not the relaxing ride I had hoped for.I,along with several other riders,spent some extra time looking for the actual trail. I was watching many people do the same as me...looking for the trail!! Too many unmarked junctions,this trail is really undeveloped in this part of Europe,which was unfortunate-this is what i went for,the ride.A lot of off road time,which would be fine,if I wasn't so busy checking and double checking maps.Really stressful when it should've been relaxing. The positive is the towns were great,the hotels were all very nice,the bike was better than I expected and handled everything-including the off road,and my luggage was always where it was supposed to be.I just so badly wish the ride would've been more relaxing....As i said when i began-the last day of the tour was what I had hoped for the whole length of the tour,relaxing and enjoyable.Unfortunately,it was the only one...
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★★★★★ Sam Fleischacker July 16, 2024Denmark is great; BikeTours is not
· Royal Zealand and Copenhagen
Are you looking for a tour company that will send you bike directions to the wrong hotels, follow that up with a condescending note when you complain rather than apologizing and correcting their mistake, book you in charmless corporate hotels way outside of the towns you're headed for, and delete your GPS tracks before your trip is finished? If so, this is the trip for you! If not, look elsewhere. My wife and I had some wonderful biking on this trip - but that's because of Denmark, which has beautiful and very well-marked bike trails everywhere (running through forests often), not because of BikeTours: indeed, we sometimes needed to correct the GPS tracks we were sent by the Danish markers, or by asking locals for help. Our previous experience on a self-guided bike tour, in France, was magical: with lovely, varied hotels in beautiful places at the end of each day, a well-crafted route accurately represented on the GPS tracks, and good help available by phone if we needed it (to be fair the Copenhagen representative of this local bike company, Sofia, was very friendly and helpful). This was a great disappointment after that. If you're looking for a tour that is geared towards your enjoyment, rather than the bottom line of the tour operator, I'd avoid BikeTours.com.
- What was the date of your tour?
- July 2024
- How many tours have you completed?
- 2
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- Somewhat harder
- Do you recommend this tour?
- No
- Countries included in this tour?
- Denmark
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★★★★★ Heather Batchelor June 7, 2024
Hail, lightning and rain
· Dolomites to Trieste via Lake Bled at the Foot of the Julian Alps
Didn’t get to do the trip because of terrible weather and the idea of sitting in a hotel room until 6pm without any luggage.
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★★★★★ Richard Severson October 9, 2024Very dissatisfied
· Danube Bike Path 8 Nights (Upscale Lodging)
Our trip was shortened due to previous rains which had damaged the trail and sections were closed. We were not informed of this issue until we had been biking for two days. We were unable to ride the final two days as the trail was closed.
We should have been notified of this situation prior to our leaving home. We would have cancelled the trip (we had trip insurance) and rebooked for next year. VERY disappointed in the way this information was withheld from us. It is a clear case of the bike touring company looking out for themselves and totally disregarding us, the customer.
Also, one member of our party had to cancel due to medical reasons. This information must not have reached the provider as 4 bikes were delivered and all hotels were expecting 4 people. -
★★★★★ Mama May 22, 2016Danube family bike tour???
· Danube Family Tour 7 Nights
This trip did not turn out to be anything like we expected. Although the hotels and the scenery were beautiful the support from The Bike Company was useless. When a child with a temp of 104 needed a hospital they had no suggestions on where to go or how to get there. The maps they provided were useless and the directions given to us on the first night we're completed in about 20 minutes. The bikes were inconsistent some had water bottle holders some not. The day at the spa although nice contain total nudity. American children aren't used to that. The Farm Hotel turned out to be 3 goats. The bike ride into Venice was four miles of City biking. bike trails in Vienna are gorgeous but not particularly child friendly. The Danube bike paths all though lovely contained many areas where the speed limit was 70 kilometers an hour. We had seven and 10 year old children riding.The bike support was not given by the tour company but by another tour company. Support really meant they just transported our luggage. This would have been a beautiful ride for adults and teenagers. Not young children. the maps need to be completely redone.
