Bike Tour Reviews page 2
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★★★★★ Bluenose October 1, 2018Alsace in September
· Alsace Wine Country
Great time of year to do this trip as the vineyards are being harvested. The weather is perfect for cycling! Much of the trip is on dedicated cycle paths which reduces the amount of riding in traffic.
We took the dinner package which saved us the hassle of trying to find dinner each night. A couple of the meals were terrific but most were average.- What was the date of your tour?
- September 9, 2018
- How many tours have you completed?
- 6
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- Much easier
- Do you recommend this tour?
- No
- Countries included in this tour?
- France
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★★★★★ Sequoia August 18, 2019
Not quite the Danube River Trip we expected
· Vienna to Budapest (Classic)
Too much of the trip was off the river, and off trails. Going through corn fields was not our favorite. Dams should be called levees. The route through Budapest on sidewalks was difficult, too busy with trucks and traffic. It is not a bicycle friendly city. Hotel could have been closer to the river. We would recommend 2 nights in Bratislava, there is so much to see there. Add another day to sleep over in Hainburg. We loved the hotel in Vienna. We recommend the lower trail through the National Park on day one, to go swimming!!! The day one detour was difficult because of traffic, maybe there's a walk around the detour on bike path instead of so much road. We loved Gyur. Three days were totally off the river. We enjoyed the ferry rides very much. The last two days were on the river and were the best days.
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★★★★★ Jim Brewer September 25, 2018Mainz to Cologne
· Rhine Bike Path: Mainz to Cologne
The Rhine Valley was beautiful. The hybird bikes were very good. Maps and directions for the tour were very poor at best. Extremely difficult to find Hotels and the key sights mentioned by the tour. We experienced extremely high temperatures but had A/C most nights. The night without A/C resulted in very little sleep and NO biking the next day. The night that they shut off the A/C in the middle of the night resulted into a lot of lost sleep. Bottom line even with average high temperatures you need A/C every night and all night long.
Others on the same tour with the same maps etc also had difficulties finding the Hotels each evening.- What was the date of your tour?
- 22 Jul 18--28 Jul 18
- How many tours have you completed?
- 1
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- As expected
- Do you recommend this tour?
- No
- Countries included in this tour?
- Germany
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★★★★★ ontherun August 10, 2019Great country to visit but maybe not with BikeBoatTours
· · Amsterdam – Bruges by Bike and Boat – Fluvius (and reverse)
We certainly enjoyed the country and the flat bike trails (lol!) but the company that provided our tour was mediocre at best. They had no concern for safety - did not require helmets, nor did the guides wear them. The bikes had no water bottle holder and the lights on the bikes did not work. Also, after strongly encouraging us to download Ride with GPS, they sent us the daily route but then: did NOT have holders on the bikes to put our phone on and it's illegal there to ride with a phone in your hand! Also, they did not follow the routes as stated in the Ride with GPS so the app was constantly beeping that we were off track and was, essentially useless. The guides seemed to be suffering from burnout. They were nice but did not offer any information unless asked and were extremely disorganized throughout the trip. The food on the boat was adequate but repetitive - same breakfast every day and we had to make our own lunch from the same food every day....unless it ran out and then we were stuck with prosciutto and bread that day. The boat itself was nice and the cabins were nice. Cleaning was not done during the trip unless asked.
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★★★★★ pmcmanamon September 21, 2018Tour instructions were outdated, and hard to follow
· Strasbourg to Mainz: Imperial Cities and Charming Landscapes Along the Rhine
The cities we visited were great, and so were the hotels. I was warm, so air conditions would have been nice, but not a big deal. The tour instructions consisted of a generic book with instructions, and a generic set of maps. The maps were not that detailed. When the maps disagreed with the instructions the maps were right. The signage along the routes changed since they made the instructions . We were told to look for a large E along European bike paths, but it appears to have been replaced by a circle with 15 inside it, i guess for the # of countries in the EU. The bikes were great. The luggage was always delivered on time. I downloaded a Eurobike app to help with the directions, but it did not work well. In order to update my positions I had to quit the app, and restart it. The Biketours people did suggest a new app, RidewithGPS, that worked much better. Because they did not have cues the pass could not tell me ahead of a turn, but it did tell me if we go off course.
I think the local tour company, Eurobike, needs to update their instructions. I also would appreciate if they made unique instructions for each tour. The instructions start and end at a city center. When we got close I would use google maps to find the hotel directly, rather than going to the city center and then to the hotel. My ideal would be a unique set of instructions for a tour, with small maps above or below each instruction. We have had that with other tours, but different providers. On this tour I could not mount my instructions and maps so I could see both while riding, I picked the instructions. In some cases they recommend stopping at a certain place for lunch, but you cannot see if from the tour route, and there is no map to locate it. -
★★★★★ Larry Cady 10 months agoGreat 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.
- What was the date of your tour?
- May 2022
- How many tours have you completed?
- 4
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- As expected
- Who is this tour suitable for?
- Families with teens
- Do you recommend this tour?
- No
- Countries included in this tour?
- Austria, Italy
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BikeTours.com staff reply from kirsten August 8, 2022
We're happy to hear that you enjoyed your bicycle route for Innsbruck to Lake Garda! We appreciate your feedback on all aspects of the tour and will be sure to get in touch with our partner regarding equipment upgrades and clear directions for the future. We hope to see you traveling with us again soon!
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★★★★★ Richard 69 May 29, 2022
A nice ride
· Strasbourg to Mainz: Imperial Cities and Charming Landscapes Along the Rhine
This is our eighth time cycling in Europe so we are experienced cyclers. This is the first and only time we had any problems. When we arrived in Strassbourg in the evening and checked our bikes we noticed right off that one of the bikes had a problem. We called Eurobike the next morning to resolve the issue and we were underwhelmed by their response. After several phone calls and two and a half hours taken out of the day we planned to spend sightseeing in Strassbourg I finally demanded that they bring us another bike which they reluctantly agreed to do. If we had not taken an extra day in Strassbourg there would have been no way for us to complete the first leg of our tour. So there was that.
We have always chosen the B level hotels and have always been more than satisfied. This tour the hotels were hit and miss. The Hotel Ibis in Heidelberg gave us a room that was literally the size of a closet nd it was more than a mile walk to get to the historic old town. The hotel Asgard in Worms was also a long way from the city center. I will say that all the hotels served a good breakfast.
The bikes were the typical rental bikes that we always get so they are a little heavy and slow so no surprises there. But we found the road surfaces to be very rough in many places which made for very slow travel and we found ourselves reaching our destinations much later than we planned.
We cycled through forests and lots of farmland which was fine but we really did not cycle along the Rhine as much as we would have liked. The scenery was pleasant enough but not nearly as spectacular as other tours we’ve taken.
The printed directions are always confusing and at times our route was not as well marked as we would have liked so there was a lot of stopping to check our phones. We found the app that we downloaded to be very helpful.
It’s always fun and exciting to be cycling in Europe and we did enjoy ourselves and had many fine meals along the way. Unfortunately this ride did not compare favorably with the other seven tours we’ve taken. -
★★★★★ ArmannI September 17, 2018Nice mountain view
· Rhone River Route: Oberwald to Geneva
Good way to experiece Switzerland. More information needed regarding interesting places to visit. The first day was the most wonderful day
- What was the date of your tour?
- 26.8 - 30.8
- How many tours have you completed?
- 3
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- As expected
- Do you recommend this tour?
- Yes
- Countries included in this tour?
- Switzerland
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★★★★★ Jonathan M September 16, 2018Great trails, not well organized
· Cycling the Altmuehl Valley, Round-Trip from Regensburg
This trip follows well marked German bike trails which are very easy to navigate and quite scenic. The hotels are fabulous. However, we did not have a good experience with the German bike company (Radweg Reisen) that operates the trip on the ground. We were self-guided, and our information package was not available the day we arrived, so we didn't have maps and guiding information in advance. When the packet arrived the next morning, we discovered that it contained very little about sights near the tour route. We were able to Google plenty of side trips but wondered: isn't that the job of the tour company? Also, our bikes were delivered late on the day we were supposed to start, so we lost a morning of biking (and actually the bikes were eventually delivered not by the tour company but by an English family to whom the bikes had been misdelivered). We called Radweg Reisen but their corporate office was located hundreds of km away. We have been on lots of trips with biketours.com and find that the smaller shops are much more attentive and give better service. Radweg Reisen is too big to care about 2 self-guided bikers.
- What was the date of your tour?
- 8/25-8/30
- How many tours have you completed?
- 10
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- As expected
- Who is this tour suitable for?
- Solo travelers, First-time bike tourists, Families with teens
- Do you recommend this tour?
- No
- Countries included in this tour?
- Germany
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★★★★★ Raff September 29, 2017Wonderful itinerary, average biking
· Bolzano – Verona – Venice
Great towns, but not enough time to see them. The biking scenery was ok. Really poor cue sheets in English.
- What was the date of your tour?
- 9-16-17-8-22-17
- How many tours have you completed?
- 3
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- As expected
- Who is this tour suitable for?
- Solo travelers, First-time bike tourists
- Do you recommend this tour?
- No
- Countries included in this tour?
- Italy
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BikeTours.com staff reply from Brittany September 30, 2017
Thank you for your review. We'll work with our partner operator on better translated daily directions. We appreciate your time and hope to help you in the future!
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★★★★★ Thomas Wall 7 months agoEnjoyable ride with lots of canal views
· Garonne Canal: From Bordeaux to Toulouse (or reverse)
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 7 months agoNice 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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★★★★★ Water Bound September 15, 2018Disappointed
· · Mosel and Saar by Bike and Boat
- What was the date of your tour?
- 9/1-9/7/18
- How many tours have you completed?
- -1- before this one
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- As expected
- Who is this tour suitable for?
- First-time bike tourists, Families with young kids
- Do you recommend this tour?
- No
- Countries included in this tour?
- Germany
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★★★★★ Chloek1234 December 3, 2015Interesting tour for the well-traveled individual
· Prague to Vienna via Cesky Krumlov
I went on this tour as a BikeTours.com staff member. I think that this tour has some wonderful highlights - Prague, Cesky Krumlov, but also is a bit monotonous. I enjoy riding in more varied scenery that this tour offered. However, the bike path network within the country is extensive (and I was impressed). The accommodations and food were basic to nice. The Czech people were very kind and down-to-earth. Our guide, Jitka, was always helpful and informative. This tour is consistently hilly and is a true level 3 in that sense. I would recommend this tour to a intermediate level cyclist, who is well traveled and wants to experience the less traveled side of Europe.
- How many tours have you completed?
- 2
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- Somewhat harder
- Do you recommend this tour?
- Yes
- Countries included in this tour?
- Austria, Czech Republic
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★★★★★ JackieDog September 26, 2017Confusing directions
· Apulia - Heel of Italy
Wonderful way to see the countryside but frustrating as the directions were often vague or inadequate.
- What was the date of your tour?
- Sept 16-23
- How many tours have you completed?
- 3
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- As expected
- Who is this tour suitable for?
- Families with teens
- Do you recommend this tour?
- Yes
- Countries included in this tour?
- Italy
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★★★★★ Jeri April 12, 2017
Lovely spring countryside
· Florence to Rome: Calm, Mystical and Unexplored Countryside
We did the self-guided version of this tour, and loved cycling through the Umbrian countryside. The routes were well-planned to avoid traffic. Bikes were adequate. Baggage transfer and all such arrangements were handled very well. Trip notes/gps were mostly good with a few glitches, but we were the first riders of the new season, so I would imagine the divergences will soon be cleared up, and we never lost our way. The tour company also uses a system of small trail markers that were very good. What we did not enjoy: the overnights. Towns were generally pretty dead other than touristy things--and not a lot of that. Little along the route days as far as nice places to stop (parks, cafes, or the like) either. Hotels were okay, but nothing special.
- What was the date of your tour?
- 1-8 April 2017
- How many tours have you completed?
- 4
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- As expected
- Who is this tour suitable for?
- First-time bike tourists
- Do you recommend this tour?
- No
- Countries included in this tour?
- Italy
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BikeTours.com staff reply from Jim Johnson April 13, 2017
Thanks so much for your feedback. We're sorry you didn't enjoy the towns along the route. I think you're absolutely correct that touring so early in the season played a role in your experience, as the towns, cafes and other settings are quite lively later in the season. We'll note that for advising future clients. I've done the tour and loved it, but it was early September and quite lively.
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★★★★★ Cycle2017 September 25, 2017Our Venice to Porec Challenge
· Venice to Trieste and Istria
This tour proved to be more challenging than anticipated, partly due to torrential rains on 2 days and windy conditions most of the week. Concerns included long riding distances with limited facilities between some of the planned stops -e.g. -few restaurants or stores to purchase snacks and more water. The signage didn't always match the tour directions, creating confusion and likely longer rides than planned. The final day -70 km, with 50% uphill is a challenge for casual riders. Casual recreational riders will find some of the days long and some of the terrain challenging. The local provider provided excellent support when we were flooded out of a hotel and unable to ride due to area flooding, and also assisted with transportation for the final transfer when a member of the group was ill, and weather conditions were miserable. Despite this, our group, 3 recreational riders and 1 experienced rider, enjoyed visiting the beautiful cities along the route -when the weather cooperated.
- What was the date of your tour?
- September 10-16
- How many tours have you completed?
- 2
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- Somewhat harder
- Do you recommend this tour?
- No
- Countries included in this tour?
- Croatia, Italy, Slovenia
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BikeTours.com staff reply from Jim Johnson, founder and president September 26, 2017
Janet, thank you for your valuable feedback, which we will pass along to the local tour company. We'll also take your comments into consideration when advising future clients.
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★★★★★ Ronb September 25, 2017
Good value for money way to see the Baltic countries with great guide.
· Baltic Capitals: The Historic Cities of Vilnius, Riga and Tallinn
Our guide Romas was excellent. Lots of stories about where we visited. Most hotels very good with useful location. Easy riding. Bus always available if somebody wanted to rest. Great way to see Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia. Riga hotel not up to the standard of the others though it had perfect location.
- What was the date of your tour?
- 27th Aug 2017
- How many tours have you completed?
- 10
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- Much easier
- 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?
- Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania
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★★★★★ Canada November 4, 2015A bit of a disappointment
· Lake Constance Bicycle Path
We booked the high end tour and in general were very pleased. Most of the hotels were lovely and located conveniently to the bike path. One exception was the Marina hotel we were sent to. We passed by beautiful villages but instead of staying in these lovely locations, we were sent to a marina where there no amenities nearby. We explored through the nearby campsite and located a restaurant much more reasonably priced than the marina hotel restaurant. When we had asked at the hotel about nearby restaurants, the hotel said there were no others nearby. It was also very noisy as they were working on the boats. Also we were disappointed with how little you actually got to bike along the lake. Being as this is a huge vacation area most of the lakefront had homes on them. So we were sharing the road much more than expected with often little or no views of the lake.
The bike tour company was great and the bikes were of a good quality (though with the bumpy terrain shocks would have been appreciated).A lovely touch was the beautiful room at the Hotel Halm in Constance where there was a bottle of wine waiting and a lovely corner room.
- How many tours have you completed?
- Three
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- As expected
- Who is this tour suitable for?
- First-time bike tourists
- Do you recommend this tour?
- No
- Countries included in this tour?
- Austria, Germany, Switzerland
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BikeTours.com staff reply from Lindsay Nash November 5, 2015
Hi Kim! Thanks for your review, and we're glad to hear you were very pleased over all. We certainly appreciate your repeat business. We're sorry to hear about your disappointment with the route and the overnight locations, and we've passed along your feedback to the tour operator. This is one of our most popular tours so hotel availability can dictate those overnight locations. We're glad to hear about the bottle of wine, though. That can certainly help the experience!
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★★★★★ Two Michiganders November 4, 2015
Lost in Translation
· Venice to Trieste and Istria
This was our fourth tour with Bike Tours and the first with an Italian outfitter. Maybe that's where the trouble started.
We're not novices to this kind of travel and expect to spend some time lost and wandering--that's okay--to some extent. The directions for this trip were oddly and sometimes poorly translated, and there were occasions that though we'd asked for the English version, the notes were in German. The sticker signage was missing and incorrect at several critical junctures--crossing into Croatia from Slovenia, for instance. I know we weren't the only people who missed it--others at the hotel mentioned the same confusion.
I think that this part of Italy isn't quite as used to cycling (fewer cycle paths) and there were long stretches where we were riding with heavy traffic on 50-70k speed roads. The last day was very hilly (we were aware of this) and included some long slogs through unmarked Croatian campgrounds/resorts which were not mentioned in the directions. Despite the directions, knowing that you needed to be near the sea for most of the trip was helpful.
Navigation being my only caution, this was a lovely and fun trip. The towns and sites along the way were quaint and it was relaxing when we were off the main roads. I appreciated the towns we stayed in, Sagittaria Concordia, Trieste and Piran were especially memorable for the sites and ambiance of each place. The ruins in Aguilia were amazing. The hotels were all excellent, breakfasts hearty and our bags were moved as promised.
I'd recommend this to someone, but with caution regarding navigation.- How many tours have you completed?
- Four
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- As expected
- Do you recommend this tour?
- Yes
- Countries included in this tour?
- Croatia, Italy, Slovenia
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BikeTours.com staff reply from Richie November 5, 2015
Hi!
Thank you for bringing the issues with tour documents and signage to our attention. I was on a tour with this operator in August and did not have these issues. However, I was on a different tour.
Part of the tour I was on overlapped with this tour in Trieste. There is quite a bit of traffic getting in and out of Trieste and that is worth being aware of.
I have passed your comments about the tour documents and signage on to the tour operator. It is important that they are aware of the sticker situation so that they can go through the route and fix the stickers where they are missing or incorrect. It is also important that they are aware of the translation issues with the documents themselves. I do know that they go over their documents and make improvements every off season. This information will be useful to them as they are going through this process.
Thank you again for taking the time to provide feedback (and the beautiful photos!)! We are looking forward to helping you arrange your next trip.
—Richie
