Bike Tour Reviews page 4
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★★★★★ Z1201 July 6, 2019The bicycle trip was great the ship
· · Mosel & Saar by Bike & Boat
- What was the date of your tour?
- 22.6.19
- How many tours have you completed?
- 2
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- Somewhat easier
- Do you recommend this tour?
- No
- Countries included in this tour?
- Germany
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★★★★★ Labia September 6, 2018Glad we did it - but too hot in August
· · National Parks of Dalmatia by Bike/E-bike and Boat
This is our third bike tour. The boat was much nicer than others we have been on. The cabins were very large and a good size bathroom. The food was good (not great). It was nice to have two tour guides. The downside was that it was really hot and the sun too blazing to enjoy the bike rides a lot. The landscape I would also say is a bit repetitive. All in all I wish we could have done it some weeks later with fewer crowds in town and especially cooler weather.
- What was the date of your tour?
- 18 August
- How many tours have you completed?
- 3
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- Somewhat harder
- Who is this tour suitable for?
- Solo travelers, First-time bike tourists, Families with young kids, Families with teens
- Do you recommend this tour?
- No
- Countries included in this tour?
- Croatia
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★★★★★ u d i July 4, 2019Lovely landscape shame most of the cycling is on asphalt with fast cars ..
· Ireland’s West Cork on Tranquil Lanes Following the Coast
We had great time riding at CORK area, the weather was on our side also. everything was green and blooming, we all had e-bikes which was a great descision to do since first 3 days we traveled more than 70KM each day.accomodation was very good and so was the food, especially fish and sea food, we also had one night stay at a lovely castle fron 16th century on the atlantic beach.since most on the track was dedicated to the West Atlantic Way and many parts of it on the N71 we changed it and went deep into the countryside which was eaven nicer, plenty of fields and woods as we went up and downhill.it is advisable to change parts of the route to offroad routs.
- What was the date of your tour?
- june 16 2019
- How many tours have you completed?
- this is our 8th
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- As expected
- Who is this tour suitable for?
- Solo travelers, Families with young kids
- Do you recommend this tour?
- No
- Countries included in this tour?
- Ireland
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BikeTours.com staff reply from Chloe July 5, 2019
Thanks kindly for your feedback. We're so glad to hear that you were able to improve your experience by altering your route. And thank goodness for e-bikes; they truly are a game changer! Love that you had wonderful weather, food, and accommodations. Thanks again for the review (and the pictures).
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★★★★★ The dozer October 18, 2016Challenging to peddle to fairy tale cities.
· Prague to Vienna via Cesky Krumlov
The route was challenging, navigation difficults, but beautiful UNESCO sites each night. We were just dropped off with the wrong bikes, a Garmin we could not use, and one sheet of paper with directions and overview of route. If it had not been for 5 Irish ladies on the same route we would have really struggled. They had a Garmin that worked and with intense map study did not get lost as often as we did. VERY few people spoke English. Our pick up person was very rude to the Irish ladies.
- What was the date of your tour?
- August 2015
- How many tours have you completed?
- 3
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- Much harder
- Do you recommend this tour?
- No
- Countries included in this tour?
- Austria, Czech Republic
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★★★★★ Kevin Rudd August 24, 2022
Could 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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★★★★★ 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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★★★★★ WSTraveler October 22, 2019An Unusual Experience Not to Be Repeated
· UNESCO Sites of Albania
The sag driver was great despite limited English in that he was always available to help in any way possible. The tour guide was good and worked very hard but was not good at listening to understand problems with the bikes and was at times totally dismissive. The difficulty of the ride was enormously underrated and BIkeTours was evasive about providing advanced information. The road conditions were in areas extremely poor and the advertised grades were just lies. BikeTours advertised the trip as a max of 16 riders, although there were 20, considered a small group by the guide. Again, less than honest disclosure.
The experience of the country was worth the trip. It was a fun collection of international participants. The accommodations were varied but appropriate to the locale and part of the fun. Food was good and the guide worked to arrange options for dietary restrictions. The sag support was excellent and eager to support the riders. The guide did a good job of keeping the group together and providing navigation guidance despite lack of any cue sheets or gps routes.
- What was the date of your tour?
- Sept 23 - Oct 2
- How many tours have you completed?
- lots
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- Much harder
- Who is this tour suitable for?
- Solo travelers
- Do you recommend this tour?
- No
- Countries included in this tour?
- Albania
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★★★★★ Dmendrop July 2, 2019
Vikes on Bikes
· Vienna to Budapest (Classic)
This tour was not exactly what we expected. We brought our own tandem, but were often on dirt or gravel roads for miles, which was difficult with our tires. The directions were confusing and not clear often, a GPS option would be so helpful. Sometimes there was construction on bike baths, obviously not new, which caused us to take alternate route. Accommodations were excellent, I loved seeing all the small towns along the way. Don’t be fooled, you are not often on the Danube.
- What was the date of your tour?
- June 14-21
- 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, Hungary
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BikeTours.com staff reply from Chloe July 3, 2019
We appreciate this feedback. Thanks for letting us know the directions were sometimes confusing; we can forward this feedback to the tour operator. GPS tracks are available (We can send the files to you after you have booked, although you'd need a GPS or appropriate device). And I'm sorry to hear your tandem was not ideally suited for this tour but so glad that you enjoyed all the small towns and accommodations. Thanks again for this review -- all very helpful information!
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★★★★★ Mycycle50 July 1, 2019Very beautiful but more difficult than advertised.
· Prague-Vienna-Bratislava-Budapest
Our outfitter provided lots of info- maps, gps routes and suggested sites to visit. Some very rough roads, some steep hills.
- What was the date of your tour?
- May 22 to June 15
- How many tours have you completed?
- 9
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- Somewhat harder
- Do you recommend this tour?
- Yes
- Countries included in this tour?
- Austria, Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovakia
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★★★★★ Karen5 October 21, 2019Hungary countryside
· Vienna to Budapest (Classic)
Fortunately I always have fun. If the group had not taken lunch from breakfast buffet we would have been without food until lunch. Route directions could have bern clearer.
- What was the date of your tour?
- 9/30 - 10/5
- How many tours have you completed?
- 2
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- Somewhat easier
- Do you recommend this tour?
- No
- Countries included in this tour?
- Austria, Hungary
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BikeTours.com staff reply from Chloe October 22, 2019
Hi, Karen. Thanks for your review. We're glad to hear you're a person who always has fun! Thanks for letting us know about the need to be cognizant of lunch stops and/or availability of options and the directions. We will pass your feedback onto the tour operator so they can improve these aspects of the tour. Thank you again for this feedback.
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★★★★★ Sheryl Slone 9 months agoDisappointed
· 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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★★★★★ Bike and ski October 17, 2019
Trip review
· Vienna to Budapest (Classic)
The ride was somewhat boring, lots of farm lands. Not as scenic as I had hoped for
- What was the date of your tour?
- Oct 1
- 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?
- Austria, Hungary
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BikeTours.com staff reply from Chloe October 18, 2019
Thanks for sharing your thoughts. We're sorry to hear that this tour was not as scenic as you had hoped for. There is a good bit of country and farmland cycling as you have mentioned. We find that many clients enjoy the contrast of the destination cities and the more relaxing and rustic cycling. Thanks again for sharing your feedback!
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★★★★★ Mild Bill October 16, 2019Great ride but horrible bikes
· Majorca: A Loop Tour of the Beautiful Balearic Island
We enjoyed generally the trip locations. Ride instructions were definitely a little fuzzy at times but generally good. The bikes were horrific. They had these heavy, equipment laden bikes that were meant for city riding and not going through the countryside. Not the type of bike meant for doing long hill climbs. Hotels were fine and had good locations, but again instructions to get to them were not great. We had to incur roaming charges to find one because the instructions they gave to find it would have put us the next town over.
- What was the date of your tour?
- Sept 26th
- How many tours have you completed?
- 22
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- As expected
- Who is this tour suitable for?
- Solo travelers
- Do you recommend this tour?
- No
- Countries included in this tour?
- Spain
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BikeTours.com staff reply from Chloe October 17, 2019
Hi Bill, thanks kindly for the feedback. We appreciate you letting us know about the bikes being heavy and that the instructions could be improved. Most tours we offer are on hybrid touring bikes, and we can certainly understand they are often heavier bikes than most clients have at home. We'll surely pass your feedback onto the tour operator in order to improve their operations. We're glad to hear you enjoyed the ride and locations you visited regardless. Thanks again for sharing your thoughts.
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★★★★★ JPeter October 3, 2016History seen
· Venice to Florence: From Rialto across the sea to Ponte Vecchio
The accommodations were satisfactory to good (hotel in Choggia was wonderful). The trip was as expected and explained in the brochure. For the most part the directions and markers were decent except in Florence. Little to no markers seen and the directions to the parking garage given were incorrect for Florence, frustrating.
- What was the date of your tour?
- 09/17 to 09/23
- How many tours have you completed?
- 2 including this one
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- Much easier
- Who is this tour suitable for?
- Solo travelers, First-time bike tourists
- Do you recommend this tour?
- Yes
- Countries included in this tour?
- Italy
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★★★★★ Bean October 14, 2019Beautiful Area - Terrible Bikes
· · Provence by Bike and Boat
Great way to see Provence, but the bikes were really really heavy and the guide was not very good.
- What was the date of your tour?
- Sept 28-Oct 5
- 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
- Do you recommend this tour?
- No
- Countries included in this tour?
- France
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★★★★★ MAC 9 months agoPretty 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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★★★★★ JessieV July 11, 2018
More Challenges Than Expected
· Berlin – Copenhagen
The scenery was lovely and the bike route was easy to follow, and also mostly on dedicated paths, which we very much enjoyed. The daily mileage, however, was more than anticipated - approx. 40+ miles per day. This would have perhaps felt like a minor increase, but the bikes they gave us compounded it exponentially. These were the worst bikes I've had on a tour (I've done four others). The bikes included seat and fork suspension, which I imagine the tour operator thought would be useful for the few segments of the route that end up on cobblestone or gravel, but they made the bikes SO HEAVY! Even gentle inclines became difficult - and we're from Seattle, so we're accustomed to riding up hills! We'd stand and pedal in hopes of getting more leverage and our bikes would basically turn into pogo sticks. We dubbed this maneuver "go sticking". The other thing that was challenging, was the lack of amenities along the way. We did a bike trip in Italy in 2017 and every 10 km there would be somewhere to get water or an espresso or a sandwich, but in the Germany section especially these things were few and far between. My overall recommendations would be to 1. reserve the electric bike 2. pack a picnic lunch each day
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★★★★★ Spain October 12, 2019
An Adventure
· Vienna to Budapest (Classic)
We selected a self guided tour which we have done several times in the past. Unfortunately the gps link did not work for us so we used the cue sheets and map. We got lost several times which was an adventure but difficult on the larger mileage days and in bad weather. There were many more miles on roads than we expected. Often the traffic was heavy and fast and the cycle paths in poor condition.We managed as we are experienced riders but it was not what we expected. We were glad to have the suspension of hybrid bikes. However when by the river on a good cycle path the ride was beautiful. We enjoyed the ferry rides. We were 15 riders and all liked the accommodations!
- What was the date of your tour?
- October 1, 2019
- How many tours have you completed?
- 10
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- As expected
- Do you recommend this tour?
- No
- Countries included in this tour?
- Austria, Hungary
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BikeTours.com staff reply from Chloe October 13, 2019
Thanks very much for your review. If you have been on several tours, this one may feel more rustic than others (less developed paths, more adventurous - as you have noted). We're sorry to hear that the GPS link did not work for you. We know that can be frustrating. However, we appreciate that you were able to use the maps and cue sheets. We'll be on the lookout for further reviews denoting frequent heavy traffic. We've not heard that this was occurring outside when in Budapest and upon entering/leaving cities. We're glad to hear there were some enjoyable aspects and everyone liked the accommodations. Thanks again for your feedback on this tour.
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★★★★★ Dre22 June 15, 2019· Mosel Bike Path: Dreamy Mosel Valley from Trier to Koblenz
- What was the date of your tour?
- May 30 thru June 5
- 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?
- Germany
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★★★★★ Jackie10 June 14, 2019Recommend with caution
· Salzburg to Vienna, Lakes Option
This bike tour is through the most beautiful Austrian countryside. The accommodations are great, luggage transfers flawless and great breakfasts included. The directions are horrible, especially the 1st and 3 rd days. Make sure you have a GPS with you. The poor directions added unnecessary frustration to the trip. The bikes are up right commuter bikes and uncomfortable for the mileage involved. If you are accustomed to a decent road bike you probably won't be happy. Most cyclists we saw were on e-bikes which makes the poor ergonomics more tolerable. This tour would be a 5 star with accurate directions and decent equipment. So bring a GPS and your own bike and have a blast!
- What was the date of your tour?
- June 2019
- How many tours have you completed?
- Two
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- As expected
- Who is this tour suitable for?
- Solo travelers, Families with teens
- Do you recommend this tour?
- Yes
- Countries included in this tour?
- Austria
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BikeTours.com staff reply from Chloe June 15, 2019
Glad to hear many aspects of this tour were enjoyable! We will pass your feedback to the tour operator that the directions can be improved upon. We're sorry to hear this was a source of frustration for you. Thanks, additionally, for the notes about the bikes. This tour is offered on hybrid touring bikes and e-bikes, which, if you are accustomed to a road bike, could be uncomfortable.
