Spain Bike Tour Reviews
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★★★★★ Chris 77 August 14, 2019Interesting trip with contrast between route and hotels
· Andalusia: Southern Spain
Did get a picture of that region of Spain. The hotels were great but the route was not very interesting and some of the dirt roads were in very poor condition. The GPS was poor and the written instructions are necessary. Ebikes are not a bad idea. The tour should definitively give the bikes the night before the first day of riding to get an early start so you can enjoy the hotels after a not great first ride day.
- What was the date of your tour?
- May
- How many tours have you completed?
- More than 20
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- Somewhat harder
- Who is this tour suitable for?
- Solo travelers
- Do you recommend this tour?
- No
- Countries included in this tour?
- Spain
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★★★★★ Karen Metsos September 24, 2022
Not the Best
· Andalusia: Southern Spain
This was our third bike tour and to be honest we were disappointed in general. While the hotel accomodations and the towns that you slept in were great and places I would visit again, but the overall biking experience was a different story. The bike journey each day was mostly about trying to get to the next town. The experience along the way in terms of where you cycled and the towns you went through was a let down. For example having done the Passau to Vienna cycle a few years back the lunch stops and places to take breaks were amazing, charming, convenient and scenic. This trip didn't offer any of that. The lunch locations were simply a place to rest and keep going. The tour operator in the self guided books didn't offer any recommendations of where to stop for lunch or breaks compared to the previous 2 tours we did (Passau to Vienna and Puglia). On the previous two tours these types of tips and recommendations added extreme value to our trip.
A couple of tips... if you do decide to do this cycle definitely spend the extra 30 euros for the GPS as it will vastly improve the navigation experience as bikes aren't set up to display the guide book and if the tour operator is reading this, having an upgraded room option would be a good idea as the hotels were great as well as the towns. On a couple of the locations we paid extra for an upgraded room upon checkin and it made a difference!- How many tours have you completed?
- 3
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- Somewhat harder
- Do you recommend this tour?
- No
- Countries included in this tour?
- Spain
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★★★★★ Dad and sons August 23, 2016Biking the Camino with my sons
· Camino de Santiago: A Pilgrim’s Route From Astorga to Santiago
A real biking adventure. The biking camino was much more mountainous than we imagined. It was beautiful scenery, thrilling, strenuous, dangerous, rewarding and memorable. We hiked the first half and stayed in hostels. From Astorga we biked and stayed in hotels. Hiking and hostels were much more conducive to meeting incredible new friends. The price of the biking tour seemed a bit expensive for what you recieve.
- What was the date of your tour?
- August 2016
- How many tours have you completed?
- I've done many bike rides
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- Somewhat harder
- Do you recommend this tour?
- Yes
- Countries included in this tour?
- Spain
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★★★★★ CJ4EY March 30, 2019Fabulous Paradors - Challenging Cyclying
· Cycling Spain’s Land of the Conquistadors
We really enjoyed the Paradors as each one is historical and unique. The biking is through rural countryside and is very pretty, and the temperatures in March were perfect. The directions provided by the tour company were outstanding! The surface of the trip is along asphalt roads, but I think it should be noted that the terrain is very hilly. The only flat section of the trip is the first half of the first cycling day and last cycling day. Otherwise, you’re climbing or descending, and since descending is much faster, you’re spending most of your days climbing. It was our 8th trip and definitely the most challenging. Another aspect of the trip is there is a lot of traffic passing at high speeds. While most of drivers are courteous in the amount of space given, if you’re accustomed of cycling without traffic, it can be very disconcerting. It a lovely trip, but I think the surface and terrain need to be disclosed.
- What was the date of your tour?
- March 2019
- How many tours have you completed?
- 8
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- Much harder
- Do you recommend this tour?
- No
- Countries included in this tour?
- Spain
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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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★★★★★ Silvia September 24, 2017Very good overall experience
· Camino de Santiago: From Porto to Santiago de Compostela
We enjoyed the bike rides. It was a great idea to upgrade to e-bikes! The terrain was challenging at times. Pedro the tour coordinator was very helpful, he was easy to reach and pleasant !
Overall the hotels were good, but the ones in Spain were much nicer and had better meals . We don't recommend to include the dinners in the package, we had some very poor dinners , particularly in Portugal.
The length of the biking trips were perfect, for most part good scenery although there was a day with too many roads through industrial areas. -
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★★★★★ Cathy62 October 27, 2017
Hardest bike trip I've ever done. Proud to have finished.
· Camino de Santiago: From Porto to Santiago de Compostela
I think this trip is a level 4 rather than a level 3 ride. It had some very difficult terrain that resulted in several in our group doing a fair amount of walking with their bikes. An electrical bike would have made the trip even more difficult.
Because of the difficulty of the terrain I missed seeing a lot of scenery. Keeping my eyes on the off-road trails to navigate the loose rocks meant I couldn't look around.
The Live, Love, Ride contact was great and responded in a timely manner to our needs. We did have one flat tire for which the incorrect sized tube was loaded on that bike. We did find the correct size on another bike in the group.
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★★★★★ Chris 77 June 14, 2019
Lots of history
· Andalusia: Southern Spain
Interesting cities and great accommodations. Would recommend ebikes for those of us over 75. Definitely suggest the tour company issue the bikes the evening before the first day as the day is long with lots of dirt track - best to get an early start to enjoy the destination.
- What was the date of your tour?
- May
- How many tours have you completed?
- 17
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- Somewhat harder
- Do you recommend this tour?
- Yes
- Countries included in this tour?
- Spain
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★★★★★ Deb Fanton November 18, 2019
Andalusia bike ride
· Andalusia: Southern Spain
Accommodations were fantastic; bike equipment very good; luggage transfers flawless. The routes were disappointing compared with Burgundy- many unadvertised hills, lots of highway, rough unpaved off road. We love working with BikeTours and this was our fifth or sixth trip but this particular trip was not communicated well from the beginning-- find it far better to do less cities with loops around the city and two nights at each location. Loved Spain though including our extended visit in Barcelona!
- What was the date of your tour?
- 10/25/19
- How many tours have you completed?
- 6
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- Somewhat harder
- Do you recommend this tour?
- No
- Countries included in this tour?
- Spain
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★★★★★ Kasey December 16, 2019
Seville to Cadiz
· Andalusia: Southern Spain
We did this tour at the end of November so the weather can be unpredictable. This region of Spain can be really hot in the summer so this was a good time of year for cycling with highs only in the 60's. However, Andulucia's terrain is, in general, not very lush or scenic and, in an area of Spain that is rural and farm based, it is particularly not scenic in November. The overnight stops along the way were very nice and the accommodations were well done. There were sections of the tour that were on busy roads, most of which were with a generous shoulder but a few with no shoulder. Fortunately, Spanish drivers are very courteous to cyclists and do not pass unless they can give you ample room. There we also sections of the tour that were off road and since there had been some recent rains, the trails were rough and muddy.
The bikes and equipment provided were of good quality and did not have any problems. The directions were for the most part accurate except for final approach into Cadiz when the gravel road ended before the directions indicated they should. From that point, the directions simply did match up to the road options. We had to rely on Google maps to figure out how to get into the historic district. We ended up on the pasao along the shore and cycled the last 6-8 miles on that into the historic district. Fortunately there were bike lanes we used to get to the pasao. Most of the last day of cycling is barren and not scenic so in retrospect we would have opted for the shorter option and taken the ferry into Cadiz and spent the last part of the day touring Cadiz instead of cycling all day.
- What was the date of your tour?
- Late November, 2019
- How many tours have you completed?
- 20
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- As expected
- Who is this tour suitable for?
- Families with young kids
- Do you recommend this tour?
- No
- Countries included in this tour?
- Spain
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★★★★★ Mary Payne and Kimberly Leahy 10 months ago
Awesome until the last day!
· Andalusia: Southern Spain
My girlfriend and I did this trip on hybrid bikes in early June and it was a great trip. We are intermediate riders and have done lots of riding in Canada but this is our first bike trip. The hotels (Hotel Fernando 111, Parador Carson’s, Hotel Andalou, Parados Arcos de la Frontera, Hotel Villa Jerez, Parador Cadiz) were excellent, there was a nice mix of different biking routes/paths, some more challenging than others (because of the heat) and our luggage arrived at the hotels safely and promptly. Everything went as planned except on the last day of our ride, from Jerez to Cadiz, where the directions and roads in the guide book did not match the GPS . We got lost a few times as the directions were very confusing! We gave up when we got lost in San Fernando and decided to hop on the train for the last 10km of our journey.
Some suggestions :
*Better and bigger GPS
*Rewrite the instructions from Jerez to Cadiz
* more communication as there was no communication at all the minute we started the trip and nothing after the trip either.- What was the date of your tour?
- June 2023
- How many tours have you completed?
- None
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- As expected
- Do you recommend this tour?
- Yes
- Countries included in this tour?
- Spain
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★★★★★ Maryam September 9, 2018Basque 2018
· Basque Country: Bilbao to San Sebastián via Olite
This was an organized tour but its was not balanced, most people had e-bikes and the level of ride was not comparable. The routes and difficulties were not explained well and underestimated. There was a day that we were biking on shoveled road for over 30 Km' s and it was not even mentioned prior to the ride.
- What was the date of your tour?
- August 25th 2018
- How many tours have you completed?
- 6
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- Somewhat harder
- Who is this tour suitable for?
- Solo travelers
- Do you recommend this tour?
- Yes
- Countries included in this tour?
- Spain
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★★★★★ Bullet November 6, 2017BRAG el Camino Trip sept. 207
· Camino de Santiago: From León to Santiago
- What was the date of your tour?
- 7/16-23/17
- How many tours have you completed?
- 10+
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- Somewhat harder
- Who is this tour suitable for?
- Solo travelers, First-time bike tourists
- Do you recommend this tour?
- Yes
- Countries included in this tour?
- Spain
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★★★★★ Sagan September 29, 2016
Follow along the path to glorious Santiago de Compostela
· Camino de Santiago: A Pilgrim’s Route From Astorga to Santiago
Started the trip in Astorga, we arrived on market day (Tuesday) so all the squares were packed with people and stalls.
Everyday our bags were picked up between 830 - 9am.
The Road book resetting of bike computers were invaluable and really easy to use.
This tour had more climbs than expected and on some days there were very steep and very long ascents.
Downhills were challenging too. We had trained but do not live somewhere with the same terrain. By day three you were used to it.
You are always on the road most road users are respectful to cyclists leaving plenty of room. The worst traffic was going into Santiago but only for 10Km
All hotels were easy to fiind and overall everyone was friendly. Best place was El Capricho de Josana in Las Herrerias the food was amazing.
I would recommend getting your Pilgrim passport and collecting stamps along the way a great souvenir to have and you can collect your certificate in Santiago.
Arriving in Santiago felt great and a real sense of achievement that we were not expecting.- What was the date of your tour?
- 6th Sept 2016
- How many tours have you completed?
- 4
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- Somewhat harder
- Who is this tour suitable for?
- Solo travelers
- Do you recommend this tour?
- Yes
- Countries included in this tour?
- Spain
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★★★★★ Fuzzy June 23, 2017
Fantastic Tour
· Camino de Santiago: A Pilgrim’s Route From Astorga to Santiago
Well organized, great accommodation.
Beautiful scenery. Good bikes- What was the date of your tour?
- May 30-June 5/17
- How many tours have you completed?
- 3
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- Somewhat harder
- Who is this tour suitable for?
- Solo travelers, Families with teens
- Do you recommend this tour?
- Yes
- Countries included in this tour?
- Spain
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★★★★★ Jeff August 14, 2017
A great way to experience the Camino
· Camino de Santiago: A Pilgrim’s Route From Astorga to Santiago
Riding bikes is the perfect way to experience the Camino for the person who does not have the months available to walk. Although certainly less physically demanding that walking, biking is not for everyone. It was more difficult than we expected.
- What was the date of your tour?
- August, 2017
- How many tours have you completed?
- 1
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- Somewhat harder
- Do you recommend this tour?
- Yes
- Countries included in this tour?
- Spain
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★★★★★ Jeff ak October 8, 2017
Excellent way to tour Spain
· Camino de Santiago: A Pilgrim’s Route From Astorga to Santiago
So many positives and a few negatives. First the trail was excellent for mountain bikes with a mix of paved roads and dirt trails. Great rolling hills and scenery. Lots of walkers and sometimes we shared trail which could be crowded and sometimes we were on highway. Most people friendly and understood sharing trail with bikes. We were surprised to see hundreds of people a day walking the trail.
Signage was yellow markers/arrows and was excellent. Most of the time we followed them but bike markers were not too good. My major complaint was our maps were not good. They were google type maps that were either too detailed and small that you couldn't read them or too general and broad that you didn't know where to go. We got lost and had to rely on a book with detailed directions comparing it to a general map. That was frustrating especially when the walking trail and bike trail diverged. If in doubt we followed the yellow markers with the walkers but we got onto some really bad hills and had to push bikes. I suggested to the booking company to provide mid level detailed google maps with major landmarks noted on map.
Overall it was a good trip and the hotels were small and generally 3 star. The small towns were interesting and excellent. Booking company Tee Travel was very good and responsive to our bike problems - one bike had no front brakes and they had it repaired and delivered to our hotel. Overall our bikes were very good rental equipment.
I highly recommend someone in your group speaks Spanish as we would have had major problems if no one spoke Spanish. The bikes were delivered to our leon hotel by an employee that only spoke Spanish so he could not answer our English questions. Fortunately we had someone in our group that spoke both languages fluently so she translated questions and answers. Our Spanish translator also helped us with getting directions from locals and ordering food. Most hotel employees spoke adequate English.
Favorite city was ponferrada due to a huge castle. Our favorite hotel was portomarin due to small cabins overlooking a river and vineyards. Also best service and meal was in portomarin where we got all you could eat veal, salad and dessert for $13 euros each.
You should be an intermediate biker since sitting on a bike for 53 K a day is difficult for a week. I was a casual bike rider and paid the price on my rear end.
- What was the date of your tour?
- Oct 1st 2017
- How many tours have you completed?
- First one
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- Somewhat harder
- 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?
- Spain
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★★★★★ Rich Wilkin 7 months ago
Which way to Santiago
· Camino de Santiago: A Pilgrim’s Route From Astorga to Santiago
E-bikes review
3 of the 4 bikes were great, they had13.5 ah batteries. They gave me a different larger bike that had a 11ah battery. Out of the 6 days , ran out of battery power 4 days. Trying to pedal uphill on a dead battery on a E-battery was very difficult and delayed us everyday. Not good, we need compensated for faulty eqyuipment. The other 3 batteries, barely had enough power to last throughout the day. We had to charge at lunch the one 11ah battery and still did not last. Either need larger batteriesHad one flat tire. The tread on this front tire had no tread at all. When we replaced , found that the tube had a repair patch that blew out.
The one white bike had missing chain guard. My right pant leg got all grease marks
Which has to be trashed and thrown awayHotel review -
All hotels were excellent, good rooms, good breakfast, great service. Thank you
Customer service review
We had one person who got hurt on a bike crash the second day and could not continue to bike. Venessa at customer service was excellent in coordinating and getting her to next stop for rest of tour
Other concerns -
We got a gps unit, was useless, did not help one bit, not worth renting
We used phone directions when we got off trackAs directions on flip chart several days got us off track and added many miles to the day. Suggestions to add more landmarks to turns
Will definitely use Biketours.com again
This was first time users, and kinda know now what toexpectThank you Rich, Rosemay, Lisa, Francine
- How many tours have you completed?
- 1
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- As expected
- Who is this tour suitable for?
- First-time bike tourists
- Do you recommend this tour?
- Yes
- Countries included in this tour?
- Spain
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★★★★★ ned75 November 10, 2018
· Cycling Spain’s Land of the Conquistadors
Two small issues. When we arrived at Oropresa (TO) the printed material told us to ring the Paradore to organize a taxi. Unfortunately the reception did not speak English (only in this Paradore) and we could not get an answer (after they hung up they did not answer the phone any more). Good thing that the station master spoke English and gave us the Taxi number whihc is 670841586. We suggest that the tour operator changes his instructions and tells people to ring the taxi directly.
also unfortunately the second day is on a very busy road but the rest is ok
- What was the date of your tour?
- October
- How many tours have you completed?
- three
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- Somewhat harder
- Do you recommend this tour?
- Yes
- Countries included in this tour?
- Spain
