Spain  Bike Tour Reviews (page 2)

  • Medieval Villages of Catalonia
    (5/5) Bruce K August 23, 2017

    Terrific all the way around

    · Medieval Villages of Catalonia

    Wonderful trip. The routes were well-planned and suitable for a group of six with differing levels of biking experience. The scenery was spectacular. With the garmins, following the route paths was easy. Being able to stay two nights at each hotel (all first-class) was great, giving us a feel for the places we were staying in, and the loop routes on alternating days meant we experienced something new each day, too. Lucy, the Creative Catalonia founder, was enormously helpful and easy to work with. I can't say enough about how great a time we had. I would highly recommend this trip to anyone.

    What was the date of your tour?
    5/29/2017 - 6/5/2017
    How many tours have you completed?
    1
    Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
    Somewhat easier
    Who is this tour suitable for?
    Solo travelers, First-time bike tourists
    Do you recommend this tour?
    Yes
    Countries included in this tour?
    Spain
    • 5/5 Value
    • 5/5 Included meals
    • 5/5 Bikes + equipment
    • 5/5 Hotels or boat
    • 5/5 Scenery
    • 5/5 Ease of navigation
    • 5/5 Tour documents
    • 5/5 Local tour company services
    • 5/5 Route selection
  • (4/5) Oscar September 9, 2017

    Very interesting sights, routes could be better planned/guided

    · Medieval Villages of Catalonia

    The medieval villages of Catalonia are certainly worth the visit. Beautiful and well maintained and inhabited villages, and of course the starting point in Girona old city - really beautiful places. In addition, for history lovers there are three interesting archaeological sites of ancient Iberian towns/villages on the road.
    On the downside are some difficulties with cycling itself. If this tour had difficulty 1-2 on the scale 1-5, I wonder what categories 3-4 are. A very big part of the routes were "dirty roads", which as best meant steady sand roads, but as well at some places really rocky roads or soft sand. And the navigation... The Catalonian way of marking cycle routes left at quite many points room for improvement, especially those tiny little signs. But also the maps provided (piles of A4 paper sheets) meant that far too much of energy was spent on navigation instead of enjoying the cycling.
    Equipment, service, accomodation: excellent.

    What was the date of your tour?
    September 2017
    How many tours have you completed?
    2
    Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
    As expected
    Who is this tour suitable for?
    Solo travelers
    Do you recommend this tour?
    Yes
    Countries included in this tour?
    Spain
    • Beautiful Costa Brava (photo by Oscar)
    • Monells' arcs (photo by Oscar)
    • Riuades sobtades (photo by Oscar)
    • BikeTours.com staff reply from Jim Johnson, Founder and president September 10, 2017

      Dear Oscar,

      Thank you for your valuable feedback, which we will pass along to the local tour company that operates the tour. In the meantime, we will also update the "Surface and terrain" information to reflect your comments.

    • 3/5 Value
    • 4/5 Bikes + equipment
    • 5/5 Hotels or boat
    • 5/5 Scenery
    • 2/5 Ease of navigation
    • 3/5 Tour documents
    • 4/5 Local tour company services
    • 3/5 Route selection
  • (5/5) Bonita September 16, 2017

    This Tour went beyond our expectations!

    · Medieval Villages of Catalonia

    What was the date of your tour?
    September 2017
    How many tours have you completed?
    2
    Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
    As expected
    Do you recommend this tour?
    Yes
    Countries included in this tour?
    Spain
    • 5/5 Value
    • 4/5 Included meals
    • 5/5 Bikes + equipment
    • 4/5 Hotels or boat
    • 5/5 Scenery
    • 5/5 Ease of navigation
    • 5/5 Tour documents
    • 5/5 Local tour company services
    • 5/5 Route selection
    • 5/5 Guides (if applicable)
  • Majorca
    (4/5) Bill12345 September 18, 2017

    Loop tour mallorca

    · Majorca: A Loop Tour of the Beautiful Balearic Island

    The trip was fantastic, Euro Bike were alway available. The hotels were all 4 star. Every town we stayed in had points of interest. I have done a lot of biking in Europe & would use Euro Bike again. Only thing I would change is the option to be billed in Euros on my visa without a visa sèvice fee, other companies do this.

    What was the date of your tour?
    Sept 10-17
    How many tours have you completed?
    8
    Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
    As expected
    Who is this tour suitable for?
    Solo travelers, First-time bike tourists
    Do you recommend this tour?
    Yes
    Countries included in this tour?
    Spain
    • 5/5 Value
    • 5/5 Included meals
    • 5/5 Bikes + equipment
    • 5/5 Hotels or boat
    • 5/5 Scenery
    • 5/5 Ease of navigation
    • 5/5 Tour documents
    • 5/5 Local tour company services
    • 5/5 Route selection
  • Cycling Spain's Ebro River
    (5/5) Jane B September 19, 2017

    Beautiful countryside in Northern Spain!

    · Cycling Spain's Ebro River

    We thoroughly enjoyed this tour through the countryside along the Ebro River -- the terrain varied from the hills at the river's source, through beautiful canyons and into the broad valleys of the Rioja. The hotels were wonderful, with hosts who were friendly, helpful and provided great dinners. Our bikes were in perfect condition. Overall, this trip exceeded our expectations. This is Northern Spain, so more clouds likely, but it only actually rained one day of the ride. Morning cool and clouds turned to afternoon sun and warmth. Perfect biking weather.

    What was the date of your tour?
    Sept. 3-10
    How many tours have you completed?
    3
    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?
    Spain
    • 5/5 Value
    • 5/5 Included meals
    • 5/5 Bikes + equipment
    • 4/5 Hotels or boat
    • 5/5 Scenery
    • 5/5 Ease of navigation
    • 4/5 Tour documents
    • 5/5 Local tour company services
    • 5/5 Route selection
  • Medieval Villages of Catalonia
    (5/5) bikebuddies September 20, 2017

    Muy Bueno!

    · Medieval Villages of Catalonia

    A great way to see and experience this area of Spain. The hotels were very nice to exceptional; especially the Hotel Los Arcs in Monells with its very gracious host/owner family and wonderful food. The maps and Garmin GPS made route finding almost flawless and the tour operators (Lucy and Daniel ) checked in with us during the week to see how things were going and if we needed anything. Don't miss seeing the Botanical Gardens midway through the trip on one of the loop rides; it is very well worth a visit. We have done over a dozen self-guided bike tours in Europe and this is one of the best organized and planned.

    What was the date of your tour?
    Sept 11-16, 2017
    How many tours have you completed?
    13
    Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
    As expected
    Who is this tour suitable for?
    Solo travelers
    Do you recommend this tour?
    Yes
    Countries included in this tour?
    Spain
    • 5/5 Value
    • 4/5 Bikes + equipment
    • 5/5 Hotels or boat
    • 4/5 Scenery
    • 5/5 Ease of navigation
    • 5/5 Tour documents
    • 5/5 Local tour company services
    • 5/5 Route selection
  • Camino de Santiago
    (4/5) Silvia September 24, 2017

    Very 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.

    What was the date of your tour?
    September 16 to 22,2017
    How many tours have you completed?
    4
    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?
    Portugal, Spain
    • 4/5 Value
    • 2/5 Included meals
    • 5/5 Bikes + equipment
    • 4/5 Hotels or boat
    • 4/5 Scenery
    • 4/5 Ease of navigation
    • 3/5 Tour documents
    • 5/5 Local tour company services
    • 4/5 Route selection
    • 5/5 Guides (if applicable)
  • Medieval Villages of Catalonia
    (5/5) Bonita September 25, 2017

    Great scenery, great food & good biking trails

    · Medieval Villages of Catalonia

    Our guide, Daniel with Creative Catalonia, was always aware of our safety. He was knowledgeable about the things we were seeing. If he didn't know the answer to questions, we'd often receive an email that evening containing an answer. We got to see some amazing sites. The hotels were very nice & resturants we were directed to were usually really good. He made sure that our bikes were all in good, working condition.

    What was the date of your tour?
    September 2017
    How many tours have you completed?
    2
    Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
    As expected
    Who is this tour suitable for?
    Solo travelers
    Do you recommend this tour?
    Yes
    Countries included in this tour?
    Spain
    • BikeTours.com staff reply from Jim Johnson, founder and president September 26, 2017

      Thank you for your review and ratings! Daniel is great, as is the Creative Catalonia organization. I'm glad you were able to have such a positive experience with them.

    • 5/5 Value
    • 5/5 Included meals
    • 5/5 Bikes + equipment
    • 5/5 Hotels or boat
    • 5/5 Scenery
    • 5/5 Ease of navigation
    • 4/5 Tour documents
    • 5/5 Local tour company services
    • 5/5 Route selection
    • 5/5 Guides (if applicable)
  • Best of Catalonia Cycle Touring
    (5/5) Rosie September 26, 2017

    One of the best researched and organized tours I've ever been on

    · Best of Catalonia Cycle Touring

    Creative Catalonia selected absolutely the best routes through beautiful countryside and seaside scenery as well as taking one through picturesque villages and selecting really great hotels in interesting cities and villages. We had a great variety of scenery and experiences. Additionally their equipment was great and their maps and instructions were very clear. Their assessments of distances and difficulty were right on and they kept us on small farm roads or streets with very few cars as much as possible. They also provided one garmen for every group that had the route programmed into it. It was impossible to get lost. They were also helpful with he small changes we wanted to make and had great suggestions for restaurants and other experiences along the way.

    This is an exceptional outfitter.

    Rosemary Heil
    fall 2017

    What was the date of your tour?
    September 2017
    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, Families with teens
    Do you recommend this tour?
    Yes
    Countries included in this tour?
    Spain
    • BikeTours.com staff reply from Jim Johnson, Founder and president September 27, 2017

      Thank you for the great review, Rosemary! We love the "superlatives!" We agree that Creative Catalonia is among the best of the best--absolutely exceptional.

    • 5/5 Value
    • 5/5 Included meals
    • 5/5 Bikes + equipment
    • 5/5 Hotels or boat
    • 5/5 Scenery
    • 5/5 Ease of navigation
    • 5/5 Tour documents
    • 5/5 Local tour company services
    • 5/5 Route selection
  • (5/5) Anne52 October 2, 2017

    An idyllic, romantic and gorgeous bike trip!

    · Best of Catalonia Cycle Touring

    This was our first self guided bike trip and what a lucky choice it was! Daniel and Lucy of Creative Catalonia are a dynamic couple who were so personable and helpful. They have organized a fascinating and beautiful bike trip. We were amazed at the often paved bike paths that wound through gorgeous country side, from the mountains to the sea. The places we stayed were super, we were often alone on the paths, the side trips were interesting, the restaurant recommendations were outstanding... We can't rave enough about this outstanding bike tour.

    What was the date of your tour?
    September 14 - 21, 2016
    How many tours have you completed?
    This was our first.
    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?
    Yes
    Countries included in this tour?
    Spain
    • 5/5 Value
    • 4/5 Included meals
    • 5/5 Bikes + equipment
    • 5/5 Hotels or boat
    • 5/5 Scenery
    • 4/5 Ease of navigation
    • 5/5 Tour documents
    • 5/5 Local tour company services
    • 5/5 Route selection
  • (5/5) george October 3, 2017

    Surprisingly luxurious biking

    · Best of Catalonia Cycle Touring

    the biking was largely on old railroad right of ways or farm roads. the sections on paved roads were nearly deserted of traffic. The Costa Brava was gorgeous. Lots of medieval stone hilltop towns. The hotels were just fabulous. Great lunches and dinners for relatively little money. A side trip to the Dali museum.

    What was the date of your tour?
    mid-September
    How many tours have you completed?
    1
    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?
    Spain
    • 5/5 Value
    • 5/5 Bikes + equipment
    • 5/5 Hotels or boat
    • 5/5 Scenery
    • 5/5 Ease of navigation
    • 4/5 Tour documents
    • 5/5 Local tour company services
    • 5/5 Route selection
  • Camino de Santiago: A Pilgrim’s Route
    (4/5) 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
    • BikeTours.com staff reply from Brittany October 9, 2017

      We're happy to hear you had a great time overall! Thanks very much for letting us know about the maps. We'll speak with our local operator partner about upgrading the maps for future clients.

    • 5/5 Value
    • 4/5 Included meals
    • 4/5 Bikes + equipment
    • 4/5 Hotels or boat
    • 5/5 Scenery
    • 2/5 Ease of navigation
    • 4/5 Tour documents
    • 5/5 Local tour company services
    • 4/5 Route selection
  • Majorca
    (4/5) Gelc October 15, 2017

    Majorka loop tour

    · Majorca: A Loop Tour of the Beautiful Balearic Island

    What was the date of your tour?
    Oct 1 2017
    How many tours have you completed?
    4
    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?
    Yes
    Countries included in this tour?
    Spain
    • 4/5 Value
    • 4/5 Included meals
    • 2/5 Bikes + equipment
    • 5/5 Hotels or boat
    • 4/5 Scenery
    • 4/5 Ease of navigation
    • 4/5 Tour documents
    • 3/5 Local tour company services
    • 5/5 Route selection
  • (4/5) From Canada October 15, 2017

    Great trip.

    · Majorca: A Loop Tour of the Beautiful Balearic Island

    This was our first self guided tour. Almost everything was perfect. There are a couple of suggestions that may make the trip even better. Even though this was a self guided tour there were other people who were doing the tour at the same time. We saw them here and there but did not get to meet them and talk to them until 5th day at the luncheon. It would have been nice to have that lunch earlier so we could meet and interact sooner. We missed out on potential good friendship and interaction with others.
    The WiFi service was poor in most places. I use it regularly to stay in touch with family back home. The last place we stayed gave us individual wifi codes and it worked great.
    We would have loved to stay two nights at the Port de Soller instead of Can Picafort. That was the most beautiful area and we just did not have enough time to explore the area.
    The food was hit and miss but OK overall.
    I would suggest finding small restaurants with daily special menu for lunches. We had our best food on our trip in a little town in a very small restaurant.
    We will definitely do this kind of trips again.

    What was the date of your tour?
    Sep 29th
    How many tours have you completed?
    two
    Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
    As expected
    Who is this tour suitable for?
    First-time bike tourists, Families with teens
    Do you recommend this tour?
    Yes
    Countries included in this tour?
    Spain
    • 5/5 Value
    • 3/5 Included meals
    • 4/5 Bikes + equipment
    • 4/5 Hotels or boat
    • 5/5 Scenery
    • 4/5 Ease of navigation
    • 4/5 Tour documents
    • 5/5 Local tour company services
    • 5/5 Route selection
  • Medieval Villages of Catalonia
    (4/5) Cowboybob October 17, 2017

    Off-Road Adventure

    · Medieval Villages of Catalonia

    My first tour with Creative Catalonia tours, and I would consider another. I was with a group of eight friends, one who managed the Garmin about 90% of the daily routes were on off-roadway, gravel trails through beautiful countryside. Staying on route required close reading of the route maps at times. The villages toured are amazing for their age and charm. Plenty of great cafes and restaurants along the way. The arranged hotel lodging was very good.

    What was the date of your tour?
    October 6, 2017
    How many tours have you completed?
    4
    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?
    Yes
    Countries included in this tour?
    Spain
    • 3/5 Value
    • 4/5 Included meals
    • 5/5 Bikes + equipment
    • 4/5 Hotels or boat
    • 5/5 Scenery
    • 2/5 Ease of navigation
    • 4/5 Tour documents
    • 5/5 Local tour company services
    • 4/5 Route selection
  • Camino de Santiago
    (4/5) Cari October 21, 2017
    · Camino de Santiago: From Porto to Santiago de Compostela

    What was the date of your tour?
    October 7, 2016 - October 13, 2017
    How many tours have you completed?
    6
    Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
    Much harder
    Who is this tour suitable for?
    Solo travelers
    Do you recommend this tour?
    Yes
    Countries included in this tour?
    Portugal, Spain
    • 3/5 Value
    • 3/5 Included meals
    • 2/5 Bikes + equipment
    • 5/5 Hotels or boat
    • 5/5 Scenery
    • 5/5 Ease of navigation
    • 5/5 Tour documents
    • 3/5 Local tour company services
    • 4/5 Route selection