Staff Picks  Bike Tour Reviews (page 11)

  • Castles and Wines of Portugal
    ★★★★★ (3/5) Anne Stanek 7 months ago

    Challenging but interesting tour.

    · Castles and Wines of Portugal

    This was a particularly challenging trip for us as we biked in 92 degree heat every day of the tour. The rides were long, there were many hills and it was extremely dry. Luckily, a couple of us used EV bikes which made a big difference. I think this trip would feel very different with cooler weather. All the folk who we dealt with were so warm, welcoming, helpful, etc. We visited some very cool towns - Evora and Monsaraz were my favorites. We stayed in some lovely hotels - ancient buildings fixed up comfortably with modern conveniences and a working farm. We ate fabulous breakfasts. We stopped at some interesting sites - monoliths, pottery factory, marble quarry were three favorites. It was a good trip despite the challenges.

    What was the date of your tour?
    October 2023
    How many tours have you completed?
    10
    Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
    Somewhat harder
    Do you recommend this tour?
    Yes
    Countries included in this tour?
    Portugal
    • View of the Castle at Arraiolos from our Casa do Platano, our hotel. (photo by Anne Stanek)
    • Wall next to a distillery in a small village. (photo by Anne Stanek)
    • View from our hotel room in Monsaraz - Alqueve Reservoir. (photo by Anne Stanek)
    • Lantana on a dirt road in a small village. (photo by Anne Stanek)
    • Marble quarry in Extremoz (photo by Anne Stanek)
    • Riding the roads amongst cork trees. (photo by Anne Stanek)
    • 4/5 Value
    • 4/5 Included meals
    • 4/5 Bikes + equipment
    • 4/5 Hotels or boat
    • 3/5 Scenery
    • 4/5 Ease of navigation
    • 3/5 Tour documents
    • 5/5 Local tour company services
    • 4/5 Route selection

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  • Tauern Bike Path
    ★★★★★ (2/5) diane g September 18, 2016

    Salzburg to Salzburg has fantastic scenery but directions provided are unbelievably poorly developed

    · Tauern Bike Path (Salzburg-Salzburg)

    Salzburg to Salzburg over 6 days is higher than a level 2. The terrain is hilly. I do not recommend this self guided tour because the german-speaking outfits they contract with provide totally inadequate self-guiding instructions. They do not know what a cue sheet is. They do not provide any directions as to north, south, east, west; they do not provide any street names. AND, the directions in English are very obviously translated very poorly from the German. In addition, there is no way to find your hotel once off the bike path. You have to depend upon good route finding skills for this hotel finding as well as the entire trip. We had this same experience with bike tours.com 7 years ago and thought they might have gotten better at directions. We gave bike tours feedback at that time, and our friends gave feedback on their german-speaking directions on their self-guided tour, and nothing changed. Hence I am writing this review without making a customer complaint becaue I do not believe bike tours will fix this problem. AND, THIS TOUR REQUIRES ONE TO CONSULT 3 SETS OF INSTRUCTIONS THROUGHOUT THE TRIP. 2 sets of friends had exactly the same experience. 2 stars are for getting our luggage to each hotel before we arrived; and the hotels were gracious and accommodating.

    What was the date of your tour?
    September 2016
    How many tours have you completed?
    6
    Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
    Somewhat harder
    Do you recommend this tour?
    No
    Countries included in this tour?
    Austria
    • 3/5 Value
    • 4/5 Included meals
    • 3/5 Bikes + equipment
    • 4/5 Hotels or boat
    • 5/5 Scenery
    • 1/5 Ease of navigation
    • 1/5 Tour documents
    • 1/5 Local tour company services
    • 3/5 Route selection

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