Switzerland  Bike Tour Reviews (page 12)

  • Rhône River Route
    (3/5) ArmannI September 17, 2018

    Nice mountain view

    · Rhône 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
    • 3/5 Value
    • 1/5 Included meals
    • 3/5 Bikes + equipment
    • 2/5 Hotels or boat
    • 3/5 Scenery
    • 4/5 Ease of navigation
    • 1/5 Tour documents
    • 1/5 Local tour company services
    • 3/5 Route selection
  • Lake Constance Bike Path
    (3/5) pmr52 July 11, 2019
    · Lake Constance Bicycle Path (Upscale Lodging)

    What was the date of your tour?
    24 june - 1 july
    How many tours have you completed?
    7
    Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
    As expected
    Do you recommend this tour?
    No
    Countries included in this tour?
    Austria, Germany, Switzerland
    • 3/5 Value
    • 4/5 Included meals
    • 1/5 Bikes + equipment
    • 3/5 Hotels or boat
    • 5/5 Scenery
    • 1/5 Ease of navigation
    • 1/5 Tour documents
    • 4/5 Route selection
  • (3/5) Mychelle October 29, 2019

    Do Your Research

    · Lake Constance Bicycle Path (Upscale Lodging)

    My husband and I did the Lake Constance Self Guided bike tour. When we arrived at our hotel we dropped off our bags and we took a taxi to the bike company to pick up our bikes (per our instructions). We were greeted by a man that spoke only German. The maps and instruction he gave us were not clear (some of them were in German as well). The monitor on the bike was not in English (he got a translator over the phone to help him change it). I had upload the suggested Bike app on my phone ahead of time with the trail map but it would not work once we arrived. The first 24 hours of our trip did not go smooth (prior to our ride). I ended up going to the Visitor's Center in town and found someone that spoke English to walk me through the route. I got a much better trail map from them as well. Once we got through the hump of what we felt was very poor planning on the part of this company everything else went well. The hotels were wonderful, the bike trail was breathtaking, the weather was mostly sunny (a little rain) and the trail is well marked. I emailed this company during our trip to let them know about our problems and they were little help.

    What was the date of your tour?
    June 2019
    How many tours have you completed?
    2
    Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
    As expected
    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?
    Austria, Germany, Switzerland
    • 4/5 Value
    • 4/5 Included meals
    • 5/5 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
    • 5/5 Route selection
  • (3/5) William McGill II August 3, 2022

    Lake Constance Up Scale Lodging- +’s and -‘s

    · Lake Constance Bicycle Path (Upscale Lodging)

    We enjoyed the scenery, weather, bikes and the people we met on the trail. The local bike company provided maps and directions were lacking organization, accuracy and specific detail for our trip. As an example they did not include directions to the route from the starting hotel nor to the ending hotel. One of the “upscale”hotels was far from the lake in an area with undeveloped, unkempt grass like a vacant lot. Only after painful and time consuming negotiation did the local bike company agree to deliver the bikes to our starting hotel. We previously took a Danube and Mosel upscale lodging bike tours and received great customer service from the local bike companies. I recommend that until the local company selling this tour significantly improves its customer service Bike Tours stop selling this tour.

    Countries included in this tour?
    Austria, Germany, Switzerland
  • Lake Constance Bike Path
    (3/5) Canada November 4, 2015

    A 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
    • 3/5 Value
    • 3/5 Bikes + equipment
    • 3/5 Hotels or boat
    • 3/5 Scenery
    • 4/5 Ease of navigation
    • 3/5 Tour documents
    • 4/5 Local tour company services
    • 4/5 Route selection
  • (3/5) Ginny50 June 8, 2016

    A Challenging and Rainy Ride

    · Lake Constance Bicycle Path

    This was a good tour and we enjoyed the adventure, but I can honestly say I would not recommend it to a beginner. Many of the reviews said this was a good ride for beginners. My husband and I started riding 2 years ago so we are slow but steady riders. We rode the Danube path (Passau to Vienna) last year with no problems so this one sounded like a good tour for us.
    We booked this ride based on the level 2 status and the few reviews we saw. In my opinion it is more of a level 3-4. The gently rolling hills were very steep on the first 2 days. It would have been easier with an e-bike but for beginners it was almost impossible with a regular bike. Most of the time the paths were paved but several sections were packed “gravel.” These paths were well maintained and easy, but often a bumpy ride. The biggest problem was these paths were not much more than 2 feet wide so if you are a slow rider you tend to collect 30 faster bikers behind you with no way to pass.
    The Lake Constance cycle route is one of the most popular bicycle routes in Europe.
    This just about sums it up - the most popular path in Europe. It was over-crowed almost to the point of being dangerous in many sections. We wondered about the high level of bike traffic during the month of May, until we were enlightened that we were enjoying “Pentecost Holidays” with the throngs of locals.
    The bikes provided by the company were wonderful. I highly recommend this tour company/bike shop and crew. My husband was not happy with his first bike and they quickly swapped it out with no question.
    When we received our tour documents we noticed one day stated that the ride was 35miles/55km. Most of those miles were on a shared road with cars - Not a dedicated bike path. Cars whizzing past you on a busy road is not fun for us. That day our bikes took a train ride! FYI - When I asked one of the tour guides if many people ditched this ride mid-way he did say that quite a few riders just gave up. I can see why!
    Each hotel was fabulous. The rooms were lovely and the food excellent.
    We really did enjoy this trip and we pushed ourselves more than we ever thought we could. We had 2 good days of seeing the lake and views, but missed seeing the beautiful scenery because of the incessant rain and many detours. Better rain gear will be on our wish list before we ride again. It was a challenge that we were proud to complete.

    What was the date of your tour?
    May, 2016
    How many tours have you completed?
    3
    Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
    Much harder
    Do you recommend this tour?
    Yes
    Countries included in this tour?
    Austria, Germany, Switzerland
    • 4/5 Value
    • 5/5 Included meals
    • 5/5 Bikes + equipment
    • 5/5 Hotels or boat
    • 3/5 Scenery
    • 3/5 Ease of navigation
    • 3/5 Tour documents
    • 4/5 Local tour company services
    • 3/5 Route selection
  • (3/5) Horned Frog June 4, 2019

    Fun time... but

    · Lake Constance Bicycle Path

    I enjoyed the tour a great deal, but the route instructions were sketchy at best, and the bike weighed only slightly less than a Sherman tank.... which would not have been much of a problem except that the route had more hills than expected. The hotels selected were all very nice.

    What was the date of your tour?
    21 May
    How many tours have you completed?
    4
    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?
    Austria, Germany, Switzerland
    • 5/5 Value
    • 2/5 Bikes + equipment
    • 4/5 Hotels or boat
    • 4/5 Scenery
    • 2/5 Ease of navigation
    • 3/5 Tour documents
    • 3/5 Local tour company services
    • 3/5 Route selection
  • (3/5) joe eberly July 1, 2024

    Nice Ride

    · Lake Constance Bicycle Path

    This is a very easy ride with mostly flat land around a beautiful lake. We had e-bikes which made it very easy. Hotels all very nice, but no AC for hot weather. June can be risky with the weather. We had two days of five with steady rain. This is our 3rd trip with Bikes.com and was my lest favorite. We never met our local tour operator, even when we picked up our bikes. There was substantial flooding due to heavy rains and some road construction that we didn't know about until we came to it. It was at that time we had to figure an alternate route. A little heads up would have save a lot confusion, especially during our rainy days. On previous trips, the tour operator spent time going over the route with areas we needed to pay attention to. The fact that none of us spoke German didn't help in trying to understand road signs. The route is well marked but makings change from country to country, so pay attention.

    What was the date of your tour?
    Mid-June 2024
    How many tours have you completed?
    3
    Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
    Somewhat easier
    Who is this tour suitable for?
    First-time bike tourists, Families with teens
    Do you recommend this tour?
    Yes
    Countries included in this tour?
    Austria, Germany, Switzerland
    • 4/5 Value
    • 5/5 Included meals
    • 5/5 Bikes + equipment
    • 4/5 Hotels or boat
    • 5/5 Scenery
    • 3/5 Ease of navigation
    • 3/5 Tour documents
    • 1/5 Local tour company services
    • 4/5 Route selection
  • Three Lakes Tour
    (2/5) shea214 November 13, 2016

    too much is too much

    · Three Lakes Tour: From Geneva to Annecy

    This tour is quite lovely, but not at the level we expected. This is our 8th tour so we feel we get them by now. We like the unguided aspect, but they completely outsourced the work of actual directions to a machine. It is not an adequate substitution. The machine added at least 15 miles on the first day and was most frustrating. Please, give us actual directions AND MAPS. A silly little device is certainly helpful but should not be a substitute. And the distance and hills were definitely not Medium. This was proven out the first night by the guy who biked to the hotel (he likes extreme and he thought it was tough).

    What was the date of your tour?
    Sept2016
    How many tours have you completed?
    8
    Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
    Somewhat harder
    Do you recommend this tour?
    No
    Countries included in this tour?
    France, Switzerland
    • 4/5 Value
    • 4/5 Included meals
    • 4/5 Bikes + equipment
    • 4/5 Hotels or boat
    • 4/5 Scenery
    • 2/5 Ease of navigation
    • 1/5 Tour documents
    • 3/5 Local tour company services
    • 3/5 Route selection
  • Aare Cycle Route
    (2/5) John Parsons December 7, 2015

    Can't recommend it

    · Aare Cycle Route: Along the Jura, Aare, and Rhine Rivers

    Food organization poor. Rhine River portion very industrial

    How many tours have you completed?
    1
    Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
    Somewhat harder
    Do you recommend this tour?
    No
    Countries included in this tour?
    Switzerland
    • 1/5 Value
    • 3/5 Included meals
    • 5/5 Bikes + equipment
    • 2/5 Hotels or boat
    • 2/5 Scenery
    • 2/5 Ease of navigation
    • 2/5 Tour documents
    • 4/5 Local tour company services
    • 2/5 Route selection