Top Rated Tours Reviews
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★★★★★ Raystrach 2 months ago
Superb Bike Touring
· UNESCO Sites of Albania
This bike tour was a great introduction to Albania and it highlighted the rugged beauty of the country and the warmth and friendliness of the people. The tour had a great balance of challenging terrain and beautiful rolling countryside. If you are not so keen on the challenge, e-bikes are available, so there is no excuse not to take this tour.
Some people questioned why we would go to Albania, fearing we might not be safe, but that was never an issue during the entire tour. We never felt anything but warmth and hospitality from the locals who would often wave and offer support as they drove by in their cars. That was a first.
We selected the guided tour(we normally go self guided) as it included all meals and we are glad we did. The food was great almost without exception and our guide Arjan ensured we got plenty of variety over the duration of the tour. He also managed the group brilliantly, allowing a little freedom in the individual pace of different sub groups, so that everyone could go at their own pace depending on how they felt on the day. We were lucky to have him.
The quality of the accommodation was a little uneven, but that was to be expected when a tour like this takes you to all parts of the country, from major towns to relatively remote provincial areas. All accommodation providers were doing their very best to give us an authentic Albanian experience. We got a good sense of the real Albania.
If you take the decision to take this tour, you will not regret it. It was up there with the best tours we ever done.
- What was the date of your tour?
- October 2023
- How many tours have you completed?
- 12
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- As expected
- Who is this tour suitable for?
- First-time bike tourists, Solo travelers, Families with teens
- Do you recommend this tour?
- Yes
- Countries included in this tour?
- Albania
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BikeTours.com staff reply from bozena_kusovac December 24, 2024
Hi Ray,
Thank you for sharing such a detailed and thoughtful review! We're thrilled to hear that you enjoyed the balance of challenging terrain and beautiful countryside, as well as the warmth and hospitality of the Albanian people. It's wonderful that Arjan and the guided tour experience exceeded your expectations, especially with the variety of food and flexibility in pacing. We’re glad you felt safe and welcomed throughout the journey, and that you embraced the authentic charm of the accommodations. Your feedback truly captures the spirit of this tour—thank you for taking the time to share it!
Bozena
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★★★★★ Carl Kennes 3 months ago
Medieval Spain villages was amazing
· Medieval Villages of Catalonia
Spain is very bike friendly and the bikes/ (and pedal assist e-bikes) were of great quality. The Hotels on this trip were very comfortable and provided nice breakfasts. The rides each day were moderate as described. On the first 3 days , you ride alongside beach views. After that, you do some countryside rides. On every ride and evening there were a bunch of outside cafes to choose from. It was an excellent mix of scenery. Thanks.
- What was the date of your tour?
- Oct 2024
- How many tours have you completed?
- 3
- 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
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★★★★★ Carl Kennes 3 months ago
Medieval Spain villages was amazing
· Medieval Villages of Catalonia
Spain is very bike friendly and the bikes/ (and pedal assist e-bikes) were of great quality. The Hotels on this trip were very comfortable and provided nice breakfasts. The rides each day were moderate as described. On the first 3 days , you ride alongside beach views. After that, you do some countryside rides. On every ride and evening there were a bunch of outside cafes to choose from. It was an excellent mix of scenery. Thanks.
- What was the date of your tour?
- Oct 2024
- How many tours have you completed?
- 3
- 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
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★★★★★ Lori Doering 3 months ago
Incredible experience!
· UNESCO Sites of Albania
Loved exploring Albania on bike! Our guide, Matao, was amazing! He went above and beyond day after day. The Albanian countryside, cities, people and food far exceeded any and all expe.
- Countries included in this tour?
- Albania
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★★★★★ Jack and Denise Gary 3 months ago
The absolute Best Guided bike and barge trip.
· · Metz and Cochem Classic Version
The very best way to see the Mosel , our guides were exceptional, so knowledgeable and caring.
The Iris barge was the best, the rooms were perfect. The crew were like friends on the first day.
The food was really great.
We would recommend this trip to every one.- What was the date of your tour?
- October 12, 2024
- How many tours have you completed?
- I have taken 19 bike tours in Europe
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- As expected
- Who is this tour suitable for?
- First-time bike tourists, Solo travelers, Families with teens
- Do you recommend this tour?
- Yes
- Countries included in this tour?
- France, Germany
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★★★★★ Hung Kang 3 months ago
Land of Castles and Wine
· · Metz and Cochem Premier Version
We went on the bike-boat tour in mid-October towards the end of the boat's sailing season. The weather had been rainy the week before, but the towns and castles on the route were captivating when the sky cleared up. The bike paths in Germany and Luxembourg were wide and easy to navigate with the help of our guides. We enjoyed learning of the interesting history of castles and the Roman introduction of wine growing in the Moselle region. Some of the towns had more tourists than I expected for the time of the year, but the number of tourists subsided in the evenings.
We had a good number of café stops on the bike for rest breaks and rehydration. The delicious meals on board were artfully and expertly prepared by the resident chef and served by a friendly and helpful crew.
Our room was small with 2 single beds on opposite sides of the room and had a small attached bathroom with a shower. We didn't mind the small size much since much of the day was spent on the bike. The beds were comfortable, and the room was made every day by the crew.
We visited many castles, as there seems to be at least 1 for each city we visited. One excursion that we paid extra for was a Wine Experience tour in Bernkastel-Kues, Germany. The tour described the different wines in the Moselle region and provided tasting samples of varieties. The tour included fun novelties such as the mirror room and the social media ready Wine Queen prop.
We enjoyed meeting and riding with the 28 other guests on the boat. Many were experienced bike tourists, and all had a good time sharing their experiences. -
★★★★★ Beth W. 3 months ago
Great experience!
· UNESCO Sites of Albania
This was my first bike tour and time spent in Albania! Overall great experience with a wonderful group. Our guide and driver kept us on point each day to see the beautiful Albanian countryside including mountains and beaches. The food was healthy and good. Several of the routes were on busy roads with narrow shoulders for cyclists. The daily rides were challenging with a lot of rolling hills and climbing. Would be smart to highly consider an e-bike. Albania has a lot of opportunity to welcome tourism post-communism.
- What was the date of your tour?
- October 2022
- How many tours have you completed?
- 1
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- Somewhat harder
- Who is this tour suitable for?
- First-time bike tourists, Solo travelers
- Do you recommend this tour?
- Yes
- Countries included in this tour?
- Albania
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★★★★★ Terry Aittama 3 months ago
Trip of a lifetime!
· UNESCO Sites of Albania
The UNESCO bike trip is definitely ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ for organization, bike route, accommodations, food, guide, and van driver/support. Albania is a beautiful country, still relatively untouched by tourism. Our guide Mateo and van driver Roxjens are the best. Mateo is very organized, communicates clearly about the day’s agenda, and has a good sense of humor. We had a luggage delay and Mateo went above and beyond to get our suitcases to us in the most timely manner possible. Roxjens is helpful, ambitious and always had a smile on his face. He changed my flat tire and had me back on the road in record time! The food is delicious and plentiful. There is a fun variety of accommodations, all very comfortable. Highly recommend this bike tour!
- What was the date of your tour?
- October 2024
- How many tours have you completed?
- My first!
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- As expected
- Who is this tour suitable for?
- First-time bike tourists, Solo travelers
- Do you recommend this tour?
- Yes
- Countries included in this tour?
- Albania
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★★★★★ Siobhan Knox 4 months ago
Best Guided Tour Ever!
· UNESCO Sites of Albania
UNESCO Sites of Albania was the best guided tour I have ever done. Not only did the food and scenery exceed their reputations, the accommodations and bikes were excellent. More importantly, our guide and driver/mechanic were extremely efficient, knowledgeable, helpful, and cheerful—they left us wanting for nothing! I highly recommend it.
- What was the date of your tour?
- October 2024
- How many tours have you completed?
- 13
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- As expected
- Who is this tour suitable for?
- First-time bike tourists, Solo travelers
- Do you recommend this tour?
- Yes
- Countries included in this tour?
- Albania
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★★★★★ Bradford Pickett 4 months ago
A Great bike ride
· UNESCO Sites of Albania
You might add an extra day in the middle of the ride for some R & R. But it was a great bike ride. The end of the tourist season everybody in Albania was a little tired. Or may that is the Albanian way. The hotels were ok we had scratching all night in the country when we stayed at the log cabins.
- Countries included in this tour?
- Albania
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★★★★★ Maureen Lander 4 months ago
Albania is Beautiful!
· UNESCO Sites of Albania
As far as the biking in Albania, I'd give five-star, A-plus all the way. Beautiful scenery, nice roads with twists and turns to keep things interesting. Lots of uphill -- negated by e-bike -- but rewarded with fun, exhilarating downhills that went on forever and ever. Our fellow bikers were the best, interesting, fun people from all over. It was a true experience being in a country that's emerging from decades and decades of communist rule. They have a ways to go, I'd say, as far as customer service/attitude about tourists, but it looks like they're trying.
- Countries included in this tour?
- Albania
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★★★★★ john turco 4 months ago
beyond expectations
· UNESCO Sites of Albania
our guide Mateo and his assistant Rojxan were amazing. Tour was like a fine tuned watch.
- Countries included in this tour?
- Albania
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★★★★★ Carol Keys 4 months ago
Beautiful and varied tour taking in 3 fantastic countries
· Cycling the West Balkan Triangle
This was our first time visiting Croatia, Bosnia & Herzegovina & Montenegro and the tour provided a good flavour of all three countries.
We booked an extra day at the start of the tour to take in the sights of Dubrovnik. This was well worth it, with the highlight being a walk around the city walls in the old town and a boat trip out to Lokrum Island. On the downside, Dubrovnik was very crowded and prices were comparable to the UK. The rest of the tour was mainly in much quieter places, sometimes in the middle of nowhere and prices were very cheap in Montenegro and Bosnia & Herzegovina.
Our hotels varied from fairly basic to very nice but all of them met our needs.
The tour itself did include a few very busy roads which were not ideal but probably unavoidable. However, it did include some lovely stretches along the coastline in Montenegro and the ride in B&H along an old railway line was predominantly traffic free.
We did feel a bit under time pressure a couple of times when we were required to meet the van with our luggage at a border crossing, as it was difficult for us to estimate how long it would take us to get to the rendezvous.
Our only real frustration was with the one Garmin we were given to navigate. This was quite dated, not intuititive to use and didn't seem to recognise some of the new roads. We often found it difficult to get the correct information displayed on the screen at the right time. We had written notes but in places where navigation was tricky, the notes didn't help either.- Countries included in this tour?
- Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro
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★★★★★ Vicki Jones 4 months ago
Awesome trip!
· UNESCO Sites of Albania
Perfect way to experience Albania! The itinerary was a good mix of city and countryside. The scenery was beautiful and the people were super nice. The length of time on the bikes each day was perfect- starting out slow and ending with a bang. We were glad that we got e-bikes. We got a little exercise but able to enjoy every minute. The food was great- always fresh and local. Our guide Mateo was very attentive, informative and helpful. His fluent English made things easy. Roxhens, the van driver
was always attentive, making sure we had plenty of water and charged batteries. This was our first guided bike trip and we highly recommend to anyone wanting to experience Albania!- What was the date of your tour?
- October 2024
- How many tours have you completed?
- 6
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- Somewhat easier
- Who is this tour suitable for?
- First-time bike tourists
- Do you recommend this tour?
- Yes
- Countries included in this tour?
- Albania
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★★★★★ David Hodgson 4 months ago
Great scenery in Alentejo
· Castles and Wines of Portugal
Very nice self-guided tour of the Alentejo region. Very good hotels and itinerary, decent bikes, good support from the tour company. We went in October 2024 and it was a bit wet.
- What was the date of your tour?
- October 2024
- How many tours have you completed?
- 10
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- As expected
- Who is this tour suitable for?
- First-time bike tourists, Solo travelers
- Do you recommend this tour?
- Yes
- Countries included in this tour?
- Portugal
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★★★★★ Constance Cornwell 4 months ago
The beautiful Mosel
· · Metz and Cochem Classic Version
The crew was outstanding, the guides knowledgeable and caring. Had 18 bike riders, split in two groups, which were a good size. A nice mix of biking and sightseeing. Loved every minute!
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★★★★★ David Loukras 4 months ago
Great trip highly recommended
· UNESCO Sites of Albania
What a great way to see Albania. Each day brought new sights, history and great roads. Perfect weather in mid-October. Accommodations were clean and well equipped. Food was nutritious, traditional, plentiful and delicious. Bikes were good for most with a couple of small breakdowns for some. Most were on e-bikes and there was always enough batteries for everyone everyday. Great guiding to ensure everyone knew where to go, but not so much to burden the flow of the ride. Most of the roads were exceptional twisty winding roads with minimal amount of “highway” with truck traffic. Views of the mountains and Ionian Sea were breathtaking. We downloaded the map files provided and uploaded them to Komoot so we always knew where we were and where we were going.
- What was the date of your tour?
- Oct 7 2024
- How many tours have you completed?
- This was my first guided bike tour. I will do more.
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- As expected
- Who is this tour suitable for?
- First-time bike tourists, Solo travelers
- Do you recommend this tour?
- Yes
- Countries included in this tour?
- Albania
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★★★★★ Kathy Dudley 4 months ago
Eye opening tour
· UNESCO Sites of Albania
Biking through Albania was certainly an eye opening experience. Observing the development of the country following so many years of communism was eye opening for us. Riding through villages with donkeys and wheelbarrows onto major highways with tourist buses was quite a juxtaposition. The country is beautiful yet full of trash. The people were warm amd welcoming and made the trip a wonderful experience. Our guide amd driver were fun and efficient. We would recommend better bike repair equipment or back up bikes and a first aid kit. It would be nice to have tours with e-bikes separate from those with manual bikes to decrease the waiting and the pressure of those riding manual bikes to keep up.
- What was the date of your tour?
- October 2024
- How many tours have you completed?
- 4
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- Somewhat harder
- Do you recommend this tour?
- Yes
- Countries included in this tour?
- Albania
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★★★★★ Tom Gihring 4 months ago
Wonderful views riding through this mountainous landscape
· UNESCO Sites of Albania
One of the best value cycle tours to be found. First class meals provided, including fresh prepared local dishes. Guides take good care of the bikes and give daily briefings before each ride. Wish there were more cycle paths to relieve riders from dealing with motor traffic.
- What was the date of your tour?
- September 2024
- How many tours have you completed?
- 8
- 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?
- Albania