Bike Tour Reviews Vienna To Budapest (Classic)
Self guided from EUR € 899
Self-guided:
Saturdays: Mar 30-Apr 11, Oct 01-Oct 12, 2024; Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays: Apr 12-May 31, Sep 01-Sep 30, 2024; Daily: Jun 01-Aug 31, 2024
Description:
On this bike path you will explore lowland forests, original villages, and magical cities. Of course the 3 metropolises Vienna, Bratislava, and Budapest are the best-known. In Carnuntum and in the Roman castle Kelemantia, you find Roman relics from the…
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★★★★★ DANNY OPACIC 6 months agoTrip to remember
We traveled as a couple (82yrs oldest) and had an enjoyable time. It would have been more enjoyable if the bikes we hired were lighter. The navigation software was excellent. A couple of sections were difficult to negotiate due to strong headwinds, but the rest of the tour required only a moderate effort to complete. Accommodation and associated service were excellent throughout.
We were most impressed with the initial communication with biketours personnel.
- What was the date of your tour?
- 16.09.2023
- How many tours have you completed?
- 2
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- As expected
- Who is this tour suitable for?
- First-time bike tourists
- Do you recommend this tour?
- Yes
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★★★★★ eric dickman 7 months ago
Great Trip
We really enjoyed our self-guided bike trip to Budapest. All the logistics were handled without any hitches. Our luggage was always waiting for us at our hotel each night. The bikes we rented were near new and well tuned and very easy and pleasant to ride. We relied on the Radreise Freunde app for maps and points of interest. Apart from a few bugs in the navigation, it worked great and the EuroVelo 6 was clearly marked.
The only negatives worth noting are that parts of the EuroVelo 6 were not paved which required us to ride on some buys roads which was unpleasant, or ride on gravel paths or even muddy tracks (for short periods). Each town we lodged in was charming in its own way. But there was not much to see in between destinations. So each day it was about biking and getting to our stop. One note to bikers, the EuroVelo from Vienna to Budapest is not shaded. We had a week of very hot weather and the sun was very intense so plan accordingly. Other than that the routes are flat and easy to ride, even with some of the longer distances.
We had once instance, in Gyor, where our hotel was not a "usually contracted hotel" and was 10kms out side of the centrum that required biking through some busy industrial areas and roads to reach our hotel. And we would have had to ride back into Gyor another 10kms the next day to start the ride had we not insisted on the tour operator driving us and our bikes to the start of our ride. Most unfortunate was we did not get enough time to explore Gyor which was the nicest stop on the tour.
The tour coordinators were all very responsive to our needs and helped with any coordination issues we had prior to, and during our tour.
- What was the date of your tour?
- September 2023
- How many tours have you completed?
- 1
- 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
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★★★★★ John 9 months ago
Dream trip!
Cycling is such a great way to travel in this part of the world. It's safe - almost the entire trip happens on protected bike paths, it's flat - suitable for kids, families, and travelers interested in seeing the countryside and towns along the way as they test their fitness on the trail each day. Each day covers between 40-80k of distance and rides through beautiful natural areas, villages, and farmland. Each evening ends in a beautiful town, village, or capital city with tons plenty of sites to see, delicious food to each, or activities to take part in (like the thermal baths in many of the towns along the way). We traveled as a group of six with 2 kids and 4 adults and everyone had a wonderful time. I highly recommend it.
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★★★★★ Donald Zirkelbach 10 months ago
A great family trip - highly recommend
Family of 6 adults. 4 were first timers on a bike vacation. 2 had never been to Europe. Trip was enjoyed by all and went very smoothly. Hotels were good. 2 E bikes and all 6 bikes were in good condition with no issues.
In researching the trip last year, the one thing that came up multiple times were that the trail wasn't always clearly marked and the paper map/ instructions weren't always easy to follow. They have an App now that goes along with the paper instructions. It marks your location to the route. This is the 1st year for the App. I rate it very good. It could be excellent if they made a few mods. Would be happy to share my thoughts on those if they ask.
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★★★★★ Anne Nurse 10 months ago
Easy, fun, and beautiful
We loved this tour. The biking was beautiful and the distances manageable. The tour company was super supportive--they provide paper maps plus an app. Our luggage always arrived on time and the hotels were excellent. In the past we have biked on our own but this was so much easier and it was nice to know that if something went wrong a local person had our back. Highly recommend.
- What was the date of your tour?
- June 2023
- How many tours have you completed?
- Only on our own in the past
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- As expected
- Who is this tour suitable for?
- Families with teens
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★★★★★ Jeff and Sue Ross 10 months ago
Great Adventure Worth Taking
This Self-Guided relatively flat route took us to some amazing places. The App which was included by the local company proved each days GPS Maps on your phone and work flawlessly. With the app, paper maps were not really needed, but helpful to have just in case. We were pleased with the quality of the hotels the local company had us stay in, all within walking distance to sites to see in each town. We wend in early June, which turned out to perfect, the weather was good and flowers in bloom. The route included a combination of paved and gravel trails and a few miles on roads that were not busy. The few roads turned out to be a non-issue.
Our only suggestion to riders, be familiar with Google Maps, download the area to use offline and maybe even pinpoint your hotels in Google maps ahead of time. With ALL tour companies, the GPS Maps and even paper maps do not always take you to your hotel, since in some cases they have multiple hotels they may use in each town. The end of the map rides may be close, but in some of these towns things can get confusing.
Last Added Note:
Our adventure was a combination of 3 separate rides, Innsbruck to Salzburg, Salzburg to Vienna and then Vienna to Budapest. all offered BikeTours.com. We combined all with few rest days in-between, to take in the sites in Innsbruck,Vienna and Budapest, taking 31 days to complete, if you have the time, well worth doing, we would do each of the rides again in a heartbeat.- What was the date of your tour?
- June 2023
- How many tours have you completed?
- We combined 3 bike tours into this one adventure (see review section), These were tours 6, 7 and 8, so 8 in total.
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- As expected
- Who is this tour suitable for?
- First-time bike tourists, Solo travelers, Families with teens, Families with young kids
- Do you recommend this tour?
- Yes
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★★★★★ Michael Beiley 11 months ago
Top quality bike trip
Excellent,. Dedicated bikepaths or other bikepaths along most of the route, app very easy to follow, beautiful scenery, many places to stop along the way, biking all flat and most days biked between 30-40 miles. Hotels were very nice, near bikepath and near city center and restaurants. Rented hybrid bikes were very nice but needed a few adjustments along the way. Bike company picked up and delivered without any glitches. Highly recommend for beginners to intermediate riders.
- What was the date of your tour?
- May/June 2023
- How many tours have you completed?
- 5
- 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
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★★★★★ Gib Egge 11 months ago
Nice, albeit very different, sequel to the Passau-Vienna ride.
We did the Passau-Vienna ride a few years back and wanted to keep going! This ride is a bit different, but still well worth the trip. Days are not difficult. Even the first (longest day) was not a problem for any of us. Flying into Vienna, we had time to settle in before the meeting with the vendor to go over travel documents and receive our bikes. Note that tourist tax is still due at check in, we were notified by this so no surprise. Some had to share a double bed as they didn't have enough two single rooms at the hotel in Vienna even though we requested one. The remainder of the hotels all had our rooms with two beds. Upon receiving or travel documents and bikes, there were a number of issues (bikes too big, squishy front suspension forks, lack of locks, no cycling computer) with the bikes that were addressed and fixed either on-site or in the next 24 hours. Two bikes were a bit too big and the riders used them for the first leg and got their smaller bikes in Bratislava. Apart from that, all 12 of or bikes worked well for the duration of our ride. All hotels met or exceeded expectations. Breakfasts all surpassed the standard continental breakfasts here in the states. We purchased the dinner package as well and all meals were filling and complemented the destination. One of our riders was a vegan and most places were able to deliver him a suitable meal. Only real issue was upon arriving in Bratislava, we were told by our hotel that they didn't have rooms for us, and that the company booked us other rooms elsewhere. I it was a bit of a challenge getting there as it involved bringing bikes up flights of stairs, but the substitute hotel was nice, returned to the overbooked one for our dinner. With the exception of one day, our bags were at the hotel before us. The ride was a bit different each day. Though it doesn't follow the Danube entirely like the Passau-Vienna ride, you do get some time along the river. Most of the towns were what you would expect traveling through the European countryside. A nice church, or castle here or there. Bike trails part of the time, trails that paralleled roads and then roads. Most of the terrain is in good condition with the exception of a section of the bike path before Esztergom which took some time to get through. Few hills or changes in elevation. The busy roads were the chief complaint from the group. Not many during the beginning but the last two days of the ride were a bit stressful for some. If you are comfortable with road riding, you will be fine. Often times, away from the capitals, we encountered clerks, and wait staff that didn't speak any English so have a good translation app or patience to communicate. Most of us liked this we really felt like travelers and not tourists. Navigational materials were excellent. The app that the company provided was helpful with keeping us on trail the whole time, and the printed maps were additionally helpful. I would recommend this ride if you have already done there Passau-Vienna ride and are looking for more. Off to plan the next one! SHOW MORE
- What was the date of your tour?
- May 2023
- How many tours have you completed?
- 2
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- As expected
- Do you recommend this tour?
- Yes
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★★★★★ Al Carruthers November 9, 2022
Directions too vague
The bikes, biking, hotels, food and weather were all good. The route descriptions were too vague. We were given German maps which were no help. We were told they were out of English maps and were not getting them reprinted. Directions were particularly vague when trying to find hotels and how to leave hotels correctly in the mornings.
- What was the date of your tour?
- September 2022
- How many tours have you completed?
- 5
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- As expected
- Who is this tour suitable for?
- Solo travelers, Families with teens
- Do you recommend this tour?
- Yes
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BikeTours.com staff reply from JV November 9, 2022
Thanks for your feedback, Al. Next year the German map language issue will no longer be problem as our new process will prevent this from happening. Cheers and happy cycling!
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★★★★★ Fred Inglis November 7, 2022
The hotels were first class and the staff very helpful. The trip itself was away from the Danube for most of the mileage covered and there were too many rough parts along the trail , i.e. tractor tracks with gravel ruts that were uncomfortable to traverse and longer than comfortable sections of heavily used roads. We took a day of rest in Gyor and this was a very pleasant place to spend time touring on foot. Vienna and Budapest are wonderful cities to explore on foot and via trams also.
Biking is a wonderful way to explore a different country and there were pleasant surprises in a couple of restaurants we came across in small towns along the way.
Unfortunately our maps were in German as they had run out of English versions, which made it more difficult to orient oursenves.- What was the date of your tour?
- September 2022
- How many tours have you completed?
- 9
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- As expected
- Who is this tour suitable for?
- First-time bike tourists, Families with teens
- Do you recommend this tour?
- No
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BikeTours.com staff reply from JV November 9, 2022
Thanks for your feedback, Fred. Next year the German map language issue will no longer be problem as our new process will prevent this from happening. Cheers and happy cycling!
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★★★★★ David Weaver November 7, 2022
Tour de Danue Excellent!!
What a great way to travel. The route was clear, weather was warm, the hotels were very good!! Not too fancy, but all well setup. The luggage was always there. Could not ask for anything else. Not too many other biker from this company on the tour. Oh well, nice not to be crowded.
- What was the date of your tour?
- May 2022
- How many tours have you completed?
- High
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- As expected
- Who is this tour suitable for?
- First-time bike tourists
- Do you recommend this tour?
- Yes
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★★★★★ Carol Dienhart October 5, 2022
Vienna to Budapest sister trip
Tour route was very well laid out, enjoyed overnight cities and accommodations. Disappointed in materials, one important guide not available in English. Made it difficult to chart routes and alternative routes and to plan for landmarks/scenery to watch for along the way.
- What was the date of your tour?
- Sept-Oct 2022
- 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, Families with teens, Families with young kids
- Do you recommend this tour?
- No
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BikeTours.com staff reply from JV October 5, 2022
Thanks for sharing this helpful feedback! We are working on improving the quality of our travel documents. We also recommend using a GPS to ease navigation. Thanks again for sharing, we hope you travel with us again.
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★★★★★ Billy Jackson October 4, 2022
Classic Vienna to Budapest
Trip was wonderful. The scenery got better as the trip went on. Hotels were wonderful and picked for easy in and out of cities. We used their GPS with Kamoot app and their paper turn by turn, we rarely got lost but some the terms were confusing such as; follow the dam, or follow the detour or right at the Y,. They have different meanings based on where you are from. Kirsten was great from Bike Tours and answered all our questions. Talking about a trip to Dolomites next year. Also the pretrip bike meeting was very beneficial. No fault of anyone, but got rained on for 15 minutes on the whole trip, mostly overcast, but great weather otherwise, was good for biking.
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★★★★★ Donna Reyes October 2, 2022
Overall great trip
Bikes were phenomenal, hotels were great. Only complaint was all our paperwork was in German. So then we got online English versions which could not be printed to put in the map holder. AND the new printed materials did not match the route maps. It was very confusing!
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BikeTours.com staff reply from Biketours Admin October 4, 2022
Thanks for your feedback, Donna. The German paperwork issue will be fixed next year as we are making significant changes in this part of our system. Thanks for your business. We hope you will travel with us again.
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★★★★★ Mike Corney September 21, 2022
Vienna - Budapest
I rate the tour over 6 attributes: Terrain, Scenery, Bikes & Equipment, Hotels, Directions / Maps and Cycling Infrastructure over the toute.
Terrain - was as advertised - mostly flat
Scenery - was disappointing. I expected to be cycling along the Danube. For large parts of the route the Danube was nowhere in sight.
Hotels - Hotels and the food that they provided were very good.
Directions / Maps - These left something to be desired. The directions were in English, but the maps were in German. It was often difficult to match up the written directions with the maps. Finding our way into and out of towns and locations of hotels was particularly difficult.
Cycling Infrastructure - This was often poor. The designated route often had us on busy roads. We had to traverse unpaved portions of the route that were often little more than tractor ruts in a field. Paved paths were often in poor condition with many uneven patches and bumps. Very poor.- What was the date of your tour?
- September 2022
- How many tours have you completed?
- 8
- 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?
- No
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BikeTours.com staff reply from jan September 25, 2022
Thanks for the feedback. The directions / maps issue will be fixed in next years version of this tour. Our apologies for that but this year we simply didn't have the time or resources to provide our own branded concise and consistent tour directions. Your route feedback is also very useful and will be carefully reviewed at the end of the season. Thanks for traveling with us as we and the rest of the tourism industry slowly reboot from covid.
