Bike & Hotel Tour Reviews page 6
- Albania
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★★★★★ JPeter
History seen
Venice to Florence: From Rialto Across the Sea to Ponte Vecchio
The accommodations were satisfactory to good (hotel in Choggia was wonderful). The trip was as expected and explained in the brochure. For the most part the directions and markers were decent except in Florence. Little to no markers seen and the directions to the parking garage given were incorrect for Florence, frustrating.
- What was the date of your tour?
- 09/17 to 09/23
- How many tours have you completed?
- 2 including this one
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- Much easier
- Who is this tour suitable for?
- Solo travelers, First-time bike tourists
- Do you recommend this tour?
- Yes
- Countries included in this tour?
- Italy
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★★★★★ Kevin Rudd
Could have been better
Sweden’s West Coast: Helsingborg to Gothenburg
The ride was generally good. The route was relatively remote with few points to stop and places along the route to interact with the citizen of the areas visited. Poor preparation of the e-bikes two of the 6 bikes were not at the pick up location and not properly charged. The first day was difficult riding heavy bikes without power. Very disappointing start to our trip.
Hotel accommodations were fair. The opening property was excellent, while the balance were two and three star quality properties. That said, all the people at the hotels and the bike rental location were friendly and helpful. I would have welcomed better hotel locations and would be willing to pay more. Self-guided does not need to be budget.
In general, of the other guided and self-guided rides in Europe this ride was 4th of 4.
- How many tours have you completed?
- 4, 2 guided and 2 self-guided
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- As expected
- Do you recommend this tour?
- No
- Countries included in this tour?
- Sweden
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★★★★★ Karen Metsos
Not the Best
Andalusia: Southern Spain
This was our third bike tour and to be honest we were disappointed in general. While the hotel accomodations and the towns that you slept in were great and places I would visit again, but the overall biking experience was a different story. The bike journey each day was mostly about trying to get to the next town. The experience along the way in terms of where you cycled and the towns you went through was a let down. For example having done the Passau to Vienna cycle a few years back the lunch stops and places to take breaks were amazing, charming, convenient and scenic. This trip didn't offer any of that. The lunch locations were simply a place to rest and keep going. The tour operator in the self guided books didn't offer any recommendations of where to stop for lunch or breaks compared to the previous 2 tours we did (Passau to Vienna and Puglia). On the previous two tours these types of tips and recommendations added extreme value to our trip.
A couple of tips... if you do decide to do this cycle definitely spend the extra 30 euros for the GPS as it will vastly improve the navigation experience as bikes aren't set up to display the guide book and if the tour operator is reading this, having an upgraded room option would be a good idea as the hotels were great as well as the towns. On a couple of the locations we paid extra for an upgraded room upon checkin and it made a difference!- How many tours have you completed?
- 3
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- Somewhat harder
- Do you recommend this tour?
- No
- Countries included in this tour?
- Spain
-
★★★★★ Karen5
Hungary countryside
Vienna to Budapest (Classic)
Fortunately I always have fun. If the group had not taken lunch from breakfast buffet we would have been without food until lunch. Route directions could have bern clearer.
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★★★★★ Kimberly Peterson
Not our best trip
Wild Atlantic Way Cycling
While the country and scenery are spectacular, I would not recommend this trip to the average E bike tourist. Thoughts over all; too much traffic, below average accommodations, weather preparedness has to be considered.
- Countries included in this tour?
- Ireland
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★★★★★ Linda Farnworth
Not impressed with Ave
Prague to Vienna via Cesky Krumlov
The bikes were not good. One day the range of ebike battery barely made it, my chain came off twice, seat kept slipping down, other equipment not great, and worst of all the seats were TERRIBLE.
The ride was nice though with good scenery and a challenging ride.- What was the date of your tour?
- May 18, 2024
- How many tours have you completed?
- 4
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- Somewhat harder
- Do you recommend this tour?
- No
- Countries included in this tour?
- Austria, Czech Republic
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BikeTours.com staff reply from andrea
Thank you for your review. We are sorry that the e-bikes were not up to your expectations and effected your experience. We greatly appreciate all client feedback as it helps us determine how we can improve and provide better services to all of our travelers. Our local partner has since addressed this issue regarding any negative reviews of the e-bikes by switching service providers that deliver the bikes and purchased a new fleet of e-bikes to improve their services aiming to provide the best overall tour experience for their clients. Additionally they has assured us that they will make sure that clients will receive an e-bike in the perfect condition moving forward. Let us know if we can help you in the future, and thank you again for taking the time to evaluate this tour for us.
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★★★★★ Pedals
Great and not so great
Tauern Bike Path (Krimml-Passau)
Having just come off 2 weeks biking in France we had something to compare this trip with.
The first 3 days or so were magic - lovely views, fantastic track surface and finally cool weather. The accommodation was great,especially after we were upgraded twice, and can be recommended.The bike gear was top class but my bike however was not. Euro Velo bike hires have to realise that the standard puffy commuter seat they supply are not comfortable for guys used to proper bike seats - enough said. Also on the second day when I went to use the smallest front chain ring it turned out that 2 of the mounting bolts were missing and it got wrecked so one third of my gears were gone. Managed to get this repaired after a couple of days but wasn't really satisfactory. This should not happen!
The directions and maps hardly ever match up completely on these type of trips but we were certainly not happy to discover at the end of a long hot day that the instructions for the approach to Salzberg were in fact for someone coming from completely the opposite direction - a victim of cut and past to be sure, as was the odd paragraph still in Austrian, but this should have been edited properly. A shame as the general standard of the material presentation was of a high quality.
Be aware if you want to do this trip that the last few days are along the stop bank beside the river and are boring - very little in the way of scenery and culture. Next time we will detour inland.
Sorry but overall a 3 star effort.
Warning - in case you may be considering a taxi ride from Innsbruck to Krimml to start your trip make sure that the driver is legitimate. Ours was a temporary fill in, had not driven out of town for 4 years and was a thoroughly unsafe driver. Much too fast and I suspect maybe on something. He almost ran off the road a number of times and clipped the inside kerb a couple of times . Haven't been so scared in our lives as passengers apart from jeep trips in Nepal and Pakistan. This should not happen in a first world country and if it had been practical solution we would have got out and walked!!
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★★★★★ Marge Anderson
Lots of friendly people
Highlights of the Highlands: Donegal by E-bike
We had beautiful weather. This helped make the trip really nice. We had very nice hosts at our accommodations. Some of the places were much nicer than others. The Brennan B&B was excellent. Other places had some problems like plumbing, but in general the accommodations were fine. We did arrive in one town (Glencolmcille) to find there weren't any restaurants open. We thought this wasn't very good planning on the part of the bike company.
The roads were ok. Some of the roads were a bit busy. Some were very nice country roads. There was a section that was gravel that was a bit tricky. The scenery was lovely.
There were some errors in directions that should be fixed.
I've been on a few other biking trips. This was my least favorite.- What was the date of your tour?
- September 2022
- How many tours have you completed?
- 5
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- As expected
- Do you recommend this tour?
- No
- Countries included in this tour?
- Ireland
-
★★★★★ Josée
Not our dream trip
Vienna to Budapest 5-nights (Active)
We booked the active tour because we did not have time to do the classic. 80-100 km per day were too much, specially when 1 day/4 was 100% rain. We cannot control temperature on a cycling trip, but to cycle 50-60 km in the rain would have been much better than 100km that day. On top of that, our hotel was booked at 130km instead of 100 by mistake. The hotel was nice enough to send a van and a trailer to pick us up. We were soaked!!! Out of 5 hotels, I would consider that 3 nights were more 3.5 stars than 4 and the 2 other nights were 4 to 5 stars. In some small towns, where nobody speak English, it would have nice have more guidance to know where to go to buy the ferry tickets and to know that not all countries use Euros and where to change money for cash only situation. Also, the ferry schedule was not clear, and found out that they take breaks in the morning and can cause a delay.
We were 3 (1 road bike + 2 e-bikes). The roads were rough in some areas with deep puddles of water during the rain. Of course, a flat happened and we struggled to find a pump for the road bike. The pumps that were given to us were for the e-bikes and did not fit. In a small town with no English speaking around, we managed to resolve the situation. Also, the first morning we started the trip, we had to go to a bike store to ask for extra tires in case of a flat. There were not given to us at the beginning. Thank god we went! Having done 2 cycling trips (Portugal and Croatia) in the past year, we found that the Vienna to Budapest was a bit boring. The landscape was not very different from start to beginning and the distances were long in between the little cities we visited.
Minimum information were given to us and it would have been nice to have suggestions for restaurants and more details, etc, etc. We received that info with the other companies we used for the other trips.
A water bottle or a shirt from your company would have been also a nice surprise.
The trip was OK, but can be improved in many ways for the price we paid.
We were happy for the quick response when we had the issue with the hotel at 130km instead of 100
The NH Danube or NH Budapest (We had to change room at 11h00 pm because there was a heating problem that made the room like a sauna and the window handle was broken, so we could not open it….) are more 3 stars hotels. The loft in Bratislava was VERY VERY Nice and the Barok in Gyor was great also. We expected more at the to pass on Esztergom, because we could not come back the next day to visit. I heard that the 30km we missed were worth the views and cycling.
I would recommend the trip to people that did not cycle in Portugal, Croatia and want a flat route.
4 days were a lot concerning the distances, but 6 days would have make it long for the lack of change of scenery. This is my opinion!
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★★★★★ Cathy
Puglia bike tour
Cycling in the Heart of Puglia
We enjoyed this tour but some of the roads were very rough and we were in traffic more than expected. The last two days were very rough roads with a lot of trash on both sides of the roads. Loved Ostuni and Lecce!
- Countries included in this tour?
- Italy
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★★★★★ Larry Cady
Great route but TERRIBLE directions
Innsbruck to Lake Garda Across the Southern Slopes of the Alps
The good things about the Euro Cycle tour were:
1. Very nice route through the Italian Tyrol
2. Generally very nice hotels.
3. Bike were adequate but so-so quality. On other tours I have had better quality bikes.The BAD thing - Directions were very poor. The main problem was there were no turn by turn directions to the hotels. This is standard on other tours. The printed directions routed you into the center of a town and then stopped. You were given the address of the hotel, but not directions on how to get there. Sometimes we were given a map of the town, but not always. We ended up using Google Maps on our phones to get the hotels. In one town (Maran), the hotel was well away from the town center and difficult to find. We spent a lot of time tracking it down.
I would not take a Euro Cycle tour again. Other tour companies you represent are fine and I intend to take more tours - but not with Euro Cycle.
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★★★★★ Rudy Paulich
Italian coast Adventure
Venice to Trieste and Istria
Study maps and cue sheet as early on as possible for a smooth tour.
I was unable to down load gps files as it said my device was to new.
Files and info should be updated so all can download files and pertinent info on trip.
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★★★★★ Ginny50
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
-
★★★★★ JG2017
Lost in Europe: Vienna to Budapest
Vienna to Budapest (Classic)
The English directions were poor. Please insert photos when you say bike bath is hidden and hard to find so we have some idea of what we are looking for. Sometimes we just took the main road since we couldn't find the bike path.
The same goes for bridges and statues. Eg Bratislava ends at the big statue. Which statue? Even at our hotel they didn't know where you meant. We rarely found the exact end point so the next day we also couldn't find the starting point and that put our mileage off for the day.
Also, a bit misleading to show pools as part of a hotel in the hotel booklet and then find when we arrive there is a €15 charge if we want to use them.(Hotel Thermal, Mosonmagyovar) Either include the pools in the price or leave them out of the hotel photo. Also the luggage on our last day arrived long after us, at around 5:00. We want our bags when we get to the hotel since we are hot and sweaty and need a change of clothes for after a shower. It was no fun sitting around waiting for our bags in 37C weather.Having said all that, the scenery was great, especially the fields of sunflowers. Most of the hotel rooms were fine with comfortable beds and excellent breakfasts. The Hotel Forras in Komarom was a real treat with the most amazingly pools and grounds all included. Also don't miss the fort in Komarom. The bikes were sturdy and easy to use. Overall a good trip but could have been better if directions were clearer or more photos inserted. It is stressful getting lost in a country where you don't speak the language.
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★★★★★ nunn
Glad we went
Baltic Capitals: Historic Cities of Vilnius, Riga and Tallinn
We vacillated on taking this tour because of age and stamina. We called Biketour and asked about the tour. They said we could do it. The cycling is not difficult/technical, it is the pace that was difficult. We had to cover 800+ miles between cycling and bus in 9 days. There is a time-line that had to be kept to get us to the each destination. It was not a leisurely pace for us. One of us could not have done the tour if it were not for the guide suggesting to get an e-bike. It saved the trip. The Baltic tour company did a great job with logistics and getting us through the Baltics and the guides were awesome. We enjoyed meeting and making new friends on the tour. It was our first guided tour and took some adjusting on our part. We enjoyed the trip.
- What was the date of your tour?
- 7/31/16
- How many tours have you completed?
- 10
- 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?
- Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania
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★★★★★ Icebiker1
Wine & Bike in Hungary’s Balaton Uplands
- What was the date of your tour?
- 1. week of July
- How many tours have you completed?
- 3
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- As expected
- Do you recommend this tour?
- Yes
- Countries included in this tour?
- Hungary
-
★★★★★ Hutch
Not what was expected.
Aare Cycle Route: Along the Jura, Aare, and Rhine Rivers
This was our 9th bike trip in Europe, previous ratings and reviews of trips had been pretty acurate. But this trip was not what we expected. We might have a different view if we were in our 20s or 30s so any review submitted should be evaluated with that in mind. The trip was very intensive even with ebikes (our first use of ebikes) and only serious cyclists should forego those. There were many large hills and rough surfaces (30-40% gravel). Sporadic beautiful scenery, but not even close to what we have experienced before. Hotels were all clean and about half were really nice, but several were positioned away from main points of interest and the bike route and since the stopover sites were larger cities they were hard to find (maps to hotels were not detailed, thankfully we had google maps). On the positive side, the bike route is signed very well and we had no trouble finding our way between cities. Finding good stops along the route for lunch/coffee/etc was not as easy as we had experienced on previous trips. In short, we would not classify this route as recreational or recommend it as a family trip.
- What was the date of your tour?
- Aug 2019
- How many tours have you completed?
- 11
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- Much harder
- Who is this tour suitable for?
- Solo travelers
- Do you recommend this tour?
- No
- Countries included in this tour?
- Switzerland
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BikeTours.com staff reply from Chloe
Hi Hutch, and thanks for the review. We appreciate your feedback that this tour was tougher and the scenery was different than what you had expected. We hope these details may help inform future clients to make the best decision possible. It seems this tour has intermittently beautiful scenery; we certainly do get spoiled on many tours where it's constantly scenic. We're glad you enjoyed the well-signed bike route and were able to navigate with the assistance of google maps. We're hoping the next one suits you better. Thanks again!
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★★★★★ James Hutcherson
Could have been better
Loire a Velo: Orleans to the Atlantic
This tour was our 12th bicycle tour, but the first in France. Distances were good, weather cooperated, Hotels were excellent. Route was very well sign posted. We found the route much more difficult than we expected. Many hills. The previous reviews and description did not even mention that aspect. These would have not caused much of a problem if we had opted for ebikes, and the vast majority of riders that we encountered did have ebikes. I would disagree that this tour would be labeled as family friendly, unless the family has no kids. One difficulty we had was that there were no intermediate stops for coffee, snacks, lunch, water, etc. I would recommend packing those items from the departure town each day. While the route does generally follow the river, most of the route is not next to the river and it is not visable most of the time. I hope this review does not deter anyone from this tour, since the castles, hotels, food should be enjoyed. Just a little heads-up advice.
- What was the date of your tour?
- September 2022
- How many tours have you completed?
- 12
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- Much harder
- Who is this tour suitable for?
- First-time bike tourists, Solo travelers
- Do you recommend this tour?
- Yes
- Countries included in this tour?
- France
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★★★★★ NoPensionWillTravel
Sunny Cycling in a Very Popular Spot
Algarve Coastal Route
The tour operator provided very responsive and friendly service throughout this trip. The hotels were excellent, being mostly four-star (although we're usually happy with two or three.) We particularly liked the staff at the Hotel Apolo in Vila Real de Santo António. As the description says, this is one of the few places you can cycle warm, sunny weather in Europe in late November! We would caution prospective riders to do their research, though. If, like we, you imagine the Algarve as quaint and quiet - as it may have been in the past - you may be surprised at how built up it has become. We were rarely out of sight of high-rise hotels or flashy marinas. The "fishing villages with Moorish architecture, cobbled lanes, Roman ruins, beaches, lagoons, and inlets" all exist - but there's a lot of development in between, and growing. And this also means traffic and more challenging cycling. When we see a "2" rating, we usually expect we could invite capable non-cyclists, but in this case, the preponderance of busy, sometimes narrow roads, and complex traffic circles made us glad we didn't have newbies with us. So, do your homework - but if you know what to expect, this is a well-run operation with nice bikes and a super GPS route-finder.
- What was the date of your tour?
- November 12, 2018
- How many tours have you completed?
- 7 or 8 (plus club-organized in NA)
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- Somewhat harder
- Who is this tour suitable for?
- Solo travelers
- Do you recommend this tour?
- No
- Countries included in this tour?
- Portugal
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★★★★★ Brendan
Beautiful bike ride but not a good value at the price.
Connemara Lazy Days Cycling
This is a remarkable part of Ireland with an amazing history and a haunting landscape that is quickly changing as this part of Ireland attracts more visitors.
First the good parts: we were a family of six and had a wonderful biking vacation. The people at Connemara Adventure Tours were very helpful and kind. Specific thanks to Conor and Chloe who were so thoughtful as we arrived and set out on our first day. There were no issues with baggage transfers etc.
But here are a few critical things to consider before booking this trip.
1. Clifden is the only true town on this trip and yet only the first and last nights are spent here. If you are looking for music, as an example, it will be difficult (if not impossible) to find at the other destinations. In Clifden there are several pubs with music every night of the week and a much wider selection of eating options.
2. The idea of a Connemara Loop is nice in concept when looking at the map but the B&Bs we experienced were not at all consistent and a couple just seemed cheap considering what we paid. One happy exception was Connemara Country Lodge on our last evening. "Singing Mary", the host, was the epitome of Irish hospitality.
3. At €900 ($1000) this is not an inexpensive trip for six people. But if I had friends wanting to repeat this trip, I would suggest they find a good bike rental in Clifden (€100/week per person). Get a nicer B&B or house rental in Clifden and stay put and bike north and south from there. And then work with a local guide to plan daily loops that align with the ability and interest of your group. It would also be easier to manage the weather issue since this part of Ireland is often cloudy and wet.
4. The maps and assistance by Conor on routes and restaurants along the way were very helpful. But the condition of the bikes were just average. And when they charged for panniers and "souvenir" water bottles as we prepared to leave, I felt nickel and dimed. Note to Connemara: when a family pays more than $6k for a week of cycling, kick in the panniers and water bottles or price accordingly so basics are not being charged. Grrrr.
Our family biked through Normandy earlier in the summer and the bikes and hotels were far better for a minor increase in cost. The lesson for me is that our next bike tour will be direct with a local operator so costs, routes, equipment and expectations about hotels and restaurants are better aligned.
- What was the date of your tour?
- July 3 - 9
- How many tours have you completed?
- +10
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- As expected
- Who is this tour suitable for?
- Solo travelers, First-time bike tourists
- Do you recommend this tour?
- No
- Countries included in this tour?
- Ireland
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