Bike & Hotel Tour Reviews page 8
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★★★★★ MarcieB
Cycling and Coach Travel through Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia
Baltic Capitals: Historic Cities of Vilnius, Riga and Tallinn
Our tour consisted of 25 cyclists and 2 guides plus coach driver (1 English-speaking guide and 1 German-speaking guide). Over a period of 11 days and 10 nights our group experienced a series of amazing adventures that included walking tours of each capital (Vilnius, Riga and Tallinn), biking through rolling hills en route to Kaunas, cruising along the Curonian Spit National Park (where we visited the bird observatory at Vente Horn to experience the release of an Eurasian Sparrow hawk) and a catered meal of delicious pancakes (sweet and savory) by a local farm family. Before arrival in Riga, Latvia, we stopped at the very moving Hill of Crosses where thousands of believers have planted crosses to profess their varied faiths. Day 6 offered a) either a day of riding on the beach or b) touring around Riga. We elected to ride to Jurmala where we were actually able to cycle on the beach for what seemed a very long time (picture endless white sand beaches). Thanks to the Cycling Club of Perth, Australia, there were coffee/tea breaks that broke up the intense cycling. I say intense, because for a recreational cyclist, the pacing felt like I was pedaling hard and fast to keep up with the group. About 4 members of our group had E-bikes and, in retrospect, I would have opted for one as well. The cycling through National Parks was particularly beautiful and the trails varied from packed gravel to rocky causeways. The only busy day of riding with traffic came on a Friday when we cycled through Gauja National Park in the Gauja River valley. Our time on the island of Haapsalu was very relaxing and the ferry ride to Hiiumaa Island was a nice respite before tackling the 55 km of island riding to view some outstanding lighthouses. Our farewell dinner at the Hotel was filled with heartfelt toasts and praise for our guides and bus driver. There were several opportunities to experience the local culture (Amber Museum in Palanga, castles, botanical gardens, resorts and even a family wool factory).
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★★★★★ Richard Shore
Turkey and Greece
Founder's Tour: Turkey and Greece E-Bike & Boat tour
Nice trip with great biking, average food and poor boat. Hot water on The Love Boat was scarce and the bar was not stocked 4 days of 2 weeks.
- What was the date of your tour?
- Oct 2023
- How many tours have you completed?
- 7
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- As expected
- Do you recommend this tour?
- Yes
- Countries included in this tour?
- Greece
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★★★★★ Ricardo Hein
Nice biking vacation
Danube Cycle Path Passau – Budapest
The Danube is beautiful and the Austrian portion is beautiful. After Vienna it turns flat and less developed. The opportunity to share with people is limited by the places to stay, I didn't like to stay away from the towns in isolated guest houses, when guest homes were available in small towns.
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★★★★★ Two Michiganders
Lost in Translation
Venice to Trieste and Istria
This was our fourth tour with Bike Tours and the first with an Italian outfitter. Maybe that's where the trouble started.
We're not novices to this kind of travel and expect to spend some time lost and wandering--that's okay--to some extent. The directions for this trip were oddly and sometimes poorly translated, and there were occasions that though we'd asked for the English version, the notes were in German. The sticker signage was missing and incorrect at several critical junctures--crossing into Croatia from Slovenia, for instance. I know we weren't the only people who missed it--others at the hotel mentioned the same confusion.
I think that this part of Italy isn't quite as used to cycling (fewer cycle paths) and there were long stretches where we were riding with heavy traffic on 50-70k speed roads. The last day was very hilly (we were aware of this) and included some long slogs through unmarked Croatian campgrounds/resorts which were not mentioned in the directions. Despite the directions, knowing that you needed to be near the sea for most of the trip was helpful.
Navigation being my only caution, this was a lovely and fun trip. The towns and sites along the way were quaint and it was relaxing when we were off the main roads. I appreciated the towns we stayed in, Sagittaria Concordia, Trieste and Piran were especially memorable for the sites and ambiance of each place. The ruins in Aguilia were amazing. The hotels were all excellent, breakfasts hearty and our bags were moved as promised.
I'd recommend this to someone, but with caution regarding navigation.- How many tours have you completed?
- Four
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- As expected
- Do you recommend this tour?
- Yes
- Countries included in this tour?
- Croatia, Italy, Slovenia
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BikeTours.com staff reply from Richie
Hi!
Thank you for bringing the issues with tour documents and signage to our attention. I was on a tour with this operator in August and did not have these issues. However, I was on a different tour.
Part of the tour I was on overlapped with this tour in Trieste. There is quite a bit of traffic getting in and out of Trieste and that is worth being aware of.
I have passed your comments about the tour documents and signage on to the tour operator. It is important that they are aware of the sticker situation so that they can go through the route and fix the stickers where they are missing or incorrect. It is also important that they are aware of the translation issues with the documents themselves. I do know that they go over their documents and make improvements every off season. This information will be useful to them as they are going through this process.
Thank you again for taking the time to provide feedback (and the beautiful photos!)! We are looking forward to helping you arrange your next trip.
—Richie
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★★★★★ Ronb
Good value for money way to see the Baltic countries with great guide.
Baltic Capitals: Historic Cities of Vilnius, Riga and Tallinn
Our guide Romas was excellent. Lots of stories about where we visited. Most hotels very good with useful location. Easy riding. Bus always available if somebody wanted to rest. Great way to see Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia. Riga hotel not up to the standard of the others though it had perfect location.
- What was the date of your tour?
- 27th Aug 2017
- How many tours have you completed?
- 10
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- Much easier
- 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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★★★★★ Bob Sterndale
Beautiful trip but problems
Tauern Bike Path (Krimml-Passau)
The scenery was breathtaking, the bike paths mostly fine but with seriously difficult and dangerous exceptions, the hotels very pleasant and the e-bikes fine with one exception.
The trip started on the wrong foot at the first hotel: Hotel Krimml Fälle. We were assigned a room with no heat (as were others) on a cold day. After two hours of lame diversions and excuses, while we sat in the lobby to keep warm, we were given a heated room. In all other respects the hotel and restaurant were fine.
Getting to Krimml is a bit confusing. OBB will sell you a train ticket (from Salzburg for us) all the way to Krimml. The trip involves a narrow-gauge train from Sell am See to Mittersill hbf (end of line) and a bus trip from Mittersill to Krimml. There is a bus stop in the middle of Krimml village, steps from our hotel.
The first day of biking were delightful. The hotel in Sell am See was beyond our expectations.
The second day of biking started well but we encountered a long section of closed trail. We were in a narrow valley with little development. The only parallel path was a shoulder-less two-lane highway with plenty of high-speed traffic, not an acceptable bike route. Trees and brush had been trimmed along the nice paved bike path recently. All the slash had been left on the path, for 2 or 3 days from its appearance. We picked our way through the mess for maybe a couple kilometers. Then we came to a section with blown down trees obstructing the path, another ½ to 1 Km. Getting through this required some bushwhacking with the heavy e-bikes. Not fun.
Day three of biking was fine until we came to a flooded underpass on the outskirts of Salzburg. We needed to cross the A1 highway to get to Salzburg. A bad storm a few days before had caused numerous problems across Austria. We did find an alternate route but advance knowledge would have saved us a few Km of pedaling.
Day 4, however, brought us to highway biking. As we approached the village of St. Radegund we were directed onto a busy, shoulder-less two-lane road for a steep ascent of a kilometer or more. It was a strenuous ride even with the e-bikes. Your web sites offers this description of the tour:
“The tour route is mainly on dedicated bicycle paths (about 80% of the time). The remainder of the tour is on quiet roads and dirt or gravel roads. This tour is suitable for families with children.”
This stretch alone disqualifies the tour as a family-safe route. The experience continues:
A short distance beyond the scary hill climb is a 5.2 Km stretch of riding on the same road. The tour map shows this section as a bike path on the side of the road pavement. The “bike path” in this area is about 18” wide, separated from the high-speed traffic by a 4” wide white stripe. Narrative direction for this day’s route were not helpful, signage was poor, the “pink” house referred to is now yellow.
The unpleasant day was capped by a steep climb to the hotel in Burghausen. Pushing a heavy e-bike up a hill doesn’t work! You need to pedal it up so that it assists with its own heavy weight.
Day 5 brought us to Bad Fussing. This day was mostly uneventful. Directions to the hotel in Bad Fussing were vague, calling for riding 4 Km on a busy road with no shoulder. Instead, we found a bike path at the German side of the bridge that led right in to downtown Bad Fussing. The directions should include this route. Plan your day to allow an hour or two at one of the baths, you will be glad you did!
Day 6 was uneventful, mainly along the Inn River to Passau.
One e-bike problem: the rear disc brake on one of the 4 bikes was useless, apparently the brake pads were worn away (bikes had coaster brakes too). In all other respects bikes were fine. Battery capacity was generous. I think the lowest reserve at the end of any day for any of us was 50%.
An otherwise delightful trip was marred by surprise bike path closures and stretches of unsafe highway biking. This is not for children. The scenery was awe inspiring. Hotels were good to excellent. E-bikes were good except for one problem that didn’t spoil the trip.
We would have wished for more current information on bike path conditions from the local partner. We provided reports to them of closed paths as we encountered them.
Your tour description misrepresents the conditions of the route. We would not have booked the trip if had been accurately described. SHOW MORE- What was the date of your tour?
- Sept 16, 2024
- How many tours have you completed?
- about ten
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- Somewhat harder
- Do you recommend this tour?
- No
- Countries included in this tour?
- Austria, Germany
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BikeTours.com staff reply from jan
Thank you for your business and detailed feedback. Unfortunately the storm that hit your area during your vacation impacted 1000s of folks which resulted in the on the ground teams being totally overwhelmed. Unfortunately we cannot control mother nature. That said, thank you for traveling with us and we hope to see you again!
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★★★★★ Steve Lilley
Challenge completed!
Vienna to Budapest (Classic)
As a couple we enjoyed completing the challenge in extremely hot conditions.
We were disappointed in not sighting or swimming in the Danube more often: it’s a mighty impressive river!
Riding enabled greater appreciation of the country and people than by car: crops and farming in particular.
The final ferry ride for over an hour was a great finale!
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★★★★★ Steve Lilley
Challenge completed!
Vienna to Budapest (Classic)
As a couple we enjoyed completing the challenge in extremely hot conditions.
We were disappointed in not sighting or swimming in the Danube more often: it’s a mighty impressive river!
Riding enabled greater appreciation of the country and people than by car: crops and farming in particular.
The final ferry ride for over an hour was a great finale! -
★★★★★ Spain
An Adventure
Vienna to Budapest (Classic)
We selected a self guided tour which we have done several times in the past. Unfortunately the gps link did not work for us so we used the cue sheets and map. We got lost several times which was an adventure but difficult on the larger mileage days and in bad weather. There were many more miles on roads than we expected. Often the traffic was heavy and fast and the cycle paths in poor condition.We managed as we are experienced riders but it was not what we expected. We were glad to have the suspension of hybrid bikes. However when by the river on a good cycle path the ride was beautiful. We enjoyed the ferry rides. We were 15 riders and all liked the accommodations!
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★★★★★ WSTraveler
An Unusual Experience Not to Be Repeated
UNESCO Sites of Albania
The sag driver was great despite limited English in that he was always available to help in any way possible. The tour guide was good and worked very hard but was not good at listening to understand problems with the bikes and was at times totally dismissive. The difficulty of the ride was enormously underrated and BIkeTours was evasive about providing advanced information. The road conditions were in areas extremely poor and the advertised grades were just lies. BikeTours advertised the trip as a max of 16 riders, although there were 20, considered a small group by the guide. Again, less than honest disclosure.
The experience of the country was worth the trip. It was a fun collection of international participants. The accommodations were varied but appropriate to the locale and part of the fun. Food was good and the guide worked to arrange options for dietary restrictions. The sag support was excellent and eager to support the riders. The guide did a good job of keeping the group together and providing navigation guidance despite lack of any cue sheets or gps routes.
- What was the date of your tour?
- Sept 23 - Oct 2
- How many tours have you completed?
- lots
- 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?
- Albania
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★★★★★ Scott Katzer
Enjoyed the trip but some things can be improved
Cycling the Altmühl Valley - Round trip from Regensburg
The sites and surroundings were great and we lucked out with the weather as it rained almost every other day. Although we completed the tour with no issues, it was a bit complicated at times. The information between Bike Tours and the tour company Ragwed wasnt always fluid and simple questions seemed to take a bit of time to answer which is a problem when trying to book flights. The information given with the tour company package was a bit limited. Although maps were included, they are not provided with any sort of turn by turn direction. This isnt a big deal for most days as the trail is obvious but entering a city has its own challenges. It is recommended for anyone going on this tour to have GPS on their phone which we had to use (and incur roaming charges) several times. The signage in some locations simply dont exist and some roads were even closed during our tour due to construction. It would be wise for this tour company to occasionally ride their own route and note any changes.
The hotels were nice for the most part and breakfasts were good. The only one that I felt could be improved was the Regensburg location (IBIS Hotel). While it was nice and fine for the stay, its location is a decent distance from the Old Town (30 minute walk minimum) when there are tons of other places right in the Old Town area to stay. The other locations had hotels right in the middle of the main area (The one in Belingres was real nice). Mileage was fine and a majority was on bike paths/trails. My only request would have been providing the option to use a GPS on this tour as many of the paths either were not labeled or so close to the country roads that its hard to tell them apart. The bikes could be improved a bit as they are a bit bulky and heavy and really could do without the bright red advertising all over it. I will give kudos to the luggage people as we never had to wait for our luggage to arrive and they were usually there by 3pm at the latest.- What was the date of your tour?
- September 2022
- How many tours have you completed?
- 6
- 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
- Countries included in this tour?
- Germany
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★★★★★ US cyclist
Difficult to navigate
Bolzano – Verona – Venice
I chose this tour because I was finishing up a week of hiking in the Dolomites in Balzano, and though that riding a bike back to Venice to catch my plane would be more interesting than taking the train. I saw that there were several reviewers who noted that they had difficulty navigating but thought, "I can just check Google Maps if I have a problem. How bad could it be?"
Well, it was bad. I found the step by step directions to be indecipherable. The maps made it look easy, but there was not enough detail to actually use them to follow the route. Google maps did not pick up the bike paths, so could not provide a cycling route. I spent a significant part of each day lost and frustrated, in addition to inadvertently ending up on roads with heavy traffic and adding extra miles to the trip. Towards the end of the week I discovered that there were several people from Belgium who were riding the same route I was, but had booked directly with the tour company rather than going through a third party. They were emailed the routes in digital format, and were able to download them to their Garmin. This was not offered to me.
The area is beautiful, bike paths nice, and local folks very friendly and helpful.- What was the date of your tour?
- Ended July 28, 2019
- How many tours have you completed?
- 20+
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- Somewhat harder
- Who is this tour suitable for?
- Solo travelers, Families with teens
- Do you recommend this tour?
- No
- Countries included in this tour?
- Italy
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★★★★★ three bees
great variety of scenery
Best of Northern Zealand
Lots to see whilst cycling - forests, seaside, lakes, country farmland, small towns etc. The organisation was somewhat disappointing e.g., miscommunications in regard to where our bikes should be delivered, wrong maps provided, battery charger not working (and some reluctance by the bike operator to replace it!) but overall the bikes were in good working condition, the maps were easy to follow, and accommodation was great.
As for the scenery - once you got out of Copenhagen, it was brilliant.- What was the date of your tour?
- June 2017
- How many tours have you completed?
- Four
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- As expected
- Who is this tour suitable for?
- First-time bike tourists
- Do you recommend this tour?
- Yes
- Countries included in this tour?
- Denmark
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BikeTours.com staff reply from Jim Johnson
Thank you so much for your feedback. We're very concerned with your comments about the local tour operator's disappointing organization, and we are pursuing those issues with them. We have a very low threshold for poor service, and we want to make sure this doesn't happen to future clients.
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★★★★★ JackieDog
Confusing directions
Apulia - Heel of Italy
Wonderful way to see the countryside but frustrating as the directions were often vague or inadequate.
- What was the date of your tour?
- Sept 16-23
- How many tours have you completed?
- 3
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- As expected
- Who is this tour suitable for?
- Families with teens
- Do you recommend this tour?
- Yes
- Countries included in this tour?
- Italy
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★★★★★ Susan Radtke
First time with a company organized bike trip
Dolomites to Trieste via Lake Bled at the Foot of the Julian Alps
My husband and I have done a fair amount of biking in the U.S. and in Europe and this was the first time we used a company to plan and support the trip. The good: Some of the hotels that were booked were terrific - especially in the more rural places. The navigation app when it worked was really useful and when it didn't work it seemed to be more of an issue with our phones than the app itself. There was confusion over the timing of our bus transfer over a mountain pass and the woman at the help center worked really hard to sort it out. Also, the luggage transfer was always efficient. The not so good: The bikes were pretty beat and heavy. We had to have one replaced. Although the directions said we would have at least one handlebar bag per room, we had none. Also, we understood that we would have a handlebar mount for a phone and would have brought one from home had it been more clear that we would not. The worst thing was our final day biking into Trieste. The route put us on a road that was absolutely harrowing - no shoulder at times, fast moving traffic including busses and trucks. It felt decidedly unsafe and I would never have put cyclists on such a route. So all in all, we had a good time and saw some beautiful country but moving forward we decided we would go back to planning our own trips where we have more control over the quality of the bikes and the route, plus obviously it's cheaper to do the planning yourself.
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★★★★★ Susan Roberts
Disappointing tour
Munich & the Bavarian Lakes
This was my least favorite bike tour of the 6 or 7 I have done. Some of the trails were fine but too many of them were loose gravel. All six of us are experienced bikers but one person fell on the gravel damaging the bike and another person fell twice due to loose gravel. The poor quality of the gravel trails was very disappointing.
- Countries included in this tour?
- Germany
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★★★★★ Chris MacMillan
Hot in Italy in August
A Taste of Italy: Emilia-Romagna
Enjoyable cities and food. Bike routes a bit bumpy but easy. Unfortunately very hot ? this year in Italy. Tour operator helpful with flat tires.
- Countries included in this tour?
- Italy
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★★★★★ Terez Maniatis
First trip in the dolomites
Dolomites to Venice Along the Old Dolomites Railway Track
The scenery was amazing! The local tour company was not.
By the time we got our bikes they had run out of repair kits. We had to but two tire tubes at different times because of this. Would not recommend this company!- How many tours have you completed?
- Many
- Who is this tour suitable for?
- First-time bike tourists, Solo travelers, Families with teens
- Countries included in this tour?
- Italy
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★★★★★ Thomas Wall
Enjoyable ride with lots of canal views
Garonne Canal: From Bordeaux to Toulouse
In order to ensure we had dedicated bike paths I think we sacrificed variety. The scenery was beautiful but we saw a lot of the canal. Enjoyed the small towns and our hosts were great! Small hiccup with luggage transfer was a bit aggravating. All-in-all, an enjoyable trip.
- What was the date of your tour?
- September 2022
- How many tours have you completed?
- This was the second
- 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
- Countries included in this tour?
- France
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★★★★★ Silvia
Very good overall experience
Camino de Santiago: From Porto to Santiago de Compostela
We enjoyed the bike rides. It was a great idea to upgrade to e-bikes! The terrain was challenging at times. Pedro the tour coordinator was very helpful, he was easy to reach and pleasant !
Overall the hotels were good, but the ones in Spain were much nicer and had better meals . We don't recommend to include the dinners in the package, we had some very poor dinners , particularly in Portugal.
The length of the biking trips were perfect, for most part good scenery although there was a day with too many roads through industrial areas.
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