Loire Valley - Tours to Angers

This was the second leg of our Loire valley bike ride as we had done Orleans to Tour 2 years ago.
We started in Tour this time and again enjoyed the ease of the electric bikes, which was needed more so on the section especially the last day being the longest. There was an adventure on the last day having to cross the river and put our bikes on a small barge and pull ourselves across... I must admit we definitely needed my friends husband as just 2 females together i don't think we would of managed.
Overall another fabulous trip. I must say the best accommodation was at Chinon. The rooms were huge and Maurice had everything to make you feel at home,we didn't want to leave. Breakfast in the morning was like being king and queen of the castle sitting at a huge fancy dining table so much different to the other generic hotels. We will go back just to stay with him again.

Kristen did a wonderful job helping us plan our trip and then executing the logistics. The bikes were first-rate, and when we did have a problem with one, it was quickly swapped out.

Three things impressed me that were different from our last trip with Tripsite.
1. The Tripsite app was superb and quickly replaced a paid bike app I had planned to use. We also liked the local city tour guides in the app.
2. We chose to take a day off every 3 to 4 days and upgraded our lodgings for those double-night stays to Deluxe Accommodations, which we found very nice and greatly appreciated. I want to clarify that you offer two accommodation levels: deluxe and superior. To me, the wording seems reversed: "superior" typically implies a higher level than "deluxe," but here "deluxe" was the better accommodations.
3. The food was delicious throughout the trip. At times, it felt as much like a food tour as a biking adventure, making the experience very memorable.
Thank you for making our trip stress-free and enjoyable.

Our group of 10 cyclists enjoyed a lovely self-guided tour from Tours to Angers thanks to Tripsite and their local tour operator. Kirsten with Tripsite was very attentive to our needs and spot on in developing a tour package that worked for our group, including merging this tour with the Orleans-Tours leg. The scenery was breathtaking, the cycling was varied and fun, and the selected hotels and restaurants were memorable. We highly recommended selecting the chateaux and restaurants packages if you are traveling with a large group.

We had a wonderful time. Thank you for taking care of us. All the accommodations where great. The luggage transfers were flawless, and the bike were fun to ride.

This trip was amazing! The directional app was excellent— we were always able to find our way. We purchased the dinner package and the cuisine was fabulous, especially in the small restaurants along the trail. The people who assisted us were incredibly patient, helpful and courteous.
Overall our experience was wonderful and unforgettable ! Thank you!

Our group of 4 friends (2 couples) enjoyed the chateaux that we visited, the French countryside, cuisine, wine tasting, accommodations, and friendliness of the French people. We would likely not have found the hotels selected if we planned the trip ourselves and several were very unusual and enjoyable. The hotel locations were typically near a variety of restaurants. In Tours we found a very interesting museum housing journeyman crafted works in all trades that were exquisite. We also encountered a "self-service" ferry boat that was fun to operate. Angers had a chateau housing the Apocalypse tapestry that we found worthwhile.
This ride was a mix of flat and hilly days with the last day longer and hillier than the rest. One of our riders was "fit" and in his 60's and had no difficulties; I, fortunately, upgraded to an e-bike and managed fine but struggled the week before on several of the Amboise based rides (I am 74 and a lifetime rider). In addition to the subjective difficulty rating, it would be helpful to include the total elevation change in the tour listing so one can better decide between a regular bike and e-bike.
The other complaint was the quality of the maps and instructions. They are not adequate without the app that was provided though I was told the maps and ride instructions would be sufficient. (I've seen some comments on other tours about app problems, too.) I was expecting maps and instructions of the quality provided on rides in the past and these were dissimilar. Sign posting was generally good but not always. The app did manage to keep us on track, however. The app also routed us to the destination city but not to the hotel so we had to use google to find the hotel. All part of the adventure, I suppose.
The bikes were flawless and appropriate for the roads and the support from Tripsite before and during the tour, especially with my last minute request for an e-bike upgrade was excellent and greatly appreciated - a big shout out to the Tripsite team. This was our 4th Tripsite trip and we look forward to our next one.

The cycling trip is most enjoyable amid stunning scenery and charming towns.
Please be transparent about your costs. I booked the chateau experience and paid more than I expected for the trip only to discover the Tripsite did not include the chateau experience in my vouchers. I received several emails in response to my queries re cost only to be given different answers re bank charges, currency conversion and hidden credit card charges, despite the fact I paid with a debit card. This is an American company that uses the dollar to suit it figures. I urge anyone using this company to get a detailed invoice before starting out. We were over charged for our trip but the company was not willing to accept this.

On the whole it was a great trip and I would like to do something like this again. But as with most things in life it could be improved. I would leave out Azay le Rideau. It was not much of a town and the hotel was below par. I would include “rest days”. For example I would have loved to spend more time in Chinon. So cycling all the way to chinon on day one then a rest there. And so on… For mid summer I would include an option not to have a hotel breakfast. On the really hot days (40c) we tried to get away at 6am to avoid the heat and have our cycling mostly done by lunch. It also means less traffic on the road. We had some good hotels and some rally poor ones. I think tripsite needs to work on consistency.

We actually combined two Loire Valley segments - Tours to Angers, and Angers to St. Brevin les Pins, adding an extra day in the middle, in Angers. The Loire Valley is a wonderful cycling experience - spectacular scenery, countless fascinating historical sites, charming inns, excellent food and wine. The cycling was definitely on the easy side - mostly flat, reasonable distances each day, the trails well-marked, the paths mostly paved and separated from the roads. The bikes (Scott Sport 20) were steady and comfortable. The weather during our trip (mid-June) was near-perfect, except for a bit of unusual heat the last few days. Highly recommended for every aspect of the cycling experience.

The beautiful landscape in the Loire Valley and the picturesque towns of Chinon and Azay le Rideau made this trip a wonderful experience that I would warmly recommend everyone! The bikes had high quality and the hotels were all great.Everything went smoothly and everyone was very helpful. I will definitely come back some day.

The bikes supplied were fantastic. The maps and directions were easy to follow, and the route was spectacular. We were very happy with all of the hotels chosen by Tripsite. All in all, we had an extremely enjoyable 5 days, and we will be definitely doing another bike trip with Tripsite the next time we visit Europe.