3 Star Bike Tour Reviews — 1 to 30 of 340

The hike through the cloud forest with the very knowledgeable guide was amazing, seeing and learning about the wildlife and flora.
The hotel in San Jose (1st & last nights) was marginal compared to the others. The tour information provided while accurate was lacking in detail, particularly concerning transportation between venues. I found all the individual guides for each of the several activities great and very helpful - five stars for the guides!

The places where we cycled were great, although the bike and e-bike weren’t very good and to complete we almost lost the boat cause nobody told us that the place where we were supposed to board had changed!

First the good parts. The scenery was beautiful (after the first day) and the towns we overnighted in were lovely. The roads were low traffic and the drivers were very considerate. Five of the six hotels were luxurious, much nicer than we have experienced on other self-guided bike tours. Jorge, co-owner of the tour operator AntsOnTrack.com, communicated with us daily via WhatsApp with restaurant recommendations and other tips.

Unfortunately three of the nine bikes in our group had mechanical problems right from the bike shop. One had a rear tire where the tread was so worn that the tire casing was visible. The bike got two flat tires the first day. We replaced the tire on day two. Another bike had a severely out of true rear wheel that rubbed on the frame, had loud creaks from the bottom bracket, and shifting problems. The third bike had a very creaky headset and shifting problems. Jorge tried to help us by connecting us with a bike shop in Antequera. The bike shop sold us a new tire and tube (paid for by the tour operator) but showed no interest in fixing the out-of-true wheel. He wanted six hours to change the tire so we did it ourselves. We were able to adjust the axle so that it did not rub on the frame but the bike wobbled at speeds over 30km. Clearly the bikes had not been thoroughly examined prior to our tour.

Another issue was that the Tripsite registration form did not clearly specify the bike options. We selected e-bikes and received e-mountain bikes. Apparently electric touring bikes are available but this option is not provided on the Tripsite registration form. We assumed we were receiving electric touring bikes which are much more comfortable for touring than mountain bikes. Tripsite should modify its registration form to be more specific and list all of the bike options.

The Tripsite tour description should also mention that the first day includes 10 miles of bumpy, gravel road with lots of trash and motorcycles that produce clouds of dust.

I agree with another reviewer that this tour should probably be rated as "moderate to difficult." The day riding to Ronda has 4,714 feet of climbing over 37 miles. Even with e-bikes this was a big day since we needed to keep the bikes on low boost so that the batteries would make it to Ronda. Despite our efforts to conserve power one battery died on the outskirts of Ronda and several were almost depleted. Five members of our party were so tired from this day that they elected to take a taxi for all or part of the route the follow day.

We were an older group, eight people between ages 67 and 74 plus one 58 year old. We have enjoyed several other self-guided bike tours. However between the long climbs, the mechanical problems, and the less-than-comfortable mountain bikes this tour was a bit too much for us.

Too much bike riding and not enough visiting sites and relaxing

The bike rides through the country were terrific. That was the reason for selecting this trip.
Although the food was well prepared, the selection of dishes was mediocre.
The staff were great and made the trip enjoyable. The guide was knowledgeable.

I enjoyed seeing the islands and really enjoyed our group on the boat.

The vegan meals. The bike routes were great. The guide was accommodating and the group was able to stay together.

Albania is a beautiful country and the people are very nice. However, infrastructure is still developing and at least some of our lodging was adequate at best. With a group of 20 cyclists, most on ebikes but 4 on regular bikes, we had only one guide cycling with us and one person driving a support vehicle. My suggestion would be 2 guides cycling with a group this size...one in front and one riding sweep.

Met some very nice fellow passengers during the trip. Crew was very professional.

The past few bike and boat trips we did there was a city tour of wherever we stopped, we learned about the country we were in and the food was better. Eric’s bike pace was also super fast, felt like I was peddling my heart out to keep up after I stopped to take a picture.

The bike excursions were well organized, interesting and very challenging.

The navigation app was great, cycling tour was a nice variety through country side and villages. Breakfasts were great, one of the rooms in accommodation was too small for two people and bags.

The biggest disappointment was our ferry trip across lake Garda was cancelled as our bikes could not be taken, we all had to go in the van, we couldn’t go on ferry and bikes be transported, this was to be the highlight of the trip for us so we were very disappointed. We had booked this trip months in advance so could not understand how our bikes could not be taken. No compensation offered.

This definitely is a trip for fairly independent travelers as the guidance and recommendations from the trip leaders was limited. On board food was mediocre so finding a good lunch spot off boat while cycling provided a fun challenge and interesting diversion mid ride. The boat crew did a great job managing the bikes and staterooms were simple but adequate. Despite some really challenging weather (we were not allowed to ride two days due to heavy winds), the beautiful Dutch scenery and some terrific people we met onboard made the trip a positive, fun experience.

Good people …..was fun.
Staff was great. Good itinerary
Food was disappointing…….too heavy Had way too much gravy on.
Boat was beautiful but Salon/lounge/ dining room way too loud.Unable to follow conversations with all the noise.
Recommend that passengers have option to eat inside or on deck adjacent to dining room. Guides excellent Staff excellent Captain Ante was great

I loved being on the boat, but there was not enough time to bike.. Too much Barge and not enough biking . I always felt like I was on too tight of a schedule. In retrospect, I would not have done the optional tours on the bus. They were informative but ate up too much time.
I loved the food, and all the staff was great! I wish we could have moved around our seating on our table, we were a group of 10. bu we had to sit in the exact same seat every meal, why not have room numbers we move to where we are seated?
I loved seeing Budapest at night also from the boat. The bikes were fine. overall I liked, it I just felt like we did not have time to relax and explore when we were biking. I wanted to check out more towns.

The boat and personal were 5 star and more. Our trip was very memorable and the sight seeing was spectacular. The cabin was clean and efficiently laid out. The food was underwhelming. Breakfast was very similar everyday unlike our experience with Rad & Reisen. Boiled eggs were served or runny scrambled eggs. Fresh fruit limited no strawberries (in Season or watermelon)No omelettes or pancake choices. Wine and beer selection was very limited and pricey 7.50Euros for a 1/2 glass of wine. Dinner included frozen vegetables on a few nights. Coleslaw with mayo on 3 nights for a salade selection. The food was efficiently presented and edible just not what I had expected or anticipated.

Cycling through villages in Belgium and Netherlands.
Enjoying beautifully prepared food from a wonderful Chef. Meeting and travelling with people from all over the world who enjoy an active and social holiday.

Arriving in Paris early evening along the Seine. Food was great-Frank did a fantastic job.

Our guide for biking was not very good. We have taken 3 other bike trips and the guide on them were far superior.

There are two aspects to the trip: the booking with Tripsite, and the actual tour.

As for the TripSite portion, I would rate it C minus, primarily because of the lack of transparency in pricing. They price in euros, but obtain payments in dollars. I found their exchange rate was very poor, on par with the worst ATMs in Europe. They charged about 7-7.5% above the official exchange rate. Shame on your, Tripsite!

As for the tour portion, I'd rate it a B. The Magnifique III boat , crew and accommodations were very nice, and the food was excellent. The tour guides were quite good, though I was a bit disappointed that they insisted on us staying with the group -- there were times I wanted t heard off on my own with the Ride GPS app, and my recollection of the advertisement was that we would be able to go off on our own if desired. The mileage each day was appropriate, though there were a couple people on the tour who should have opted for the ebike, since they had a difficult time keeping up with the rest of the group. The bike pace was quite reasonable.

Hotel in st georgian and halstatt were nice. Theater hotel im salzburg had crappy breakfast. Bike riders coming to another country want to immerse themselves in that country’s lifestyle. Tourist towns as salzburg & halstatt are a tesl turn off. Small traditional towns are much more fun. This was our seventh tour in europe, but the only with these tourist towns.
The bicycles should be prepared before each tour. My front wheel wobbled, both bikes made noises, and the chain and cassette were filthy. Neither bike had a pump mounted on it as it should have. In case you didn’t know, you should not pair tubeless rims with standard tire/ tube arrangement. It is near impossible to fix a flat. Contact me if you want me to explain why.
The many pages of two sided maps are hard to match up on the side of the road in the rain. Cue sheets should be compact with notes of landmarks, signs, & suggestions where food or water can be found. In austria there were bike route signs that we were on often. They should be incorporated in the cue sheet.

Some of the roads we traveled were so steep that the ebike in the lowest gear and highest boost would not climb. On these hills when we walked, the ebike walk assist was intermittent adding to the difficulty. This was predominant on one of the two bikes. The written step by step directions were difficult to use in that the road names and other references were not always posted in a clearly visible manner. It was easy to get off course and the simplistic garmin provided was useless. for route correction. The small screen was difficult to even see, particularly in the rain. Although the accommodations were acceptable in general, the Riverside B&B in Cushendall was old and tired. On the plus the scenery and places to visit on the route were outstanding.

Meeting new friends

Tour Guide was not well trained and did not highlight the sights.

Feedback:
1. The WhatsApp group were very good & followed up any issues or queries
2. The bike handover was a bit tricky as Simon had limited English & apart from bike matters didn’t seem fully versed in addressing some initial queries by someone that had never done a self guided bike tour
3. Inappropriate bike hire: the Agogs City Liner e-bike was ergonomically unsuitable for a bike tour of over 800km.
The seat angle & the handle bars meant I was very upright. It was uncomfortable.
A more appropriate style is that of a touring bike configuration, in which you are leaning forward and able to propel easily & with comfort.
4.Having 2 app’s - Ride GPS & Trip Plans a bit tedious to go in & out of for directions & guidance plus more draining on phone
5. An overnight in any large city is not enough time. A suggestion that 2 nights be factored into itinerary for say Vienna.

We really thought the GPS could have been updated. We approached a few places where we could not continue on GPS route because there was a new road or bridge built, we had to stop and figure it out. I was injured the first day and ended up in the hospital with 6 stitches in my index finger. Turns out the endcap was missing from the handlebar which landed on my finger when I toppled over.
Portgugal is very bike friendly, which is nice. On the roads or bike paths next to the road it was nice. We also travelled on paths thru farm land that were gravel and full of potholes that we had to dart around.. Not fun. The last day, we were on a path that was very treachurous had we tried to ride our bikes on it. We had to get off and walk our bikes.

We thought the operating company could have done a better job.

Disappointed that twin beds werr not provided on several occasions and that we had to get that sorted. The quality of some hotels was also not greaT as in tiny room, inadequate facilities and as already said, not suitable for 2 individuals travelling together. I think you should upgrade the ebike option as well. A city style ebike for an 800 km ride is ridiculous, un comfortable and ineffecient. The luggage transfer was excellent and the navidation with RWGPS worked.

We’ve just completed our cycling trip and would like to sincerely thank you for the well-organized experience. We appreciated the smooth handling of all administrative and logistical aspects.

We’d also like to share a few points for your consideration, which we believe could help improve future trips:

Bike type: The bikes provided lacked suspension, which made them less suitable for some of the terrain we encountered. We recommend offering bikes with suspension for increased comfort and safety.
Route updates: On three riding days (departing from Trento, from Verona and Vicenza), we encountered unmarked detours due to construction. These detours enforced us to navigate on our own and substantially prolonged the routes. The maps and navigation materials should be updated to reflect these changes to avoid confusion.
Hotel feedback: The Doge Hotel did not meet the standard of the other accommodations and fell short of expectations. We suggest reconsidering its inclusion in future itineraries.

Thank you again for a memorable trip.

Amir and the Cycling Group

The easy beautiful long rides through the country side and the GPS.
Didn’t actually stay in Venice, which was odd, no gondolas …
Very few water stops and very few places to find food between 12-5.

Although we enjoyed beautiful weather and wonderful crew , the ship was very uncomfortable - with small berths and horrible bedding . Out of 30 occupants 10 had norivirus and there was not enough cleaning supplies to disinfect and keep everyone healthy . This was our third trip with you and our least favorite .

The most important element is that we were in Constance on likely one of the busiest biking weekends of the year. It was a holiday weekend, the weather was awesome and everyone and his dog and baby and family and cart and wagon was on the path. With all the traffic, I found the biking quite stressful.
The hotels and were good, especially the Rheingold in Uberlingen. The days were longer than expected with two of the days being 60 km. And I would not describe the route as “easy”. There were some steep climbs and with the heavy electric bikes, it was a struggle for me at 75. (We did a tour in Croatia a few years ago and I am pretty sure those bikes were much lighter and more manoeuvrable. Is this my imagination?) The other disappointment was that we were in Arbon on a Monday and everything was closed. It was a real struggle to find a restaurant that was open. The little inn where we stayed was impressive though and the breakfast was lovely. We had some difficulty with directions, finding our way in and out of cities. Anyway, the tour was more of an endurance test than a leisurely bike around a lake but we did succeed in the end. The bike shop in Constance was great and the people were very helpful.