4 Star Connemara Tour Reviews — 1 to 3 of 3

The scenery on the Connemara trip is spectacular. Mostly beautiful back roads, always in sight of several mountains, lakes and ocean.

Feedback/Critique:
1) Bike-wise, the first day was pretty awful. The plan was to fit our bikes on day 2 at 9:45 AM, which took 30 minutes. The bike shop gave us one e-bike with only 1/3 of the battery charged, and another one was spotty - didn't respond every time to power request! Owner said problem charging overnight, and he didn’t really apologize… said “that’s the way it is… I don't have another backup battery, so just try to use the battery less…" Then it was at least an hour to transport us to the starting point in Cong and ready our bikes for the ride, bathroom break, etc.. Because of the 1/3 charge, the stronger of our group pedaled a lot without battery. There was no cell service so we couldn't call the bike shop until later in the day - left a message to bring us another bike and another battery. The owner brought us a replacement bike and battery the next morning - The bicycle brought to us was a different brand - and was lighter and peppier. Why not just use that brand?? 2) The ebikes were not Giant as advertised on Tripsite - they were Devron, which I suspect were heavier and less quality. Compared to the bikes we used in our Croatia bike/boat trip in June 2019, these were much heavier, and less peppy. However, the bikes given us on the Aran Islands were lighter and had more power (they really zipped along). If we hadn’t been pretty athletic individuals, I think the trip would’ve been harder. 3) The estimated route time given inside the RIDE WITH GPS routes must not include any time to take photos, get some hydration or snacks. So by the time we got to the ONLY 2 possible lunch spots - Maire Luke's Bar and O'Toole's pub, they were closed! SUGGESTION: STRONGLY recommend - in the BEGINNING of the route description to purchase lunch in Cong before beginning the route. 4) None of the 3 bikes had a bike pump as promised. One bike had an incompatible plug so we had to use a personal plug converter!!! At the end of the tour the owner gave a lame reason... 5) The ebikes were not peppy enough to carry us up several morning hills on day one, which added to our time and so we didn't make the lunch spots. THEN in the afternoon stretch we had to push our bikes up the 2.5 km long hill -- when we were pretty hungry. 6) THE FLAT OPTION ROAD WAS CLOSED, and no one told us until the end of the day. In my opinion it was unacceptable for your partner's contracted bike shop NOT to have a back up battery! In the future, if possible the bikes should be fit THE DAY BEFORE in the late afternoon, and a) the driver could take riders, luggage and bikes to Cong to stay overnight, OR, pick up riders, luggage, and bikes at Galway lodging at 9 AM day 2 then drive to Cong.

By the way after day 2 we did call your Dublin partner to report the bike problems. That's where the corrections need to be made.  SHOW MORE 

Favorite Part: The fantastic landscapes of Connemara.

The person who dropped off the bikes did not have the tools to adjust the handle bars, so the bikes did not fit well.
The saddle (bike seat) was the type that would be commonly found on a road bike and not on a touring bike.
The gears were not aligned correctly, so it was extremely difficult to shift gears. Sometimes, in order to shift gears, it was required to repeatedly shift the gears up and down before the bike would shift into the lower or upper gear.