Bike Tour Reviews — 3811 to 3840 of 6267

We just finished this tour of Crete, and for context I should say we are both in our 70's and ride quite a bit. So, Crete: The scenery, mountains and beaches are beautiful, the people are friendly, warm and accepting, the food is out of this world, and the biking was great for us. Some thoughts about the bike tour itself:
We were provided with new Ideal eBikes that were exceptional.
The routes were varied and generally perfect for us.
Routes were described adequately, but GPS directions were great.
Total elevation gains were substantial, but ok with eBikes.
We were driven to each daily tour starting point, generally at high elevation.
Our driver driver was excellent and extremely helpful.
The price of the tour was very reasonable.
We should have upgraded the hotels - some were minimally adequate.
Overall we give the tour a thumbs-up and are very glad we went. The operator is very competent and provided a wonderful experience.

We recently completed the 11 day Amsterdam to Brugge tour on the Quo Vadis. We really enjoyed ourselves. The boat was very nicely appointed, the cabins are not large and the bathrooms small but very adequate, lots of hot water which is really appreciated after a day of cycling. Food was very good, especially the dinners. The staff did everything to make our trip enjoyable and mixed well with the guests. We had 2 excellent guides who both had extensive knowledge of the history and geography of both countries. The tour itself gave us a really good taste of the Netherlands and Belgium, from the beautiful countryside, through the dunes at the North Sea, over the dams that prevent the floods, past and into windmills, into the cities and large towns like Rotterdam, The Hague, Ghent and a day visiting the World War 1 sites around Ypres. We were very fortunate the on most days the wind assisted our travels and we had very little rain. All and all a great adventure.

My husband and I have been on 12 European bike/boat tours. We love to see the world this way, and we are usually 100% satisfied and happy when we finish a trip.
In April we took the Ave Maria tour from Venice to Mantova. The first two days we biked on busy highways next to large lorries, semis, and garbage trucks, one of which almost wiped me out. We were shocked at having to ride on these highways because here is the company description of this trip on this website...
"This cycling tour is largely along the flats of the Po plains, and the daily stages vary from 25 to 55 km – mostly on tarmac cycle paths along rivers and canals, or quiet country roads."
The first two days of this trip were not on QUIET COUNTRY ROADS. They were on heavily traveled highways, and they were dangerous and certainly no fun! We will never travel with this company again because they were not truthful about the roads and
paths. This was not a relaxing trip.
On a good note...we had wonderful food on board. The chefs were amazing, and we looked forward to dinner every night.
The Ave Maria advertises air conditioning. It is true they have it, but they don't turn it on very often, like it is off all night, every night. So most of us had to sleep with our doors wide open. Our rooms were like saunas, with no windows to open. For that reason, I would not recommend this boat, no matter what tour it was on.

We loved our bike trip and will definitely go back to Portugal. We would love to do another bike trip supported by Sergio and his team - we highly recommend them!
Our trip was in April 2019 and from the moment we arrived we were warmly welcomed - with an airport pick up. We were given the best walking tour we have had which was done in conversation style allowing us to both learn about the rich history of Porto and to ask questions vs. being "talked at". A port tasting and tour was also included and was equally well done. Sergio and his staff treated us with incredible care all along the trip even though we were self guided. The bikes and Garmin GPS were top! The suggested restaurants along the way provided delicious food (that says a lot because we live in France and we are quite selective). Hotels were very comfortable some with spa facilities which were appreciated after being in the saddle. The route was varied - mostly coastal yet some forests. We enjoyed the visit to Vista Allegra to see the porcelain factory including the artists at work hand painting porcelain. We saw many birds along the route including nesting storks. The surface for cycling varied from paved bike routes, dirt trails and sometimes a bit of sand covering the route due to some wind. We strongly encourage you to treat yourself to this trip!

As my family of five and I embarked on an 8-day bike tour. We started in Dublin. Landed in Enniskerry, Aughrim, Laragh (Glendalough) and back to Dublin. I would have to say the Irish emerald green countryside is the most beautiful I have seen. Our favorite place would have to be the stop in Laragh. We walked to Glendalough a whopping 10-minute jaunt. We were awestruck by the amazingly preserved Monastic City. This city was founded in the 6th century and what a sight to behold. There was St. Kevins cathedral, tower, cemetery, and an old copper mine. These were all nestled in between two mountains with a lake at the edge. Worth the trip.

May 2019 - Review of the Salzburg & Bavaria Bike Tour, or "Mozartradweg". With a really varied cycling terrain, but with the Alps on constant display, this was an extraordinary choice for a bike tour. It was a joy to cycle this part of Europe. Highlights for me were the towns of Wasserburg, Berchtesgaden, Kufstein, and Salzburg. The landscapes connecting these towns were just breathtaking. My only complaint would be that due the amount of time required on the bike, there was little time explore many of the sights along the way, such as the islands in the Chiemsee, Seeon Abbey, the Eagle's Nest, etc. I really enjoyed my few extra days in Salzburg and would have added another day or two in Berchtesgaden if I were to do it again. For the practical points, the bike was good, as were the hotels. And while the path itself was signposted extensively, (as "mozartradweg"), I would not want to rely on the maps and directions provided. I paid the thirty euros for the GPS tracks for the Komoot app (which easily transferred to my Garmin). I would really highly recommend this, and Komoot app turned out to be great. I chose early May with the intent of experiencing the Alpine meadows and chestnut trees in full bloom. And while they were, there was near constant rain, and even one day that it snowed. I was lucky I had packed thermal gear, but even so, the weather wore me down and I cheated and took the train the last day (which was easy to do, and the bike was free). I would go later in the Springtime or in the summer were I to do it again.

We toured Barolo wine country. This is a prosperous part of Italy but the young women wore tattered blue jeans. We had great food and wine. The countryside is beautiful. There were some parts of the route that were on roads with big trucks and others on gravel or dirt (in our case muddy with rain) road. There were long uphill climbs with 16% grade, thank goodness for the excellent bicycles. It was a great experience that I recommend. We have done multiple trips with Tripsite and all have been wonderful.

This was my first bike and barge trip. The most memorable part of the trip was the constant attention and effort of the staff, from the captain down, to make the trip special. Entertainment (they have abundant talent), tours of the engine room, attending to the passenger's needs - were all beyond my expectations. For example, while sitting on the deck on a chilly night after everyone else had gone in, a crew member brought us blankets. I am definitely looking forward to our upcoming trip!

Our fabulous 2019 vacation was aboard the Vita Pugna (very clean and comfortable) biking from Mantova to Venice. We were well taken care of by Captain Edoardo, crew/chefs Silvia and Barbara (delicious meals and afternoon snacks plus breakfast!) and our wonderful guide Fabio. I can’t say enough about each one of them, the patience of Fabio is extraordinary. He went above and beyond to make sure each guest was comfortable cycling and informed of routes/plans throughout the week. At the end of the tour he went out of his way to assure that each person knew exactly how to get to their destination when departing the barge. The biking (the bikes were in great shape!) was fun/well organized, the food was outstanding, the landscape/pubs/villages/museum/cheese factory/cappuccino stops, etc. were wonderful. We loved the night walks and the walking tours by local guides. Tripsite provided second to none customer service through our booking process. They were quick to answer any questions/concerns I had, and I love the online chat feature! We are looking at another bike/barge for 2020 and after going through another company a couple of years ago, will only use Tripsite now. Kudos to all and thanks so much for making our 2019 vacation one for the books!

My wife and I really enjoyed this bike tour; everything from the hotel in Porto, to the gps guide, luggage transfer and our final transfer to Lisbon was excellent. Carlos briefed us about the tour, introduced us to our bikes and our gps "tour guide"; actually made us do it before he left us. Since we had an extra day in Porto we practiced using the gps by doing its walking tour of Porto. Appreciate the Emergancy phone provided, even tho we did not use it. Weather was perfect. The only downside is the tour goes thru areas that were burned a couple years ago; very sad; made us really appreciate the beautiful unburned forests we rode thru. The tour booklet provided a good overview of each day's ride; there are some sections where finding food & water at mid day may be a challenge. A good tour

We loved the whole experience but one favorite highlight was the Hungarian Folklore show and being selected to dance with the troupe! We made great friends with our tablemates and are planning to visit them next year in Canada. We have shared our experience with so many friends at home that they want to do the trip too. Truly an amazing experience! I would be remiss if I failed to mention the value of the entire experience for the price paid. Very affordable!

My wife and I have done several of these bike tours. They've all been amazing, Umbria, Sicily, Dali Country, etc. Mallorca was the most relaxing. You are on beautiful country roads nearly the entire time. Coming from California where you are constantly dealing with cars, this was a huge treat. The weather in May was perfect. The inns and food were spectacular as well. A truly great trip. Sean

This was my 5th bike/barge Tripsite tour and it was just as amazing as my first. The guide was knowledgeable and the group was an interesting blend of former and present U.S. Air Force personnel as well as Italians, Americans, French and Flemish. The weather in mid April was the biggest challenge with hailstorms and thunder, which made the trip all the more memorable.
The bull fights (humane but sad), the aqueducts, and the food, oh the food! As always a nice cross section of people who are like minded in their zest for life and the enjoyment of experiencing Provence at 11 mph at sea level. (Oh, and they do warn you about the hills and the wind, which I glossed over BEFORE we went). The reason I rated this a 4 Star is I'm reserving the top prize for something that knocks my socks off!

The sheer amount of interesting things to see and do along our route, so much so that we did a lot of hiking in wonderful scenic countryside. My tip for others is that this is a cycle route that you must do! We plan to revisit it again in a couple of years. It was that good.

Most memorable parts: The guided cycle tour around Prague and then the Elbe Sandstone Mountain Range and the region around the border between the state of Saxony and the North Bohemian region.

Best Parts? The spring landscape & scenery. The mix of sights and history along the route.

Prague guide was fantastic, was very interesting and could not do enough for us

We took the self-guided "Sport" tour from Passau to Vienna, starting on 2 April.

A. Here are our suggestions for anyone looking at the tour options for Passau to Vienna.
1. Don’t ever sign up for the “Sport” version of the tour because it requires 50+ miles every day, and leaves no time for exploring or resting.
2. If you are doing the self-guided trail, do yourself a favor and get the e-bikes. The bikes given to us were really inadequate for the distances.
3. Consider doing the bike & boat option rather than biking the whole way. The reasons? If on a boat, you won’t have to pack and unpack every day; You won’t have to search for the hotel in the evening, and you can look forward to relaxing on a boat every night. Another big plus is that from the shoreline, you often cannot get a good perspective on the scenery. When the cliffs rise overhead and you are below, you can’t see them at all. And you may be able to avoid some of the on-road biking that we encountered.

B. Here are the things we liked about the Tripsite planning and execution:
1. They booked all of the hotels and moved our bags every day. The hotel choices were excellent and the hotel owners all served good meals and provided nice rooms.
2. There were no surprise expenses.
3. Tripsite pretty much delivered what they promised.

C. Here are the things we did not like about the Tripsite planning and execution:
1. The materials and the bikes were delivered on the first morning of the trip. The trail book has lots of detail and routes on both sides of the river. Receiving the book as you are departing for a 350 mile journey is ridiculous. The company who publishes the maps (esterbauer.com) probably could provide a PDF far in advance.
2. The trail map was outdated. We encountered sections, starting on day 1, where the trail signs said the trail ended. Several times we were traveling on busy highways with no bike lane, no shoulder, and with semi-trucks screaming past us. On one section, we had to peddle for several km on soft sand past the trail closed signs, because the alternative was riding on an autobahn-type highway.
3. We purchased the Komoot iPhone app with the trail, thinking it would help us. Sometimes it did help. Other times, it tried to route us onto busy roads. It does not work well for this kind of trip, because the hotels are not on the route. We used Komoot to help get us from the trail to the hotels and Google Maps worked at least as well. I think Komoot is a good product, but not implemented well for this application.
4. During our entire trip, we encountered very strong headwinds that made progress painful. We expected that 21-speed bikes would be ok, but the gearless bikes performed very much like 7-speed bikes and is the source of complaints from others too. We concur. We should have ordered E-bikes.
5. On the second day, we called and asked to replace our bikes with e-bikes. Rad-Reisen called back and essentially said it would not be convenient for them to make the change. Trying to ride 50 miles into a strong headwind with the equivalent of a 7-speed bike is not good. I was sometimes limited to 11-14 km/hr (7-9 mph) because of the wind.
6. We signed up for a bike-tour of Vienna and stayed an extra day in Vienna. That day there were 25,000 runners in the Vienna Marathon, so we asked to cancel the tour. We found that the tour had already been cancelled for us, but we did not know it.  SHOW MORE 

Just completed this tour - May, 2019. We were a group of 12 (Canadians) and were looking for a reasonably easy bike journey. The terrain was - as advertised - very flat and never strayed very far from the beautiful shorelines of Portugal. (one significant hill - character builder) Early to mid-May worked well and we could only imagine how crowded the beaches and communities would be if the trip were taken in high summer months. Many of the small towns we passed through were almost dormant - very little life or activity, and many shops seemed closed . If you take the trip - be aware of Sunday closings and fewer selections of restaurants in Portugal. Sergio, the organizer and supporter, was helpful in every way with the organization of the trip, gps devices and bikes. He was available at all times if needed. We did not require that sort of support - and we were non-guided. The actual surfaces of land that we biked upon were variable - ranging from excellent bike paths to rural, remote dirt roads - but all very passable.
Not enough can be said about the hospitality and consideration of the Portuguese people we encountered. Bike travel is not as abundant in Portugal, and not as much a part of the culture, as elsewhere in Europe - but the gentle ways of the Portuguese are a pleasure to encounter. lb

Our guide Cornel was great with fun stories and historic information provided throughout our trip. Loved the digestive walks after dinner of the various towns we were docked at. The staff of the Merlijn couldn't have been nicer or more professional and the boat was very clean and comfortable. Food was pretty basic and could be improved, but that was not a high priority to me. Overall great trip and have already recommended it to many people.

"It is difficult to say what the most memorable part of the trip was as each and every day brought wonderful new sights and experiences. Biking along fields filled with tulips and a stop at the Keukenhof Gardens would certainly rate as one of the highlights of the trip. The staff and bike guide definitely made the trip special as they went above and beyond to ensure we were satisfied. Food was great with a plentiful breakfast buffet and a different menu each night. Our lunches were made and packed each day and boy, theses sandwiches and treats sure tasted great after putting some miles in. The dining/lounge was large and spacious and made for a great place to interact with the other guests. Bedrooms/bathrooms were nor overly spacious but were very clean and the beds were comfortable.
This was our first trip of this kind and also our first trip to Europe and the Crew of the Merlijn made it a wonderful experience we will never forget. Thank you Coen, Cristina, Klara, Luliana, Lili and our tour guide Cornel. Memories to last forever.

I highly recommend this trip. We were on the Merlijn. It was a charming barge with a very friendly and helpful staff. I was amazed just how comfortable the beds were and how roomy the bathrooms were.
Our guide was very informative and had a great sense of humor. The guests, even though all so different , became friends. Leaving the barge was bittersweet. I cannot wait to go on another. The only thing I wish was a bit better, was the food. But then I consider myself a bit of a foody and so my expectations might be too high.

The biking was wonderful, the digestive walks in the evening were great and the camaraderie of the group was fantastic.

A wonderful way to experience the Netherlands. Our guide Cornell was informed and professional. Captain, mates and staff provided all the conveniences of home.

The expected/promised highlights on our 8 Day - Tulip Tour (Keukenhof Gardens, the Royal Flora Holland Auction, Zaanse Schans and a visit to a cheese farm on an island in Rijpwetering) were wonderful. But it was the unexpected stops introduced by our guides that were most memorable. The visit to a windmill making paper from recycled rags, watching the release of cows for the first time in the spring near Spaarndam , the stop at the Aalsmeer Crash Museum and a visit to the Hortus Bulborum in Limmen made our trip extra special.

This was tour #6 for me and it was completely different than my former experiences. My previous tours were full of tourist sights and charming villages with little shops, coffee/tea/bakery cafes, and restaurants (with restrooms) to stop at along the way during the day and actual bicycle paths. Krakow to Warsaw (Warka) Poland tour was very unique. Positives: Krakow is absolutely charming and has some interesting day trips available to the salt mines and concentration camps. Once on tour the bicycles, hotels and food were excellent. The forests and farmlands were lovely. The birds were singing, roosters crowing, and the spring blooms were abundant. We saw wild boar in the woods the first day and wolf tracks another. The route maps were detailed and easy to read. The tour company was quick to work out any issues such as transporting us on day 2 of cycling due to severe weather and flood warnings. This being said, I must point out this was not a bicycle path but a bicycle route utilizing narrow roads with usually light traffic (but some sections were busy), logging roads, dirt and gravel (possibly rutted), and horror of all horrors...soft sand. The third day of cycling was bone jarring at times and though only 40km we were exhausted. The last day of cycling was 65 km instead of 55km listed. We traveled all week through extremely rural areas with no restrooms, restaurants, shops, or tourist sights during the whole cycling part of the day most days. (be sure to take snacks!) When a village appeared on the map it normally meant a group of houses and a church...but no commercial establishments. Friday we did see a few businesses but it was a holiday so they were closed. If there were castle ruins at the beginning we didn't see them. The bunker mentioned on day 6 was closed. The Abbey/Castle was closed for renovation which was a major selling point of interest when booking (we were put in a nice hotel as a substitute). The last hotel though nice was very crowded with young families and it was very noisy late into the night. It also required a taxi drive to town. This tour takes you through the former soviet block section of Poland. Overall my friend and I didn't mind doing this tour since we have experienced the other tours first, but feel you should be aware of what you are signing on for: remote cycling in non tourist/commercial type areas over possibly challenging surfaces.

What a great trip. Would like to do another.

Everything was fantastic. It was the whole experience altogether.

The staff, food and barge accommodations were perfect.

The entire trip was memorable. The boat staff was terrific, the meals from Frank our chef, were gourmet quality, the weather sunny tho a bit chilly first days, the tulips were in full bloom, our bike leader had contacts in many cities and we had private evening tours from local guides, the boat was comfortable and always well maintained. I think the only caution I might offer is we started the tour in downtown Amsterdam at the train station and for those of us with limited bike experience going thru the city was a challenge keeping the group together thru traffic, turns, bridges, stop lights. A more rural start would have been better was the general consensus, but that aside virtually everything well received.