4 Star Bike Tour Reviews — 31 to 60 of 1236

The scenery and the historical cities were so wonderful. Especially loved the last day of biking through wine country and small villages. Food was excellent, and accommodation was comfortable. Only complaint would be the lack of clear, English directions during our information sessions each evening. A guide out on the course would be recommended.

The boat was great , all the rooms had windows and a little terrace, and the food was amazing. I would have liked to have more time to visit the cities were the boat docked. Cycling was fun...but we could not visit the interesting sites.

Scenery was great bikes where good boat was excellent would have been bocce if helmets could have been provided or rented as hard to pack and carry one to Europe .

Our Porto to Lisbon self-guided cycling tour was absolutely incredible. The scenery, accommodation and the Portuguese people were fantastic.
Dianna the receptionist in Porto did a great job of going through everything before we started. This was last minute for her due to the person who was meant to do it not showing up.
We were given a Garmin for the navigation, but the GPS app we found easier to use on our phones.
Our one ask is that some information and times be updated. A major bridge was closed to cyclists, so we had to turn around to get a ferry. Unfortunately, the ferry crossing time was different to the information we had been given.
That said this was a fantastic trip. Easy, mostly flat riding. Watch out for those Portuguese drivers when on the open roads though.

Our guide François and support staff were fabulous. The weather was perfect to see these magical sites and to enjoy cycling across the landscape. The boat staff were welcoming and the rooms very comfortable. The only reason that we are not giving this a 5 star rating is that it only became clear shortly before the trip that most of the passengers on the boat were from 1 country (in this case Germany), what that meant is that we were traveling in France yet having a German experience so more like voyeurs than a French immersion experience. The food on the boat catered to a German diet instead of a French diet (yes there were croissants in the morning and dessert crepes yet that was about it). It also seemed that none of the staff on the boat were from France. We are grateful that our tour guide and all the city guides were French and really made an effort to share the French experience!

Overall this was a fantastic trip! It was very well organized with plenty of communication from Tripsite beforehand and the Carter Company while on the tour. All the logistics were flawless - every transfer was on time and with very friendly drivers (particular shout-outs to Peter in Whitstable and Kristy and her partner in Deal). Leeds Castle and The Rose Hotel were excellent accommodations and we would happily stay at both again. A couple of quibbles, however. One, we think it's a stretch to call The Bell Hotel a luxury accommodation. It was clean but very tired. Two, although the Day 7 route from Deal to Dover was our favorite, we didn't think it necessary to trudge up the giant hill at the end to meet our transfer at Dover Castle. Unless we knew to leave super early that morning, there's no way we would have had time to do the castle and tunnels justice that day. (We went on Day 8 and spent 4-5 hours; it was wonderful.) Perhaps a better end point for that route would be the visitor center at the White Cliffs of Dover National Trust site. Or maybe give two options, one for an early start with time for Dover Castle, and the other to end at the White Cliffs. And lastly, we found out about English Heritage's Overseas Visitors Pass on our last day; perhaps include a note in the travel documentation going forward. (With apologies if it's already there and we missed it!)

We had an excellent time on the tour. The sites we great, biking path was paved, food and the care on the Iris was excellent.
Biking on the city bridges were not always easy. A little scary with the traffic. Loved the e-bike. Would definitely go on another bike and barge trip.

The first day and last day of biking were beautiful. The route the other days weren’t as nice.
The boat staff were wonderful and the food was delicious.
Only downside was having to be on the boat for a certain time as the boat moved all night long. I prefer the tours when the boat moves as we bike and stays in port all night. Nice for after dinner walk in towns.

Coming down the Seine and seeing the Eiffel Tower from the boat was great.

Guides were great. Trip was very educational. Side tours were great even in the rain. Would to have more time to spend in each city. One day is just not enough to enjoy the local flavors.

Overall a very enjoyable trip which could have been made better with more suitable bikes. The bikes supplied were town bikes which considering the distance we were cycling, some of which was off road, did detract from the experience. The standard of hotels was very good. There was one where the size of the room was not suitable as a twin room with the beds shoe horned in. So we had to book a separate room on that occasion.
We are looking at booking something around Croatia next year.

Hello,

Overall, the trip was very good. The landscapes were beautiful, and the bikes provided were of good quality.

On the other hand, there were some negative points to mention: the absence of water bottles for the group, which had been promised in the contract, and the hotel in Aquileia, which I believe was well below the standard we had expected.

That said, I would also like to highlight the excellent assistance and responsiveness of the local team, which was very much appreciated throughout the trip.

Pros: The historic villages we passed through on the route were exceptionally beautiful and easy to navigate. The variety of terrain and the routes were well-designed and except for the first day there were a good number of options for refreshments and bathrooms.

The boat cabins were comfortable and very clean, and the sitting areas were adequate in the dining area.

The staff were exceptionally attentive and responsive to our requests - with one exception (see details in "cons" section below). The tour manager (Mehmet) was amazing and provided all the help we needed.

The e-bikes were excellent and the equipment (panniers and locks) were easy to use and very high quality.

Cons: Our group of 7 who traveled together was separated onto different tables that were too far apart to talk to one another. We asked to have one table moved closer and were denied. There were other tables close to one another with groups that had no relationship to each other. I wonder why we were not given two of those tables. That was a huge disappointment.

The routes were longer than we anticipated each day so we didn't have as much time as we would have liked walking around the villages and learning about them.

The food was plentiful but not great.

The GPS worked pretty well, but would have been better had the route numbers been part of the GPS map. We got confused at least once each day trying to navigate the different tools - paper map, paper route numbers, and GPS - which were not always clear or aligned on which direction to go.

Lastly, we would have appreciated a welcome activity that helped us learn who was in the room, where they were from, and encouraged building relationships with one another. We did a lot of that on our own and it would have been nice to get introduced to each other first thing.

The evening that we moored by a small rock island with a lighthouse and a hole through the rock. Then went for a short swim. Wish it could have been longer.

This was our 2nd self-guided bike tour in Europe. It was a little different than our first where everyone leaving from our hotel was on the same schedule. With this company, you are basically customizing your tour by chosing to stay extra nights in some cities. The route chosen by the local company was qood. We had a variety of small villages and towns, crop fields and forrests. Lodging in the Category B hotels was good to excellent. The cycle paths were very good most of the time with little mixing with cars. We did this in Sept and it seemed alot of restaurants/cafes along the route were closed, so you might bring a lunch with you. The bikes were good, but do not have mirrors, which I had inquired ahead about. We did bring our own.

Liked the disco night. The fourth ride was beautiful.
Meals were also good and super service.
My e-bike was too heavy for me- suggest a more compact and less heavy bike for smaller women. Also, we had wanted to book a guide for the 9 of us and there were only 2 on this boat. We would have enjoyed having one to eliminate getting lost and also helping us find fun locations to stop enroute. We did this on our Italian trip and it made a large difference to our enjoyment.
Your staff are very helpful and pleasant. Well done overall.

Biking from Bolzano to Trento surrounded by mountains and scenery was memorable.
The extra days in Bolzano were well worth it. Lots to do with gondola rides and hikes to wineries.
The bike app worked pretty well, although some instruction was either confusing or a bit late.
Unfortunately we were kicked off the ferry ride on Lake Garda with bikes due to transportation strikes so had to take a van. We missed some scenery, but also had a faster trip to Pescheira.
We got caught in quite a downpour one day and the next day was looking stormy also, so we took a train.
Easy getting train tickets, harder getting spots on the train for bikes. We got the last.
Venice was nice, but naturally crowded. Hotels were mostly nice accommodations. Hotel staffs were pleasant and helpful. Hotel Majestic seems to go by different names and was initially difficult to find.
We enjoyed the self-guided bike tour, even though we didn't use E-bikes.

This was a spectacular time to tour the German countryside. While biking the countryside, we took in castles, churches and farmers markets. We watched the amazing grape harvest, talked to the vineyard owners and tasted great wines. I would do it again!

Staff was amazing, wanted to help and please you al the time. Food was good. Meat portions could have been a bit bigger since we need lot’s of protein to bike. We need non guided and I would not do that again, missed the knowledge of the area that a guide provides.

I would strongly recommend taking the guided tour as opposed to non guided. The app to use is very average and doesn’t give you any information along the ride.

the boat, service and routes. we'd have preferred to have more time in viena and budapest

What I am left with is the memory of the wonderful people I met on the trip. People from all over coexisted, braved some very wet weather, adapted to continuous itinerary changes due to weather conditions and still had a lovely experience. Food and accommodations were excellent. Kudos to the guide Peter who spent hours on his computer sleuthing out alternate routes for cycling as our itinerary continually changed. We missed some cities and had little time in others but you can't control Mother Nature or "traffic control" on the canals. All in all we had a great time and I will definitely book another B & B trip.

The most memorable part of the Madeira Multi-Adventure Tour was simply seeing so much of the island, with its many different landscapes. The hiking and biking tours took us through arid peninsulas, lush forests, rugged mountain peaks (specifically the impressive Pico Ruivo), and by majestic oceanside cliffs and towns nestled on rocky beaches. Our whale watch on the last "free day" allowed us to see the entire south side of the island by boat. We saw so much of the island during the week we were there.
What should be improved is communication on how the transfers to the starting points of each activity day worked, as well as transfers of the luggage. We went into the trip not quite fully understanding who was picking us up each morning, where they were dropping us off, and who to contact at the end of our activity day to pick us up. How our luggage would get to our next hotel was unknown too. However, after a few days we learned how things worked, but more description up front would be helpful to others doing this tour in the future. Additionally, we read the bike tours offered ebikes only - but ended up not getting them. We were given normal mountain bikes with a wide range of gears, which ended up being great due to the majority of our riding being downhill -- so no real need for the ebike. However, we may have paid more for something we did not end up getting. Overall, this trip was truly an adventure and we had tons of laughs and made lifelong memories! :)

Our group truly enjoyed the week on the Vivienne. The bike trails were well maintained and routes well marked which enabled us to enjoy the amazing scenery each day. The staff on Vivienne was incredible.
Two complaints were the e-bikes were very heavy
and there were no water bottle holders on the regular bikes.

Cycling through the small towns and fields. So picturesque and very calm riding.

Staff were great and worked very hard for all of us during the week. Unfortunately strong winds kept us docked for a day so we lost a day riding north as planned and caused other changes in the itinerary which apparently is not common but can happen. Food was very good and enjoyable to meet others from other countries during social hours.

The boat was very nice, the scenery was lovely, food great, and the group interesting with people from a variety of countries. Guides, especially Stefania, were very good.

The Bellezza is a beautiful boat. Proud captain, Ante and his team are extremely service oriented, particularly the two women servers. Staterooms were larger than expected and the beds and showers were very comfortable.
The featured hot tub was not Hot and the upper deck bar area was never utilized for group entertainment or drinks. Such a waste!
Our two cycling guides, Ivan and Marko were highly experienced, professional, informative and safety conscience.
Several of us were dissatisfied with the food provided and the number of meals that we had to purchase on our own. We appreciate that the cuisine was Croatian with a heavy emphasis on potatoes, sauces and carbohydrates but more emphasis on seafood, salads and vegetables would have been preferred. (For one lunch, tuna was so salty that it was inedible and the vegetables were overcooked.) We also would have appreciated having lunch on some of the smaller islands or taking a picnic lunch.
In all, it was an incredible experience through the beautiful Dalmatian Isles.

Tour Guides were excellent. Rooms are very nice. Croatia is beautiful. Dining room is very loud. Food was ok, not as good as other tours we have been on.

Biking along the Danube bend. Beautiful shaded path, interesting scenery. Catching last minute standing tickets to the Staatsopera in Vienna was amazing! Coming into Bratislava while a Trans-Danube Swim was occurring was a unique experience. Great meal at a hotel recommended restaurant (etterum) in Mosonmagyaróvár. The bikes were adequate for our 200 mile journey. I only wish I had a water bottle holder on mine.