Fat Tire bike tours in Paris
Sep 7th, 2011, 03:32 PM
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Fat Tire bike tours in Paris
I don't usually offer unsolicited advice, but I felt I had to post about the two Fat Tire bike tours my daughter and I took while in Paris this summer. We absolutely loved them - they were the highlight of our trip.
I saw a blurb about the tours in a Paris blog I was following before our trip. DD really wanted to do it, so I agreed (although I am not a regular bike rider at all). For the "day" tour you meet under the Eiffel Tower at 3:00 p.m. On our first attempt, we were late and missed the tour. DD was upset, so we returned the next day and made sure we got there early. The staff walks you a few blocks to their office where you get your bike and they divide you (if necessary) into smaller groups. We had about 15 people of all ages in our group. The have a small supply helmets, but only my daughter and I wore them.
Anyone can do this tour - the bike riding is easy, there are relatively few hills, and the biking segments are broken up with stops to learn about the various sights. During the day tour you also stop for lunch. On the night tour (which I also highly recommend) you stop for ice cream and for a boat ride.
We ended up doing both the day and night tour and wanted to do the Monet's Garden and Versailles tours but they were booked. (You can just show up for the day and night tours, but need a reservation for Monet's garden and Versailles).
I am really glad we did these tours - it was a different way to see Paris and tons of fun to boot. If you are looking for something different to do, but still want an entertaining, informative tour, I highly recommend them!
A
p.s Our guides were great - Andre from Portugal was our daytime tour guide and Andrew from Wisconsin was our nighttime tour guide.
I saw a blurb about the tours in a Paris blog I was following before our trip. DD really wanted to do it, so I agreed (although I am not a regular bike rider at all). For the "day" tour you meet under the Eiffel Tower at 3:00 p.m. On our first attempt, we were late and missed the tour. DD was upset, so we returned the next day and made sure we got there early. The staff walks you a few blocks to their office where you get your bike and they divide you (if necessary) into smaller groups. We had about 15 people of all ages in our group. The have a small supply helmets, but only my daughter and I wore them.
Anyone can do this tour - the bike riding is easy, there are relatively few hills, and the biking segments are broken up with stops to learn about the various sights. During the day tour you also stop for lunch. On the night tour (which I also highly recommend) you stop for ice cream and for a boat ride.
We ended up doing both the day and night tour and wanted to do the Monet's Garden and Versailles tours but they were booked. (You can just show up for the day and night tours, but need a reservation for Monet's garden and Versailles).
I am really glad we did these tours - it was a different way to see Paris and tons of fun to boot. If you are looking for something different to do, but still want an entertaining, informative tour, I highly recommend them!
A
p.s Our guides were great - Andre from Portugal was our daytime tour guide and Andrew from Wisconsin was our nighttime tour guide.
Sep 7th, 2011, 03:52 PM
#2
I'm glad you has a great time. It's nice to know their other tours are just as fun as the Monet Garden tour I took last October. I highly recommended it on a thread, I started when seeking advice about the tour before going. I figured it would be there if anyone ever did a search. My threads never get high traffic but that's ok.
Sep 7th, 2011, 03:53 PM
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I second your recommendation. My son and I took both city rides last summer. We took the day tour the second day we were there so he could get an introduction to some of the famous sites. Next summer I plan to take the trip to Giverny and maybe to Versailles too. Our guides were the best!
Sep 7th, 2011, 04:18 PM
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The guides on those tours are usually not very well informed, but the main attraction is the bicycle ride. They also offer Seqway tours that are great fun; the guides still aren't very well informed, but the fun of the tour is getting to ride around town on a Segway (the tour includes a brief training session with the Segways).
Sep 8th, 2011, 07:30 AM
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If (when!) I get to return to Paris, I will absolutely book the Giverny and Versailles tours. The guides may not be as informed as, say, a Context Tour, but they were entertaining and did provide anecdotal stories that were amusing and interesting. I agree that the fun is in getting to ride around Paris! I have a picture of my daughter riding her bike through the inner courtyard of the Louvre - priceless!
I am just bummed that we didn't do the FT tours in Barcelona and London when we were there a few summers ago.
I am just bummed that we didn't do the FT tours in Barcelona and London when we were there a few summers ago.
Sep 8th, 2011, 07:57 AM
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we're also fans of Fat Tire - I've done it 3 times - twice with kids.
The first time, both adults had tandem bikes with kids and the 2nd time, the older girls rode solo while the boy rode tandem.
They are great, aren't they?!?
The first time, both adults had tandem bikes with kids and the 2nd time, the older girls rode solo while the boy rode tandem.
They are great, aren't they?!?
Sep 8th, 2011, 08:21 AM
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Sep 8th, 2011, 08:22 AM
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ronda, good idea.
http://fattirebiketours.com/
I just went to my trip report and copied the appropriate paragraphs:
"After lunch and a little break, we decided that since the weather was getting nice, we'd try to do the Fat Tire Bike Tour.
We planned on doing this all along, but were waiting for a decent weather day. Since the sun was beginning to appear, we decided to take advantage of the break in the wind and do it. We called the office and made a reservation and confirmed that we would be able to use two kids’ bikes and the tandem for the 3pm tour. (they have them, but they are limited, so it is good to reserve them).
We met at 3pm at the Eiffel Tower and walked to the Fat Tire office location. After getting everyone saddled up, bikes checked out, we were off! The kids did great - Thing 1 and Thing 2 were both on children's bikes and Thing 3 rode tandem behind Mr. Surf. My biggest concern with the kids was the starting and stopping. When we were riding in a line, they were fine with spacing, but at intersections, the group bunches up and everyone starts at the same time. They did a good job of waiting until it was clear and they could get a decent head start without starting a chain reaction of knocking other people off bikes! (and without getting too far behind that they'd get cut off from the group)
Much of the riding is done without competing with traffic. There are bike lanes for some of the way, other places, you ride along the sidewalks, some of the way is through grassy (dirt?) space in-between the lanes of traffic. Some of the tour goes through the Tuileries where you have to get off your bike and walk it.
The tour stops for about 30 or so minutes for a break in the Tuileries gardens, so the kids got their daily dose of ice cream. (And I got bonus points when the tour guide heard me order in French.) After the tour was complete (it ends back at their office near the Eiffel Tower), we stumbled onto a park on the way back to the metro, so they played for a few minutes and then we came home."
http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...three-kids.cfm
---------------------------------
here is the first one:
"We had scheduled a bike tour for today (Fat Tire Bike Tours) and rather than try to arrive at the exact time, we decided to give ourselves extra time. We stopped at a park along the way to the Eiffel Tower (the meeting place for the bike tour). After a quick walk back to the bike tour offices and picking out bikes, we were ready to go.
We opted to use tandem bikes for the girls, which worked great. The tandems were the equivalent of 3 wheels – attached to the parent’s front wheel and two rear wheels. Unfortunately, I managed to freak out my 5 yr. old in the process. The tough lesson that I learned was that when the adult bike seat is all the way down (lowest seat position), the tandem arm (attaching the child’s bike to the adult bike) doesn’t swing freely and catches on the luggage rack. This means that turning any corner becomes a little adventure and on one sharp corner, I had one of the tandem rear wheels in the air. Oops. Bad mommy. At one of the stops, we raised my seat about an inch – which made it a little more difficult for me to pedal, but infinitely easier for my 5 year old not to freak out.
Overall, there was not much biking on roads, but through parks, sidewalks, and bike trails. We went through the Tuileries, but were required to walk our bikes and stopped for lunch at one of the cafes. On the return, we rode along the Esplanade towards the Invalides on a bike trail. While biking on the trail along the Esplanade, a car pulled up next to us – and took photos of the girls behind us on the tandem bikes. Sunday is a great day to take a bike tour because even though they avoid roads with traffic, there is a little bit of riding on streets, crossing streets, etc. This was Easter Sunday and traffic was even lighter, so there were no issues with traffic. I think people are also more patient on a Sunday and less likely to be annoyed to have to wait for a pack of bikes. I would absolutely do this again on a Sunday."
http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...ttle-girls.cfm
http://fattirebiketours.com/
I just went to my trip report and copied the appropriate paragraphs:
"After lunch and a little break, we decided that since the weather was getting nice, we'd try to do the Fat Tire Bike Tour.
We planned on doing this all along, but were waiting for a decent weather day. Since the sun was beginning to appear, we decided to take advantage of the break in the wind and do it. We called the office and made a reservation and confirmed that we would be able to use two kids’ bikes and the tandem for the 3pm tour. (they have them, but they are limited, so it is good to reserve them).
We met at 3pm at the Eiffel Tower and walked to the Fat Tire office location. After getting everyone saddled up, bikes checked out, we were off! The kids did great - Thing 1 and Thing 2 were both on children's bikes and Thing 3 rode tandem behind Mr. Surf. My biggest concern with the kids was the starting and stopping. When we were riding in a line, they were fine with spacing, but at intersections, the group bunches up and everyone starts at the same time. They did a good job of waiting until it was clear and they could get a decent head start without starting a chain reaction of knocking other people off bikes! (and without getting too far behind that they'd get cut off from the group)
Much of the riding is done without competing with traffic. There are bike lanes for some of the way, other places, you ride along the sidewalks, some of the way is through grassy (dirt?) space in-between the lanes of traffic. Some of the tour goes through the Tuileries where you have to get off your bike and walk it.
The tour stops for about 30 or so minutes for a break in the Tuileries gardens, so the kids got their daily dose of ice cream. (And I got bonus points when the tour guide heard me order in French.) After the tour was complete (it ends back at their office near the Eiffel Tower), we stumbled onto a park on the way back to the metro, so they played for a few minutes and then we came home."
http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...three-kids.cfm
---------------------------------
here is the first one:
"We had scheduled a bike tour for today (Fat Tire Bike Tours) and rather than try to arrive at the exact time, we decided to give ourselves extra time. We stopped at a park along the way to the Eiffel Tower (the meeting place for the bike tour). After a quick walk back to the bike tour offices and picking out bikes, we were ready to go.
We opted to use tandem bikes for the girls, which worked great. The tandems were the equivalent of 3 wheels – attached to the parent’s front wheel and two rear wheels. Unfortunately, I managed to freak out my 5 yr. old in the process. The tough lesson that I learned was that when the adult bike seat is all the way down (lowest seat position), the tandem arm (attaching the child’s bike to the adult bike) doesn’t swing freely and catches on the luggage rack. This means that turning any corner becomes a little adventure and on one sharp corner, I had one of the tandem rear wheels in the air. Oops. Bad mommy. At one of the stops, we raised my seat about an inch – which made it a little more difficult for me to pedal, but infinitely easier for my 5 year old not to freak out.
Overall, there was not much biking on roads, but through parks, sidewalks, and bike trails. We went through the Tuileries, but were required to walk our bikes and stopped for lunch at one of the cafes. On the return, we rode along the Esplanade towards the Invalides on a bike trail. While biking on the trail along the Esplanade, a car pulled up next to us – and took photos of the girls behind us on the tandem bikes. Sunday is a great day to take a bike tour because even though they avoid roads with traffic, there is a little bit of riding on streets, crossing streets, etc. This was Easter Sunday and traffic was even lighter, so there were no issues with traffic. I think people are also more patient on a Sunday and less likely to be annoyed to have to wait for a pack of bikes. I would absolutely do this again on a Sunday."
http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...ttle-girls.cfm
