Bike tours
 

I'm planning a bicycle trip in Italy and wonder if anyone has any experience with tour groups?

Butterfield and Robinson is top notch for everything, including price.

ditto for Vermont Bicycle Tours but at a slightly less outrageous price. In business for years and mostly good reports i've heard.

I have biked on my own there - went one August Venice to Florence to Livorno and we found by noon it got so hot that we didn't feel like biking much more - i'd avoid July and August at all costs.

thanks. We'd like to spend a little less than B&R. What do you think you lose by going down a price point. We're planning on going early June, either Umbria or Puglia.

Nearly all bike trips i've looked at stay in very nice hotels - part of their allure - B&R stays in especially luxury digs so a step down is nothing to worry about.

One thing to ask a tour is the average age of the group - some Vermont are geared to young folks, but most bike trips appeal to older and richer folks.

If you look at a copy of Bicycling magazine in a bookstore in the classified you'll see ads for many bike tours.

Add www.backroads.com to your search list. They are a tad less expensive than B&R. Have travelled with both.
Tuscany and Umbria were particularly hilly. Puglia and Bologna to Venice were more for the casual cyclist.

I have used Vermont Bike Tours (aka VBT) for trips in both the US and Europe although not Italy. I would highly recommend them for the value they offer. They will be significantly less expensive than the luxury tours like Backroads because they normally stay in three star hotels rather than the Relais and Chateaux type extablishments. They also seemed to be oriented towards the casual cyclist who is just as interested in seeing the sights as logging high mileage every day. A google search will reveal dozens of companies that offer cycle tours in Italy but these are some of the most well known.

check with some english tour operators

thanks for the advice. has anyone had experience with either ciclismo classico or bike riders?

I road through Tuscany in May 2005 with VBT and cannot recommend them highly enough. They cater to all levels of experience and will help you make the most of your rides each day. We stayed in villas in the rural areas and quite nice hotels in Florence on either end of the trip. My only slight quibble with it would be the two meals at the villas weren't the best meals I've had in Italy but the restaurants we ate at either with the group or that were recommended by the guides were phenomenal (c'mon, homemade pasta, wine and lemon gelato on a family's porch in the middle of Tuscany? Life doesn't get any better!). I think for the price (includes airfare which others don't) you can't do any better. I am planning to go with them again next year if I can manage it. I have a full trip report if you click on my name above and scroll back to spring 2005.

Try looking @ www.biketour-reviews.com. We were quite pleased with VBT in Tuscany as well as with CBT (www.CBTtours.com) in Croatia. Friends who used Ciclismo said it was great, just too expensive

Duvine adventures always some great trips. Check them out. Can't speak from personal experience, but receive their newsletter and wish each time they send me one that I could join them. Worth a look anyway.

i ran across this site recently and it looked interesting
www.biketoursdirect.com

Thanks for all the advice. We're actually leaning toward a group called bike riders - same price as ciclismo but seems to stay in slightly nicer hotels. Does anyone know anything about these people? Buterfield and Robinson is simply more than we're going to pay. Looked at backroads but I can't figure out what I'd be getting for the extra thousand dollars/person and their grou[ size is pretty large. I'd appreciate input on that also.

My wife and I used Cicloposse (www.cicloposse.com) on a self-guided tour in Tuscany in 2004 and had the time of our lives. They provide the bikes (24-speed hybrids) and daily maps/ itineraries, and transport your luggage. We stayed in wonderful 2-3 star hotels. The owners (Marco and Guiliana) are completely involved and concerned for your well being. We enjoyed Tuscany so much that we're doing their Umbria ride next September.

Are you considering self-guided or guided? I'd recommend the former; one isn't tied to the pace or itinerary of a group.

Thanks, I just emailed cicloposse for information. I agree self-guided would be nicer for lots of reasons but we're travelling with our daughters (older teens) and I think we should have a support van available for the girls the 1st time we do this. How hilly was tuscany? how much riding do you usually do?

We did the Dordogne...which was Godawfully hilly...this June past with my eighteen and twelve year old daughters, who are by no means athletic. When the hills got too steep, they simply got off the bikes and walked. Not a big deal at all. I'd advise you to try to keep your travels fairly short, though, no more than maybe sixty kilometers a day. Any more than that, if you aren't fairly experienced cyclists, you or your family might find yourself overtaxed, and what should be a fun trip becomes a misery.

Get some time on a saddle BEFORE you go. If you're not somewhat toughened to it, you'll be too sore to enjoy yourselves! Twenty-thirty mile training rides are about right. It's not as long as it sounds, with a little bit of practice.

The local agency, if you elect to a self guided tour, will have a local guy available to respond to emergencies should any arise.

My husband and I ride regularly and our older daughter uses her bike for transportation at school so it's only the younger one I'm worried about but I find your experience encouraging. When you say the local agency what do you mean? who did you use?

Hmmm....Eleanor, riding one's bike to and from school probably isn't adequate preparation. Twenty to thirty mile training rides, at least. Once all can accomplish those without discomfort...or much discomfort, anyway...you're ready. Twenty or thirty miles is a ride of an hour or two, if you push it, but heck, you've got all day, you're on vacation. It should be a leisurely ride, stopping to shop, eat, sightsee, steal fruit from orchards and just smell flowers along the way. Most responsible agencies will ask about your level of fitness, and take that into account when planning your route.

The agency typically takes care of booking your hotel, transfering your baggage from place to place, and organizing some of your meals. They hand you a map, an emergency contact, a route book with sights and local info, and bid you bon voyage. I had great fun both times.

If I may offer some advice, see if you can get them to adjust the price if you skip the meals. You can probably do as well or better on your own, and getting stuck with haute cuisine (which you feel obliged to consume 'cause you've already paid for it)when you're reeeeeallly in the mood for a large, greasy cheeseburger is kind of a bore.
My other advice is to try and spend two nights in each place....chasing from one town to another, changing hotels each night, just takes too much energy. You really can't get the full flavor and enjoyment of what each town has to offer in just one night, anyway.

I've never done Italy, but I did a couple of self guided tours in France. I used DiscoverFrance the first time, and Detours-In-France for the second. For a pretty good idea of what self guided biking entails, visit www.discoverfrance.com. They've got a pretty descriptive page on the concept.

I'm certain that, if you google 'self guided cycling tours Italy' and include the region in which you plan to travel, you'll come up with a dozen agencies who set up this kind of thing.

Sorry, forgot this.

In doing it yourself, you gain a lot of independence. You can take a side trip if you want. The experience becomes not so much as a guided tour as an adventure. My wife and I both loved the experience.

And you save a whole lot of money!

Hi Eleanor,
I would like to add my two cents worth. I also have two teen daughters who are both pretty athletic. That said, I probably would not take my daughters on a self-guided tour in Italy. (It's really a moot point for me since my wife won't go on one unless it is guided) Having a couple of guides, one in a van and one on a bike is nice. You will be expected to fix flats and do minor repairs on your own in a self-guided and even if you are pretty capable of doing so, it's easier to have somebody else do it.

Also, on our trip in Tuscany, it was frequent that people took wrong turns, missed poorly marked turns, etc. If I were doing a self-guided I would probably never feel comfortable letting my family out of my sight. If you want to go faster for a while or explore a little, you can and have some peace of mind that your family is OK.

If you stop along the way and purchase something, you just give it to the guy in the van he hauls it your next hotel rather than having to carry it on your bike.

Periodically, he will be waiting for you with drinks, fruit, snacks etc. and make sure no one needs a ride.

They also arrange little extras like wine tastings, etc. and it does come in handy at times to have someone available who is fluent in Italian.

If you have some weaker cyclists who are tired, they can be taken on ahead to the next hotel. A friend of mine's wife who doesn't really care for biking does this routinely to shop and hang around the pool at the hotel.

Jeffery makes a good point about staying 2 nights per hotel. I've done both and it's nice not repacking every day.

I personally would prefer a few group dinners and a few on my own. Our Tuscany group had most of them together but we all got along very well and enjoyed each other's company. Of course we were typically on our own for lunches, usually with some of the folks on the trip.

If your youngest is a concern from a stamina standpoint, some companies can arrange a tandem bike. The ride takes a good part of the day with multiple stops, so it's not nearly as tiring as it sounds to ride 30 or 40 miles or so.

It's really a great way to take a vacation. Hope you have fun.

This is all very helpful. For the reasons abouve I think we'll go guided this time, but self-guided sounds great for my husband and I. The person I spoke to at bike riders tours says Umbria will be less hilly than Tuscany (they're not promising flat but I don't want the younger one intimidated before she gets started), does this sound right to you? Beaux, what group did you use?

We used VBT in Tuscany. I used CBT Tours in Croatia last year. I have looked at Bike Riders in the past and it looked appealing. Umbria sounds good.

I know you mentioned you looked at Backroads and found it pricey, but they have some trips that are called "casual inns" that are significantly cheaper than their "premiere ins" trips. The reason I say this is that I know they have some trips designated as "family trips" which might be more fun for your kids.

We are in our mid-40s and were the youngest people on our trip. That's the same experience I had on my only other bike trip and I hear that's about par for the course.

If this were my family I might feel a little bit more comfortable if there were some other young people on the trip for them to hang out with. But it will be a blast either way.

thanks for all the advice. We decided to book a guided tour for early June, I'm sure it will be great, now we just have to wait. I looked into all the suggestions, self-guided was a little too brave for us the first time. Also family trips cater to younger families with the exception of B&R which does have trips for 15+, but again the price is exorbitant(for us). I'll report back.

Hi Fellow Bikers: Check out Duvine Adventures. My wife and I have been on an Italy and a France bike tours with Duvine. They exceded our expectations in every way.

My husband and I did the self-guided in the Loire Valley with Discover France and it was great. This time a group of "girls" are going and we definitely want the guided tour. Has anyone used Tour Direct mentioned in a post above. Their prices sure look good. Need feedback. Thanks.

I have done two bike trips with Duvine Adventures (one with my husbandand one with my teenage daughters) and they are AMAZING!! The price is better than most other companies, the service is great (bikes are ready, food is arranged, accommodations are wonderful..) and the skill of the guides is beyond compare. Burgundy is a teeny bit hilly, but the Loire is nice and flat. Both are wonderful rides. You don't need a lot of "bike time" before going to these locations, but you should prep a bit before Italy!! You can't go wrong with Duvine.

My husband and I used Cyclomundo for a 6 day Provence self-guided tour. They provide the bikes, luggage transportation when needed and back up support if necessary. They have set itineraries with choices of hotels. I looked at the options and chose the higher priced hotels and the option of self paying for meals besides breakfast.

Our trip was wonderful. We were in Avignon 2 nights and picked up the bikes and maps there. The bikes were hybrids and very comfortable. I usually ride a road bike at home but it was good to have the extra suspension. We opted not to do the first day ride, but then rode to Les Baux via St Remy. We stayed is Mas l'Aigret (I think) the next two nights and did a loop from there to Arles. Then we rode to Fontaine de Vaucluse, Hotel du Poete. From there we had trips to Gordes and Roussillon and I can't remember where else at the moment. We might have had three nights there. The hotels were all amazing and the breakfasts delicious. We only had one minor issue with a bike but we called and talked to the mechanic and sorted it out on our own.

We typically ride about 15 - 20 miles on the weekend and are in decent shape, and we found the 30-35 mile days to be perfect. Only a couple of hills that were tough and we walked a little We would go out usually between 9-3 or 4 with at least two stops. It was great being self-guided for us, able to stop when we wanted and eat where we wanted. I think it was around 1100 euros a person. They also provided a car the last morning to pick us up at the hotel and take us to Avignon train station. The luggage transport worked fine.

We are hoping to do another Cyclomundo ride in Italy next summer.