jace

Has anyone done the Mike's Bikes bus and bike tour to Neuschwanstein Castle?

ChrisA

I read about Mike's Bike Tours on the web before leaving for Munich several years ago and then took the tour while there. Even though most others were younger than me - I thoroughly enjoyed the bike tour and it was a very different way to see the major sights of Munich. I was lucky enough to have Mike as our group leader too. We biked all over center Munich as well as the Englischer Garden where we stopped for a beer and a bratwurst. Mike was very knowledgeable and people had a great time - even saw surfers on the Isar River! As I understand it Mike's tours have expanded to other cities in Europe. I would say go for it for a fun and different experience!

talltraveler

jace,<BR>I did Mike's bike tour last May. I did the Munich city tour one afternoon (the day I arrived in Europe) and the Neuschwantstein tour the following day. The Castle tour ride was awesome and very well worth the cost. <BR><BR>The Munich tour wasn't as much fun because I was traveling alone and had a very cliquish group who drank heavily at the Beer Garden. It also was fairly cool and drizzly that day. The Neuschwantstein day was totally different. We had a sunny day and the whole group was really friendly. The ages varied from 20 something to 50 something. We had Brad as a guide (a white guy from South Africa) and he was awesome. He's a magician/illusionist and did tricks for us the whole day. It's about an hour or so bus ride down there, then we biked across the country side for a while and stopped for a swim (for those hearty enough to brave the cold water). We had lunch at a small restaurant then had time to sneak in a ride on the alpine slide. We hiked up the back side of the mountain to view the castle from the bridge (very scenic). Afterwards, those who wanted to tour the castle did so. We hiked back to the bus and slept the whole way back to Munich. I thought it was my best day of my 3 week trip to Germany, Austria, Hungary, and Czech Republic. I bought a Mike's t-shirt and now wear it proudly. I'm going to be in another Mike's city this May and will be doing the city tour there also. Go for it, you'll enjoy it!

talltraveler

P.S. The bikes are Schwins and you go pretty slowly along the paths/roads, so it is more of a scenic trip than an actual athletic type event.

MGB

We are interested in the Munich tour for Sept. Originally we were all for it, but in Rick Steves' latest book he downplays the tour, somewhat on the nature of talltravelers comments. Anyone else been of late?