England

Great trip for a sampling of the Lake District, Cumbria moors, and the Scottish borderlands. Hotels and meals were just right; riding routes were scenic and accessible with an electric bike for this 70+ rider with two recent knee replacements. Great group of guests, and the trip leaders were engaged, knowledgeable and responsive. We were the third group to take this new trip -- the itinerary and routes were tuned for the weather and the riders. It was great fun.

I loved the places we saw — lots of variety and beauty and some long, awesome descents! The ride is not for beginners due to often steep terrain and extremely heavy e-bikes that are difficult to handle. Many of the activities described as ‘experiences’ were not offered, and there were few interactions with local folks compared to most VBT trips.

The reasons we choose VBT are several but VBT's attention to detail is superb. Our accommodations were the best not only in location and ambiance but the staffs were most friendly and welcoming. Our tour guides were exceptional and very attentive to our safety and local knowledge. There were no negatives on our trip. In choosing VBT you cannot go wrong.

We really lucked out with the weather, signed up for the trip in Sept. the year before. Lovely scenery for bike riding, we choose E-Bikes after reading other reviews, a first, usually ride road bikes or Hybrids, glad we did, it has some punchy hills, made for an enjoyable ride I think 17 out of 20 guests also rode e-bikes. Also with an e-bike you have some suspension, which came in handy as some of the road surfaces are chunky or bumpy. The Hotels and Inns were charming with smallish rooms and good dinners and breakfasts offered. Dining out in the smaller towns was limited, lots of choices suggested by VBT were very good. Oxford and Bath were fun towns with lots of history and good pubs.

What a fantastic trip this was. This was my 6th time going to England, but my first for the Cotswold region and what an extraordinary time it was. The food was fantastic, everywhere you looked the views were spectacular. It was fantastic trip which I would do again in a heart beat.

My husband and I did this self-guided tour in early September and absolutely loved it. Country Walkers did an impeccable job taking care of every detail--booking hotels, moving our suitcases between hotels, and, best of all, the "route notes" book was so detailed and had everything we needed from step-by-step directions and restaurant suggestions to history and ideas for things to do. It felt like a wonderful adventure following the famous paths through sheep pastures and little forest thickets, past gardens and ancient churches, and climbing over or around all the different gates. It was often overcast and misty in the mornings, but the mid-day sun burned it all away. Our highlights are choosing to stop for an hour to check out the Hailes Abbey Museum and rubbing elbows with some locals at the only pub in a tiny village. So many great memories! We liked the intimate experience of doing a self-guided trip and the independence (without the planning!) that it provided. We spent some extra days in London at the end of our trip...that was just icing on the cake.