Europe

This was a perfect trip...Seamless. My 8th VBT bicycling trip and all were good but this one was exceptional because our leaders were exceptional. Great biking, great cultural events and guided tours, wonderful food, very cohesive group of 22 guests who really liked each other every single day. Bravo Javi and Andrea..I hope we meet again!

Enjoyed the bike ride, the small cities and towns, the archeological site at Empires and the trip leaders. A delightful corner of Spain.

Bike routes were beautiful and enjoyable! Loved the town of St. Remy and the location of our hotel. Really enjoyed Avignon and again, the location of the hotel made exploring the city very easy.

This was our first VBT vacation and we have already registered for a second trip. Provence and the Alpilles is a beautiful region of France with abundant fruits, vegetables and other agriculture. The bicycle travel through the French countryside gives an up-close and personal travel experience.

As with all our VBT experiences Portugal did not disappoint. The trips are planned well from the time you take off from home until you land back at home. The transfers, the accommodations, and the in between are well thought out and planned. Any necessary changes are planned for. Portugal is tourist friendly, they are ahead of the curve with the pandemic, follow the rules. It is tough to find a bad meal, the weather was great; there is a lot of history. The cycling was easily doable for all who cycle 25 miles with some wind or hills. If you take only a few trips, make this one.

Portugal was our 11th VBT trip and 12th biking trip. It was the best or at least equal to our other great trips. The guides were the best ever and the hotels , especially the Farm House, were excellent. The biking was challenging at times but very good overall. We highly recommend the trip and very much want to return to Portugal. Great food, great wine and a beautiful country. We felt very safe on the roads and highways as Portugal drivers are very courteous to bikers. Absolutely nothing to complain about and as with all VBT trips, a great value.

I have wanted to visit the Nordic countries since 1974 when I was an exchange student in Europe. Thank you, VBT, for finally making it an affordable destination! As always, the travel arrangements were seamless, the leaders were phenomenal, and the experience was second to none!

VBT has done it again. For over 20 years, my wife and I have been taking bicycle trips. We had long been hoping that VBT, our favorite tour company, would add a trip to Scandinavia. When we found out about this new trip last year, we signed up within days. It did not disappoint. Our leaders were friendly, knowledgeable and always ready to help. We had nice weather. Our mid-September departure had temperatures in the mid to upper 60s, and occasionally in the 70s. The rides were beautiful. We usually ride road bikes, but were glad to be on hybrids because there were some gravel surfaces and even a few miles of dirt road. The local people were a bit reserved, but quite friendly when approached. English is widely understood and spoken in Scandinavia. We chose to do both the pre trip in Copenhagen and post trip in Helsinki. We are glad we did. The evening cruise to Helsinki through the Stockholm archipelago was stunningly beautiful.

We had great hotels and guides and interesting cities and towns to explore. The big negative is that the roads and country lanes had roads covered in potholes, loose gravel at the bottom of the hills and drivers who at high-speed drove by leaving not much room. We had 15 riders and eleven falls of the bikes. I had one when a person knocked me off my bike by putting his elbow out to hit my mirror when I rode by with no room to move over. All the other trips I have rode on had safer roads. The biggest complaint we had was when we landed at Heathrow, Terminal 2, we saw no driver to pick us up. We came out from baggage claim and no one with a VBT sign. We looked around for 15 minutes and then went to The Currency Exchange Kiosk as noted in our travel paperwork. After 10 minutes standing there, a man offered his help and called the Company on our paperwork. They said someone was on the way and to stay there. It took them a couple minutes to recognize our name and pickup information. After 30 more minutes waiting at the Kiosk, my wife walked around again and spotted a man holding a VBT sign and he told us that he had been there for 50 minutes. We knew that wasn't true and we both had searched for anyone with a VBT sign. The second incident with ground transportation came when we were scheduled to leave our hotel in Dublin. We were supposed to be picked up at 11:00am for a two-hour ride to Heathrow. At 11:10, our hotel desk person called APL Cars London and they said they would be there at 11:20am. At 11:30, the desk lady called again for up and they Company told her the driver was almost there and not to worry as our plane was taking off late. Our desk person to her that she checked, and our flight was on time, so we knew the ride person was lying. Our ride finally showed up at 11:50 am, 50 minutes late. We did get to the airport in time for our flight nut we were nervous with the rushed ride, worrying about checking in our bag, and finding our gate. We would have been more comfortable if we had started on time. VBT should reconsider using this ride company and they were late both coming and going on our trip.

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.

VBT truly exceeded all expectations on our recent vacation! They made everything so easy, allowing us to fully immerse ourselves in the experience without stress or hassle. It was the perfect way to explore the breathtaking valleys of the Alps — every detail was thoughtfully curated, from the stunning hotel selections and engaging cultural activities to the incredibly scenic bike routes and just the right amount of free time. What made this trip even more memorable was our amazing group. Our tour guides Felipe and Luigi were really the cherry on top of it all! The camaraderie we shared felt effortless, and it's clear that VBT puts a strong emphasis on creating meaningful connections among travelers. That focus really shines through and turns an already beautiful adventure into something truly epic. Can't recommend it enough — we’re already dreaming of our next trip with VBT!

Great trip. Eve and Jean Marc were fantastic guides. We rode hybrid bikes and they were perfect. There were only two little hills that were more difficult than easy. The Abby we stayed at was our favorite

This VBT trip does not disappoint! The attention to detail for every visit and experience was remarkable. I live in the mid-west and don't have many hills to train on so these rides were challenging for me, but doable and once I was done I felt very satisfied. The accommodations were all different and great in their own way. The guides were energetic and informative. I highly recommend this tour - it's a great way to see Greece!

The experience with VBT went beyond expectations as did the part of Greece where we cycled. The Peloponnesian Peninsula is a relatively undiscovered biking jewel, I enjoyed it far more than biking various Greek Islands. Accommodations were excellent and Greek food speaks for itself. VBT and the guides went out of their way in providing a 5 star experience. The bikes were new and top quality, the routes were varied and interesting. The guides bent over backwards to please us and provide a great biking as well as cultural experience.

We really enjoyed this trip! We've only been on 1 other trip, the Piedmont trip, summer 2024. I thought in almost every way, that trip was a smidge better. The food for the VBT organized meals was a B as compared to an A on the Piedmont trip. I would say the wine tasting lunch was an A, and highlight for food. The rides were more scenic on Piedmont, and less Urban. Best ride was the Alps, and Bernina express, give that an A+. Once you get all the way to Switzerland, you can only visit St. Moritz about an hour. That seems like a waste, why not have dinner there, and then bus home that night? We had two boat issues that altered our rides around Lake Iseo, and a restaurant issue that made dinner changes the first night. Como was beautiful, but the online itinerary said we'd say in Belagio, but we stayed in 45 min away in Colico. Felt misleading, especially when we booked the extended stay. The hotel was nice, but being on the North End extreme of the lake meant every excursion we had to pay for ourselves took more money and time to take a train or ferry to lake destinations. Guides were good. We still love VBT and will come back, but as a bucket list tour, this was just shy of how much we enjoyed the Piedmont through Italian Riviera tour.

Great trip overall, a variety of areas to ride in. The guides were very helpful. The bikes were very easy to operate and in great condition. The GOS app was easy to follow and know where to go.

This is a delightful trip. Our VBT host, Jan, was terrific! He briefed the group at the orientation, and was completely available to anyone for questions, advice, or other help all week by phone or text. Hotels and the bike route were wonderful. The entire week of the ride was very scenic, almost all on paved bike paths and without automobile traffic. Riding along the Danube is just stunning. We had hybrid (non-electric) bikes and found that they were completely adequate, as this is not a hilly trip. We loved this trip! This was our third self-guided trip, although our first with VBT. We plan to do more self-guided trips.

The self-guided tour was wonderful and well paced - it went through beautiful and interesting country, the people I met were kind and the food was terrific! I had some trouble, though, with the Ride With GPS app. It functioned poorly with frequent messages that the GPS signal was weak. I had to seek out directions, several times, from people in towns or on the trail.