Spain

Our 7th trip and this might be tops, but they are all so good. This trip is easy and we are so glad we did not order eBikes (we are 79 and 82). Our guides were terrific and the trip is planned so there is time for art (Dali two places),Greek and Roman ruins, swimming in the Mediterranean Sea, walking the coast, seeing the Costa Brava from the sea, and exploring the old city of Girona as well as an introduction to Barcelona, where we stayed on for a week in an apartment. Hotels were great too.

VBT never disappoints. This was my 4th trip with VBT and it was fantastic. Our guides Oriol and Martin were outstanding. Loved the visit to the Dali Museum and came away with a new appreciation for his work. The landscapes were beautiful and the visit to the cider company was fun. The post trip in Mallorca was a pleasure.

We thoroughly enjoyed our first VBT experience. The tour route was very well laid out and we cannot not say enough about how impressive our tour leaders, David and Frederico, both of whom are natives of Portugal. Kudos to VBT for the way they planned and conducted our tour!

We loved this trip! Beautiful and varied biking routes; knowledgeable, competent and engaging guides, top-notch hotels, delicious food and interesting cultural activities. I wish I could do it all over again!

Having been on three other guided VBT tours we chose to sign up for this self-guided tour this time. VBT provided great ebikes, helmets, repair kits, excellent GPS directions on RidewithGPS, along with luggage transfer service. We had a contact with a VBT employee in case of emergency, but there were no other riders on our tour. I sometimes missed having a guide for local knowledge and rest stops, but we really enjoyed having the freedom to explore beyond the prescribed route, finding restaurants, beach rides and sights we would have missed on a guided tour. We saw less of the Costa Brava area than we would have on the guided tour, but we enjoyed riding our bikes into local towns in the evening for drinks and dinner. The routes were largely in the interior of la Costa Brava, up and over small mountain passes, through beautifully preserved medieval villages, farmland, and olive groves, with limited coastal riding except near the destination hotel. The hotels were all excellent and provided secure areas to leave and charge the bikes. The last hotel, Hostal Empuries, located next to the impressive Empuries GrecoRoman ruins, was particularly lovely, situated on a beautiful cove with excellent amenities excepting a swimming pool. We really enjoyed our independence during this self-guided trip!

We were a group of 8 (most of whom knew each other) which was a perfect size. The biggest problem was that when we tried to leave Barcelona for Girona, the train track was under construction and therefore no train could get to Girona. It meant two subway changes to get to another train station and ultimately to Girona. It happened to be my 73rd birthday, and included way too much schlepping of luggage up and down multiple staircases etc, we all were grumpy, but finally reached our destination. Wish VBT could have forewarned us of that We had only one mechanical support need, but other wise all the bikes were great. And for the hill out of Girona the eBikes were much appreciated. We loved the places to stay, but one thing to suggest is that we back-tracked on the route which seemed like you were just trying to add to the mileage for a day --- can't remember where that was, but perhaps another option is possible. My husband and I did the extra ride out of LaFranc and thank god for the eBike because it was VERY steep but so worth it. THanks for the suggestion. We loved the trip

The trip was very enjoyable. The itinerary was well conceived and well paced, taking us to a variety of locations with bike rides that were suitable for bikers having a range of skills. The scenery was great, and the weather cooperated (just a few minutes of rain one morning). All hotel accommodations were outstanding, including the very impressive breakfast buffets and the convenient locations. Our fellow travelers were friendly, cooperative, and interesting to spend time with. The best VBT trip I've been on, my ninth.

Terrific bike trip on Mallorca organized by VBT…made especially good due to 2 fantastic leaders and a wonderful group of riders.

We love VBT and the best part of this trip was our leader, Manu. He is awesome! All VBT leaders are great, and he is at the top. It was the initial offering of the trip, and some kinks will be addressed, I am sure. Coordinating the boat and the buses (there were A LOT of buses) and biking is complex. We enjoyed the chance to mix with other travelers on the boat. We enjoyed unpacking only once. The Douro is not a river where you can bike alongside, like the Danube--so there is a lot of bus transfer time on twisty steep roads (some complained of car sickness). It is a hilly area--definitely on the "moderate" scale, not the "easy-moderate" scale. Climate always a question-in late April we had both cold (40's) and wet and warm (70s) and sunny. The olive oil mill and winery were good experiences. The archeological site was sketchy.... If you like hills and don't mind the bus, a good trip to some less accessible areas.

The guides and the boat and staff were great. However, the trip did not meet the usual VBT expectations. The trip itinerary lists a warm up ride in Porto. This does not exist. The "warm up" and bike fitting are in a small parking lot the next day where there is no space to adequately test the bike. So you're immediately out on a road with no shoulder in heavy traffic for 16 miles along the river. No doubt there are some nice views, but when you're only concerned about safety and figuring out the bike, there is no time for scenery. The next couple days riding were moderately uninteresting scenery. The best ride was the Rails to Trails - Safe, beautiful, interesting. We were looking forward to the final ride to the Atlantic Coast but got rained out. Because of being on the boat there are daily transfers by bus of up to an hour each way to get to the biking areas and back to the boat. Too much time on a bus!! While it was nice to only unpack once, the trade off of charming hotels and villages with our bikes on the property was not worth it.

We visited Andalucia Spain with VBT in Nov. 2012. This was our 24th bicycling trip with VBT and was our best trip yet! Andalucia is more scenic than we ever imagined and the bicycling along rural roads and trails is the best way to experience this area. The longer cycling routes offered each day were through rolling hills with sweeping vistas overlooking olive orchards as far as the eye could see and small white-housed villages nestled in the hill-sides. Andalucia offers many cultural and historic attractions in Seville, Cordoba and Granada that make this a very enriching and rewarding trip.

Fabulous trip! We truly enjoyed ourselves and the other people on the tour. We loved being there during Holy Week, too. The pre and post extensions were wonderful, we especially loved Rondo. All of the guides were terrific! Nico and Juan Carlos were fabulous as well. They both had a wonderful sense of humor and were very patient and helpful. We will highly recommend this tour to others and look forward to doing another tour in the future!

Another great experience with CW, this time in Northern Spain. Top quality guides (who were also a lot of fun), carefully curated walks (including parts of the various Caminos), interesting and authentic places to stay and great meals, especially the fantastic lunches (in places we would never have found). The walks were accurately rated at easy to moderate. Overall, a fantastic vacation - I learned a lot about Northern Spain and had a great time doing it.

Awesome Experience. Everything was amazing from the accommodations to the hikes to the guides. Highly recommend this tour to experience different parts of the Camino de Santiago.

Great trip. Wonderful guides, excellent hikes, beautiful people and scenery, nice accommodations.

Great walks. Great guides. Great hotels. Great food. Add-on In Barcelona was super