Spain

Our favorite VBT trip to date. The cultural experience rivaled the well planned cycling routes. Time spent on and off the bicycle created lasting memories for joyful reflection.

I wasn't sure I would be able to do this ride. But I had no problem at all. I used an e-bike and kept up the group and had a ball! Everyone on the ride was wonderful and fun to be with. If you aren't sure you might be up for a ride thru Spain, think again. Anyone can do it using an e-bike. I can't wait to do my next trip!! Hum, where shall I go?

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!

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!

This was our first VBT and it will not be our last! We loved the self-guided trip through quaint medieval villages, quiet country lanes, mountain climbs in the foothills of the Pre-Pyrenees, apple orchards, to the beautiful shores of the Mediterranean. We had a great group of 7 travelers we met up with along the path, and for many dinners. We choose the self-guided because we wanted to go at our own pace. Our local hosts were amazing and always a phone call or text away! We made the right choice by going with the E-bikes! We had never tried them before, and they were amazing!

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!

Great trip! Knew Mallorca was a big tourist destination, but it turned out to be a wonderful biking destination. Beautiful countryside, lush vegetation, awesome scenery. Recommended!

From start to finish the trip was fantastic! The hotels were stunning, the trip leaders were knowledge and so fun to spend time with and the routes we took were beautiful and well planned out. I highly recommend this trip!

Incredible experience getting out to the villages and learning about the history of the land. The guides were terrific, tending to our needs while riding and along the way. I would suggest that if you are considering a road bike for this tour, think twice and go with the e-bike simply because there is a fair amount of areas where you will ride on cobblestone, which proved to be tricky for even the experienced road bikers in our group.

The scenery and biking were incredible! However, dealing with the ship's docking schedule was somewhat problematic and left less time for exploring the towns and shortened the rides.

This was the best VBT trip I've had. Great biking,and mix of culture. Excellent unique hotels,and our guides were extremely fun and happy to share their culture.

Trip #2 with VBT and once again the entire tour exceeded my expectations. The towns of Spain via bike were breathless. The leaders were knowledgeable, friendly, fun and organized. Loved by Trip #2 and plan to do more......

Our tour of Northern Spain was a combination of seeing some of the beautiful landscapes of northern Spain, a flavor of what the Camino de Santiago is like and a wonderful history and cultural experience of this region of the world. Our guides were phenomenal. They took care of every detail of the tour, and made sure we got as many experiences as possible throughout the tour. They managed our safety while still giving us the freedom to explore on our own.

Manuel and Alberto were both excellent guides - good communicators, they kept us all on track. overall it was a good balance of walking and cultural activities. we covered a lot of ground which meant many hours in the bus - would have preferred a little more 'walking'. One the other hand the cultural activities were a highlight.

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

Country Walkers knocked this trip outta the ballpark: breathtaking mountain terrain✔️ gorgeous coastal hikes✔️ beautiful honey-toned villages nestled on mountain sides✔️ local agri-tourism (citrus groves & olive & winery & sea salt plains) ✔️ wonderful local cuisine ✔️ knowledgeable local mountain guides who care deeply about their country and their tour group ✔️ All the boxes were checked on this trip, and while the weather in Mallorca can be changeable in April, it cooperated beautifully during our week. And of note, the guides were very good at finding trails that weren’t touristy but were unmatched in beauty. A couple of the hikes were challenging due to the rocky terrain and slope but…this is a hike not a walk on city streets, right? Our group had great dynamics and our guides, Josep and Elke were caring, kind and went the extra mile (pardon pun) to make the experience worthwhile. The hotels we stayed in were very good, local, often historical and just added to the experience. I had no expectations attached to the trip because my travel to Europe has been very limited, so more experienced travelers might scoff at my enthusiasm (they probably don’t smile at babies, dogs, and flowers either) that’s fine, this was my experience that will last a lifetime.