Spain

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

It starts with the guides and they deliver on a continuous basis. Andrea and Javier (Javi) are excellent at delivering the experience promised by VBT and go above and beyond to make it all work and make sure you are happy. There are always glitches along the way, mostly created by the guests. They work tirelessly and effectively to solve every problem. Like all the other trips (we have done many). It's so much more than the wonderful biking. The farm visit to the apple orchard is amazing. Who knew so much science and technology are needed to be successful in this day and age. They explained why more than 150 apples stresses the trees and produce inferior apples. They showed us the technology they use to eliminate excess blooms. The resultant apples, juices and ciders are wonderful. The enjoyment of our visit to the Dali museum was magnified many times over by the enthusiasm and knowledge of Kim, our guide. I had no idea how many elements were in each Dali painting and how his mind worked.

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!

Having done one guided VBT tour and one self-guided, I find that the self-guided option offers most of the benefits of the guided version, leaving out only the close supervision and support of excellent tour guides. We were familiar with the bikes and the tools--RideWithGPS--so we were prepared to go it on our own. Worked out great. Got the support we needed--hotels, baggage transfer, assistance with nightly charging etc.--and were free to make our own schedules and seek out our own stops along the way. The routes provided by VBT were enough to make us feel we knew where we were going and could manage on our own, and everything worked out okay. Highly recommended.

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!

Mallorca was a wonderful experience. The leaders were exceptional, food, great, excellent bikes, beautiful environment, and felt safe throughout the trip. Excellent choice of hotels and restaurants. Just the amount needed a free time.

This was our 19th VBT trips, our fourth in Spain, and high on our list of favorites. The scenery was beautiful, the hotels were all nice and our guides, Jose and Juanxto were both entertaining and knowledgeable. As is the case with previous trips, everything went very smoothly. The included lunches and dinners were all very good as was the wine. Most of the routes were on roads rather than bike paths, but were very lightly trafficked, with the exception of a few miles here and there, and we felt the routes were safe, especially since there are no many cyclists in Mallorca. The three towns we stayed in were all lovely and not over touristed. We had e-bikes, which I would recommend since there were a few climbs that would have been tough on a road bike, but no problem at all on an e-bike. We did not do the pre- or post trip add-ones, but did stay in La Palma for three days on our own and enjoyed our time there. Overall La Palma is quite crowded, mostly with British and German tourists. We spent one day hiking in Valldemossa, which we really enjoyed and another riding rented bikes along the beach areas of La Palma, thus avoiding the crowded tourist sites. I would recommend doing both of these. We were on the last tour of the season in late October and the weather was excellent for biking, except for one afternoon when it rained hard and no one in our group elected to ride. We booked this trip almost a year in advance because it is quite popular and still many of the departures were already full. As experienced VBT cyclists in our 70s, I would not hesitate to recommend this trip.

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 trip was the perfect combination of biking and cruising. The Emerald Radiance was a top-notch level Riverboat with a crew that felt like family by the end of the trip. The rooms were small but had every important amenity. In the evening were entertained by local dancers and singers that were an excellent representation of the local culture. This trip should be on everyone’s list.

I had a wonderful time on the VBT Andalusian Spain trip and would highly recommend this trip to anyone who might be interested. The scenery is beautiful and the towns we visited had so much history. Our guides could not have been better. They made the trip both fun and safe. I went solo and felt like I gained 18 new friends. The food and lodging were top notch and the rides were totally manageable even for someone who is not an avid rider - but if you have a doubt about your abilities rent an E-bike and your worries will be over!

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.

Landscapes of the Camino de Santiago was a great experience. I always thought "Seize the Moment" but this trip gave me a new perspective, "Let the moment Seize You". The beautiful scenery of this trip was amazing.

We had a great time on the Camino. The routes were beautiful and scenic. Alberto and Pol were fantastic guides and kept us very busy. They were a very amusing tag team and complemented each other well. Our group was very congenial and supportive. The Paradors were all very comfortable and the food was great. A highlight was the pottery demo and luncheon and the sheephearding dogs were fantastic to watch. Santiago de Compostelo was a very exciting place to be and very inspirational seeing all the people arrive after their long journey.

Amazing , challenging hikes with beautiful views. The guides Isabel and Juan Jo were wonderful. I was one of the slowest hikers and they encouraged me every step of the way.

Very satisfied with the arrangements that country walker made which not just made us work out but meals provided local interest