Spain

We loved this trip! The scenery, the biking routes, the guides, the accommodations were all fanatastic. We liked the other guests, the fabulous breakfasts and particularly loved our post trip to Mallorca.

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 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!

Bucket list trip. Very well organized and great progression of rides and cities.

The cities of Girona and Empuries provided interesting cultural context to the trip. Easy access to Barcelona before or after the trip also added a significant plus to the trip. The only slight downside were the routes that had a bit more traffic than expected. Accommodations were great.

This tour is a biking paradise. Mallorca has enough challenging biking for any level of ability. VBT offers many different routes daily to satisfy all levels of competence and experience. Most days were averaging 35-45 miles for the full day, but shorter routes were available after lunch. There were hills, rollers, flats and riding on good roads was a pleasure. The hotels are excellent, each one better then the last, with the last being a Spa Resort, that is exceptional for a two night stay. Two of the hotels were in the middle of a town where walking to dinner was easy. The last hotel was stand alone, but that was the Spa Resort, were the food was excellent and included. Very friendly group, all got along, new friends were made, many enjoyable moments. But the glue that made this tour were the guides. Hanka is a people person, exceptional guide, caring, professional, always looking out for her riders, funny, good cook and a good person. Marc is every where, helping, guiding, fixing, doing any thing needed, even loaned me his bike to ride as I had a moment of change. Hanka and Marc fed off each other, are a joy to be with, a super pair of individuals. It was great seeing you again Hanka, Poland was a while ago. A truly wonderful tour, May The Wind Always Be At Your Backs, Hanka and Marc.

The Mallorca tour that we took in mid-May is one of the best of the 20 VBT Tours we have taken. It has everything a very good tour should have. The small towns we walked around were very charming, and the Harbor at Cala Figuera was beautiful. The roads, although in better shape, reminded me of the Cotswolds, some single lane, some 1 and a half lane and some 2 lane but traffic was rarely an issue. I was surprised at the number of serious bike riders we saw training on the Island. There were two Independent Rides, which had great views. We had very good weather, although a little warmer than we like. Jose and Bogumila continued the tradition of excellent VBT Leaders. The one day pre-trip in Palma is the right amount of time to visit the Cathedral and see the Harbor.. In Barcelona, we spent four hours in La Sagrada Familia, walked around several other Gaudi designed houses and found a great chocolate shop near the very interesting Citadel Park. We even saw flamingos near the last Hotel. We highly recommend this tour.

Wonderful trip! Biking along the Douro and surrounding areas was amazing. We were able to go to some remote places and really experience the area without a lot of tourists around. The meals we had in the small towns were top notch! We had wonderful tours as well. Matyas and David were excellent guides. Riding an ebike on this tour enabled me to enjoy the multiple steep hills.

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.

Great way to experience Andalusia from rural, small town, big city. Very much impressed with it all.

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!

The trip was VERY Good, but it should be noted that it is not a walk on one Camino, it is a taste of the areas around several camino routes. We walked, but we also were able to learn about cities in various locations, from excellent local guides, and we experienced visiting a cheese farm and a pottery Artist at work. If you are looking for a CAMINO hike with spiritual significance, this is not it, BUT if you want truly wonderful experience of Camino and the beautiful Northern Spain, this is a trip you should make a must do.

This is a wonderful trip with wonderful guides! It gives you a taste of what it would be like to walk one of the Caminos in its' entirety - I hope to go back and do that one day!

Excellent trip. I went with my daughter and son in law and we all enjoyed ourselves. Guides Isabelle and Juanjo were delightful, helpful, knowledgeable and fun. Initially I was concerned that we were a large group of 17. However everyone got along well and Isabelle and Juanjo managed to accommodate all levels. The hotels were excellent except that in Polenca we sacrificed space for location. Everyone seemed to prefer the new format of more meals on our own. It worked on this trip because we were in towns on those days with a choice of restaurants and cafes. Mallorca is a beautiful island with friendly people and for the most part very good food. Highlights for me were the coastal walks, lunches at the winery and citrus farm and visits to the towns. Suggestions- more food choices st the last two group dinners, options of some guided afternoon walks. I would rate the walking as more moderate to challenging because it is very rocky and steep in parts.

Not that strenuous, but interesting walking/hiking with informative guides. Great history, scenery, food. Guides were exceptional in every way-attentive, helpful, knowledgeable.