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 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 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.

Great trip, well organized and easy to enjoy the sites and scenery.

Beautiful rides through bucolic scenery, wonderful accommodations

This was a fabulous trip from start to finish. The cycling was amazing as were the leaders and the hotels. I had a great time.

We really enjoyed our cruise along the Douro River. Everyone on the Emerald Radiance staff was helpful, courteous and genuinely friendly. The combination with our VBT bike trip made an exceptional vacation.

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.

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.

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.

Our trip was personal and wonderful from beginning to end!

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

Mallorca is a beautiful island. The two guides made this trip much more enjoyable. After 24 CW trips I can safely say that our guides are in the top 3 in my experience. The hiking paths were more moderate than easy because of the many greatly uneven rocks. There were beautiful coves and ancient cultivated and wild olive trees and a very long historical record. Something for everyone with strong legs.