Switzerland

This was our first VBT trip and we thoroughly enjoyed it. The guides were knowledgeable, positive, friendly, helpful and very professional. The GPS navigation was great. The routes were scenic, culturally diverse, and well thought out. The excursions/tours were interesting too. Recommend the ebike for the hills!

This trip was better than anticipated. We expected a great time, but this was outstanding in service, leadership and bike friendliness.

Our leaders, Luigi and Jean Marc, were well organized, attentive to our needs, and delightful to be around. Chamonix, where the trip starts, is all about Mont Blanc. You can take a cable car to a nearby peak and see in all directions, if it is not cloudy. The cable car ride is still worthwhile if it's cloudy. You can also enjoy the river walk and ride a train, north and south, for free. The bike rides were mostly on bike paths and often downhill. There were three steep climbs which the ebikes and road bikes managed easily. Mountains were always in sight and so were rivers, especially the Rhone. We had rain several days, but no washouts. The trip ends in Lyon, a metropolitan city. There are museums, a river walk, river cruises, and shopping. Lyon is also the gastronomical center of France. We took advantage of Greeter Lyon Metropole which arranges free tours with local citizens. The strolls, as they are called, are usually two hours but our guide gave us a four hour tour. One downside is theft by pickpocket. In our group, one person had a wallet stolen, another a cell phone, and another thwarted a theft attempt. Take precautions and the thieves will look elsewhere.

This was a great trip. Beautiful rides every day on great biking paths. The guides, Cedric and Sarah, were two of the best. Knowledgeable about each of the towns we visited and always friendly and patient. Best ever.

The VBT guides were fabulous, going above and beyond our expectations. The planned routes were as described, on bike paths or very lightly traveled roads, making the rides safe and carefree so we could take in more of the gorgeous scenery and small towns that we were riding through. The stops for lunches and the cheese and wine stops were fun and delicious. The ship accommodations (we got the upgrade) were comfortable, the food was good, but the service could’ve been better.

Nice itinerary, historical sites, bike paths, and food. Loved this trip, but the ship is somewhat dated. Would not buy the travel arrangement through VBT though.

Had a wonderful hiking trip to Switzerland, starting in Zurich and ending in Montreux—gorgeous scenery, wonderful food and wine and two of the best guides. Claire and Corinne made our trip extra special with informative, fun and well organized hiking trips over five days with pre-trip in beautiful Zurich and a final day in Montreux with its lovely setting on Lake Geneva. The hiking was varied with something new or special everyday. We loved taking the trains and gondolas punctuated by amazing hiking trails. We had a friendly and enthusiastic group, and the hikes were well planned with special events included like yodeling, cheese tasting and alphorn music, which provided interesting local culture. The accommodations were lovely with great amenities and wonderful locations. Highly recommend this tour.

Enjoyed almost every aspect of this trip: awe-inspiring scenery (having near perfect weather certainly helped), excellent guides, great comraderie among the group. I got a good moderate workout with each hike. Kudos to the CW staff who planned the itinerary. First trip with CW where I traveled by regular train/cog-wheel train/ferry and gondola..no vans (which I did not miss). We never waited more than 10-15 minutes from one means of transportation to the next. My only complaint was the room size at the first 2 hotels which were small for me (single traveler). The last hotel was wonderful with a great indoor pool for end of day relaxation. The food at the included evening meals was OK, certainly not gourmet, but the group always had a good time.