Montenegro Bike Tour Reviews (page 4)

★★★★★ (4/5) Becky Foster October 25, 2023

Beautiful and very challenging!

Cycling the West Balkan Triangle

Cycling near the Adriatic Sea was spectacular, probably the most beautiful cycling I have ever done. It was also the most challenging trip we have done. The countries of Croatia, Bosnia and Montenegro are mountainous! This is a perfect trip for serious cyclists.

What was the date of your tour?: October, 2023
How many tours have you completed?: 4
Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?: Much harder
Do you recommend this tour?: Yes
Countries included in this tour?: Croatia, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina

5/5 Value
5/5 Included meals
5/5 Bikes + equipment
5/5 Hotels or boat
4/5 Scenery
3/5 Ease of navigation
5/5 Tour documents
3/5 Local tour company services
4/5 Route selection
3/5 Guides (if applicable)

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★★★★★ (3/5) Julia Bouchard October 8, 2023

Beautiful countryside

Balkan Treasures

The countries we visited were awesome. The local tour operator left a lot to be desired. Before leaving the US we tried multiple times to download the gps routes onto our phones. Biketours.com stated they do not support the app we were supposed to use…..when we arrived in Trebinje our first day, none of us were able to see the routes…after phone calls with local operator, he walked us through using an app with his username and password-less than ideal. We eventually had the routes on our phones,but no way to mount phone on handlebars. Eventually we got one phone holder that immediately dropped the phone while spinning around!
Initially I was given a bike that was way too small. Tour operator wanted me to use it for the first day which had the longest climb of the week. Eventually he did supply a proper fitting bike that night. We never had anyone to check the bikes with us….
Many of the hotels were quite nice but when we were transferred to Stari Bar, the hotel owner said we did not have reservations. He gave us awful rooms, over the kitchen noisey, sink that didn’t drain…..husband got food poisoning from the restaurant. Albania was disappointing because the lake was so dirty and riding in the city was dangerous The Balkans are awesome but the local tour operator was not up to the standard I expected and received on previous bike tours.com trips

What was the date of your tour?: September 2023
How many tours have you completed?: 3
Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?: Somewhat easier
Who is this tour suitable for?: Families with teens
Countries included in this tour?: Albania, Montenegro, Croatia

3/5 Value
3/5 Included meals
3/5 Bikes + equipment
3/5 Hotels or boat
5/5 Scenery
1/5 Ease of navigation
1/5 Tour documents
1/5 Local tour company services
1/5 Route selection

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★★★★★ (3/5) Kenneth (Doug) Mering October 2, 2023

Good trip but issues

Balkan Treasures

Trouble with maps provided. Map did always start and stop at lodging location. Not always clear on th route on the map. Did not always feel safe on the road. Scenery was great. Enjoyed it but may not do another biketours trip without a lot more research on the routes safety.

Countries included in this tour?: Albania, Montenegro, Croatia

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★★★★★ (2/5) Andrew Lindsay May 6, 2024

Disappointing Tour - Did Not Meet Expectations

Cycling the West Balkan Triangle

Positives:
1) The e-bikes were very good and well maintained; the routes were generally excellent if a little short for e-bikes (rides often finished early afternoon whereas on most other organised cycle trips I've been on they were spread out over most of the day).
The rides from Herceg Novi to Kotor; Ravno to Ston and Ston to Kun were particularly enjoyable - brilliant scenery and quiet roads.

2) Accomodation - Hotels were all very good apart from Marija 2. This hotel was a good 20 minute walk from Kotor; room was clean but rather dark and miserable (no view; no balcony but lots of signs instructing occupants what not to do). Fried eggs at breakfast were cold). By contrast the Hotel Stancia in Ravno was a delight.
3) Food - This was an enjoyable part of the tour. The 'included' lunches and evening meals were very good. The lunches at Ravno, Ston and Kun were especially enjoyable - offering liquor tasting; olive grove visit and locally produced food respectively. The local restaurants we chose for our evening meals were also excellent.

Areas To Improve: As a guided introduction to the West Balkans this trip has nothing to recommend it. The guide, while perfectly charming and an excellent cycle tour leader, had next to nothing to say about the countries we visited (their history; their customs and culture; their flora and fauna). I suspect his Company has never provided any training on how to be a tour guide.

This tour makes it very easy to miss exploring the old town of Herceg Novi; the walls of Kotor and Cavtat Old Town (indeed most of the group did) because they were never recommended or even mentioned; nor did we cycle to them). Dubrovnik is the jewel (albeit a very busy jewel) of the West Balkans and it would be very easy to book this tour and never see it (the old town is a 40 minute walk from the Hotel Adria).

I've cycled many times with Explore and Exodus on group guided tours and their delivered experience is vastly superior to that of BikeTours.com.

What was the date of your tour?: April 2024
How many tours have you completed?: I've been on well over 20 bike tours. The West Balkan tour is bottom quartile. Your guides need training. Happy to provide more feedback.
Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?: Much easier
Who is this tour suitable for?: First-time bike tourists, Solo travelers, Families with teens
Do you recommend this tour?: No
Countries included in this tour?: Croatia, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina