VBT Tours
You'll get a lot of bang-for-your-buck with this tour group. The accommodations (3-4 star) are very good, and the support (guides and extra activities) is great. In addition, they have a wide variety of trips to choose from. Their special airfare deals and add-ons for pre- and post-trip accommodations are good values, and a way to save money on your entire trip. Companions – Here is where you’ll find the high-end bargain shoppers. Lots of folks in education (school teachers and professors), as well as your typical mix of lawyers and business types.
Clients come from all age groups. A VBT tour may include both 20-something college students as well as some 70-something retirees. Going single is encouraged, and you don’t have to pay a supplement if willing to share a room. Evening socializing can be pretty good, as you’ll have such an eclectic group of folks.
- Operator Type:
Full-Service Operator - Website:
http://www.vbt.com/ - Price Tier:
$$ - Avg Price Per Day:
$356 - Services:
Bike Provided, SAG Van, Tour Guide - Country:
Austria, France, Holland, Ireland, Italy, United States
28 Reviews
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My tour was good, my guides where great. I did the portugal trip in October 2022
But vbt customer service is the worst!!!
First u can’t get through
To them on the phones… I’ve tried multiple times,
Second , email is just as bad, they do not answer any questions, you literally have to hound them, third… they mislead me about booking my flights. From the beginning I told my agent that I would like to fly Delta seeing that I get upgraded because I’m a platinum medallion flyer, but that involved a connection from Chicago to Lisbon. The agent never informed me that they booked their flights the class a service that you cannot get upgraded in because it is a bulk rate. She should have let me know that and I would’ve happily booked my own flights or gone with the TAP flight she which was direct. If you knew my intentions for flying Delta from the very beginning, but did not mention any of this to me. On top of that on the way home I had a middle seat because the BT forgot to book my seats on the way home. I feel like they should’ve either changed my flight to the TAP flight the direct one, or they should’ve paid for our upgrades since they miss guided us from the beginning.
I feel like I was so mislead by these people at vbt. They did nothing to even compensate me.
And I will restate, they knew my intentions from the beginning. I would not recommend vbt for customer service. My tour gourdes where great, the tour was good ( a few things I didn’t like,(long lunches for instance ), but some ppl do)
but overall was good tour hotels good, food for the most part good,
But vbt in general very bad customer service, rude, unhelpful, and they just want to collect your money and be done!!!!! -
We decided to extend our stay in Europe next summer and have booked a tour in Ireland for next June. They have been less than helpful because we did not use their air services. Hope their tour leaders are better than the customer service portion of the company.
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Do not go on the Tour of New Zealand with VBT. The west coast bike tour is on a highway with very DANGEROUS traffic. One of our participants was hit by a car and thankfully he was ok. The previous group had someone hit by another car and broke his collarbone.
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We have just booked a trip to Bangkok and Vietnam Nam for March, 2018 and we’re informed that there will be an additional charge of $200 per person for the flight more that what we had agreed upon. Has anyone else had that experience? Bait and switch? Interestingly, that $200 was the same $200 extended to us as a “limited time offer’ discount.
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The Dordogne plus Vineyards of Bordeaux is a 10-day trip starting in Brive-la-Gaillard and ending in St. Emilion following the Dordogne and Vezere river valleys and hills combining beautiful scenery, great wine and moderately challenging cycling along small country roads and cycleways. Daily mileage is between 25 to 45 miles over rolling to hilly terrain encountering short, sleep climbs (a few ramps of 12 to 16%). Route finding is facilitated by chalk arrows, so getting lost is seldom a problem. The itinerary leaves plenty of time to enjoy the villages on route with a few multi-night stays in interesting towns like Rocamador and Sarlat. Experience Plus! provides titanium-framed bikes (choice of hybrid or road with plenty of gears), local knowledgeable guides and van support. Hotels are three to four star rated and most meals (breakfast and dinner) are provided in very good restaurants, primarily with a pre-fixe menu at dinner. Wine is included with dinner. Several worthwhile sightseeing tours are also provided.
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My wife and I are near the end of our Croatia. Bicycle tour with VBT. It’s been GREAT. Our guides, Natasia & Mario are wonderful. Our fellow travelers are fun to be with. VBT is reasonably priced. And Croatia is amazing! We will do at least one VBT tour a year for as long as we can ride. VBT is the best!
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We are considering doing this very trip. My question to is…. do they allow time for you to stop and explore the towns you pass by? Do you have to stay in a group the entire time? What happens if you want to quit riding for the day or you just don’t want to ride at all?
Your feedback is very welcomed
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Incredible tour of Ireland.. guide Josie and Bryan were spectacular! so knowledgeable and supportive… love vbt- they give more personal touches that make the trip top of the line. Surprising the food was incredible! Yes it rains in Ireland so bring serious rain gear- but it did not damper any of the 20 riders spirits on this trip. My opinion is this is the only way to see ireland and really feel the country! We had evening entertainment of music, ballads, and dancers.. 5 stars for sure!
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This is my ninth trip with VBT and I am beginning to feel alarmed by the decline of quality. To begin on a positive note, our leaders and the rides were superb. There is no prettier view anywhere than the ones we had in Bordeaux/Dordogne and for that alone the trip is heartily recommended. After all, you’re there to ride. But you’re also there to eat and relax and there the ratings are more mixed. The hotel in St. Emilion was awful. The rooms were far too small. Here you run into VBT’s current problem, maintaining great accommodations and food at relatively low prices in the face of escalating costs and an unstable Euro. One solution would be to stay outside St. Emilion and just come in for an afternoon’s tour of the marvelous underground church and the quaint and lovely streets. Secondly, the food offerings this trip were far more restrictive than in the past, with no beef for dinner at all and generally just three dinner menu choices, meat, fish or vegetarian.
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This was my letter to the President of VBT 10/15/10 Dear Mr. Marston, I just came off your last Tuscany by the Sea trip and I would be remiss if I did not write to tell you how this trip totally exceeded my expectations. First of all I must commend the clock work precision of your staff as both my partner and I were treated first class all the way, never having to wait for a connection or anything organizational on your part. We were greeted by a nice lady at the Rome airport who whisked us to a private car that drove us to the door step of our hotel in Orvieto. Perfect. The reverse was true on the way out….excellent. Our trip was composed of mostly professional people from across our country and everyone had a great time. We were among the few ‘bicycle tour’ first timers but were told by others, right off the bat, that VBT tours were outstanding and indeed we can now concur. Elana Spalenza & Elana Fossati could not have been more helpful, good natured, professional, warm and engaging.
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We’ve done 5 VBT trips and have yet to be disappointed with any aspect of their tours. Inclusive airfare is a great value and accomodations have been first rate. We rate their guides as better or far superior to other bike tour company’s. Travel companions have generally been in their 50s/60s with the ocassional family that brings college-age children along. They offer incredibly great European trip choices.
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This was truly the vacation of a lifetime! Our tour guides were great fun and provided wonderful service too. The lunch visit to the olive oil producer was full of local color and flavor, with the owner giving a presentation about harvesting olives from his 500 year old trees, and making great olive oil. The tour was full of local color and not at all commercialized. Our local guides really made the experience fun. Having the airfare included was a help, and we really enjoyed the pre and post trip optional extensions in Florence and Rome. We can’t wait to go back!
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I toured Sicily with VBT and had a wonderful time. I would, however, have enjoyed more time and distance cycling. Most days rides were about a half a day or less. The guides were incredible and even topped of our water bottles with a slice of lemon each morning. It was a great trip with a well thought out itinerary and amazing hotels. The group was mostly retirees, except for myself and one other couple.
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We went to Ireland with VBT last year and found the trip to be very enjoyable and worth every penny. The acomodations were very good and a good value for what we paid. The guides were knowledgeable and even tho it was the end of the season gave us extra service and caring. The routes were very good and although some of our group had problems with their air routes we did not and found the air connections to be very good. Excellent value – great trip.
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After ten Backroads trips, I tried VBT. I had the time of my life with VBT! Accomodations were wonderful. Food was great! The guides were the best! I did the Prince Edward Island tour, in August. I really appreciated the air fare package and coordinating hotels being an option. It made life so easy. It is a little bit older group, which I like, and I found everyone to be so pleasant to be around!
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Be very careful when booking airfare with VBT. Lost luggage on both ends of trip resulted from too many stops in flight to Italy. (30 hrs from Baltimore.) we received info re: flights too late to change itinerary. Flight schedule was terrible!
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I agree. Puglia was my 5th trip with VBT and they routed me through Atlanta (from Philadelphia) to Rome and through Detroit on my way home. I will NEVER have VBT book my air again.
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Great tour, great price, with great leaders, and wonderful support. We loved the fact that there were other things to do besides bike. We had an optional hike on one day, right along our bike ride, and kayaking on an other day, as well as an included boat tour.
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I thought I would save money and buy the plane ticket through VBT. What a mistake! We had two layovers, and one was for 5 hours! I suggest finding out the entire itinerary of your flight before booking it with them.
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They provided lots of activities on top of just the bike riding, which was fun and helps the group bond together. Even though they said it was intermediate, most days we did surprisingly short rides of only about 25 miles, so we didn’t cover as much as I’d hoped. Next time I’ll choose one of their more challenging trips.
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The trip itinerary was good, but guides seemed tired of their job, some days I never saw them that would have been okay if I could trust the written maps, they were wrong several times.
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We had a wide range of riders, from novice to very experienced. All got to bike at the level they enjoyed. Food, accomodations and bike rides were seamlessly arranged and pleasing to all.
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We LOVED our tour leaders. They were very knowledgeable and accommodating. But it was surprising how many of our fellow riders used the van
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VBT is a great value compared to many of the other groups. I bought the add-on which included my flight and 3 extra days, and the price couldn’t be beat.
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Just completed a trip to Croatia with VBT. Guides were exceptional, and trip was very good overall. Two negatives. If you live in Atlanta, the airfare will be good, but the routing might be terrible, as ours was. They use United/Lufthansa. Three flights to Croatia….almost 20 hours from start to finish. Excruciating, but priced right which is why you book VBT. Also, the last hotel on the post trip was a dump and a long walk from Split’s Old Town and tourist area.
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I had the recent opportunity to travel with VBT in Holland. I could go on and on about all of the positives but will limit it to giving kudos to our leader Marieka, who was fantastic. Also, compliments to the chef, Bas, who did a tremendous job of providing delicious and interesting foods throughout the week on the Iris barge.
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Traveled with VBT in France and California. Amazing VALUE! Same lodging as Backroads and Trek, good bikes, FANTASTIC guides and excellent food. Guides are well trained bike mechanics and great teachers of all things local. They gave the right level of support (or extra miles) to every person on the trip–from “minimal” riders to serious hill-toppers.
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We just finished the vbt Andalusian bike tour. The guides Nico and JC were over the top amazing. They made the trip immensely enjoyable. However the VBT selection of hotels could definitely use dramatic improvement. We finished at a five star hotel but several of the other hotels would be hard pressed to get two stars in my rating opinion. They were noisy and had flat old pillows with hard beds.
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