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bike tours--london and/or paris and/or barcelona?

i'm getting down to the nitty gritty planning part of our trip (which is fast approaching!) and wanted some opinions on bike tours. i'm looking specifically at fat tire bike tours, pretty much because they got the best reviews on tripadvisor, but of course am open to other suggestions. i'm considering a bike tour in each city we're visiting--details below. i'd be interested in hearing an overall opinion of this idea (i have thoughst like--is it scary to be riding around in a big group in a big city?) as well as input on which cities are best for the tour, given our time frame and situation (we are in no way tied to the idea of doing it in all three cities, but can't decide which would be 'best'). thanks in advance!

Dates are mid july to mid august

London--will be there for five whole days with my husband
Paris--will be there for fourteen whole days with my husband
Barcelona--will be there for six whole days WITHOUT my husband

note: whole days mean that travel takes place on days OTHER than days counted. again, thanks in advance!

Posted by
11507 posts

Tracy I have taken three FT bike tours.

The first one was 2 years ago,, I was taking a friend to Paris for her first time, and she is really into sports, so she had found out about this bike tour and was trying to talk me into it. I am not sporty. She kept after me, and finally said,, come on , I'll pay. OK, fine.

We took the Night Bike tour, and omg it was SO FUN. It was not scary, the bikes are comfy, the traffic was not bad either, first because it was after rush hour , and secondly the summer traffic is lighter( as many Parisians are on holiday).

We enjoyed it so much we took the Versailles tour the next day. I had been 5 or 6 times before so figured this would be a novel way to see it again, and my friend was totally into the biking part of it.
Had a great time.

Last year I was solo in Paris and decided to take the Giverny bike tour, and really really enjoyed that one,, I think more then Versaille even. Less city driving, and more time to see gardens with are small ,, as opposed to how large Versailles is,, you just don't get as much time there as I would have liked( my friend though it was enough , but she didn't realize we had missed seeing Marie Antionettes Hamlet etc)

So, basically, yes, I totally recommend the tours. My only caveat is they go rain or shine,, and since both daytrips tours involve picnicing I would wait till you arrive in Paris and book only a day or two ahead.. after checking weather. Won't guarantee you won't get rain, but its better then not checking.

The office staff are all American so easy to phone and book in Paris, or just drop in their offices.

Posted by
11507 posts

Forgot to add, my 18 yr old nephew did the tour in London and enjoyed it,, and I plan on trying it too ,, you do not book ahead for city tours( in Paris or London) so I will wait till I get to London ( 3 more weeks) and see how it goes.. I let you know what I think of the London tours too.