Hello,
Can anyone recommend a reputable and fun bicycle tour in Florence or Rome? I would like to experience the city in a unique way. I am interested in either a half-day or full day tour. Also, I am traveling mid-March; if anyone has done one of these tour during that time, I'd be interested in hearing your input.
Thanks so much!
We did a bike tour that left from Florence. It wasn't really around the city though. They drove us by vans up into the hills of Tuscany. We toured a winery that is in a castle, then went on a bike ride. Lunch was included in the price. They began March 1st.We had a lot of fun. Here is the review I wrote on the grafitti wall:
I first heard about www.tuscany-biketours.com on this web site. We took one of their tours October 3rd and it was great. We had Mary and Erin as our tour guides and there were about 10 of us. You meet in Florence and are driven out to a castle where you take a tour and do some wine tasting. Then they fit you for your bike and your are off! The price includes a fabulous lunch at a local restaurant and a free water bottle you can take with you. It was my dream to ride in the tuscany area and doing it with a group was a lot of fun. Spending the day with everyone and getting to know our guides made for a memorable experience. I would recommend it to anyone. I personally think that you see and experience so much more from a bicycle than you do a car. The scenery was fantastic. It took a whole day, but it was worth every minute. (We left Florence about 10:30 and returned about 5:00) Check out their web site and consider joining them for an experience you can't have just anywhere. I had to talk my husband into it (spending the money-he loves to bike) but he thought it was worth every penny.
Anne, Contact Cicloposse !!
I've used them twice for 8 and 9 day bike trips, and they offer ONE day trips too out of Florence.
Here is the link to the one day trips. You might find something else of interest. They also do hiking trips.
I highly recommend. Email me if you have specific questions. All we do is bike in Italy, we love it!
Anne, I don't think you will find bike tours IN Rome or Florence. The traffic, streets, crowds, etc. are not conducive to cycling. I am an avid cyclist and I don't think I would want to try riding in Rome -- Florence, maybe. Outside the cities would be great and I plan to look into the Florence trips the next time we are there.
Ciao Anne,
There are numerous bike and segway compaies that do tours in Rome and Florence. We see them primarily "in season." Here's a few examples for Rome:
http://www.topbikerental.com/routes.html
http://www.enjoyrome.com/walking/bike.html
http://www.segwayfirenze.com/rome-bike-day-tours.asp?lang=en
http://www.siteseeings.com/tour_101.html
I'm sure if you Google bike tours for either Florence and Rome you'll get other options. I've never personally taken the tours - I prefer my motorino!
Ciao,
Ron
The city centers don't really lend themselves to bike riding. Renting a bike on the Apian Way outside Rome seems like a good option.
Great, thanks everyone for the advice! I think a tour outside of the city sounds like the best idea. Has anyone ever used IBikeItaly.com before?
This is a post off the graffiti wall I did not write it, but I did look into the company when we were planning our trip. We went with tuscany-biketours.com instead.:
I Bike Tuscany (www.ibiketuscany.com) is a top notch, customized bike tour company operating out of Florence. The warm and witty (and English-proficient) Marco, an ex-pro cyclist, runs this highly personalized operation, providing a variety of single day and multi-day bicycle tours throughout Italy and Europe. My wife and daughter and I capped off our recent Italy trip with Marco's all-day Wine Tour of the Chianti region. Marco provided everything--bikes, helmets, water bottles (he even lent my daughter his sunglasses!) and most important, his amiable hosting abilities--as we explored an ancient hill town, then boarded bikes for a tour of three vineyards, up and down the breathtaking hills of the Chianti region of Tuscany. We ended with a quick look at the small town of Greve in Chiant. Marco followed in an SUV and never once did we feel our novice (compared to Marco!) biking skills were a shortcoming--and frankly, after the third vineyard, loaded with Chianti Classico, we were more than ready to hop in the van and enjoy the rest of the day motorized! A thoroughly enchanting day, capping a terrific week in Italia. I absolutely recommend Marco and I Bike Tuscany for single or multi-day bike tours in and around Florence.
