My sister and her DH did one in Spain last year. Let me ask her for the info and I'll get back to you. (They also did a bike/boat tour with my other sister and her DH this past summer through Germany, I believe. If you're interested in that, I'll get that info, too.) (They both live in Colorado, also, so bike all the time.)

I also saw one that starts in the mountains of Italy and travels mostly downhill into the Lakes area. (That's the one I would pick. hahah All downhill!)

You might also do a search here on Fodors of "bike"+"Europe".

Try this website for ideas.

http://www.europebicycletouring.com/

And this one.

http://travellingtwo.com/

I think it depends a bit on the type of biking you do and how much you want to pay. I've seen happy people on Italian Mountain tops on Carbon Fibre who paid $6000 for the week. It made me weak at the knees. I'm also not so sure what the guides do, though I did once bump into a bunch of 70+ Germans in Italy who has an Ambulance following them

My best experience was with HeadWater. www.headwater.com/ who do self guided. I also use www.mybikeguide.co.uk.

We know many people who have done bike tours with Vermont Bicycle Tours and have been very happy with them. I see you have a Croatia tag, and this company offers one there
http://www.vbt.com/

I did a VBT tour of Tuscany in 2005 that I was very pleased with. I would happily ride with them again as it was a fantastic experience and I was very well taken care of. I have a trip report here if you click on my name. VBT offers trips all over Europe and some in Asia and down under. I think their prices are more reasonable than other companies (like Ciclismo Classico) and INCLUDE airfare, which other companies do not.

If you weren't aware there are many bike tour companies operating in France and here is a list of weblinks for some of the more well known ones I've heard of. Some of them do guided tours and some do self-guided tours but you'll have to look through the links and determine which one suits your needs.

http://www.detours-in-france.com/

http://www.backroads.com/biking-trips

http://www.nicholexpeditions.com/france.htm

http://outfittertours.com/

http://www.diversedirections.net/

randonneetours.com/bydestination/france.htm

http://www.walkingfrance.com/selfguided.html

http://www.discoverfrance.com/

http://tinyurl.com/6hmv9mr

http://www.frenchcyclingholidays.com/

http://cyclomundo.com/

http://www.beauxvoyages.com/Self-Guided-Bike-Tours-France.html

travelingtwo are an excellent resource!

Tina, here is the info from my sister. They loved both of these:
"vbt.com We did the Bike and Barge--Heart of Europe that went Metz to Koblenz, and last year, we did the Under the Andalusian Sky in southern Spain. (Vermont Bike Tours)"

Good luck!

Backroads is an excellent bike/hike choice as well.

A great general resource website about cycling in France is www.freewheelingfrance.com.

Thanks for the suggestions. I don't think we are ready for a self-guided trip, but VBT sounded nice. Backroads too, but so $$$.

Tina

"I don't think we are ready for a self-guided trip"

Well being in a tour normally means you have a leader or a following van.

Selfguided means that you get the same map the leader has and the van has to be called out to sort things out though I guess they would expect you to sort out a puncture (though punctures are less common with the new types of inner tube and the bikes they use tend to be new each year).

Then your own tour means you need to work out the map and there is no van.

Having seen the price of VBT I would struggle to imagine having that amount of money to throw away. Have a look at Headwater they speak a form of English.

The critical issue for me is not is the route on back roads (nearly all are or on bike paths) but the changes in altitude. If you want hilly book hilly.

I have been on two Backroads hiking trips (2011 and 2012) and am considering a third one this spring. Fantastic. Can't say enough good things about them. I have no doubt their biking trips are just as well planned with beautiful views and great guides. They do a great job on hotels and restaurants - very centrally located and comfortable. They schlep all your stuff for you. All you do is show up and hike (or bike).

Has anyone used ExperiencePlus? They have an itinerary in the Dordogne tha sounds good, but I haven't heard much about the company.

I don't know them but for 6 nights (i think) $3395

Headwater have a self guide in the same area for 8 nights for £1219

Now i guess the exchange rate is 1.65 say so the Headwater would cost $2011

do I think having a leader would cost $1384???? or ....

http://www.biketour-reviews.com/

This site is great in giving you a comparison of bike companies, their destinations, general age group, size and price. My husband and I have done a number of trips using Backroads, VBT, and Great Explorations (out of Canada). Each company has a different style but we enjoyed them all. Our last trip with Backroads was the Slavic countries (and it was well done with some challenging riding) Our VBT trip was Morocco--more people and fast pace for the day with little downtime; Great Explorations was Turkey -- beautiful and laid-back guide/owner. Most of the companies do offer optional rides for the better riders and shorter rides with shuttle for the recreational rider. If you haven't been to Croatia, that might be a great option. Also, Backroads purchased Bike Riders (great company that we did France with) and they also offer Dordogne touring. As the previous rider mentioned, Backroads does a great job with hotel, food, support, etc. although they can be a bit pricey. From what I know of Experience Plus, they tend to attract a little older age group.

TinainDenver:
Not long ago, I wrote an evaluation/comparison for the Travel Tips Forum from our personal experiences. It was entitled:

Why Do A Cycling Tour?: A review of various tour companies and general tips
Link: http://www.fodors.com/community/travel-tips-trip-ideas/why-do-a-cycling-tour-a-review-of-various-tour-companies-and-general-tips.cfm

JanisJ had said it would have been more useful had it been posted here, and I guess she was right!

Why don't you scan through the report and then ask questions as needed?
In general, this is where we went and with whom...

with Backroads...
Loire, Brittany/Normandy, Provence, San Juan Islands, Glacier National Park, Western Ireland, South Ireland, Czech Repuglic/Austria, Turkey, Puglia, New Zealand

with VBT...
Tuscany by the Sea, Andalusia/Spain

with Bike Vermont (now known as "Discovery Bike Tours")
Ireland, Scotland

with Europeds (the old company, not the present one)
Dordogne

with DuVine
Burgundy

Two summers ago i took a sailing/biking tour in Croatia with
http://www.islandhopping.com/bike-tours-croatia-montenegro-2011.html

It was one of the best trips that i've ever taken.

AllessandraZoe: that was a really great post and thanks for moving it to the Europe forum. You are really the bike tour expert on the forums. I did look at biketour-reviews.com and found it generally helpful in describing tour companies generally, but not much specific feedback. We are leaning toward the Dolomite Valley tour with VBT, but have not booked yet. One concern I have is that some days are as little as 15 miles of biking. Although we are not heavy duty cyclists, we do a 15 mile ride in Denver just to get coffee on Saturday mornings.

What did you think of the Dordogne as a place for cycling in terms of the types of roads and scenery? The aspect of the Dolomites that sounded attractive is that much of the ride is,on bike paths. The VBT trip to the Dordogne did not cover some areas like Sarlat and the caves that I would like to see. It also includes A few days in Bordeaux.

We are leaning toward a guided trip primarily because of the support van and to avoid dealing with logistics. The advantage to me of self guided is that I like picking my hotels. We tend to like B&Bs best. We went to Puglia last year and I found some wonderful places by researching the forums and tripadvisor. My Boyfriend has never done any bike trips, so I don't think he should do self - guided for the first one.

I really did enjoy cycling in the Dordogne, but I did it with a now extinct company, and that trip was a Perigord/Dordogne combination of some length.

Since the VBT Dordogne trip ends at Château des Vigiers, you could stay on there or some place nearby for a couple of days and use that area as a base to do Sarlat, etc.

As to the Dolomite VBT trip...well, I have never cycled the Dolomites, so I'm no expert on this area at all. I DID note, though, that the trip is advertised by VBT as "Easy" from the get-go.

For most companies, the really short mileage day is either the first or last day. I've read the VBT Dolomites itinerary and that doesn't seem to be the case. Therefore I am going to assume that it could be a day where they'll shuttle the less athletic a lot, so those people would be doing only 15 miles but you could be doing 35 miles or even 60 miles.

By the way, I really like reading the pre- and post-trip options on the VBT Dolomites trip.

Tinaindenver: I also did not respond to your specific question about the Dordogne in light of your liking bike paths in the Dolomites.

I actually like biking ON THE ROAD. I prefer back roads (and most companies try to route you that way), but while bike paths can be nice at times, it's much nicer to be able to say, "Here's a store. I'm going to park my bike and go IN it."

Of course with my husband, it's more, "Here's a bar. I'm going to park my bike and see what they have on draft."

You do have a point about cycling on roads. We rode mostly on roads in the Loire Valley and it was fine because there was very little traffic. I'm also looking at the Andalucia trip with either VBT or Backroads. It looks like you went with VBT. Did you like that one? Were the towns interesting? i've been to Saville, but I don't know much about the other places on the intinerary. Thanks

The Andalucia trip was a rather good value, I thought, with VBT. Hotels were interesting if not always plush, and except for one day's routing (see below), the rides were also quite interesting and varied. They offered lots of cycling options. We had a couple excellent cyclists who took every possible long option, a lot of middlings like me, and one "I'm not sure I can go up any hill" person" and we all got our money's worth.

Rerouting note: We had gone there after month's of torrential rain, so much of the biking trail that they would have used was washed out and they had to reroute the trip on the fly. The guides did a great job of that.

Be aware, though, of the time of year. We went in an unseasonably cold and wet March, yet by the time we got to Cordoba, the sun really was overwhelming by noon. The guides told us that if one ever needed to know the origin of siesta, just come to Cordoba and Granada.

I would say this trip ranks right up there in terms of culture and history. Touching the tomb of Christopher Columbus in Seville, hearing REAL non-tourist flamenco singers in Palma del Rio, realizing the depth of Moorish academic influence in Cordoba, and then ending the trip with the Alhambra Palace in Grenada was pretty darn good.

Thanks so much for all of your insights. I was thinking about late September for the trip in the hopes that it wouldn't be too hot. It sounds like October might be better. I don't love hot weather.

One think I discovered in dealing with VBT is that they don't guaranty that the trip will go until 90 days prior, which is way to late to book flights. We don't want to use their air package, so it makes things a bit risky. Backroads is similar, but they require 5 people to guaranty a trip will go, which is probably a lower hurdle. With all of the bike trips you have done, did you run into this problem?

Actually, VBT can guarantee that the trip will run by some number of persons signed up, too. Just keep checking back. If it looks like your trip isn't getting filled, then they should switch you on a timely basis.

We have never been cancelled on Backroads or VBT. However, interestingly enough, we were on a trip with people whose trip with Backroads was cancelled--only Backroads didn't let them know.

Yeah, Backroads changed their policy shortly thereafter.

If you are flying in October, I can tell you that booking flights a bit later MAY work to your advantage. I tend to be a belt-and-suspenders person who books way too early, often because I'm trying to leverage miles, upgrades, and certificates. But waiting a bit can often land you much better deals because once August starts, the Fall air deals start showing up.

After reading this info and also reading about the Dordogne Valley, I decided to book the VBT trip to Bordeaux and Dordogne Valley in September with a few days in Sarlat before the bike tour. From what I have read on Fodors, the Dordogne Valley sounds like an area we would like.

Here is a link to another tour company that happens to be run by a frequent poster on this Forum. He is not allowed to advertise on Fodor's of course, so you will not see his business link in any of his delightful photo trip reports. FYI, the link is:
http://frenchmystiquetours.com/ or you could look up some of his trip reports here.

Tina--I am excited for your trip! Good luck.
AZ

Backroads cancelled on someone? That is surprising. Given that they have a very strict "no cancellations, no exceptions" policy I hope they not only gave that person their money back but also paid the difference they had to pay in changed airfare/new tour operator. Not that they would DO that, but it would be nice don't you think?

When you say "changed their policy" shortly thereafter, what do you mean?

Flygirl, it's not really a "no cancellations, no exceptions" rule. There is never any guarantee with any company that when you sign up for a trip it will run UNLESS they tell you it is confirmed. Once the trip has enough people to run, you are guaranteed to go.

Sometimes they can tell you right way if you're good; sometimes you may be the first to sign and have to wait until the trip reaches a "magic number" for the company.

Backroads now runs it at 7, I believe.

Nevertheless, ALL these companies tell you not to make your flights until your trip is confirmed.

The problem with that party of three was that there was no notification that their trip had been cancelled, and I believe there is a bit more immediate follow-through now about that.

I can tell you that EMAIL was not standard at the time we were traveling, so perhaps they were notified by phone and no one got the message. Now, I'm sure it's handled by both phone and email.

I have no idea of how it was handled post trip. All I can tell you is that ten years later, they are still my "go-to" company. If I make a reservation and can't make the trip, as long as I let them know 95 days out, they will put my deposit in escrow for a future trip.

Most of the other companies will not do that. My deposit is totally eaten.