Hilltop Villages of Provence Cycling

Customer Reviews

• MW

  Mary

  · August 14th, 2022
  Regarding our cycling tour - Hilltop Villages of Provence: Cons: 1. We were not provided with information on how to get from the train station to our hotel once we arrived in Carpentras. We had provided the train arrival time and destination and expected some information from the tour operator on either being picked up or details on how to get to the hotel. Instead we sat at the train station for ages and had to make our own way to the hotel. 2. There should have been some information provided on dealing with the extreme heat that we encountered during our tour. We were at serious risk of heat stroke, biking for almost 8 hours and having elevation gain of over 1,000 meters (as recorded by my Fitbit) on the first day of our trip. We took the initiative on the second and third days to map out alternate routes to get to our destinations, that involved biking on very busy roadways, but we felt the risk of competing with the traffic was less than the risk of heat stroke. 3. On the day that we returned to the hotel where we started, we were told that dinner was included, but there was no information provided to us on where, when or how we would get to wherever we were supposed to go. We had to make several calls to get this information from the tour contact person. 4. The bell was broken off one of the bikes we had, and there were times when it was necessary for us to alert pedestrians and other cyclists with the bell - but there was no bell! Pros: 1. Having the Headwater GPS application was very beneficial for determining the routes we were to follow, however a backup map should have been provided, as we had to change our routes due to the extreme heat. Also, our phone battery did not last the whole day, so having a backup map would have been helpful. 2. Baggage arrived in the right hotels every day! 3. The hotels were fantastic, really enjoyed our stays at l'Hotel Hermitage, Hotel Les Sables D'Ocre, and Hotel du Poete. Comments: The holder on the handlebars for the cell phone to allow us to use the Headwater navigation app did not work for us, as it was so hot that our phone overheated while it was stored in the holder. My travelling partner felt that the self-guided tour did not provide enough support, especially with the extreme heat that we encountered, and said that she would not take another self-guided tour.
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  Trip date: July 2022