Was a gorgeous ride and bought some great wine. Only problem was the standard bike seats were quite uncomfortable after 8 hrs of biking. Suggest requesting a wider more padded seat if available. Otherwise no complaints!
Thanks for your review and great to hear you had an awesome ride. We do have gel seats available in our vans so sorry you weren't offered one :)
Cheers, the Around The Basin team.
Was taken to Arrowtown by shuttle and had all day to cycle back to Queenstown, adding excursions to vineyards and Lake Hayes. I hired an electric bike which was a delight and made the ride pure enjoyment. Scenery absolutely stunning. I compared several bike hire companies and these guys were definitely the most informative, accommodating and best value.
Great to have you out exploring our stunning bike trail network.
This was my fave. It was exercise and activity. We used regular bikes, had a good workout and some lovely wines en route. If you have teenagers, like to balance wine with exercise then do this! Do Gibbston, Peregrine, Gibbston Tavern, Rockburn and Bald Hills. You won’t regret it.
Thanks 388kathg - we LOVE hearing out rides are peoples favourite Queenstown activity!
Friendly from the get go, picked up on time on way out and returning. Very informative and took time to explain safety, bike check, map directions to ensure we couldn’t get lost and good recommendations.
I would consider myself pretty fit but wished I’d done at least a little bit of riding to prepare as some of the track was hilly/challenging in parts ,but heaps of downhill to make up for it.
Was lucky to see some awesome looking birds and rabbits a long the way. The bridges were pretty cool too. Very scenic through out and fun dropping at Bungy to watch.
Overall a great day out.
Thanks for your review - fantastic to hear you had a great day out riding.
VISIT: end of February 2020
TOUR: Bike the Bridges - Arrowtown to Gibbston Supported Tour
VIEWS: 5 stars
HELP FROM TOUR GUIDE: 5 stars
SUITABLE FOR ALL ENDURANCE LEVELS: 4 stars
DEALS: I found them through Chase Ultimate Rewards and several other sites
MEETING SPOT: close to Fergburger and Fergbaker
This tour was an honest pleasant surprise for us. The videos online looked cool, but mostly we got to experience so much that I don't think we would have seen. I would have never made a special trip to Arrowtown or Gibbston just based on the research I did, but what a beautiful way to view this amazing country!
You meet at their meeting spot where the tour guide will drive you to your starting point. The tour guide stayed with everyone until they were comfortable on which path they were following and made sure that bikes and helmets were all sized appropriately. Our tour guide even gave special care to someone in our group that didn't speak English. You can leave items in the van, if you'd like, but my husband and I just had everything in our backpacks as the van is only there during certain check points.
After that you are pretty much on your own with the bike tour, which was refreshing that you could go at your own pace. You see your tour guide at regular intervals along your track and that's always refreshing, in case you get tired you can always hop in the van. Along the way, you ride by the AJ Hackett bungee jumpers which was a nice stop to watch and use the restrooms and grab snacks, if you need. Then our tour ended at the Gibbston Winery which was just a nice treat after a good workout.
ACTIVITY LEVEL: one of my biggest tenets is that the company dubs the Bike the Bridges tour a relatively easy ride and although it was, I was personally surprised at how much of a workout was. There was a good amount of inclines/declines and I workout regularly and have an active job, so I was relatively surprised. However, I realized after being in New Zealand that many of their residents are so active that I'm sure this would be an easy ride. For those on the fence, they do have electric bikes for rent, so that might be the way to go.
NAVIGATION: the navigation is very easy and the trails are clearly marked. As mentioned above, your tour guide also makes sure he's waiting at regular intervals along your trail, so I wouldn't let that deter you
I WOULD 100% DO THIS AGAIN: I am not a typical tourist that would return to do things again, but I cannot begin to explain how magical this was. Plus the tour was a half day, so we actually booked this the afternoon of our first full day in New Zealand to give us time to adjust to jet lag and the long tour the day before
HI Sara!
Thanks for taking the time to write such a good, detailed review :) So glad you had such a good ride and the trip exceeded expectations!
Although it is one of the easier sections of trails around, I agree there are definitely some little ups and downs on the way! I always recommend E-Bikes so good job going without, you earned your wine at the end for sure!
Thanks so much, The Around The Basin Team :)
