My wife and I are contemplating an organized, supported bike tour in Europe and I was wondering if anyone here has any experience with the various companies (Bike Switzerland, Cinghaile, etc.). Any feedback would be appreciated, thanks.

I just show up at an airport [Shiphol my favorite] and go from There .. myself .. It is how I Afford them , self supported touring, Camping and Hostels.
No paid staff and pre booked Hotels .. read any of Rick Steeve's (a PBS TV favorite guy and Show) books?

Every town Has a Information Center , with people who speak Many languages working there .

USA bought Eurail Pass and a Bike rentals at the stations can get you out and about with out bringing your own Bikes .

g'gl (your phrase) gets : https://www.google.com/search?q=orga...hrome&ie=UTF-8

Care to be a Little More specific?

Two excellent organizations that run or arrange supported tours are Adventure Cycling https://www.adventurecycling.org/guided-tours/ and Bike Tours https://www.biketours.com/

My wife and I have done a number of organized tours done by different companies in the EU and elsewhere and they have all been wonderful.

This is not exactly on topic, but my wife and I recently took a cruise and had a day in Key West. We went on a bike tour of the Island and had a great time.
If your ever going to Key West, cycling is the absolute best way to get around. It is a very bike friendly place. After the tour, my wife and I took our guide
to "Irish Kevins" a bar that features ribald entertainment. so much fun.
anyway, enjoy your tour.

Moved from General Cycling to Touring with a 7 day re-direct.

I can recommend the Quebec based organization, "Velo Quebec". They do a whole slew of tours in other countries (check their website, you can select English somewhere on the page) but my experience has been with their local supported trips--3 day ones for families and 7 day ones for folks who want more of a challenge.
While I can't speak of their more expensive overseas trips, I can speak of their general well organized and experienced supported trips. They have been doing this for over 20 years, might be 25 now and its a good organization.
The overseas trips dont come cheap though.

I suspect the most important criteria is finding a company that has a solid reputation.

I know of another company from British Columbia, in western Canada, that does trips to Italy, Corsica etc. A reputable company but on a much smaller scale.
Let me know if interested and I will find the proper name.

I've done short (1-week) bike tours with three operators. All were in the U.S., and all of them were enjoyable and well-organized.

OP, are you looking for experience with (a) tour operators in general, (b) European tour operators, or (c) specific experience with the two organizers you listed?

ky, what I should also have asked, are you in the U.S, Canada, England? Not sure how much it matters but it may be easier for you to look into companies that are based in your own country. This may not be the case, but might be for some of the logistics of booking a trip in Europe somewhere and you are from Kentucky, or perhaps Taiwan or India for example.

Primarily b and c, we would just do it ourselves if we were staying in the US. The two listed seem to be closest to what we're looking for and I was just curious if anyone here had experience with them or others to suggest. We are looking at a once (or maybe twice) in a lifetime trip, so not so much looking into the cheapest way to do it, as looking for a good experience.

Europe Bike Tours - Bike Touring Travels and Cycling Holidays - Vlo Qubec Voyages

there you go, a whole slew of trips.

I used this organization to help plan some of my very first bike trips, 25 years ago or so, using their small library of travel books, pre internet.
I gave a bicycle trip talk for them once, after they started to grow, and they are a good organization. Was asked by them if I wanted to get involved in their organized supported trips way back then but I wasnt interested in supported stuff back then, and then after I got married , had kids and was busy with family.

So now over the last maybe 7 years have done their week long Canada/US supported trips with my wife--but as I said, havent any experience with their overseas stuff, but do have confidence that they are very well run.

To put things in perspective, the week long trips here have between 1400-2000 participants, and they have a great deal of experience with the logistics of so many people--meals, faclities, route choices, support vehicles etc etc etc , so I see no reason their handling of small scale european or wherever trips would be any different.
I am sure that the accompanying support cyclists have lots of experience and a lot of thought has gone into route researching etc.

While I have not actually gone on one of their tours, Backroads seems to be a first class operation. On several tours both in the U.S. and Canada we have interacted with their groups.

We have camped in close proximity to them, borrowed their tools, eaten with them, and asked them to return a key to a motel located in the town they were heading for; all great experiences

https://www.backroads.com/bike-tours

They also set up the Tour De Vita starting in a community near us. Five hundred participants! Look at 2014 photos.

https://www.tourdavita.org/

I've never gone on a trip with this company but the owners, Gary & Lise, I have known for over 40 years and am quite sure that you would have a good time with them. Check out their website (Guided Bike Tours in Europe & U.S. | Adventure Travel Group) to see if their trips appeal to you.

#2 on Backroads. We've interacted a little with them in France on our self-guided trips and they seem decent. I think if you opt to go with a tour company you will pay a lot more than self-guided, but you will have a very efficiently planned trip which should take you to just the right places, no routefinding and no wasted time on logistics. So you trade money for time by using a tour company, imho, optimizing the time you are in Europe. Also lose spontaneity and serendipity . . . but lower risk.

With so little information on what/when you have in mind it's hard to know how to respond.

My only experience of a supported bike tour was the one that started me bike touring again about 14 years ago. It's a family run business in Brittany, France that supply everything and send you on your (own) way. This type of 'supported' tour works out a lot less expensive and more adventurous than one where you're followed everywhere by a van and led by a guide.

Cycling Holidays in France Tours in Brittany - Families too

Highly recommended.

Check out Adventure Cycling Company Reviews: Comparisons of Bicycle Tours, Cycling Vacation Europe, Cycling Asia, Cycling US for a list of tour companies. But, I don't know how current this site is now.

My husband and I have done 3 tours in France with HAT Tours' Bike and Barge tours: https://www.hat-tours.com/ Very affordable and all-inclusive. They provide the bikes (heavy Dutch hybrids) and accommodations on their older barges are not luxury but, they tend to attract a wonderful group of people from around the world. The barge owners and crew added to the experience. We could afford more expensive tours but, we'd rather do HAT Tours. We've done their Loire Valley tour twice (brought friends the 2nd time). Made life-long friends on their Burgundy tour.

Have fun whatever you do.

Update to my previous posting. I just received an email from the Dutch owners of the barge that did the Loire Valley tour (which we did twice). They have sold their "Anna Maria IV" barge and upgraded to a newer renovated barge (MPS Zwaantje), offering a new route and bookings through a new company. My husband and I plan to join them on a tour this year or next. Their own website: MPS Zwaantje Or, book through Boat-Bike Tours: Holland Amsterdam - Bruges - Zwaantje - Boat Bike Tours Their previous barge, Anna Maria IV, still does the Loire Valley Tours and can be booked through www.HAT-tours.com. You can also find these tours through other companies' sites, such as biketours.com (mentioned in another post above, which is how they offer 450 tours). But, you’ll save money and have fewer problems if you can book as direct as possible and not through multiple agents getting their commissions.

One of the advantages of these Bike & Barge tours is that they’re ideal for couples with different cycling abilities. One can stay on the barge (while it cruises slowly through the canals) for one or more days to avoid the longer, hillier or wet days while the other rides with the group zig-zagging through the countryside and quaint villages.

I and friends have had the most incredible cycling experiences using europeancyclingtours.com - their knowledge of Europe's roads is second to none therefore the itineraries are spectacular. Initially, being a touring novice, I started on a London To Paris Cycle Tour which was so good it hooked me on touring ever since. The guys at ECT are brilliant and very helpful...being from the UK they're also a good laugh. Since the L2P we've gone on to ride across Italy (Italian Coast To Coast), Majorca and in the Alps...we're looking at riding over the Pyrenees this year - can't wait!!

I highly recommend Vermont Bicycle Tours (vbt.com). Last summer I did the west coast of Ireland and had a great time. Great accommodations and food and the leaders were excellent. With included airfare and all transfers it was about the same price as other companies without airfare. This summer I'm using them for a tour of the Normandy and Brittany coast in France.

Do look VERY carefully at the actual guidelines and itineraries of the tour you pick on these. Some were OK, but when the fiancee and I wanted to cycle Netherlands, we ultimately decided to do it ourselves. Many were designed for people not used to cycling, where daily mileages varied from 18-30 miles. Some I looked at were clear that staying on the barge was NOT allowed. Then again, some led multiple tours per day based on how much you wanted to ride, with guests breaking up into groups based on abilities and looked quite decent.

That said, if you are looking at the Netherlands or Belgium, you can do it far cheaper on your own. They do make it incredibly simple over there, and Brussels to Amsterdam is a perfect week trip.

As someone said the mileage and quality of the bicycle are pretty low on the tours I've heard about. Back in '81 finding my own way was pretty easy. I would think even easier now. Do reconsider going on your own. You will also meet more local folks.

I did their Le Grande Tour in Quebec Province back in '08. It was very well organized, and the food was terrific. We had duck the first night.

Now if the weather had only cooperated. It was a very rainy summer. Except for the first day, when it didn't rain until night, we got rained on every day while out on the road.