Traveler Reviews

• 365sherrid 18-Jun-2023

  Because the boat no longer returns you to Alexandria but to Washington DC and the boat doesn't allow you to take the bike aboard, I rebooked to just the bike rental and Mount Vernon. We enjoyed our day too without the pressure of needing to meet the early afternoon boat dock time. Mount Vernon was a pleasure. The bike path there and back wasn't easy, but was beautiful.

• 79kirrah 03-Jun-2023

  The bike ride and the cruise back were both cool ways to see the area from different vantage points. We had a good time with both. The not great review is meant to be a review of the third party who put together the package, not the biking or the cruising or Mt. Vernon. This package didn't leave us enough time to actually be able to tour Mt. Vernon. There is only 1 boat back, that leaves at 1:30 and boards at 1:15. We arrived around 11:15, which gave us a couple hours to spend at Mt. Vernon, which would seem like enough time. However, we were given tickets to *get in line* to tour Mt. Vernon at 12:50. The wait in line is *at least* 20 minutes, so we didn't get in until 1:10--at which point we about needed to leave to catch the boat back. They really need to arrange it so you get a mansion tour *entering the line* time at 12:20 or earlier. Or else, they need to be clear that they can't guarantee that you'll be able to tour the mansion. (We are slower bikers, and also had a gear problem on one of the bikes where the lever to shift down wasn't working, so it got stuck in high gear, making it necessary to walk up hills. It also took a while to find the person with the bikes. The park where you pick up the bikes is fairly big. Maybe if we were faster and arrived earlier, we would have gotten an earlier tour time. But we had no way to know that we were under those kinds of time constraints. They need to communicate better, and work something out where they ensure people get a sufficiently early tour time.) Also, you should know that the boat cruise is only narrated on the way *to* Mt. Vernon. If you only take the boat back, as you would in this package, you won't get any narration. That was not communicated either. The company sent us a schedule for the day that had a time (9:00) and location for picking up the bikes, and listed an end time of 7, but no other details. (That probably should have been a signal to me that this wasn't the most professional organizer.) I don't know where the end time came from. The cruise back is at 1:30 and lasts an hour and a half. A surprise was that the cruise goes into Washington DC, not Alexandria where you leave from. It was cool to be able to see some of the Washington monuments from the water, so we were happy about that. But that's the kind of thing you might mention on the schedule you send to people.

• Jennifer_p 30-May-2023

  We arrived at 9am where it was very easy to find the bikes. We were told to see if the bikes fitted to us, but were told NOT to ride them. Once we felt our seat and helmets were correct, we were off. Within 1 mile, my gears started jumping and my chain eventually came off. I thought it was just me, so I continued on. It was fairly flat until we arrived at a large hill and my chain fell off again. Again, I thought it was me, however this continued all the way (9 miles) to Mount Vernon. We did contact the place and they brought another bike to me at Mount Vernon. And the ride back was great! I gave them a 4 star because my chain came off at least 18 times. My hands were full of grease when I arrived and I was sweating from trying to pedal so hard up the hills (it only would go in one gear). I want to give a fair review, so this is only my experience. I would definitely do it again. I would just take the bike back immediately if the gears start jumping. The employees were all very nice, the bike ride views were gorgeous on the bike path, the Mount Vernon tour was informational and quick (which was nice because it was not information overload). The overall experience was good!

• G2811telisas 24-May-2023

  The view of the Potomac during the bike ride. The bikes were nice bikes, but didn’t exactly fit us. It was about 18 miles all together, which we are used to, however not so many hills.

• Michael_s 16-Apr-2023

  Everyone was nice and the whole pick up and return aspects were extremely easy. The only problem we had was that both bikes that we rented tended to slip out of their gears, especially on inclines, but they were otherwise fine.

• Matthew_s 08-Apr-2023

  Great time with the family. Was too tough to ride back, so the company will pick up your bikes for you for $10 each. Which was very helpful.

• Edmund_k 27-Mar-2023

  Bike was perfect. Trail is very scenic and in good condition. Took about an hour to arrive at Mount Vernon. We were not informed on what to do with our bikes on our return to the starting location. The store front was empty. I had to call to find out what to do with the bike.

• 790jamied 23-Mar-2023

  My teenage son and I took a mom/son trip to DC. Riding to Mount Vernon from Alexandria on bike has been something I've wanted to do since we visited DC several years ago. I'm older now and was a bit nervous about the trek but knew my son really wanted to do this ride. We had a great day and made plenty of memories. The weather was perfect and we had the trail nearly to ourselves. I'll break down our experience as I know I had lots of questions before we went. 1) Bikes Unlimited Experience - 100% excellent across the board. From bike drop-off to end of ride, their service was excellent. I got an e-bike (which I loved) and my son got a regular bike. My son was tired after the ride to Mount Vernon and asked could we uber back. I texted Bikes Unlimited and they were very helpful in making that change to our original round trip plan. 2) The Mount Vernon Trail - I had expected the trail to be very well marked with lots of cyclists. I didn't imagine that we could possibly get lost. While we didn't get lost, we had a couple of times that we were not sure if we were going the right direction. We had the trail almost entirely to ourselves with an occasional jogger. We didn't have anyone to ask or follow. One time, the sign on the road said Mount Vernon one way while our bike trail had us going the opposite direction. More signage would have been appreciated to assure this directionally impaired mom. Most people say that the trail is mostly flat...that is true but as you get closer to Mount Vernon there are many hills. The truth is that this mid50s minimal exerciser could not have made this trek without the ebike. If you have any doubt as to how well you will do, I highly recommend the ebike. Also as we got closer to Mount Vernon, the paved trail had many paved over tree roots. I can imagine someone taking a tumble off a bike hitting one of the tree roots at a fast clip. All in all, I'm glad we made the journey. The bike rental was excellent and the experience was one I will always cherish with my son.

• Queenwilde 18-Sep-2022

  The most perfect day to enjoy the beautiful scenery on bicycles to get to Mount Vernon! The trail is a bit bumpy, and busy with other bicyclists/runners, but I am so glad we decided to book this tour!

• Kevin_r 21-Aug-2022

  Overall a good time. It would have helped to know about parking and trail markers. Also, to know how many beautiful parks in the area.