Behind the scenes at Islandhopping

Everyone knows that feeling of tingling anticipation before a well-deserved holiday. Once a destination is decided upon, that integral part of the holiday experience, the waiting and longing, grows stronger and stronger. Finally, it is time to pack your bags and the adventure begins!

Experienced island hoppers know exactly what there is to look forward to. The moment it all truly begins is at the harbour when you spot your ship and tour guides, waiting to give you a warm welcome on board. What follows is a week full of sun and fresh sea air, plenty of activity and just as much fun. Your charming ship sails you from island to island, serving as your floating home for the week. On land you discover the most remote corners of the islands accompanied by competent guides, brimming with knowledge, wit, and charm. After exploring the islands by bike, enjoy refreshing swims either on beautiful beaches or from the ship. And when your stomach begins to rumble, you can look forward to the delicious meals on board. What is there not to look forward to?

But now back to the beginning! The journey from your holiday dream to your dream holiday is a long one, both for you and for us! Behind the scenes there is a huge amount of preparation and organisation to be done before the tour can begin. Read on and take a sneak peek behind the curtains at Islandhopping.

Where to go? From planning a tour to booking your holiday

Many of our tours have been in our programme for years, however, we are constantly on the lookout for new places and new holiday experiences. Our team is always exploring new areas and looking for suitable ships to make new Islandhopping trips a reality. Everything is carefully documented and then posted on our website, our social media channels, and in our travel catalogue.

And that’s where you come in! After you have browsed our offers and decided on a favourite destination, its time to book the tour. Our friendly team in the booking department in Konstanz is always happy to give you any advise you need. Afterall, there are many decisions to be made: Would you like to tour on a hybrid bike, e-bike, mountain bike or road bike? Would you prefer to stay in a cabin below or above deck? When is the best time to travel? What is the best way to get to the starting point of the tour? Though our team may not be able to help you with every decision, they can definitely help with most of them. We are more than happy to answer any questions you may have to ensure that we can fulfil your wishes and meet your expectations!

A well-informed holiday – your travel documents

Once your trip is booked and the excitement begins to grow, a variety of new questions may arise: What should you pack? What entry requirements are there for your chosen destination? When and where can you check in on the ship? What is life onboard like? What do you need to consider when renting bikes and other equipment?

All these questions and many more are answered in the travel documents which you will receive before your trip, either by post or digitally via email, whichever you prefer. Each year we take note of new, frequently asked questions from our guests and invest hours of work into updating these documents, down to the smallest details. The travel document folder contains information about your destination country as well as a detailed description of your ship, rental bikes, your itinerary, and several interesting facts about the tour you have booked.

True teamwork – our onsite logistics team

A great deal of organisation and logistics is also required onsite at our travel destinations before you can board the ship and set sail. Our logistics team ensures that all booked transfers run smoothly and keep our bicycle fleet in impeccable condition. Our bikes are kept in several storage facilities in Croatia, Greece, Turkey, and Germany. To keep everything running like clockwork, we have to manage many hundreds of bikes and ensure that they are all in perfect condition and at the right place at the right time. This means that our bikes along with other necessary equipment such as spare parts, tools, saddlebags, first aid supplies, travel books, and much more all need to be loaded into vans and driven through half of Europe to be delivered to the right ship on time for your cycling holiday to begin.

One of the most important aspects of our tours are, of course, the bicycles. Therefore, we need to ensure that all our hybrid bikes, e-bikes, mountain bikes, road bikes, and children’s bikes are perfectly maintained and repaired to guarantee the special Islandhopping holiday experience. At the end of each season, we do an extensive inventory check in all our bicycle warehouses and replace missing spare parts and any other equipment needed for the next season. This allows us to say with certainty: your rental bike is in top condition, waiting for you to hop on and start exploring!

A ship to call home – the Islandhopping fleet

On our Islandhopping tours, the ship is your floating home for the week. To ensure that they really feel like a home away from home, all our boats are lovingly maintained by the crew during the winter. Throughout these colder months, the boats often leave the water for a dry dock where they are checked, cleaned, and repaired inside and out to ensure that they are seaworthy and ready to go at the beginning of the next season.

At the end of each week before the new guests arrive, the ships are thoroughly cleaned. Each cabin, the saloon and the outside decks are made to sparkle. In order to offer you fresh and local cuisine of the very best quality, the ships are supplied with market-fresh food and a wide selection of drinks every week. With the limited space on board, stowing these deliveries is a true logistical feat!

Boatloads of smiles – the Islandhopping guides as the heart and soul of our tours

The success of our tours is inseparably tied to our guides! Every year, they undergo intensive training before the new season begins and are true all-rounders! Full of motivation and knowledge about our travel countries, with strong cycling legs and infinite good humour, they too have many tasks to complete each week before they can welcome the guests on board. Besides discussing the route with the captain, they are responsible for maintaining and cleaning the rental bikes each week, as well as checking that there are plenty spare parts and other equipment.

Only once the bikes are spotless and labelled with the names of the new islandhoppers and all the guests have been checked in onboard, is it finally time to weigh anchor and for the Islandhopping adventure to begin. As soon as the ship has left the harbour and the open sea lies ahead, the many tasks that were necessary to allow for this moment to happen are already forgotten. There is only excitement and joy for the week ahead, with you as our guest on board!  We look forward to seeing you!