FAQ
Here are some of the common questions wE are asked.
How are your tours different to a typical city bike tour?
Bike tours and now ebike tours are available in most popular cities nowadays which is great. On a bicycle you can see a lot in a short amount of time and you are immersed in the location in a far more exciting way than a vehicle. However the guided bike tour does have some drawbacks.
Firstly it's an experience that is fixed in place and time. The organised tour is well, just that, organised. The route is generally short, often focused on the most touristy hotspots and involves constant stopping to gather as a group and try to listen to the guide. Bike riding in a foreign land can be daunting so riding in a group offers some extra confidence but it's still a chaotic experience. Wouldn't it be great if you could hear the guide at all times and they could give you both directions and information about the incredible places you visit?
That is where wE come in. wE offer an entirely new way of exploring a city. wE is all about creating the most flexible and efficient tour possible for the adventurous traveller. Whether you are a solo traveller or in a group, our tours leverage the convenience of renting an ebike or scooter from the myriad of share companies that have rolled out thousands of ebikes and scooters worldwide.
Our tours can be taken at any time of the day that suits you, they don't expire and they cover distances from 15 to 50 km. No other tour offers that kind of coverage and is packed with as much information. Not only have wE ridden every km of the tour ourselves and provide you with every turn and direction on the way, we have also researched the places you will visit and written audio scripts that will get you up to speed on the city you are exploring.
Organised tours generally don’t offer options to stop and visit Museums, galleries or shops. On our tours it’s easy. Depending on your plan for the day and your energy levels at the time, you have the freedom to make the call.
You can be sure on your stay in a city you will tick off the bucket list of must see locations but wE will also offer you the opportunity to explore further afield. To discover location gems, natural landscapes close to town, and unique places that most tourists never experience.
Where should I start the tour and how long will it take?
wE encourage all tour participants to pick and choose what they want to see. You will often need multiple days to complete the tour or you can easily complete a city tour in stages.
Feeling suddenly hungry? No problem, park the ebike or scooter and sort yourself out. See something on the trip that interests you? Follow your inquisitive nose and venture off the beaten track and see where it takes you. If you ride past a cinema and there’s an interesting film on, drop off the bike or scooter and go watch it.
Each tour has a combination of must see locations and more out of the way gems. We outline each city tour with places you will visit on the way. Within the wE App you can see a list of locations so you can decide if you want to focus on a particular part of a city. The only hard and fast rule is you must follow the tour in the correct direction, often clockwise but not always.
wE don't believe you have to follow a set path and you certainly don't have to follow a set timeframe. Choose your own adventure. wE offer the tour loop, you create a unique experience. Each explorer will discover the city in an original way based on what comes across their path, the time of year and time of day. A guided tour with a start time and place is never going to allow spontaneous exploration in the wE way. It's time too get Wheel!
How fit do I need to be to complete a wE Tour?
A wE tour is a commitment but one you won't regret. Our tours have been designed specifically with electric models or mobility in mind. Whether it be an ebike or electric scooter, you now have a way to cover vastly longer distances than pedal power alone. By all means bring your own acoustic bicycle but to really explore and discover a city in a wide area you need some electric assistance.
However you will need a minimum level of fitness and experience riding a bicycle to join a wE tour. It may be electric, but an ebike won't do all the work for you. wE recommend our tours are completed over multiple days but if you are tight on time it's conceivable to complete the whole loop in a day. Especially during summer months when there is more daylight.
But really, the best part about a wE Tour is the flexibility. You can ride a part of the tour, visit galleries and other points of interest along the way, and still have a memorable time. The more time you have the better, but that has always been the case with travel. You're best not to rush it.
Our tours are also the healthy alternative to sitting on a bus or in a car. Why not come back from your holiday feeling fitter and happier than when you left.
Can wE chat together as a group on a tour?
On a typical bike ride in a group it's difficult to ride and chat simultaneously. On a group bike tour the need to stop and regroup to listen to a guide is a constant interruption, dare we say frustration. Finding a place you can clearly hear your guide isn't always easy in a large group either.
A wE tour is a very different experience. Firstly you can hear your audio guide clearly through your headphones at all times and with the same headphones it's only a WhatsApp call away to chat in between two or a group. You will need an e-sim or have global roaming activated but it's worth it if you want to group chat.
Rather than pulling up together and breaking the flow of your ride, audio chat through your headphones allows an entirely new way of sharing a ride together. You can discuss the places you see as you ride and it makes it easier to all stay together in a group.
Whatsapp chat is best suited to parts of a tour that are outside the tourist hotspots where they are many audio cues with information. We have designed the tours in a way that defines sections that are suitable for a group chat. wE will let you know via audio when you are entering these zones.
Are wE Tours suitable for Solo Travellers?
Absolutely! Often organised group tours have a minimum number of participants before they will operate. Not so with our Tours. wE are happy to look after solo explorers.
Solo travel is growing in popularity. It's fun to travel with friends but solo travel can offer more rewarding challenges and personal development. With friends the traveller often sees a city as tribe and is less likely to reach out and meet other travellers or locals. For some solo travel is daunting.
That's why we have also created a wE Meet Up feature so that solo or group travellers can easily connect and ride together. It's likely other riders have a similar outlook on travel and would be open to sharing the adventure. Just pick a preferred time and post it on our forum. If others are keen to join the tour then they can post an interest.
Are your tours suitable for families?
Our Tours are family friendly. We all know kids can have short attention spans and organised tours can bore youngsters. They thrive on adventure and spontaneous experiences. wE make sure to add parks and playgrounds to our tours so you have a chance for a play and rest stop. If your kids see something of interest to them on the journey you have the flexibility to stop and explore. With a share bike you can park it almost anywhere and anytime. You just can't do that on an organised tour.
With a WhatsApp group call you can listen to the tour and chat with your younger explorers. It's also a good way to give them tips and guidance on the way.
Is bike or scooter riding dangerous?
One of the reasons people and travellers don't ride bikes is fear. Fear of traffic and fear of the physical effort. Electric bikes and scooters take care of the physical challenges while wE look after the traffic fears. Our tours are designed to utilise a cities bike specific infrastructure and will always offer quieter side streets than main roads. If we do use busier roads, we will give you plenty of warning and suggestions how best to negotiate them. Exploring a city on two wheels is hands down the best way! wE just make it a hell of a lot easier.
wE build three-dimensional hands-free audio experiences. Hands-free is one of the main design elements of our tours. You can absorb yourself in the environment, rather than having to stop regularly and interact with a two dimensional phone. We have seen so many travellers on bike share bike and scooters stopped on the side of the road trying to work out where they are or how to get somewhere. Google maps is limited for bike specific directions and using it creates a disjointed and stressful experience.
In a lot of old European cities many streets are one way so if you don’t have pre mapped ways of getting somewhere you will only get lost. wE just cut out all the frustration and dead ends. When you haven’t ridden somewhere before, every corner is a surprise, you don't want a dangerous or time wasting surprise. You want the joy of discovery knowing wE have you covered.
Having said all of that, you are responsible for your own wellbeing on one of our tours and common sense should prevail. wE help you navigate a city but we can't hold your handlebars and force you to ride responsibly, that's up to you.
Now get out there and explore!