Bicycle Tours Open Up A Whole New World Of Travelling
The ‘Real’ Travel Experience
There is nothing more exhilarating than sailing through stunning countryside on your bicycle – then stopping in a small rural village to buy local cheeses and warm fresh bread from a traditional little bakery for your lunch …
Tempting isn’t it?
Touring by bicycle means that instead of watching the countryside flash past you out of the window, you actually get to be a part of the picture.
You can immerse yourself in the local culture. Feast your sense on the sights, smells and tastes of the region that you are travelling through.
Best of all, undertaking a cycling tour means that – unlike regular vacations – you get to satisfy your appetites without turning into a ‘butterball”. In fact, the odds are you will return home fitter, healthier and more vibrant, than before you left.
There are several ways to do a bike tour. You can either join a ‘commercially’run trip or you can go it along on a ‘self-guided’ journey. There are definite Pros and Cons for both different styles.
Bike Touring Advice
Unlike regular travelling, the cycling tour does require a bit more specialized packing. To help you master this art – we have written a comprehensive ‘Packing Guide for Bicycle Touring.
It covers packing clothes and accessories, repair & maintenance tools, saddlebags/panniers and security & telecommunication issues.
Bicycle Tours in North America
Some of the most stunning landscapes for cycling in the United States are:
Bicycle Tours in Europe
Cycling trips in Europe are one of the best ways to travel the continent.
Self-guided, Mountain biking or commercial bicycle tours in France are a breeze.
The whole country seems to be geared up to accommodate and encourage cycling. Indeed many train stations and local tourist bureaus even offer bicycles for hire.
Tuscany in Italy is also an idyllic place to tour on a bike. And although Ireland can be wet and windy – the landscape is stunning and the people are super friendly.
Touring on a bicycle …
It is by riding a bicycle that you learn the contours of a country best since you have to sweat up the hills and coast down them.
Thus you remember them as they actually are, while in a motor car only a high hill impresses you, and you have no such accurate remembrance of country you have driven through as you gain by riding a bicycle.
– Ernest Hemingway