Why tour by bike

Why tour by bike

Put simply, there is no better way to see a new country or place than by bicycle.

Cycle touring is for just about everyone—people of all shapes, sizes, ages, and ability levels. Opportunities abound for children, who can now ride behind Mom and Dad in a bike trailer, tag-along, or tandem. For adults, there’s the choice of road bikes, mountain bikes, and the increasingly popular hybrid (sometimes called trekking) bikes.

There are even electric bikes for those of us who need a bit of a push, tandem bikes for lovers (and for visually impaired riders paired with sighted cyclists), and recumbent bikes for those who wish to take a load off their backs and backsides.

1. Savor slow travel

At a cyclist’s pace, you’ll experience places four-wheeled travelers will never know existed: hidden alleyways, ruins of long-forgotten castles, dirt paths snaking through olive groves, and, if you’re lucky, a stand of tasty fig trees ripe for the plucking.

2. Experience new places—intimately

We believe travel should be about being in a place, not just passing through it, and there’s no better way to engage with a new land and culture than from the bike saddle. You have to get out from behind the windshield or train window to really experience a destination.

3. Heighten your senses

On a bike, you can quite literally smell the roses, listen to the wind whistle through the trees (ideally a tailwind, of course), and feel the contour of the terrain beneath you.

4. Create a lasting souvenir

Cycling to your destination each day creates the best kind of souvenir, a lasting sense of the road you traveled and the places you visited. It's a way to capture the spirit of your destination rather than pay attention to your watch.

5. Reap the benefits of active travel

Experience the beauty of being active during the day so you can give in to the pleasures of good food and drink in the evenings. Feel good about yourself and the simple joys of self-propelled travel.

6. Encounter new people and cultures

Oh, the people you'll meet along the way! On a bike tour, you’re not insulated and isolated by your car, train, or bus. It’s almost impossible not to make charming new friends and experience fascinating foreign cultures.

7. Soak up the memories

Cycling allows you to soak up the settings you ride through. The adventures you’ll have and the people you’ll meet along the way on your bicycle tour will last a lifetime. Remember, it’s more about the journey than the destination.

8. Be a traveler, not a tourist

We believe travel should be about being in a place, not just passing through it. And there’s no better way to engage with a new land and culture than from the bike saddle.