Why I love cycling vacations
Find out why your next vacation should be a cycling vacation. Let our travel experts state the case for the humble bicycle.
“Do you hear that?”
I braked, puzzled, put both feet down on the grass, and looked up at my dad. He pointed at my bike. “You can hear it when you’re not using the stabilisers anymore,” he said. I was six and confused – I couldn’t hear anything.
It was only later that I realised what he meant. When I was riding upright, my training wheels no longer rumbled on the ground… and you could only hear a smooth, victorious silence.
Learning to ride a bike is learning how to be free. Getting a new road bike was my ticket out of my city in lockdown. Trying mountain biking has given me the kind of wild joy I’d only previously found whilst downhill skiing. I’ve perfected the delicate art of fitting two whole road bikes in my Mini for weekends on the Welsh roads and I’ve fallen head-over-handlebars in love with cycling vacations.
I’m not alone. Going on a cycling vacation can be a gateway to further adventures. “I was totally hooked,” says Responsible Travel’s Lyn Hill, whose first trip was a small group Kerala cycling vacation. “Being outside, at road level, open to the elements, taking in the smells, the tastes – all as you cycle along beautiful and interesting scenery is what makes cycling a perfect vacation for me… and I have since been lucky enough to have done two more!”
“Do you hear that?”
I braked, puzzled, put both feet down on the grass, and looked up at my dad. He pointed at my bike. “You can hear it when you’re not using the stabilisers anymore,” he said. I was six and confused – I couldn’t hear anything.
It was only later that I realised what he meant. When I was riding upright, my training wheels no longer rumbled on the ground… and you could only hear a smooth, victorious silence.
Learning to ride a bike is learning how to be free. Getting a new road bike was my ticket out of my city in lockdown. Trying mountain biking has given me the kind of wild joy I’d only previously found whilst downhill skiing. I’ve perfected the delicate art of fitting two whole road bikes in my Mini for weekends on the Welsh roads and I’ve fallen head-over-handlebars in love with cycling vacations.
I’m not alone. Going on a cycling vacation can be a gateway to further adventures. “I was totally hooked,” says Responsible Travel’s Lyn Hill, whose first trip was a small group Kerala cycling vacation. “Being outside, at road level, open to the elements, taking in the smells, the tastes – all as you cycle along beautiful and interesting scenery is what makes cycling a perfect vacation for me… and I have since been lucky enough to have done two more!”
Where to fall in love with a cycling vacation
Everyone has a different origin story for their love of cycling vacations. Riding into cities with great cycling culture, like Copenhagen or Amsterdam, makes you feel like a true local, while the possibilities opened up by long distance cycle trails – like EuroVelo routes – might make you consider the bike as a legitimate travel tool akin to a car. Discovering destinations around the world where traffic is used to cyclists – like Bogota in Colombia, or Tokyo in Japan, can boost your confidence, too.
I loved cycling in Japanese cities – riding into the hills outside Matsumoto to visit an onsen and freewheeling back in the dark with wet hair. And cycling in French countryside, where hundreds of sunflowers faced me like a crowd at a road race.
“My love of cycling vacations began with my very first trip through the Baltics, pedalling across Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania,” says travel expert at our partner Exodus, Stefan Podoleanu. “There was something special about discovering three countries at bike pace.”
This first trip got him into exploring the world by bike in subsequent trips to Costa Rica and Sardinia. For Stefan, cycling’s appeal is simple: “There’s no better way to truly immerse yourself in a destination and earn every view along the way.” He’s got his eye on Mongolia next for cycling and camping.
I loved cycling in Japanese cities – riding into the hills outside Matsumoto to visit an onsen and freewheeling back in the dark with wet hair. And cycling in French countryside, where hundreds of sunflowers faced me like a crowd at a road race.
“My love of cycling vacations began with my very first trip through the Baltics, pedalling across Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania,” says travel expert at our partner Exodus, Stefan Podoleanu. “There was something special about discovering three countries at bike pace.”
This first trip got him into exploring the world by bike in subsequent trips to Costa Rica and Sardinia. For Stefan, cycling’s appeal is simple: “There’s no better way to truly immerse yourself in a destination and earn every view along the way.” He’s got his eye on Mongolia next for cycling and camping.
Porto to Lisbon cycling vacation, self guided
Easy flat scenic ride along beautiful coastline
From
€1019 to €1280
8 days
ex flights
Kerala and tropical India cycling vacations
Beautiful landscapes, fascinating towns and long white beaches
From
US $3565 to US $4205
14 days
ex flights
Self-guided cycling Bosnia, Montenegro & Albania
Cycle the Balkans - Three country cycling adventure
From
€1270 to €1390
8 days
ex flights
Sicily self guided cycling vacation in Italy
A wonderful introduction to baroque Sicily's south-east
From
£1729 to £1949
9 days
ex flights
Tour de France cycling vacation
Tour de France challenge, historic stages, Nice to Pyrenees
From
£2590
10 days
ex flights
Cycling vacation in Portugal, self guided
Algarve cycling along varied landscape & breathtaking coastline
From
€975 to €1175
8 days
ex flights
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What’s to love about going by bicycle on vacation?
You see, hear and smell things that you wouldn’t through the glass barrier of a bus window![]()
Sensory feast
“You see, hear and smell things that you wouldn’t through the glass barrier of a bus window,” says Chris Ellis, Product Manager at our partner Explore Worldwide.
“On a cycling tour all your senses are sharpened,” says Virginie Biarnay of our partner Safrantours. “If you go through Camargue or Provence in June you will enjoy a very strong scent of lavender.”
Alice Baker, communications manager and cycling guide at our expert New Zealand cycling partner, Escape Adventures agrees, “You don’t get the same feel for a place when you’re viewing it at high speed from inside your metal box on wheels,” she says.
You’re also acutely aware of the road surface and whether you’re going even the slightest bit uphill or downhill – something you’d never note by car – but that’s less romantic, of course.
“On a cycling tour all your senses are sharpened,” says Virginie Biarnay of our partner Safrantours. “If you go through Camargue or Provence in June you will enjoy a very strong scent of lavender.”
Alice Baker, communications manager and cycling guide at our expert New Zealand cycling partner, Escape Adventures agrees, “You don’t get the same feel for a place when you’re viewing it at high speed from inside your metal box on wheels,” she says.
You’re also acutely aware of the road surface and whether you’re going even the slightest bit uphill or downhill – something you’d never note by car – but that’s less romantic, of course.
A sense of achievement
There are so many ways to approach cycling. I’ve got the performance Lycra, but I’ve also got a helmet covered in stickers.
While nothing beats that moment when someone asks where you’ve come from, and you say the name of a town 50km distant, any day cycling is a day celebrating slow travel over city-hopping, and human-powered transport over a carbon-emitting car.
“Cycling vacations are just that – a vacation,” says Lyn. “Yes, you do undertake a level of exercise, but they are not sportives, events or speed tests.”
Whatever your speedometer says, the best way to celebrate getting to your destination? Eating as much as possible. The insatiable hunger you might build up over the miles can be rewarded by everything from roadside cycling cafes with counters stuffed with cakes, or lovely menus du jour in little towns. Plus, some of our partners offer a wine courier service, so you can bring back bottles from vineyards, should you stop for a lunch and a tasting.
While nothing beats that moment when someone asks where you’ve come from, and you say the name of a town 50km distant, any day cycling is a day celebrating slow travel over city-hopping, and human-powered transport over a carbon-emitting car.
“Cycling vacations are just that – a vacation,” says Lyn. “Yes, you do undertake a level of exercise, but they are not sportives, events or speed tests.”
Whatever your speedometer says, the best way to celebrate getting to your destination? Eating as much as possible. The insatiable hunger you might build up over the miles can be rewarded by everything from roadside cycling cafes with counters stuffed with cakes, or lovely menus du jour in little towns. Plus, some of our partners offer a wine courier service, so you can bring back bottles from vineyards, should you stop for a lunch and a tasting.
Companionship
Whilst I enjoy the silence of a ride, other people enjoy the companionship. On a small group cycling vacation you’re on quiet roads and can generally fit two by two and chat as you go – one way to make the miles fly by. And there’s no greater feeling than creating the unstoppable juggernaut that is your very own peloton on a road cycling trip, and the instant lift it gives you when you all fall into formation.
A way of seeing
“I've always thought traveling by bike is the best way to see a country. You're moving slowly enough to notice what's going on around you, but fast enough to cover a lot of ground,” says Brett Seychell, founder and host at our parter Social Cycles, who run our Cambodia and Vietnam community cycling vacation.
Brett knows what he’s talking about, having himself cycled from London to Melbourne, a distance of 28,000km. “The best parts of my tours are rarely the headline attractions,” he says, “They're the unexpected moments that happen because we're on bikes. Kids riding alongside us, being invited into someone's home, or finding a tiny family-run restaurant we'd have driven straight past in a car. For me, that's what cycling vacations are all about. The bike is just a vehicle for slow travel.”
If you’re in a car, you’re probably going to be on the motorway – which bypasses sights. On smaller roads by bike, you’re going through every town and settlement on the road: riding at sunset and stopping to watch cows being driven back across the fields or stopping to buy too many cherries from a stall.
It’s easier to get around city centers by bike than it is by car; better for small towns too. Never sit in a vacation traffic jam again, or worry about where to park. The question is, why wouldn’t you go for the best tool for exploring in a new place, where there’s so much novelty to explore?
Brett knows what he’s talking about, having himself cycled from London to Melbourne, a distance of 28,000km. “The best parts of my tours are rarely the headline attractions,” he says, “They're the unexpected moments that happen because we're on bikes. Kids riding alongside us, being invited into someone's home, or finding a tiny family-run restaurant we'd have driven straight past in a car. For me, that's what cycling vacations are all about. The bike is just a vehicle for slow travel.”
If you’re in a car, you’re probably going to be on the motorway – which bypasses sights. On smaller roads by bike, you’re going through every town and settlement on the road: riding at sunset and stopping to watch cows being driven back across the fields or stopping to buy too many cherries from a stall.
It’s easier to get around city centers by bike than it is by car; better for small towns too. Never sit in a vacation traffic jam again, or worry about where to park. The question is, why wouldn’t you go for the best tool for exploring in a new place, where there’s so much novelty to explore?
Technical perfection
Ask people why they love cycling and they tend to either get philosophical or technical. The bike is technically perfect: you can ride knowing you’re using one of the most energy efficient ways to move through the world – more efficient than any animal. When the bicycle was invented, it changed the world – in the late 19th century, before motor cars were a common sight, it was the fastest thing on the road.
Yet there are always ways to go faster. If you like, you can engage in the precise and fiddly art of shaving off seconds (and shaving your legs to do so). Or you can enjoy its timeless, unimproved simplicity of form, like I did – but that was before I discovered e-biking.
Yet there are always ways to go faster. If you like, you can engage in the precise and fiddly art of shaving off seconds (and shaving your legs to do so). Or you can enjoy its timeless, unimproved simplicity of form, like I did – but that was before I discovered e-biking.
E-biking: Improving on perfection
I first tried e-biking in France, 13 years ago, on an ancient, adapted Peugeot bike. It’s an amazing leveller – an e-bike helped me keep up on a small group vacation a few years ago with a group of fitter road cyclists.
I’m an e-bike evangelist and have used them for MTB too – an indulgent treat that makes molehills out of mountains. And there’s another unexpected perk of e-biking over cycling: you can see more nature, as you’re not hanging over the handlebars with effort. I’ve cycled with a naturalist who was able to point out a lot more rare species to our group as soon as she swapped to electric.
I’m an e-bike evangelist and have used them for MTB too – an indulgent treat that makes molehills out of mountains. And there’s another unexpected perk of e-biking over cycling: you can see more nature, as you’re not hanging over the handlebars with effort. I’ve cycled with a naturalist who was able to point out a lot more rare species to our group as soon as she swapped to electric.
A lifelong love
Thanks to e-bikes, and the low impact nature of biking in general, it’s a sport you can grow into. Tolstoy learnt to ride a bike aged 67. My dad got into road cycling in his sixties. With the saddle supporting most of your weight, there’s not much pressure on your joints. It goes easy on your knees and hips and spares your ankles.
We sell a dozen of over 50s cycling trips; many of our trips are suitable for all adults with a reasonable degree of fitness. As Tolstoy said to his critics (no doubt over his shoulder as he freewheeled into the distance, stabilisers off the ground) “I feel that I am entitled to my share of light-heartedness and there is nothing wrong with enjoying one’s self simply, like a boy.”
We sell a dozen of over 50s cycling trips; many of our trips are suitable for all adults with a reasonable degree of fitness. As Tolstoy said to his critics (no doubt over his shoulder as he freewheeled into the distance, stabilisers off the ground) “I feel that I am entitled to my share of light-heartedness and there is nothing wrong with enjoying one’s self simply, like a boy.”
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