I've never managed to get the other half interested in off-roading, however she's recently taken to my old bike on the roads. She's also suggested she's up for some sort of bike holiday as long as it's on roads and in the sunshine! I've had a quick look at some companies in places like portugal doing a tour. We would have to hire bikes and I was wondering if anybody had any suggestions of places / companies that they could recommend?
Thanks,
Simon
*Europe!
How about a riverside tour in Germany.
Fly into Frankfurt, go up the Rhine to Koblenz, then follow the Mosel to Trier, and then the Sar to Sarbrucken. Plenty of places to catch trains from back to Frankfurt if you don't want to travel that far.
A lot of that route is decent cycle paths, Plenty of castles and picturesque villages and towns to stop at. Just work out roughly how far you want to travel each day, and use something like booking.com to book your own accommodation.
was going to similarly suggest the danube cycle path, downhill all the way in principal. The guide book is by cicerone press or there's lots of info on the web. There are lots of converted railway line type cycle ways in france and spain that come under the same umbrella something verdes i think. Spain might be a bit hot this time of year, I assume you mean summer hols?
There is always the UK? Kennet Avon is nice, flatish, cycle way 4. My girlfriend had a lovely time riding in Holland in a nature reserve. Forget what it is called.
Mrs P and I have been looking at something like this - somewhere like Bordeaux - pretty flat and likely to be pretty pleasant weatherwise.
Plenty of vineyards in close proximity....
A quick Google suggests there's some organised tours around here as well.
Plenty of vineyards on the Moselle/Saar/Rhine.
Somewhere around Bodensee / Lake Constance / "4 country corner" might fit too. Flat round by the lake, and along the Rhine valley but with hills and mountains right next door (and some more vineyards). Plenty of Dutch there riding bikes around Bregenz/Lindau, and easy train access if you fancy going a bit farther afield.
Depends if you want a bike tour holiday, or a holiday with some cycling.
bordeaux area is good. Particularly if you head towards Biscarosse and Arcachon. There are very good cycle paths (smooth as silk) away from the roads. There's plenty of restaurents, campsites, villa,s b+bs, small towns, chateaux, etc. It's also very pretty and there's lots to do besides cycling.
Alternatively, for a proper bike adventure, i'd recommend Lithuania. Very pretty country and the roads are good. Cycle paths aren't so well marked. Mostly flat terrain allowed me to cover 100km a day fully laden. Id recommend starting from Kaunas and heading towards Nida.
I don't know if this is a good suggestion, but just returned from a week riding in the Outer Hebrides, North and South Uist, Barra, Eriskay etc, whilst we were riding Fat bikes on the beaches, there were loads of people that we met cycle touring on the roads. Beautiful beaches and scenery, great little pubs, the most friendly people and quiet roads, plus the ferry between the islands was £6-8 a trip, plenty of seal and otter spotting and the odd whisky.
Thanks for the suggestions do far. If organizing it yourself do you tend to start and finish in the same place? Looking into the logistics of hiring bikes and finishing at a different destination. Full on organised tours don't come cheap!
In Germany, it is easy enough to take bikes on trains, so if you start at major city, it would be far easier to return there at the end than faff about making arrangements to return bikes separately. I understand France would be much the same, although I have no personal experience.
In fact I would be surprised if you could hire bikes that didn't require you to return them in person, unless it is part of an organised tour where the operator sorts all that out for you.