As is clear from the title of this site, a key part of enjoyable bike touring is getting a good night’s sleep. You can have the best ride ever, but if you spend the following night tormented by loud music, baking hot temperatures and mosquitoes, you are unlikely to enjoy the following morning quite as much. It’s a holiday…
This is why I like to stay in hotels and apartments. Mostly this is pretty straightforward, but I thought that it would be useful to pass on a few lessons that I have learnt over the years and that might make your tour even more enjoyable.
- Mixing hotels and apartments
- Refundable bookings
- Making sure that your bike will be safe
- Staying close to the centre/ attractions
- Be open to in-house restaurants
- Quiet
- Air conditioning
- Having a buffet breakfast
- Specific tips for apartments
- Friendly staff
1. Mixing hotels and apartments
As I have noted in my article on planning a bike tour, I like to have a rhythm of 3-4 days on the bike followed by one day off, sightseeing, washing my clothes and resting up. I try to organise this so that I arrive in interesting towns or towns close to national parks or good hikes. For instance, when touring Andalucia, Spain in 2021, I spent a wonderful morning hiking in the Alpujarras using a small hill town as my base. I also had great days off in Ubeda, Granada, Nerja and Ronda.
Following this rhythm, I generally stay in hotels for single nights and apartments for the two night stay. I tend to book the former through Booking.com though I sometimes look at other sites such as Hotels.com and Expedia. For the latter, I start by looking at Airbnb, but you can sometimes find great apartments on the other sites. I had an excellent experience in Lübeck, Germany with an apartment that I found on Booking.
For the hotels, I look at what is available and what fits my criteria – see below – but I also like to mix the level, so sometimes I will splurge on a nice hotel with a bit of extra comfort, particularly if I know that I have a long ride to get there. Sometimes however, I am happy with a youth hostel, a bit spartan but with enough facilities to wash and get a good night’s sleep. I had great experiences with youth hostels in Switzerland and in Lunde, Norway.
And sometimes my route forces me into slightly unusual choices: a wooden cabin in the thick of Norway for instance was the only choice and it was great, or in a farmhouse outbuilding in Lithuania (see below). These experiences can end up being highlights of the trip.
So my general advice is see what works best and be flexible.
2. Refundable bookings
This is a little bit contentious. On sites like Booking, you will pay a premium for refundable versus non-refundable bookings. If you are certain that you will make it, by all means go for the cheaper option and nine times out of ten, you will be fine
But over the years, I have had last minute changes such as this year when tendinitis forced me to call off a trip to Korea, so I like the extra safety of bookings that are refundable up to close to the day of arrival, providing that the premium is not too big.
If worse comes to worst though, my experience has been that an honest explanation to the hotel of why you had to cancel can lead them to waiving the charge. For instance, I had to cut out a hotel from my journey in Andalucia, Spain because my bike seat broke, obliging me to spend an extra day in Ronda. Even though I was beyond the date for cancelling, I explained this to the hotel and they waived the charge.
Book as early as you can. My technique is to start by booking the small places or towns where there is likely to be hardly any choice and where you would have to alter your trip if nothing is available. With larger towns and cities, you will have more choice but again worth locking in decent hotels and apartments as early as you can, especially in summer.
3. Making sure your bike will be safe
This is pretty much my top priority when choosing and booking somewhere to stay. Whilst the vast majority of hotels make big efforts to accommodate guests travelling by bike, some don’t. A few times, I turned up at places with my bike only to be told that I could lock it to the railings outside. I did not sleep very well those nights.
So these days, I start by looking at the reviews for hotels/apartments to see whether anyone mentions experiences with bikes. On the major river routes in Europe – the Rhine and Danube – it is quite common to find this and most hotels along those routes will be used to bikes and have dedicated storage facilities.
If they don’t, this is another reason why I like to go for refundable bookings. I make a booking and in the ‘Special Requests’ option, I write something like “I will be travelling by bicycle so will need somewhere safe to store the bicycle during my stay”. When booking an apartment through Airbnb, I make it part of my introductory message.
I have had very good experiences with this: most hotels tend to send a message saying “Yes, you can store in our locked garage” or “No problem, we can store it in the left luggage room” and apartment owners have usually been very accommodating and reassuring.
Occasionally though, a hotel or apartment will either not respond, or will reply to the effect of “You can lock it up outside” or even in Spain I had a hotel saying that I could only store it inside if I wrapped it in a dedicated bike bag. In these cases, I cancel the reservation.
4. Staying close to the centre/ attractions
I have learnt this the hard way!
In Dalen, Norway, I booked a wonderful apartment for two nights through Airbnb. Only problem: it was about a kilometre and a half from all the restaurants and groceries, and it was up the side of a hill. I cursed myself every time I walked back from dinner…
The same in Granada, Andalucia and Česky Krumlov, Czech Republic. Both times, I stayed in great places with super views… because they were on top of a hill that I had to walk up every time I went back – and get the bike up in the first place.
Sometimes this is unavoidable because of prices, but when possible, avoid. After a long day’s ride, the last thing that your poor legs will want is a half an hour walk into town. A good hint can be ‘wonderful view down to the town’.
So I try to limit my searches to places within a kilometre of attractions and especially restaurants and supermarkets.
5. Be open to in-house restaurants
Linked to the above, from time to time, you can come across hotels that offer dinner. This can be a wonderful experience, especially when there is a fixed menu. In both Sault, France, and Obervellach, Austria, I happily agreed when the receptionist suggested and had excellent meals with dishes that I might not have otherwise tried.
At the very least, even if it is poor – and I had one bad experience in Germany – it will save your weary legs a long walk back.
6. Quiet hotels
Maybe you can sleep through a pop concert. I can’t. This is one of the other things that I look for in reviews. Even after a long ride, it still helps to have a quiet room and you can often find these close to the centre.
A good clue is if you see whether there are bars or restaurants on the same street or if it is in the heart of the shopping district.
I often specify that I want a quiet room. This often means getting a room overlooking the car park or internal courtyard rather than having a view, but no matter. I get the views when leaving the hotel.
7. Air conditioning
Some people can sleep anywhere in thick heat and humidity. I can’t. So this is another thing that I look for in southerly countries or in the thick of summer. It is not necessarily a deal breaker but worth looking for to ensure that your sleep is as comfortable as possible. You don’t need to worry about this in the Baltic republics, Sweden or Norway, or indeed the UK.
8. Having a buffet breakfast
When touring, breakfast becomes the most important meal of the day, a chance to fuel up and hydrate ahead of your ride.
I really recommend finding hotels with decent buffet breakfasts even if it costs a bit extra. A good and filling breakfast can really set you up for the day. I use it to have a mixture of fruit, proteins and fibre as well as drink a vat of coffee and fruit juice.
When the hotel doesn’t offer it or it is extortionate, I go to a bakery and pile up with pastries, possibly accompanied by a banana or two.
When I am staying in apartments, I either go out for brunch – I had a spectacular one in Dresden, Germany – or buy some cereal and milk.
9. Specific tips for apartments
I generally book apartments through Airbnb but I always take a look at Booking as well. For one-night stays, I prefer the ease of hotels as they are likely to be cheaper and offer breakfast, but sometimes you can get good deals on apartments.
For my two-three night stays in apartments beyond all the factors listed above, I also look for places with a washing machine – and ideally space to dry. Ideally I also take places that have a bit of space to spread out my stuff and rearrange it as necessary.
But above all, I look for places that I can relax in and unwind after a few days on the bike.
10. Friendly staff
All of the above are important and make for a happy holiday. But when I think back to my happiest experiences on bike tours and indeed on holidays, there is one essential ingredient that has always made a difference: the staff.
In July 2020 in one of those deceptive and all too short breaks in the lockdown in Europe, I took a two-week trip round northern Brittany. It was a difficult time: face masks, social distancing, disinfection and the vaccines not yet available. But when I think back to that trip, I think of the many kindnesses and people who went out of their way to give people a good time despite the fear and difficulties. People like Val and Chris in Valfrescos in Caurel, the staff at Les Hydrangeas in Perros-Guirec, or the kind host at au gré des vents in St Quay Portrieux. These people made such a difference.
And this has been true of my bike travels whether in the pandemic or beyond. Many times a difficult, rainy or windy day on the bike has been redeemed by a warm smile at the front desk and a helpful attitude. On the very rare occasions when I have gotten ill or been in difficulty, kind staff have done their best to help. And then there are those who will actively suggest good routes or good restaurants. I think here of the cycling-mad hosts at the Hotel Zamorc in Škofija Loka in Slovenia.
So when I book a hotel or Airbnb, I look carefully at the reviews, not just for the usual: noise, dangerous area, poor breakfast – or to smile at that curious British obsession with having kettles in rooms – but to see whether there are comments about the staff, good or bad.
So this is my list. What do you think? Any tips or questions?
If you like this, please see my other articles on the practicalities of bike touring
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