Your first bike tour: a general guide

If the idea of bike touring is tempting you, let it…

The thought of being out on the open road in stunningly beautiful landscapes without the filter of windscreen or train window, stopping whenever you want, getting off the beaten track and discovering new places, all the while doing something that is good for your health and good for the planet.

Go for it!

You can easily feel overwhelmed with the number of choices and decisions though. Where – and when – should I go? Should I plan it myself or go on a guided tour? How far can I expect to ride every day? What kit and equipment will I need?

There are loads of books and websites out there with advice for those who want to set out on a bike tour: so much that it can be overwhelming…

And based on my own research, it is mainly focused on those on a limited budget, who want/have to camp and those who want to go on long trips.

Not much of it is targeted at those who are a little older, have a little more budget, and a much more of a time constraint but who don’t necessarily want to pay for an organised tour. People like me.

So below, I have attempted to distil my own experiences and knowledge from over 25 bike tours in 30 countries, bike touring the more comfortable way, doing great rides in amazing scenery, staying in nice places with a warm bed and an even warmer atmosphere, and eating and drinking wonderfully.

I have cut it down to the basics and have put some links to more detailed articles on my site or suggested where else you might look. If you already know that you want to organise it yourself, please see my advice here.

It is focused on touring in Europe because that is where I have toured, but much of it will be applicable to the rest of the world. Let me know if there is anything that I have missed or where you would like further advice. In this article, I have gone through a few FAQ.

But my basic advice is: GO FOR IT! There is no perfect solution. Find what works for you. Try something out. Learn from it. And remember that in the end, it’s only a holiday. Have fun. And above all:

GO FOR IT!

I start with a few questions that will allow you to think about what kind of tour you would enjoy before explaining how I plan my tours and making some general suggestions for what you might try for your first tour.

In the interests of space, I have put a short explanation of the main types of bike touring here.

A few questions to consider

To help you decide which of these would be best for you, there are some questions for you to consider:

What is your budget, roughly?
Do you have time to plan/like to plan your holiday?
Do you enjoy camping or do you prefer to sleep indoors?
How much do you want to be carrying with you on the bike?
Would you rather ride in a group or on your own/in a pair?
What kind of riding do you like: riding along roads, riding cycle paths, dirt track?
What kind of terrain do you like?

Let me go through each of these in turn.

Budget

I’m not going to put figures on this, but broadly speaking, the lower your budget or the more that you are having to stretch it, the more you will gain from organising things yourself, taking your own kit and saving money on accommodation which is usually the single biggest daily cost. Camping, wild camping and Warmshowers will all be options. Hostels can also be a good idea.

A lower budget will also affect your choice of where and when to travel. [See my guide as to where and when to go.]

In terms of getting there, in my article [taking public transport with a bike], I go into the different options but broadly speaking the cheapest option is taking the bus with Flixbus being very popular with budget travellers.

At the other extreme, if money is no object – lucky you – then fully guided tours will be more of an option.

And in the middle, pretty much all the options are open to you.

Do you like planning your holiday?

For some people, half the pleasure of a holiday is in the planning and expectation: reading up about the country or region, looking at a potential route or towns to stay in, booking transport and accommodation, and possibly planning museum visits or other attractions.

For others, this is all so much hassle. They don’t have the time and/or the inclination to spend hours online or plugging through books. As I write in [planning your own tour], it needn’t be too difficult to do though.

And there is a third group, who simply like to live free and be spontaneous, booking travel at last minute and often not booking accommodation at all.

For the planners, organising your own route will give you much more control both of the route, the accommodation, and what you do every day rather than leaving it in the hands of a tour organiser.

For the pressed for time/ not inclined, this pushes in the other direction: finding an organised tour with as little left for chance as possible.

For the free spirited, you be you, but be aware that in the thick of summer in the key tourist countries like France, Italy, Germany, Switzerland and Austria, you are going to find even campsites and youth hostels full, and apartments and hotels either full or charging exorbitant prices. This will mean either travelling in the shoulder seasons, choosing less touristed areas or wild camping.

Do you enjoy camping or do you prefer to sleep indoors?

Do you actively like camping or even sleeping out in the open, in a bivouac bag? Many people do, and if that is your thing, then either planning your own trip with tent/ bikepacking or joining an organised tour with others who want to do that. If indoors, then this will nudge you more in the direction of credit card touring.

How much do you want to be carrying with you on the bike?

The idea of lugging your own bags on the bike might put you off. Won’t it all be terribly heavy? Won’t the bike be unstable? Won’t it make hills difficult or impossible?

Within limits, not necessarily. The first time that I start pedalling with all my bags, it is indeed a nervous moment, getting used to the extra weight and the way that the bike steers. It is like switching between driving a Mini and a large camper van. But I get used to it very quickly and stop noticing the extra weight. Once you get pedalling and have momentum, the bike will head along quite nicely. You will go a bit slower, you will make a bit more effort, you may have to ride in a lower gear, but you will get there.

And the advantage is that you have access to everything, all the time: your electronic goods, spare clothes, food, drink, the like.

If you have doubts, why not try out loading your existing bike and taking it on a day ride or over a long weekend – see my guide on what to bring with you when touring – and see how it goes? Find what works for you.

If you really don’t like riding with bags, this will push you towards organised tours where there is a van that will take your stuff or towards bikepacking.

In between, credit card tourers go for three panniers: one on each side, plus a bag on top, sometimes accompanied by a handlebar bag.

Would you rather ride in a group or on your own?

Riding in an organised group can be very agreeable: meeting new people with a shared interest in cycling – or if you do it with friends, getting to know them better. It will give you a safety in numbers and it can open up guided tours of castles and other attractions that might otherwise not be available to you. But it will also limit you:, mealtimes and start times will be set, and potentially earlier or later than you might choose yourself. You will go to more touristy places with less chance of new finds. But there is a risk that there is a ‘jerk’ in the group, someone who you never want to speak to again, slowing things down or generally annoying the hell out of you.

In a couple or small group, you will have greater flexibility about when to start, stop and finish. You will be able to look after each other if anything goes wrong or even guard the bikes while the other person does a bit of shopping. You will save on weight, being able to share certain things like bike tools and medical kit. Locals are often more open to you if they see you together. And above all, you will have someone to share the experience with you and talk to on the ride and in the evening. It can really be the best of all worlds.

On the other hand… If it goes wrong… Ever travelled with someone and found them irritating after a few days? Bike touring accentuates all that, especially if you share a tent with them. Cycling is exercise. People are in different condition and some days you feel good, some days you feel bad, and much as you like your friend/ partner, do you really want to spend four or five hours each day watching their Lycra-clad bottom up the road ahead of you?

Seriously, if you do want to ride with other(s), my advice is to try out a few long day rides with them and be honest with how you and they feel. Are you compatible? Did you get the same amount of enjoyment? If you were going at different speeds, did you mind? Beyond that, the usual rules of travelling with others apply: make sure that you are both/all clear up front what you want from the holiday – and whether those expectations are compatible – do a bit of give and take so that each of you gets what you want when it is important to you, and make sure that you have some time apart during the day.

Riding on your own, you have the best company… You make the rules. You decide when to set off, more or less. You decide when to stop for lunch. You decide the pace. You decide on which restaurant to go to. No waiting around.

And the experience of riding can be more intense: free to take it all in and stop when you want without having to worry about anyone else. Free to talk to locals. You are more open to letting the day take you where it wants you and above all, to picking or designing the bike route that suits your preferences and ability.

But on the downside, it can be lonely at times. If it goes wrong… If you are ill or you have an accident, you have to sort it out. You will have to deal with the dangers of the road – dogs, angry drivers – on your own.

Off the bike, you will pay more for accommodation. Restaurants will often look at you like a sad sack and insist that the only place that they have is the bar or that tiny table at the back right by the toilet…

What kind of riding do you like?

If you enjoy riding fast and light, then this will tilt you towards organised tours where you can ride a road bike and have your luggage taken from destination to destination. Such organised tours will often cover well-known bike racing routes such as sections from the Tour de France or Giro d’Italia.

If mountain biking is your thing, an organised tour might also work better, allowing you to go on well-known tracks, with guides and without the need to carry your own luggage.

If you like bike paths or a mix of riding surfaces, all the options are open to you.

What kind of terrain?

“Give me mountain passes, loads of them, preferably up a steep goat track that gives even the goats vertigo” said no cyclist ever…

Yes, I know: you want flat. Dead flat. Flat as the Dead Sea. Possibly with a small side helping of ‘undulating’ if you are having a big day… Everyone wants to start on flat…

And if that is what you want, for the entirety of your trip, Europe gives you plenty to choose from. Pick a major river: Rhine, Danube, Rhone, Elbe, Meuse/Maas, Po, Loire… Follow it downstream. Enjoy. Or go to northern Flanders or the Netherlands and bask in how easy the riding is until you hit the coastal winds. You will have loads of company, including people for whom even the flat is too challenging, so best to take an e-bike for crying out loud.

Or you want Mont Ventoux, the Colle delle Finestre, the Hautacam, the Muur van Geraardsbergen, hell, anything that has featured in the great races. Put me through it. And if that is really your bag, a guided tour, preferably run by someone who used to dope with Lance Armstrong’s US Postal team in the 1990s and now needs to pay his legal bills.

But if I can tempt you to mix it a bit, you won’t regret it. Mile upon mile of river bank – for many stretches not even seeing the river because of the flood embankment or because the Comte de Genesaiquoi has extended his jardin à l’anglaise right up to the river – will start to bore you and after a few days, your legs will feel up to some climbs. Those climbs will get the heart beating and the mind calming and will more often than not, reward you with some great views. If you can find a route with the holy of holies – a lengthy plateau – joy is yours.

And equally even Pogacar and Vingegaard crave a few days on the flat every now and again. So mix it up if you can, ideally within the same day, and you won’t regret. Provence and the Rhône valley are great for this.

Putting it all together

So you get the general picture: the lower a budget you are on, the happier you are planning, the less specialised your type of riding is, the more that you like a mix of terrain when you are riding, the more comfortable you are with carrying your own bags, and the more that you are happy riding on your own or in a couple/small group, the more that this will nudge you towards organising your own trip.

And within that, the more that you like/ are comfortable travelling fast with little gear, the more that this will push towards bikepacking, the more that you like your creature comforts and a warm bed at night, the more towards credit card touring, and the more that you enjoy camping or are forced to by budget, the more that this will take you towards traditional bike touring, and within that wild camping.

At the other extreme, budget no object, can’t be bothered with organisational details or simply don’t have time, want to do a more specific type of riding, want the company of others, want to have a set of clean clothes to wear in the evening but don’t want to have to carry it all with you, and/or the more that you like more extreme terrain or climbing, the more that this pushes you towards an organised tour.

Between those two extremes, you simply have to make up your mind. There is no perfect solution. And remember: it’s only a bike tour: The point is to have fun.

If I were starting out bike touring for the first time, and really wasn’t sure, I would start with a long weekend trip – four days or so – close to my home. I would take my own bike unless it were a pure road bike, in which case I would rent a gravel or touring bike with a rack for panniers.

I would design a route that started off reasonably flat and not too challenging or lengthy for the first day – say 30-40 km – followed by two slightly more challenging days with slightly longer distances – say 50-60 km – or more climbing, and a final day that was more similar to the first day, ideally with some kind of reward at the end. I would either design an ‘A to B’ route, close to or accessible from, a train line that allows bikes, or a circular route.

See my guide on how to plan your own tour.

I would book nice accommodation for each night with breakfast included, and treat myself to some slap up meals and a couple of glasses of fine wine. For purely medicinal purposes. Please see my guide on staying in hotels and apartments while bike touring.

In terms of kit, I would take two side panniers and possibly a small backpack containing valuables and food. A bike GPS is ideal but if I didn’t have one, I would use a smartphone, possibly bringing a battery pack.

I have written more extensively about what to pack for a tour, but if you want to save money for the trial run, you would be fine with the following:

Bike Clothes: Helmet, 2 bike jerseys or T-shirts, a fleece, a rain jacket, gloves, 2 pairs of shorts, 2 pairs of socks, shoes.

Clothes: hat, T-shirts, a shirt/ blouse, a jumper, jeans/ trousers/ shorts/ skirt, belt, underwear, shoes.

Bike kit: lock and keys, 2 spare inner tubes, two tire levers, a pump, water bottles, bike lights.

Phone and charger, wallet/purse, ID card/passport, something to read, a penknife or Swiss army knife, a notebook and pen, travel guide (if needed).

Hygiene: first aid kit, sunscreen, after sun, bite cream, insect repellent, small towel, deodorant, toothbrush and paste, comb/hair brush, sunglasses, spare glasses if necessary, razor and cream (if appropriate).

You will learn a lot in that first short tour, so the notebook and pen are essential.

What I do

For what it is worth, here are my answers to the questions and what I find works for me.

Budget: I am lucky enough to have enough money to stay in a variety of hotels and apartments, but happy to pay for a room in a youth hostel when that is the most practical option. I like to mix it: staying in the odd super-nice hotel, but also staying in cheap bed & breakfasts or hostels.

Planning: I like it, especially during the winter months. It adds to the pleasure. See my article on how to plan your bike tour.

Camping? No thanks, at least for now, though I don’t rule it out. I don’t sleep well on inflatable mattresses, can’t stand mosquitoes, like to be close to the centre of towns and like the pleasures of a decent meal in the evening. A quiet room on a quiet street, with a decent bed and a warm shower, down the road from a cracking restaurant serving local specialities and a flagon of red wine, please.

How much carrying? Part of what I enjoy is getting there completely under my own steam, carrying my own stuff and being able to access it on a ride. (Even on day rides, I carry quite a lot). I like comfortable touring and not having to wash my bike kit every night or smelling bad, so carry quite a lot of clothes. I love the miraculous transition from the Lycra-clad, mud-spattered wreck that first appears at hotel reception, to the well-dressed, clean and nice smelling gent who saunters back down half an hour later, causing the receptionist to do a double take.

I take four bags: two side panniers, a ‘back rack’ on top of them, and a small handlebar bag for my valuables that I can take off the bike easily for short stops.

On my own or in a group? I have ended up touring on my own because my friends either don’t want to tour or we aren’t compatible. Whilst it has its bad or tricky moments, I honestly don’t mind it. The surroundings are no less pretty for being seen through one person’s eyes. Whenever possible, I try to drop in on friends and colleagues along the route.

If I had the choice and could find the right companion(s), I would happily ride with one or two other people. I prefer the flexibility of travelling in small numbers in terms of getting up and leaving in the morning, stopping on the road, and heading out for dinner. I also feel that it opens you up more to the surroundings and people.

What kind of riding? Give me quiet but decently paved roads any day, mixed with the odd well-paved bike path. When I have to, I ride along main roads, though rarely ideal.

What kind of terrain? A mix but basically whatever is beautiful. I enjoy long climbs – up to a point – but love long plateaus even more. A bit of flat, a few hills with easy and pretty descents.

So that’s it. Go for it. See what works for you. And remember that in the end, it is only a holiday. The point is to enjoy yourself.

We’ve all got to start somewhere, sometime. Me on my first tour in 1993…

Interested in reading more? Check out these other pages: