### The bike tours most viewed in August 2023

 

| No. | Tour Name | Location | Tour Operator |
| - | --- | --- | --- |
|	1	|	Silk Route	|	China and Central Asia &nbsp;&nbsp;	|	TDA Global Cycling	|
|	2	|	Central West Cycle Trail	|	Australia	|	Cooper Cycle Tours	|
|	3	|	Mizmal Ireland End to End Relaxed	|	Ireland	|	Wild Atlantic Cycling	|
|	4	|	Korea 4 Rivers - Seoul to Busan	|	South Korea	|	Shangrila Cycling Tours	|
|	5	|	Nice to Villefranche and Cap Ferrat	|	France	|	Lifesparkz Bike Tours	|
|	6	|	Uzbekistan Bike Tour	|	Uzbekistan	|	Zilol Baxt Travel	|
|	7	|	Fantastic Jeju	|	South Korea	|	Teamax Adventure	|
|	8	|	Trans Andean Coast to Coast	|	Chile, Argentina	|	Rat Race International	|
|	9	|	Portugal End to End	|	Portugal	|	Wild Atlantic Cycling	|
|	10	|	Cycle the Croatia Islands	|	Croatia	|	Wild Atlantic Cycling	|
|	11	|	Desaru Cycling	|	Malaysia	|	Shangrila Cycling Tours	|
|	12	|	The World Heritage Sites of Puglia	|	Italy	|	Apulia Bike Tours	|
|	13	|	Cross Country Southern Tier	|	USA	|	Cycle of Life Adventures	|
|	14	|	Tour d'Afrique	|	Across Africa	|	TDA Global Cycling	|
|	15	|	Singapore to Malacca Cycling	|	Singapore, Malaysia	|	Shangrila Cycling Tours	|
|	16	|	Cross-Country: Southern Tier	|	USA	|	WomanTours	|
|	17	|	STB Seoul to Busan	|	South Korea	|	Teamax Adventure	|
|	18	|	Trans Europa	|	Across Europe	|	TDA Global Cycling	|
|	19	|	Siem Reap to Phnom Penh via Kampot &nbsp;&nbsp; |	Cambodia, Vietnam	|	Social Cycles	|
|	20	|	Fiji Islands - Island hopping by bike	|	Fiji	|	Escape Adventures NZ	|

 &nbsp;&nbsp;

The bike tours most viewed in August 2023
- Silk Route
- Central West Cycle Trail
- Mizmal Ireland End to End
- Korea 4 Rivers - Seoul to Busan
...

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Top bike tours last month

"Roll up for the magical mystery tour" goes the famous Beatles song. OK, the Beatles sights and locations around Liverpool are pretty well known - but not by us. Cycling down Penny Lane, towards Strawberry Fields and visiting Eleanor Rigby's grave brought much of the extensive Beatles catalogue to life.

### The Route
The various locations around the city are well known but [Liverpool Cycle Tours](/liverpool-cycle-tours) have cleverly woven them into a neat bike tour using bike paths, quiet roads and even parks. You'd hardly know you were in a busy city - although this was the day after Liverpool won the FA Cup so the city was a bit subdued with a few sore heads around!

Our first stop was around the corner from the massive and impressive Anglican Cathedral. This was a sculpture 'A Case History', recognising many Merseyside luminaries, not just the Fab Four. Popularly know as The Cases it is of, well a pile of suitcases. In the background is the Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts (LIPA) which was founded by Paul McCartney in his old high school. LIPA also took over the Liverpool College of Arts building - alma mater of John & Cynthia Lennon and Stuart Sutcliffe.

The tour continued with other past and present stories about the Beatles and their various haunts, houses and schools. Stuart Sutcliffe, Pete Best, Brian Epstein and The Quarrymen were not left out of a very thorough tour. 

### The Guide
"Penny Lane is in my ears and in my eyes" was coming from a speaker on the back of our guide Phils's bike, as we rode down Penny Lane. This was a lovely addition to the tour and Phil was full of stories, even about the street sign which has become a tourist attraction in itself but is sadly not well maintained by the local council.

Phil is the owner of Liverpool Cycle Tours and is a local. He is full of stories and anecdotes - not just ones you can find online, but from family and friends who were there in the 50s and 60s (not him!) and knew John, Paul, George and/or Ringo. Phil is enthusiastic and cares deeply about his city and its legacy - he is also an environmentalist and a musician.

### The Bikes
Liverpool Cycle Tours supplied excellently maintained electric bikes that made the whole tour very easy. I never got out of Eco mode but there were several higher levels of pedal assistance - not that the route was hilly or demanding at all. Phil even carries a spare battery on his bike for the highly unlikely event that there's a problem or someone runs out of charge!

Liverpool Cycle Tours have a number of great bike tours exploring different aspects of the city. I chose the Beatles tour for my discovery. And why not - this is the city of the Fab Four!

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Magical Mystery Bike Tour of Liverpool

The Luberon Valley and Natural Park probably offers the best leisure cycling in Provence. And [Provence Cycling Holidays](/tour/provence-cycling-holidays)' (PCH) "Memoires de Provence" B&B in Coustellet is the ideal base  to explore it from - although they also have a self-catering villa close by that may better suit groups or families. 

Most guests arrive by car or even train to nearby Cavaillon. In our week, of the 4 B&B guest rooms, 2 couples came by car, 1 by train and 1 by bike (us!). It's an easy 36km half day cycle from Avignon to Coustellet, mostly flat. 

The tour was self-guided, but was far more than just accommodation with bike hire. Neil and Nat had suggested routes for each of the 5 cycling days that you could choose from their portfolio. They recommended particular routes for certain days to include local markets, festivities or other events. And if that wasn't enough each route had easy, medium and hard options with all having been thoroughly researched and recorded on cue cards and easy-to-follow GPS navigation. Each morning at breakfast Neil, and Nat at the villa, tirelessly went through the route options, maps and cue cards. Rob and I choose mostly medium routes which were quite challenging in the heat. The hybrid hire bikes we used were excellent and some guests sensibly opted for the e-bike upgrade which allowed them to do more, more easily. Neil was also available with his van during the day in case he was needed - as happened once during our week (one rider got separated and triggered a search - he found his own way back to base though!).

The time of year to visit is an important consideration for a stay. Tours are available from April to October with July and August being the hottest months - we were there in July so can vouch for that! Lavender season is mid-June to early or mid-July, although the (slightly) cooler months have a lot to recommend them too. If I did the tour again it'd probably be in May/June or September.

Coustellet, our base, is at the western end of the 37km [Véloroute du Calavon](https://www.freewheelingfrance.com/bike-routes-in-france/veloroute-du-calavon-provence.html), a flat greenway (voie verte), most of which we thoroughly covered during the week on our various rides. And although you can stay on mostly flat routes, the villages and other sites most worth a visit often involve hills - some quite steep. However Neil has found the best ways to access them to minimise climbs (unless of course climbs are what you're looking for, in which case you're well catered for too).



The Luberon Valley probably offers the best leisure cycling in Provence, and has now become quite well known through Peter Mayle's A Year in Provence.

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A Week in Provence

This Irish end-to-end mostly follows the spectacular Wild Atlantic Way winding up along the West Coast of Ireland.

Rob & I were lucky enough to join a group of 12 other riders from the US, Scotland, England, Ireland, Australia and Switzerland for this fantastic ride from the most southerly point in Ireland to the most northerly. Our tour was superbly guided and supported by John and Paul - not [those ones](/blog/magical-mystery-tour-of-liverpool)! We were quite a mixed bunch of ages (30s to 70s) and riding abilities, both of which I'd say put us in the middle.

For us the weather was a mixture of sunshine and clouds with only the occasional shower. 

The GPS directions and support from the [Wild Atlantic Cycling](/tour/wild-atlantic-cycling) guys were top notch and made it so easy - all you had to do was ride and admire the gorgeous countryside. Although some riders were so enthusiastic they overshot the regrouping points on a few occasions 😃.

 

#### Day 1 - Arrival Day in Cork
Our group travelled from all directions by train, plane and automobile. Riders who brought their own bikes assembled them in the briefing room, ready for tomorrow. Paul gave a very thorough run down of what to expect and what was happening when and where, and then took some of us down to get set up with hire bikes. We got to know some of our fellow riders at the briefing and later in the hotel dining room and bar. The others will wait till tomorrow!

 

#### Day 2 - Mizen Head to Glengarriff 
The day started with a 2¼ hour coach trip down from Cork. The countryside was beautiful and a great introduction of what to expect for the next week - except it's always better on a bike! 
I can see that Mizen Head could be very bleak and windy ... but not today! 
We had a warm mostly sunny morning, Rob and I stopped in pretty Durrus for a coffee and catch up with my cousin Ruth who happens to live there! After lunch there were a couple of brief showers as we rounded the top of Bantry Bay. 
The group became quite strung out partially due to some of us succumbing to the irresistible urge to stop and take photos of the stunning countryside of West Cork. However we all made it to the hotel with plenty of time to relax and later had dinner together at a nice pub in Glengarriff. 
*61 km, 540 m climbing*

 

#### Day 3 - Glengarriff to Killarney
There was an earlier start to the cycling as there was no bus transfer. This was good as the urge to take photos only intensified - I gave into the urge over and over again! The Day 3 gallery below is just a small selection.... 
There were three climbs with three fantastic descents - the Caha Pass, Moll's Gap and the Gap of Dunloe. The latter was busier between cars, walkers, other cyclists and horses pulling traditional jaunting cars. 
The scenery was absolutely spectacular and the mix of sunshine and cloud created shadows that only added to the breathtaking views. My 'sub-group' only experienced a couple of lights showers but some roads showed the evidence of having seen much heavier rain which we just missed! 
Today has set a very high bar for coming days ... 
Killarney is a great spot for music and the craic. Had an Irish Stew for dinner and then an ice cream to finish - Irish Brown Bread and Chocolate Whiskey flavour! A grand end to the day. 
*71 km, 870 m climbing*

This Irish end-to-end mostly follows the spectacular Wild Atlantic Way winding up along the West Coast of Ireland.

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Wild Atlantic Way / MizMal Active

July sees the biggest cycle tour in the world - the grand dame of cycle racing. It is an annual men's multiple-stage bicycle race in France that also sometimes passes through or starts in nearby countries. Like the other Grand Tours (the Giro d'Italia and the Vuelta a España), it consists of 21 stages over 23 days and coincides with the French national holiday, Bastille Day. The first edition was in 1903 and, bar wartime, has been run every year since.

A women's professional race has been run under various guises since 1984 - since 2022 the 8-stage Tour de France Femmes has taken place after the men's race.

It is hugely popular for sports fans and/or amateur cyclists in July to go to watch one or more stages of the Tour. There are also many opportunities to ride some or all of the race course - before or after the professionals. Check out [Tour de France Bike Tours](/explore/tour-de-france-bike-tours).

The 2023 Tour de France is coming up but there is one important question for fans following the race - where is the cheapest pint of beer?!!

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The cheapest pint along the Tour de France route

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A Week in Provence

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