Bike Adventures

Tuscany is known for its landscapes, traditions, history, artistic legacy and its influence on high culture. What better way to experience this than from the saddle of a bike; and of course the Italians love cycling so you will be assured a warm welcome wherever you stop.

This wonderful trip has previously run with 7 riding days but has now been repackaged to fit with a 1 week holiday inclusive of travel.

We start our ride from the iconic city of Pisa we stay within walking distance of the obvious star attraction.
Our first day is spent on the coast before turning inland to complete a very approximate circle taking in the very best that Tuscany has to offer. The route passes through central Florence, using cycle paths wherever possible, and even cross the famous Ponte Vecchio.

We eventually return to Pisa from the north east, following a traffic-free cycle path along the river.
Tuscany can be very hilly, and there are certainly hills on the route – indeed there are a couple of quite challenging days on this tour – but the route offers a real mix of riding with several quite flat days. The longest day is 81 miles and the daily average is 76.

This is a hotel-based trip using mostly 3* hotels.

We ran our first Coast and Castles holiday in 2016 – it proved so popular and enjoyable we promised to make it an annual excursion. This is a relatively easy, yet oddly epic, ride from Edinburgh to Newcastle via Dalkeith, Melrose and Holy Island (Lindisfarne). The route follows various Sustrans routes, with our own additions where we feel things (often the road surface!) could be improved. We cycle past, or very close to, an almost endless variety of historical and natural sites, including the world renowned Lindisfarne and Bamburgh Castle.  

A 25 day mountain biking adventure: the world’s highest mountain bike journey.

This is an epic ride – one of most adventurous a biker can do. 80-90% of this ride is over 4000m above sea level. In 1100km you cross 5 passes over 5000m, a handful of ‘small’ passes over 4000m and you will ride the longest downhill in the world, dropping from 5050m in Tibet to 540m in Nepal over a little more than 150km! It is a real classic and to make your trip even more adventurous, even longer and even more challenging, we have decided to incorporate a four day round trip away from the main Lhasa to Kathmandu road, to visit Rongbuk Monastery and the North Base Camp of Mt Everest.

Throughout the ride, your state of the art bicycles will be a source of great interest. As they will not have seen anything more sophisticated than their basic Chinese-made boneshakers, there are great opportunities to share laughs with local people!

We follow the main Lhasa to Kathmandu route as it runs westwards, parallel to the great Himalaya chain, which forms the border with the territories of Bhutan, Sikkim and Nepal. Throughout, the road traverses a high and dry plateau-land, which is punctuated by the spectacular monastery towns of Gyantse, Shigatse and Shegar, as well as several smaller settlements and nomadic Drogpa encampments.

On the detour away from the main route towards the Rongbuk Monastery, the road climbs through almost fifty hairpin bends to reach the Pang La, which affords splendid views of the Himalaya, and of Mt. Everest itself. Everest Base Camp is a ‘not to be missed’ inclusion to this ride. Standing before the exposed and shear North Face of Chomolungma [Mt. Everest] at Everest Base Camp (5500m/18044ft) is a memorable experience that few will ever forget. We will spend a night at Everest Base Camp before riding 70 km back out to the main Kathmandu route.

Back on the main road we reach the edge of the Tibetan Plateau as we cross the 5200 metre high Thang La, and begin a mind-blowing descent of 4500 metres, via the border town of Zhangmu, to the valley of the Sun Kosi River in Nepal. A final, easy day’s cycling brings us back to civilisation in the form of Kathmandu.

From the wild natural splendour of the western lagoons and the Camargue to the high-society resorts of the Riviera. Of course, it is also a chance to bag a ‘side-to-side’ of France.

This third edition of the one week trip has been timetabled for the early-season and offers the perfect opportunity to top up strength and colour in the legs. Average daily mileages are reasonably high (around 70) but the going is easy with relatively few hills. Transport connections are good at both ends.

Not only does this route alliterate nicely but it takes us through some fantastic cycling country and is bookended by two of Europe’s most romantic capitals. Our route is based on the ‘Paneuropa Radweg’ , though a fully signposted implementation of this great idea still seems a distant dream so you will be glad that we have prepared our usual meticulous route instructions.

From a hotel close to Paris Charles de Gaulle airport our first day is a short one to allow time to clear the city. Our route initially takes us due east, to Verdun, before dropping down via Nancy to meet the Rhine a little north of Strasbourg. From here we enter Germany, passing north of Stuttgart to Nuremberg and on to Wieden, close to the Czech border. Our last two days are spent in the Czech republic, finishing in the glorious City of a Hundred Spires.

Why not extend your stay by a day or two?

This route averages 60 miles per day with a range of 46-63 and is suitable for all moderately fits cyclists. For those looking for a longer ride this trip connects with Prague to Berlin.

The route takes you from the Mizen Peninsula, around Bantry Bay into County Kerry. After passing through the mountains of the Kilarney National Park you cross over the River Shannon and continue past the Cliffs of Moher and across The Burren. After the lakes of the Upper Shannon Valley the final part of the route takes you across Lough Swilly onto the Inishowen Peninsula to Malin Head.

Roads & Terrain: The route follows minor paved roads for most of the way, although there are a few sections on main roads. Major conurbations are avoided but the route does pass through some medium sized towns. Traffic is generally light but some sections along the southwest coast can be busy, and the final part of the route onto the Inishowen Peninsula does have some unavoidable traffic. The first part of the route is hilly, as you pass through County Kerry, but the remainder is mostly gently undulating, although there are a few steeper climbs along the way.

This is a truly breath-taking ride along the iconic Garden Route.
 
With its mix of ancient forests, secluded artists communities, mountain hideaways, and deserted beaches this is an eclectic part of Africa where the sunshine and the hospitality are guaranteed.
 
We start in the shadow of the majestic Table Mountain in Cape Town on the Atlantic coast. The first day take us around the Cape of Good Hope to meet the warm waters of the Indian Ocean. We then head east to follow the coast for 11 days where your camera will get as much exercise as you legs with baboons, zebra and ostrich just some of the possible distractions. You may even get lucky enough to witness the migrating whales.
 
The route makes extensive use of minor roads where possible and drivers in South Africa are generally very respectful of cyclists even giving encouraging beeps on their horns on occasions.
 
The route is suitable for moderately fit cyclists with some moderately challenging climbs and between 60 and 70 miles per day.

This is our ‘book end’ trip with dates at the start and end of the season, taking you from the UK capital to the heart of the most romantic city in Europe. The trip is aimed at regular riders looking for an early/late season break as well as less experienced cyclists wanting a challenge that people will recognise as such. 

The trip starts the London Eye, and once we are out of central London, follows a mixture of cycle routes and minor roads to take us south. We are soon in the delightful lanes of southern England and the route taking us through many picturesque villages. After crossing the South Downs we gradually descend to the small town of Newhaven on the shore of the English Channel, where we take the ferry across to France. 

After arriving at the busy little town of Dieppe we continue through the pleasant countryside of Normandy, with its orchards of apples and pears and distinctive timber framed houses. The route takes us through the Eawy Forest and Lyons la Foret. 

From the Lyons Forest we descend to the River Seine and continue following the valley all the way to Paris. As we approach Paris the route crosses the river several times, passing through the St Germain Forest and the Bois de Boulogne, to finally arrive at the Eiffel Tower in the heart of Paris. 

We have both the evening and the following day in Paris to give you time to explore the many attractions the city has to offer – the Eiffel Tower, the Louvre, Montmatre and the Sacre Coeur, Notre-Dame, the Arc de Triomphe and the many other museums, parks and gardens. In the evening we take the Eurostar train from Paris to return to St Pancras in London. 

We have scheduled this trip to link into our new London to Venice trip – you can do both and, indeed, you can carry on all the way to Dubrovnik!

Why only cycle in the summer? For those looking for some sun and a chance to ride through the worst of the British winter we offer our favourite regular trip ‘down under’. New Zealand is a long way to go so this is a 4 week trip, enough time to really see something of this incredible country. We will cover plenty of ground on both islands but a number of rest days have been built in to spend time at some of the key locations.  

Our trip starts in Auckland. We head south via the coast to the famous volcanic springs of Rotorua and then on to Lake Taupo for a day of rest and sightseeing. We continue south through the rugged lower half of North Island, arriving in Wellington for a leisurely day taking the ferry across the infamous Cook Strait to Picton and South Island.
From Picton we take the picturesque coastal route round to the spectacular west coast, passing through Nelson, Westport and Greymouth before arriving in Fox Glacier where we have a day to explore.

The last leg takes us inland via Haast Pass through the southern alps and then down to Te Annau, jumping off point for Fjordland. For our last day we abandon the bikes to enjoy an excursion by coach and boat to Milford Sound, finishing in Queenstown (adventure capital of the world) where we will catch connecting flights back to Auckland.

In all we will cover 1200 miles, averaging 58 per riding day. New Zealand offers challenging riding with little flat ground but our timetable has been adjusted to make the trip manageable for all regular cyclists.
Whether you have always wanted to see NZ, or already have and are hankering to return, what better way to chase away the winter blues?

Fat biking in winter conditions is something every cyclist should experience – the pure snows of Finnish Taiga Forest offers a great setting for this fun way of moving. In this package you will train with fat bikes in the untouched wilderness areas surrounding the fabulous  Martinselkonen complex, and then challenge yourself in endurance competition on the Ruthless Raja (Border). The competition will take place in mid-winter when the weather can be ruthless and the days still short. A snowstorm will not stop the competition, it just offers you a new challenge. The competition will take place in uninhabited wilderness, where only the birds and reindeer will be your company. It’s time to challenge yourself – and don’t be fooled by the smaller distances!

Along the way you’ll see many animal tracks in the snow, experience some wonderful Finnish cooking, try other ‘snow-related’ activities if you wish, enjoy fabulous saunas, and there is a good chance you’ll see the Northern Lights too!