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.

We start our ride from the iconic city of Pisa and for those who have never seen the city there is the opportunity to fly in early on arrival day and leave your luggage with us while you explore. We ride a very approximate circle taking in the very best that Tuscany has to offer. The route passes through Florence, using cycle paths wherever possible, and this has been engineered to be a short day to allow some time to soak up the culture.

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 62 miles and the daily average is 55.

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

On this 9 day trip you will cross the majestic Tian-Shan mountain range and see the astounding beauty and variety of its landscapes. You will ascend vertiginous mountain passes over 3,000 meters and enjoy the beauty of lush mountain valleys with alpine lakes, coniferous forests and rushing rivers. As you cycle at lower altitudes you will be rewarded with amazing views of deserts, moon-like landscapes and beautiful canyons. But this trip is more than just purely cycling through this remote part of the world – a once flourishing area on the ancient Silk Road – you will also discover the rural lifestyle of Kyrgyz people and experience their hospitality. You will meet Kyrgyz nomads living in yurts and their  herds of sheep, horses and yaks roaming free on vast summer pastures. This trip will present you hundreds of incredible photo opportunities and leave you with many new experiences, stories and lifelong memories.

 A week long trip across the UK at its widest point, starting on the Norfolk coast at Lowestoft and finishing at St David’s Head in Wales. There is a great variety of scenery from the fens of East Anglia to spectacular west coast of Wales – and many historic towns and villages, including Stratford-upon-Avon.

This cycling holiday has some great riding, the route taking you through an amazing variety of landscapes, from the marshlands of the Norfolk Broads to the beautiful Welsh hills. There are plenty of refreshments stops along the way too, with some lovely old historic pubs serving real ales and good food.

The trip starts near the coastal resort of Lowestoft from where we head through the lakes and canals of the Norfolk Broads before passing around the city of Norwich and through the pretty lanes and villages of Norfolk. We then continue across the impressive fenland of Lincolnshire and Cambridgeshire.

The route then heads across the gently rolling countryside of central England, skirting around Northampton and passing through Stratford-upon-Avon. We then continue through the northern part of the Cotswold Hills, cross the river Severn just north of Worcester and head through the beautiful country lanes of Shropshire to the lovely old town of Ludlow. 

We continue through the hills to Knighton, where we cross the border into Wales. There is some wonderful cycling here through the hills as we head west through Llandrindod Wells (where you can visit the National Cycle Museum), across the spectacular Cambrian Mountains, and along the Pembrokeshire coast to St. Davids Head.

This trip starts on the Spanish border in Valenca and ends on the Algarve coast just east of Faro. As well as being an ‘end-to-end’ you can also bag a ‘side-to-side’ as the route touches Portugal’s western and eastern borders.

We love cycling in the sunshine and we love bagging ‘end-to-ends’ so this trip ticks all the boxes. As the icing on the cake it also counts as a ‘side to side’. With 9 hours of sunshine, temperatures in the 20’s and little rainfall, Portugal offers superb cycling conditions in April/October. It also offers convenient international airports (in Porto and Faro).

We start at the magnificent fort in Valence, with views over the river to Spain, a perfect back-drop for the start of trip photos! The day is spent in the spectacular hills of Northern Portugal, before striking the coast and following coastal paths for three days.

We then slowly work our way down and across the country, finally reaching the Spanish border in the northern Algarve. Riding conditions get progressively easier as the country flattens but the scenery is always great!

For our final day we strike the Algarve’s southern coast and then follow cycle trails as far as Olhao, just a few miles from Faro and its airport.

Portugal relies heavily on tourism and has a superb hotel infrastructure which we fully exploit. Accommodation is 3/4* throughout with many hotels offering pools and/or other leisure facilities.

Daily mileages are modest – around 50-55 miles per day and with a mix of coastal and inland riding.

This trip uses a slightly different route from our other ‘End to End’ holidays – more direct, though still very pleasant riding – and the trip is aimed at fit, experienced cyclists who want to ride the ‘End to End’ as quickly as possible.

Starting from Land’s End the route takes you through southern Cornwall, then around Bodmin, over Dartmoor, and into Devon. You continue across the Black Hills into Somerset, passing around the edge of Bristol. After crossing the magnificent bridge over the River Severn you continue north through the lovely rolling countryside of Herefordshire and Shropshire, before skirting around the urban sprawl of Manchester, and heading around the Forest of Bowland and the Cumbrian Lake District.

After crossing the Scottish border the route takes you across the Southern Uplands, around the edge of Glasgow, then through the Grampian Mountains to the shore of Loch Linnhe. You then continue through Fort William and along the Great Glen, passing Loch Ness on the way. The final section of the route takes you around Dornoch Firth and along the coast to the small settlement of John O’Groats on the northern tip of the Scottish mainland.

There are no rest days on this holiday. We look after you all the way and provide a certificate for those that complete the trip.

This journey is an unrivalled way to explore the heart of the Himalayan Kingdom on trails rarely travelled by tourists. You will have to test your mountain biking skills on wild and challenging trails through some of the most stunning scenic and cultural landscapes in the world.

From the stunning backdrop of the Himalayan ranges, deep valleys and ancient forests, to the charming terraced fields and bright smiles of locals in the timeless villages, you will remember this journey for its unique beauty as well as its challenging mountain biking terrain!

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.  

The most incredible mountain biking adventure! Challenge yourself with this breathtaking journey through the timeless Kingdom of Lo, a remote Tibetan Buddhist enclave inside Nepal that was, until recently, forbidden to foreigners.
 
People have inhabited this harsh region for thousands of years, some of the early dwellers living or meditating in ancient caves, rich in unique Buddhist art, which pepper the bizarre rock formations. This mythical land north of the 8000 metre peaks of Annapurna and Dhaulagiri still requires a special restricted area permit to enter, and numbers are limited, thus helping to preserve its unique heritage. The ancient, walled city of Lo Manthang is described by UNESCO as having no place of comparison!

This region is characterised by incredible sculpted canyons with ancient cave monasteries dug into the wild rock formations; fortified, medieval villages offering oases of green fields in the arid landscape of the ‘Tibetan’ Plateau; and wild trails over high passes and along stark ridge-lines, all set against the backdrop of the soaring snow-peaks of the Himalayas.

Lo, in the Upper Mustang region, is a remote and starkly beautiful section of the Tibetan Plateau, the high altitude desert bordered to the south by some of the Himalaya’s highest mountains. The fact that it now lies in Nepal rather than Tibet has enabled the people of the region to preserve their unique and fascinating Tibetan Buddhist culture and lifestyle; which now enables intrepid visitors to learn and experience this ancient way of life.
 
Our exploration of Upper Mustang takes us on some of the less travelled routes through this sun-drenched region; sometimes following the Kali Gandaki river-bed, other times biking on spectacular trails to passes high above it, and descending on awesome trails through incredibly sculpted gorges, wondering at the ancient cave dwellings and monasteries we see carved into the rugged mountainsides.

Now is the time to visit Mustang while it is still pristine, intriguing and with a sense of the forbidden. These newly opened up trails have to be biked to be believed!

NOTE: The riding on this adventure is incredible. We have some rough and ready jeep tracks and these are fun enough, but we also have some simply unbelievable single trail riding. The trails take us over high passes and on long sweeping downhills, through crazy canyons and along wild ridgelines – all the while looking out to the Himalayan Range.

Any cycle ride of more than 200km ending in Santiago de Compostela constitutes a ‘camino’ but there are many official signed routes and we have chosen to take the ‘Northern Way’. This route follows the stunning Spanish north coast, a real hidden gem with spectacular views, pretty coastal villages and, yes, some hills. This is a rugged route but the daily mileages are small and the rewards are great!

Our journey follows the closest possible paved roads to the official signed route and you will meet many fellow pilgrims, travelling by bike and on foot, along the way. We start in Bilbao, with convenient air connections, and follow the beautiful coast for some 300 miles to Foz before turning inland for a further 120 miles. We finish in the heart of Santiago from where there are direct flights to the UK.

Regardless of your faith or religious convictions be sure to carry your Credencial and get it stamped at each stopping point along the way in order to receive your compostela (certificate of completion) in Santiago!

Average daily mileage is 55 with the shortest being 45 and the longest 60. The first few days are hilly, though typically rising and falling by less than 500 feet. For those looking for a longer trip, this holiday connects with our ‘End-to-end’ of Portugal for a stupendous 1000 mile ride!

Planning a cycle route in Australia is a bit like eating an elephant. Where do you start? On closer inspection many choices are dictated by the daunting size and physical obstacles, and an obvious ‘must do’ route soon emerges. The 1400 miles from Brisbane to Melbourne offer sufficient challenges to qualify as a real adventure, but with manageable terrain, sensational scenery and some remarkably cycle friendly roads.

As with all Bike Adventures routes, this one has been thoroughly researched by our own staff from the saddle of a bike. Tough work!

After a day in Brisbane to acclimatise and see a little of the city we head south, along the fabulous Gold Coast. You will be amazed by the quality and number of cycle paths and, when we must take to a highway, cyclists are well catered for with their own private cycle lane in many places. We soon pass from Queensland to New South Wales and remain, more or less, on the coast all the way to Manly, from where we take a ferry into downtown Sydney, affording excellent views of the bridge and opera house.

We have a rest day in Sydney but this also creates the opportunity for those looking for a shorter trip to arrive or depart.

From Sydney we return to the coast on a second ferry, to pass the famous Bondi Beach. Between Sydney and Melbourne the terrain is more rugged with more hills and some long stretches between services. For our last few days we turn West into Victoria before finishing in Melbourne, surely the most cycle-friendly city in the Southern Hemisphere?

Daily mileage for this route is 65, though the location of towns with suitable accommodation means that individual days range from 50 to 80. Option to join or depart in Sydney.