Icycle

I'm starting to plan a bike tour for next year with my wife and her parents, and I'd like to solicit feedback and ideas for possible tour locations and itineraries. We are looking to go some place new and interesting, probably outside the United States.

The trip should have frequent, interesting places to stop along the route to see and do things. It should have beautiful scenery. The hills should be minimal. Accomodations should be primary B&Bs or hotels, rather than hostels or camping. We would probably want to ride between 20 to 40 miles per day, for 10 to 14 days, possibly with a rest day or two.

The ideas that we were tossing around included New Zealand, Iceland, and Scandanavia. We'd rather not go to France or Italy, since we've all been there several times before (though not on a bike). Does anyone have and ideas or experiences for interesting bike tour itineraries in these locations? Does anyone have any other places they would like to recommend?

NoReg

I'm 48, and I find it hard to go less than 10 miles an hour average over weeks with a fair number of hills, and lots of wind and rain. So on levelish ground, almost any healthy person should knock off 20 miles in 2-3 hours, more likely 40 miles in 3 hours. So you are looking for the kinds of sights that could hold your interest for the remaining 12 hours but set appart every 20 miles or so. That's a tall order and I am going to listen with interest. I support those goals, i'm sure they would appeal to many.

I don't know iceland (my guess is not a world heritage sight every 20 miles), or New Zealand (guess is that it is hilly). Scandanavia, at least the parts of Norway and Sweden I was in were very hilly. I spent some time in Denmark but didn't get around much, seemed windy, which in my opinion is worse than hills.

niknak

I will wholeheartedly recommend New Zealand. The country is a mecca for tourists, especially the south island. You'll find all types of accommodation everywhere. The landscape is beautiful and the people are friendly. There are hills but none are too bad, especially if you're touring without camping gear. Consider going in Feb or March. The weather is drier. The only problem is that once you get there you won't want to be leaving in just two weeks!

See the link in my signature below. My wife and I just spent 3 months there.

tacomee

Denmark or Germany......lots of cycling paths and many places have a lack of hills (the most important thing for newbies). Just check out this website.

https://bicyclegermany.com/index.html

greenstork

I'd recommend The Netherlands, Belgium, Denmark, or Germany. In Germany specifically, The Rhine River route or the Danube are well suited for families.

xilios

I second this reply.
My wife and I did part of the Rhine route last fall. We liked it so much we have planed to fly to Budapest and cycle to Holland along the Danube and Rhine rivers this fall, visiting Budapest, Bratislava, Viena and Prague. There are many places to visit all along these routes, they are flat but if you like you can go a bit away from the rivers for some other places of interest and hills. Even though we like to camp we have noticed that there is no shortage of B&B's and other small hotels, they are all at very short intervals so whenever you're tired just stop. I should mention that the availability of rooms depends on the time of year though, you need to check when the Germans go on vacation.
The routes are well marked with full maps along the whole Rhine route, not sure about the Danube though we'll post on our site in October when we return
cheers

bwgride

One good idea for easy rides is to look at what professional bicycle touring companies have to offer and where. My wife, I, and her parents did such a tour with Vermont Bicycle Tours some years back in northern Michigan (very pleasant, scenic, and with nice B&B and inns). All of these companies will rate the difficulty of such rides, provide brief descriptions, and show the route. Use this information to plan your own ride.

Some links to get you started:

https://www.biketour-reviews.com/Bike-Reviews.htm

https://www.mikebentley.com/bike/tourcomp.htm

Bacciagalupe

Minimal hills + hotels + short trips + scenery = Belgium and Netherlands.

Flanders (aka Northern Belgium) is flat as a board. Cities are about 30 miles apart, and there are extensive cycling paths, many of which go right along the canals. Most people cycle, so drivers are very aware of cyclists and cycling maps are easy to pick up in the big cities. Plus, the food, particularly the chocolate, is top notch.

The only minuses are:
- bike theft is a major issue in Amsterdam
- it's not advisable to ride right around Brussels or Antwerp, as they are pretty industrial areas and cycling paths in those areas are minimal.

Icycle

Wow! Thanks for all the great recommendations! The Danube River bike path through Austria sounds just about perfect, and the Rhein River, Belgium and the Netherlands sound quite promising as well. If I can convice my wife that hills are not so bad, we might be able to consider New Zealand.

hex1110

PEI Canada The island is very flat and very little traffic plus mega places too stay and the beaches are excellent for swimming not populated like many very unique B&B throughout the trip approx 5 to 6 days to complete the Island. Go in July or come with us we are tagging up with a tour group Alantic Cycling Tour group.
They have a supportive tour within July 2007

skookum

I am going to vote for the Netherlands, Germany, Belgium or Denmark.

At least in the Netherlands, there are lots of signposted bicyle routes, terrain is flat, lots of cultural things to see, and towns are close together. There is a pretty decent B&B network accessed through the torist offices (VVV).

Norway has lots of hills, and considerable fewer points of interest, although the scenery can be fantastic and the riding excellent, at least away from the cities. Maybe if you followed the southern coastline it would meet your requirements.

New Zealand has plenty of hills, and beautiful scenery, but away from the major population centres there aren't a lot of things to s or places to stay that don't involve camping or youth hostels..

bloodhound

...Hawaii?

Here's some good info on touring the island of Oahu:

https://back2dabike.wordpress.com/my-rides/tour-of-oahu/