I use my smartphone, a Samsung Galaxy S4, and people frequently comment on how good my pictures are. When I tell them I use my phone, they're genuinely surprised.
Smartphones are so good at doing many things in one small, lightweight package, you'd think they were designed for bike touring. Imagine if you brought a phone, a camera, a GPS device, an mp3 player, a laptop, and a charger for each one.
In any case, technology has gotten good enough that a good point-and-shoot or a good/great smartphone will do the trick, unless you're an unusually fussy photography enthusiast, or if you were planning on making poster-sized prints.