Top suggestion for touring with a five-year-old: Burley Piccolo*.



A trailer bike keeps you right together. It prevents the child from darting/wobbling out in front of someone or running off the edge of the path. It keeps the child from 'failing to brake'. If you need to pick up the pace (to beat a thunderstorm or make a closing time), you can. The child in a 'stoker' position gets to observe everything, versus just the spot of pavement immediately in front of the bike. Child gets tired? They can coast.

There are a number of trailer bike manufacturers. I consider the Piccolo the best of them.


Suggest a star tour rather than a linear tour: establish a 'headquarters' in a city (a city like Dayton Ohio or Washington DC). This could be a motel or a campground (one with your all-important toilet). Each morning you ride out a different path. Afternoons are park playgrounds or kid-friendly museums (or naps).

Green lines are paths:




Hmm. Closer to your initial parameters, how about a section of the Route Verte? (Note: foreign country.)




*Burley used to sell a really cool Piccolo accessory, the Piccolo Plus kit, which turned the trailer bike into a stand-alone. They can still be found used.