The services you get in a paid organized tour are quite nice. If only they'd put up my tent.. After a hard day on the road, that is the least you could ask.. When you go with friends and the non cycling spouses do sag, it's almost as handy as a paid sag. But, lots cheaper.

I AM Canadian. :)

And I really enjoyed Wales when I was there ... I hope to return.

I will comment on the notion of DIY touring with sag support. On our coast to coast trip we did a few days in Virginia with help from relatives local to the area. We stayed with folks who picked us up from where we stopped for the day and dropped us back to the same place in the morning. It was really nice because they were great hosts and we got a break from carrying all of our camping gear. On the other hand we missed out on getting the same feel for the area that we did when we were completely self supported. We met way less local folks and it was a completely different experience. It was a nice change of pace, but I would definitely say that I would not have wanted the whole trip to be like that. We would have really missed a lot if we had sag the whole way.

Interesting. I have money. Limited, but not minuscule, vacation time. I STILL like the do-it-yourself method. Part of it is certainly the cheap skate in me. I think part if it is that the planning is half the fun. Selecting routes. Planning the logistics. All the gear issues. It's not a vacation, it's a hobby!

The ultimate truth!

Speedo

When it comes to bike touring, I know that I can organize a trip on my own; I have the hardware investment pretty much done; and I want to control the whole experience. That tours I've done in the past have been great.

On the other hand -- a few years ago I took my family on a very brief, fully supported, organized kayaking trip. We wanted to go kayaking, but I didn't want to buy the kayaking and camping equipment required for the trip; I didn't want to research the trip; and it was a last minute decision. We had a fantastic time and -- compared with the other alternatives we were looking at -- we thought it was really reasonably priced. It was also really nice at the end of the trip to hand all the gear over to someone else, knowing that we did not have to worry about cleaning it, packing it, transporting it or storing it. End to end, it was a great experience. Maybe we could have done it cheaper on our own, but the fact is we *wouldn't* have done it on our own.


So I came away completely understanding why "organized" adventures make sense. I imagine that a "serious" kayaker might be horrified at the little trip we took; but for enthusiastic newbies it was great.

If bike touring is not really your passion; if you're not into planning or the gear; and you just want to give it a try, paying someone else to do that for you makes sense. No doubt the folks who pay tour companies to organize bike trips are "experts" in some other aspect of their lives (other hobbies that they take more seriously, or their professions); they just don't choose to invest the time and passion into planning a bike trip.

Also, outside the U.S. there are a fair number of tour companies that offer "self-guided" bike tours at a much more reasonable rate than the fully supported tours. They offer route planning; hotels reservations; sometimes equipment rental as well.

Yes! I love the planning part!


I actually like it so much I took on the responsibility of planning the routes etc. for the brevets for my branch of the Alberta Randonneurs.

I've only ever done touring by myself -no paid organized tours. I can see the appeal in both, but personally prefer the independent nature of touring myself. While I do a rough plan of where I want to be, usually I just wing it. Since my tours have been in relatively populous and safe western culture oriented countries, I really don't see a problem with it -I always tell myself that I've never not found somewhere to sleep, be it in a tent, b&b, pub, or hostel, etc. Further, I love the spirit of exploration and the freedom it provides in the sense I don't have to follow someone else's timetable.

If I had more money, I could see the appeal in a professional touring company -I could see at times it could be nice to know where you are staying, not having to make decisions on a route, but "just" cycling. However, I do believe that a paid guide can be a blessing as well as a curse; I've had many chance encounters I've really enjoyed as a result of just finding my way -things that probably wouldn't happen if I'd been on a guided tour. Even if I did have the money, I'm pretty sure the vast majority of my trips would be independent anyway -the spirit and excitement of adventure is just too good to be missed.

Though I'll be honest, one of my life's luxuries is having someone pick you up from an airport -I always really appreciate that. After a flight you can sometimes land a little disoriented and if it's a new place you don't know all the ins and outs...... I can definitely see the appeal there of having a guide company do the work and moving stuff for you.

Spent some nice time in Betws-y-Coed as a kid too (and that surrounding area).

My (American) wife passed herself off as Canadian when she travelled across Europe!

Pricing on services such as this one are usually based on what the market is willing to pay, rather than the cost of providing a service. Ever wonder how lawyers can charge $500 per hour?

Then it is up to the consumer to decide whether the service is worth the charge.

I guess there are enough people out there willing to pay the high price.

Different strokes... I love being picked up at the end of a tour, but arriving in a strange town and starting out riding out of the airport is a great experience for me.

I'm with you ... although I do like having something (i.e. a room in a hostel) booked at my destination if the flight is a long one.

birvine,
Your thoughts are not out of line for many of us. I have paid $100 for a hotel room more than once when touring. If that is what I want then that is what I do. Of course my average cost for lodging is around $35-40/nite. Though I always carry food, I normally eat out except for my early morning meal which I carry with me. There is no right way or wrong way. Although I have done a lot of camping in my life and enjoyed it, I no longer enjoy riding long all day and living in the bugs, cold, wet with no shower at the end of the day. Just my preference.

I also have done one organized tour in Italy and really enjoyed that. My wife rides but is not into touring. She did like the organized tour with reasonable miles, good lodging, great sightseeing, outstanding food, and the freedom to ride with a group or ride alone.
Again, good post.

That's exactly how we feel about it. We like the independence to do our own thing. We like to be able to travel slowly and take days off when we want to. We want to be able to sit out a rain storm rather than ride in it. I've never done an organized tour, and can't imagine what it would be like.

Our local club organized a week-long sagged 300-mile loop tour of NW Oregon last July. All overnights were in state campgrounds except one night in a cabin owned by one of the riders. With 13 riders including three couples, we were able to get by with two standard campsites to pitch all our tents. Breakfasts and dinners were self-catered community cookouts with lunches at a cafe or restaurant along the way. Group costs came to an astonishingly affordable $65 per head total. Lunches, snacks, beer, wine and other incidentals came to well under $10 per day. So, we averaged less than $15 per day for a supported tour. Of course, a lot of planning and organization by club volunteers went on behind the scenes, for which a profit making organized tour company would have to factor in significant additional costs.

As an industry insider, I can tell you that tour companies don't make a lot of profit. If you're paying $300 a day for a tour, you'd pay that, or even more, the same stuff ala carte.

This is kind of unanswerable because there are too many variables, and what one person considers a chore, another might consider a joy.

Interesting question though, if you could select tour company options ala carte, what would you choose?

I tour with a group of friends. We share the driving of a single vehicle to carry our stuff. We stay in campgrounds and cook elaborate meals on a two burner Coleman stove. We have a dining canopy, so we get to eat and relax out of the weather. If I were to choose something a contractor could do, it would be to have a fancy meal delivered to our campsite. I would gladly pay for a nice dinner and avoid the prep and cleanup involved.

Speedo

There are two Golden Triangle tours offered on the May long weekend near here by two different cycletouring clubs.

Club A's tour is less expensive and includes all the food you can eat, sag support, and camping sites. And they give out information for motels/hotels in the area if you would prefer to go that route.

Club B's tour is quite a bit more expensive and includes all the food you can eat, sag support, and motel/hotel rooms for the night.

I have always opted for Club A's ride, and have opted to camp. Money has been a factor in that, but the other factor is that I like camping ... and one of the best parts of that tour is setting up the tents and then sitting around and talking with the neighbors about cycling, etc. When you're off in a hotel room ... you miss out on that aspect.

Independent/organized
 

It's interesting that the consensus seems to be that all touring is good; we can each choose the method that works for us! I've never had the luxury of touring for several weeks or months, 2-3 weeks is pretty much the limit of my time. My partner and I usually tandem (not always), and considering the time limitations, we've chosen some interesting destinations; and always traveled independently, with 1 exception. Alaska, Nova Scotia, part of the Continental Divide Trail, Cuba, Alsace, Scotland, Austria, Ireland and Romania have been among our destinations. I'm in the camp of those for whom planning and organizing is half the fun, although now in our mid-50's, we prefer not to camp and cook. We generally use hostels with private rooms, B&B's and inexpensive, but not divey, hotels. We often splurge for dinners while getting our other food from groceries or street stalls. Our costs have varied greatly, but in Europe we've generally spent $40-65 for lodging, and in France we often spent nearly $100/night for dinner. Certainly well-worth it. In Cuba, meals were around $7.00, while lodging was about $30.00.

Tours are expensive partly because they generally offer 4-5 star hotels and food in classy restaurants. On your own, you would probably spend alot for those facilities too.

Personally, even self-guided tours I've looked at seem pricey. The one time we used one was in Romania. I planned a trip for friends and wasn't comfortable with the idea of their having to "wing it" like my partner and I usually do. We each paid $80/day for bikes, maps, and virtually all our food and lodging. We stayed with locals and had a great adventure, but certainly far less coddling and amenities than the typical tour in Western Europe.

Having planned out-of-country tours for friends more than once, it's apparent to me that many people are very fearful of route-planning and finding, and simply don't want to spend the time researching a tour. But once they get used to the idea of being on the road, they are fine. You learn so much more about the people and country if you're not isolated in a large group in a tourist enclave!