Anything like the Danube in North America
 

As a new biker who needs to improve his fitness, I'm hoping to find an affordable tour in the United States or Canada that is comparable to the tours offered from Passau to Vienna along the Danube.

Specifically, I'm hoping for a tour with the following:
1) Not overly strenuous. 25 mile days are great 35 miles would be the maximum. Flat is important too.
2) Has bag transfers.
3) Is reasonably priced.

Independent tours are fine.

Any ideas? The only tours I've seen are not at all cheap. My goal is less than $1,000 per person - and I'd be thrilled if it was a few hundred dollars per person. Much more than that, and I should just pony up the cash to head to Germany.

The bag transfer Concierge thing is something that you have to sort out yourself ..
here in rugged individualism land .. Mailing things ahead of your self .. etc.

And you wont find the nice commercial campgrounds like along the Danube .

it's a Car Culture .. there are places to park Motorhomes the size of big Tour Busses though

East of the Rockies from Calgary or Denver, east is relatively flatter ..

you could start in Minneapolis and follow the Mississippi to New Orleans .

like Passau to Vienna , it is Down River.. but the resemblance ends there.

Here's a link that came from a BF conversation today about the Katy Trail in Missouri.

2014 Katy Trail Ride | Missouri State Parks

I've lived in Minnesota since 1985, but I'm from Missouri originally. Depending on the year, June can be great or too warm. You would be biking along rivers at times. The trail is mostly flat, as it's on an old rail bed. 240 miles in five days. Cost is $350/person.

There are bagage transport service on the Véloroute des bleuets. They have touring packages as well. Look under "Bike touring Services" and "Bike Touring Packages".

The P'tit Train du Nord has something similar.

Vélo-Québec has several tours. I checked some and they seem to be for larger groups. They also have a big event called the "Grand Tour" with thousands of cyclists.

Probably the closest would be the C&O and/or GAP trails in Maryland/Pennsylvania, although I don't think there are any self-guided tours that haul your luggage for you. There are some services that will shuttle your vehicle for you. But I wouldn't let that stop you: get a cheap set of panniers, pack light, pre-book your hotels, and have a go at it! Lots of threads about those trails on these forums and elsewhere on the Web.

And, having ridden the Danube from Passau to Vienna numerous times, I'd suggest doing that on your own, too. It's much easier than you might think, and WAY cheaper.

+1 on P'tit Train du Nord. You can do 25-35 miles per day and sleep under a roof every night. All off road so easy and relaxed.

GAP/C&O is a good option also though it can get a bit sticky if it rains. Definitely pick up some inexpensive panniers and ride by yourself. It's cheap and easy. Spend your money on food and drink instead!

Another vote for the GAP / C&O. The 35 limit might make it a little challenging to find lodging but the path is so easy you should be able to extend your limit another 10 miles or so without too much discomfort.

Katy Trail Missouri B&Bs
Missouri has lots of winery's and it's cheap.

Katy trail, across Missouri. Non demanding, relatively flat, good surface. Lots of support / towns most of the way. The days that are slightly over 35 miles would not be a big deal, given the easy terrain.

Katy Trail 6 day Bike Tour Clinton MO| supported bike tours in Missouri

Katy Trail Bike Tour Rail Trail Clinton MO|Fully supported bike tour

Independent Tourist: BikeTrails, Bike Tour, Bicycle Tour, Cycle Tours | Independent Tourist

Katy Trail Missouri Trail Maps, Businesses, Events, Mileage, and more

+1 on the Petiti Train du Nord trail. I know they have bagage transport between B&B's. My daughter & I did the trail but carried our gear, however a couple that was doing the same route & B&B's used the baggage transfer. We drove to St Jerome (north of Montreal), then took a shuttle service that transported us & our bikes to the far end of the trail. We then biked back to our car over 4 days. Very enjoyable & great food!!!!

Here's my writeup of the tour:
crazyguyonabike.com: Bicycle Touring: Exploring Quebec's le P'tit Train du Nord, by Brian Youngberg

There are many cross-state bike tours across the USA that are very reasonably priced and include transport of luggage from town to town. Most of these rides, however, tend to travel about 50-60+ miles a day. The difficulty of the terrain would depend on where the ride was located. I have ridden a number of these rides, including BRAG in Georgia, Cycle NC, Bike Virginia, GOBA in Ohio, TRIRI in Indiana. Costs tend to run about $350-500/week including luggage transport, camping sites, SAGs or technical support, rest stop with snacks, maps and route markings. If you check around, you might find some of these rides with lower daily mileage totals.

As others mentioned, the GAP-C&O Canal trails are other great options. REI and Adventure Cycling offer supported tours along the trails, but the costs are probably higher than $1,000. However, it would not be difficult to plan your own tour on these trails for a much lower budget. Some friends and I are riding the entire GAP-C&O trail from Pittsburgh to DC next week, and it is costing us less than $500 each including Amtrak tickets from DC to Pittsburgh and hotels/inns along the way. We are carrying our own gear but our loads are relatively light since we are not camping. My panniers weigh less than 20 lbs total, packed with all of my gear.

I agree. I'll have to show that one to my wife.

Being in Vermont, you should check out the Route Verte in Quebec. Many trails & road routes, and you can do easy day rides with nice accommodations. We do day trips up there to the Eastern Townships, sometimes just parking on the US side and riding across. Makes a nice day ride and a very European feel vs riding in the US.

La Route Verte au Québec - La plus grande piste cyclable en Amérique du Nord.

We do lots and lots of biking in Quebec. We live about 45 minutes from the Eastern Townships, and they have some amazing spots to bike.

The reason I asked the original question, though, was because for all of the great bike paths in the Townships, I've yet to see an inn-to-inn or baggage delivery service. That was the missing element that I was looking for. Since we stick to bike paths (because of having younger children), I've been getting tired of always going out in one direction on a bike path and having to turn around and travel the same route to get back.

I did come up with one solution, though. For our next trip to Granby we are staying at a hotel that is right a the bike path. Since Granby's paths can be used to make a loop, I can just complete the loop back to the hotel.

Ah, I thought I read somewhere on the Eastern Townships site that there was a shuttle service available to pick you up if you had issues or to carry your baggage. It appeared to be modeled after the du Nord system. Of course I won't be able to find that WEB page now :-)

That's right - I remember reading about that now. I also remember that the information was vague. It seemed like a taxi company, but with no indication of where they were based. I also recall that it may not have been viable for a family of four - whether due to cost or logistics I can't remember.

Here it is:
Taxi-Vélo-Rando | Eastern Townships (Quebec)

Their website says that it's $45 for the first 30km. It doesn't say if that's per trip or per person, and it doesn't say how many people and bikes they can carry.

I now remember the other issue - they don't offer inn-to-inn baggage service. (Although I suppose they would do it for the right price.)

Still, it's a pretty good start. It would be great to see some inns along the Route Verte getting together to get a nice touring product going. I bet we will see something someday soon.

This says that some establishments offer services such as baggage transport:

La Route Verte au Québec - Bienvenue cyclistes !TM accommodations

I rode the P'tit Train du Nord a few years ago as part of a long ride from Vermont into Quebec and back. I went self-supported, but encountered many happy people using the baggage transport services.
Here's my write-up on the trip: http://www.bikeforums.net/clydesdale...on-quebec.html

There is also the Erie Canal Trail from Albany to Buffalo.