Find amazing bike tours and unique experiences all over the world

When you're on a multi-day bike tour you probably don't want to cover the same ground each day - after all the main point of a tour is to see and experience new things. But having a home away from home means your focus can be totally on the cycling and the local area.

A relatively small country in the extreme south-west of Europe, Portugal is off the beaten track and often overlooked by cyclists. However this very much stands in Portugal's favour. With a population of just over 10 million there are plenty of open spaces and get-away-from-it all places.

As we all know tourism is one of the sectors worst hit by the fallout from the global Covid-19 crisis. It will also be slow to recover to what existed before March 2020, if indeed it does - or should.

If you were hoping to read about the macabre Thomas Harris character then I'm sorry to disappoint you. This article is about the original Hannibal, the Carthaginian general who was the nemesis of Rome in the 2nd and 3rd centuries B.C. Among his many exploits he most famously marched with his army and elephants from Spain to the gates of Rome - you can now follow this route by bike.

I don’t know about you but I get a huge amount of inspiration (and envy) from reading other people’s stories of bike tours  - short or long. However more often than not it is the long distance adventurers who have the most impact on me – particularly bikepackers who spend months or even years on the road crossing continents and the globe with seemingly apparent ease. They get to visit and become immersed in remote places that (at best) I’ve barely heard of.

Bruce Robertson, editor of Cycle Tours Global, recently caught up in Seoul with Beom-Seok Choi, the CEO of bikeOasis.

Cycle touring worldwide is growing at a huge rate as demonstrated by Andrew Bain in his recent article for Traveller. What may not be so well known is the exponential growth in riders aged over 50 – in particular the baby boomer generation. This demographic is still fit and active and want the most out of their holiday – sightseeing, fresh air, exercise, relaxation and above all, fun!

These are the bike tours most viewed between January and June 2021