Pleasure cycling, Italy
If 5,000m of climbing sounds a bit much amid the post-Christmas fug, US company Ciclismo Classico offers high-end tours with an emphasis on enjoyment as well as slog. While the tours are mainly in Italy, the company also covers France, Ireland, Belgium, and even the Rockies in the US. The difficulty levels range from easy – no more than 35 flat miles a day – to advanced, with the option of family tours. To make life easier still, rental bikes are included in the price of every holiday (Italian-made Bianchi ones, of course). You can even request a tandem. If the enjoyment aspect of the trip wasn’t obvious enough, rides are sometimes arranged to take in museum trips and wine tastings. The accommodation and food are top-level – and this is reflected in the prices.
• From £2,300pp (for a week in Tuscany), including four- or five-star accommodation, most meals, bikes, guided riding, some activities and transfers, flights extra, +1 781 646 3377, ciclismoclassico.com
Tours in the Alps and Pyrenees, France
Bike-mad couple Robert and Laura Cartledge set up Le Domestique Tours in 2011, running a range of trips, mainly in the Alps and the Pyrenees. For the more gung-ho they also offer week-long King of the Mountains trips, taking in famous climbs from either the Tour de France or the Giro d’Italia. The former leads riders up such ascents as Tourmalet, Mont Ventoux and Alpe d’Huez. The rides are fully guided and supported – including a support vehicle carrying spares and extra clothing – and half-board accommodation and transfers are included. One of its tour leaders doubles as the resident chef.
• Alps trips from £549pp, flights extra, ledomestiquetours.co.uk
Mountain biking, Spain
What the Alps and Pyrenees are to road riders, southern Spain’s Sierra Nevada national park is to mountain bikers: endless rolling trails and precipitous descents, with the advantage of a benign climate that permits year-round riding. Based in a converted farmhouse in the middle of the national park, about 60 miles from Granada, Pure Mountains has trips ranging from three to eight days. All rides are guided, with a Land Rover support vehicle; they are described as a mix of cross country, trail riding and all mountain, and can be tailored to ability levels. Mountain bikers have a less ascetic reputation than their road-riding colleagues, and in keeping with this the price includes not just three meals a day but also as much beer and wine as you choose to drink.
• From £450pp, including shared accommodation, most meals and drinks, and airport transfers, flights extra, 07815 074599 (UK mobile), puremountains.com
Marmotte or Maratona, France and Italy
If you really want a challenge, sign up for a famous one-day road cycling sportive such as La Marmotte or La Maratona dles Dolomites. The former is a long-standing French event, featuring more than 5,000m of climbing over 100 or so miles; the latter, in Italy, is marginally shorter but arguably just as tough. They can be done independently but the events and nearby accommodation sell out fast. Alpcycles runs a series of week-long packages, including ones that guarantee entry to La Marmotte and La Maratona, providing just about everything you’ll need.
• From £675pp (La Marmotte), including event entry, supported pre-event rides, accommodation,most meals and transfers, flights extra, +33 479 077324, alpcycles.com
Mountain biking – the Trans-Alp, Germany and Italy
Another more ambitious option, this time for mountain bikers, this well-established German-run event – officially a race but most riders simply aim to finish – snakes around 400 mainly off-road miles in seven daily stages from the Bavarian Alps to Lake Garda in Italy. There’s quite a lot of climbing: about 19,000m in all. Yes, you have to arrange your own transport and bike transit to the start (Ruhpolding, in Germany but half an hour from Salzburg) and from the finish (on Lake Garda in Italy) but once you’re there just about everything else is arranged: routes, marshalling, meals, and transport of luggage between stages. You can book your own hotels, but a bargain €150 gets you eight nights’ accommodation in the “Trans-Alp camp”. This is usually just a space for your sleeping bag in a school gymnasium or similar, but what it lacks in luxury it makes up for in collegiate spirit. It’s tough, but the scenery is unmatched and the sense of achievement unparalleled. Entrants must sign up in teams of two, for safety reasons.
• 19-25 July, entry fee £545pp, covering race entry, breakfasts and evening meals, bike-transalp.de
Do-it-yourself in France
France is an easy place to be a bike tourist if you’re going it alone, and it’s relatively straightforward to take a bike on the Eurostar – though you’ll probably need to pay extra. And, once you’re travelling around, many hotels and guesthouses are bike-friendly. France’s tourist board has a special accreditation, called Accueil Vélo, or Cyclists Welcome, for bike-friendly places. Those carrying the special symbol will have storage for bikes and advice on where to ride, as well as other services for those on two-wheels. The range of bike-friendly places on offer is vast, ranging from individual B&Bs such as Le Vélo Jaune, a four-bedroom establishment by the base of Alpe d’Huez (twin room from £62 B&B) to the Logis network – with well over 2,000 hotels around France.
Winter cycling in Andalucía, Spain
As a break from splashing through puddles (and puddles of slush) in the British winter, what better than enjoying road cycling in the benevolent winter climate of Andalucía? A number of companies in the region offer options from the luxurious to basic. Andalucian Cycling Experience – based in Montecorto, on the edge of the Sierra de Grazalema national park and in easy reach of Costa del Sol airports – offers what it calls winter training camps, with daily guided rides, self-catered or B&B accommodation and bike rental available. Good weather isn’t guaranteed but even in January temperatures above 20C are not uncommon.
• From £375pp a week (less for bigger groups), including guided rides and accommodation, flights and airport transfers extra, +34 952 184 042, andaluciancyclingexperience.com
Leisure cycling tour of Sardinia, Italy
If traditional European cycling destinations such as the Alps and Pyrenees don’t appeal, there are trips to less-common cycling destinations. The options at Newcastle-based Saddle Skedaddle taking in not just Europe but Cuba, Japan, China and more. In Europe it offers leisure-based trips to countries including Denmark and Norway, but for the keen road cyclists it recommends Sardinia. Saddle Skedaddle’s eight-day tour takes you across the whole island, with more or less everything included.
• Sardinia Coastal Explorer trip from £1,080pp, including guided and supported rides, accommodation and most meals, flights and transfers extra, 0191-265 1110, skedaddle.co.uk
Cycle-friendly stay at Vélo Ventoux, France
In the annals of road cycling, one name looms larger than any other: Mount Ventoux. The 1,912m peak in Provence, with its famously lunar landscape, has been the setting for some of the most famous Tour de France stage finishes ever, and is a climb cherished by many amateur riders. Vélo Ventoux is a bike-focused guesthouse about 15 miles from the foot of the mountain, which offers accommodation and, if required, guided tours. If you’re feeling particularly brave it will even arrange a crack at membership of the famed Club des Cinglés, which requires you to cycle to the peak of Ventoux by three different routes in a single day.
• £475 for a week B&B (two sharing) with maps and routes, bike storage and workshop facilities, flights and transfters extra, veloventoux.com
Do-it-yourself in Lanzarote, Canary Islands
Arguably the most beautiful of the Canaries, with its spectacular volcanic landscape, Lanzarote is popular as a winter break for cyclists or triathletes, with year-round temperatures generally above 20C. The island is relatively small, but with smooth roads, limited traffic and spectacular riding. One popular, if gruelling, route takes riders from the tourism centres of the south up to the Mirador del Rio lookout in the hilly north, with beautiful views to the tiny island of Graciosa. If you have enough energy left you can ride back through the La Corona natural park, with its own (extinct) volcano. One of the joys of Lanzarote is the plentiful supply of relatively cheap holiday apartments in resorts such as Puerto del Carmen and Costa Teguise. For those who don’t want the fuss and expense of negotiating a bike bag on a Ryanair or easyJet flight, Lanzarote has a number of shops renting out high-end road bikes and mountain bikes. The shop staff can also advise on routes; just be sure to book well in advance, and to bring your own cycling shoes.
• Cycle Friendly offers a six-day cycling holiday in Lanzarote, including a mini-sportive on the final day, for £755, including accommodation, meals (including picnic lunches) , vehicle support and bike hire, 01923 350258, cyclefriendly.org.uk.
Bike rental, Puerto del Carmen: Revolution Bike Rentals, ProAction BH, Costa Teguise: Tommy’s Bikes
