Guest Author - Julie Fredrick
Have you been considering a trip to Europe? Are you somewhat athletic and adventurous? Then you may want to consider a bicycling trip.
Traveling through a European country on the seat of a bicycle is a unique experience. Imagine peddling past beautiful countryside, charming villages or historical ruins with the wind in your face and the sun overhead. (Conversely, it always helps to be prepared for the elements.)
The first thing to consider when deciding on a bike tour in Europe, after deciding where you want to travel, (which we’ll cover in a different post), is whether you want to go with a guided tour in a group or an independent trip. Let’s look at a few of the pros and cons of each to help in the decision-making.
If you choose to go with a guided tour, the decisions are made for you regarding where you will spend the nights, eat your meals and how far you will travel each day. This cuts down or eliminates the time that you would have to spend researching the area and booking accommodations in advance. In addition, you will most likely have a support vehicle that will carry your luggage between accommodations and even shuttle you, should you become fatigued or injured. You are at the mercy of the group and the pre-arranged schedule, however, and have little opportunity to explore on your own.
On a guided trip, accommodations and most meals are pre-paid, eliminating surprises of costs. Typically, extras and alcohol are your responsibility. If you are a solo traveler and wish to share expenses, a roommate can often be arranged. You will, however, be expected to pay a generous tip to your guide at the end of your trip, assuming all went as planned. Many participants of guided tours have complained about the absence of their guide during the actual bicycling portion of the trip, and may only see their guide at meals, leaving them wondering why they paid that extra money.
At the opposite end of the guided tour spectrum is the completely independent bicycling trip. Here you must decide many things. What type of excursion do you want? Mountain biking, some off-road, or strictly road biking? Where will you stay, and do you need to pre-book accommodations, locking you in to the schedule or will you take risks on availability? Moreover, if something goes awry, you are responsible for yourself. You are free to spend more time at interesting sites, however, and can set your own pace, as well.
Each of these options has its vicissitudes. Don’t fret, there is a middle ground, and that is the self-guided bicycle trip. These trips are arranged through a tour company prior to travel, and provide detailed maps and pre-arranged accommodations, but no tour guide. They save considerable money over the guided tour, but you will be paying the company for their booking and planning services. Still, many people find that the convenience combined with the independence of his type of trip to be the best of both worlds.
If you decide that a self-guided trip is for you, make sure you find a company that offers the type of accommodation you prefer. Are you looking for a bit of luxury at the end of the day? Or maybe a farm stay in rural areas appeals to you. Maybe you simply want a bed in a hostel. As far as meals go, many travelers like to have flexibility as to when and where they prefer to stop to eat, or maybe even wish to pack their own lunches for a roadside picnic. Do you want to have your luggage transferred, or do you plan to carry your belongings with you? Some self-guided companies provide technical support, and all should at least offer transfers on arrival and departure. These are all things to consider before locking yourself in to any kind of biking trip in Europe, or anywhere else.
So whether you decide to sit back and let someone else take care of all the details, do it all yourself or prefer a trip somewhere in the middle, a bicycle trip in Europe may turn out to be the trip of a lifetime.
