Vacation activities for bike enthusiasts

If you love cycling when you travel, here are a few ways to incorporate biking into your next vacation.

Wine country bike tours
On a bike tour through wine country, you’ll enjoy sampling the local vino while exploring picturesque vineyards and countryside vistas.

Tours can be arranged in just about any wine region: California, Okanogan Country, Argentina, Chile and Western Europe, to name a few.

Some bike tours are also ideal for sightseeing. For instance, tours in Italy, France and Spain often include visits to historic churches, castles and villages.

Bicycle camping
If roughing it is more your style, look for a campground that caters to cyclists. You’ll want a place that’s surrounded by bike trails and that offers the following services and amenities:

* Secure lock-up areas for bikes
* Cycling information, including route maps
* Bicycle repair toolsets
* Staff who are knowledgeable about local cycling routes and can supply weather information
* Healthy food and beverage options

Some campgrounds provide bike rental facilities on-site. Alternatively, there may be a bike rental shop in the vicinity.

Party bikes
If you’re looking for a creative way to explore a new city with a large group, consider touring around on a party bike. Also known as a fietscafé, bierfiets, pedal crawler, pedal pub, beer bike or bierbike, a party bike is a vehicle resembling a trolley car that is powered by up to sixteen pedaling passengers. It’s a sort of pub-on-wheels and is always hired with a trained driver.

These are just a few of the ways that cycling and traveling happily combine, and there are bike tours suited to fans of gastronomy, shopping, visiting museums and more. Whatever your interests or budget, there’s a biking adventure that’s just right for your next vacation.