A city opens up at bike speed. Quick enough to cross it, slow enough to see it.
Which e-bike tour actually climbs the hills for you. What three hours across Amsterdam costs. Whether to book a guide in Rome or just rent a bike and go. Reviews of the rides you can book, wherever you are pedalling next.
Four rides that make the case for booking a bike.
A canal city, an ancient Roman road, a temple circuit and a desert canyon. Four continents, one idea: take the bike, skip the queue.
01The canal cityBig Bike tour Amsterdam – See all in 3 unforgettable hoursThree hours across Amsterdam behind a guide who rides it daily. The ride that turns the whole party into cyclists for the week.
02The Roman roadRome EBike Tour: Appian Way, Catacombs & Roman AqueductsOut of the city on the Appian Way, past aqueducts and catacombs, with a motor to take the sting out of the basalt.
03The temple circuitTemples, Canals & Local Life Bike TourBangkok backstreets, canal paths and temple courtyards, at the one pace that keeps the heat bearable.
04The desert canyonRed Rock Canyon eBike Half-Day TourRed sandstone, long descents and half a day of Nevada that never sees a tour coach.
America rides better on a bike than it looks on a map.
Central Park before the traffic, the approach to the Golden Gate, red rock an hour out of Las Vegas, the Austin greenbelt. Three kinds of American bike day, what it costs to join each one, and where the good ones hide.
Six cities where the bike tour is the best thing you can book.
Canal lanes with no cars, a Roman aqueduct road, an old town that only works at ten miles an hour, and a seafront path that runs for miles. Six starting points, and the best ride in each.
E-bikes turned hill cities into easy afternoons.
Lisbon has seven hills, Rome has basalt cobbles, San Francisco has both. Pedal assist takes the argument out of all three, which is why more travellers now book the e-bike than the plain one.
The most popular bike tours in the world right now.
Every bike tour review →The rides more travellers take than any others, from a three-hour Amsterdam loop to half a day in the Nevada desert.
1
Lion City Bike Tour of Singapore
See Singapore by bike on a four-hour small-group tour covering Marina Bay, Chinatown, Little India, Kampong Glam, and more.
From · $68
Read our review →
2
Big Bike tour Amsterdam – See all in 3 unforgettable hours
from $34
3
3-Hour Porto Highlights on a Electric Bike Guided Tour
from $53
4
Small Group Guided Bike Tour of Amsterdam’s Hidden Gems
from $40
5
3-hour Complete Prague Bike Tour
from $47
6
Temples, Canals & Local Life Bike Tour
from $24
7
Hills, Alfama, and Mouraria Tour by Electric Bike
from $25
8
Athens Scenic Electric Bike Tour with optional Acropolis visit
from $35
The city highlights ride is the one to book first.
Two to three hours, a guide who lives there, and a route that strings the landmarks together with the backstreets in between. In some cities it costs less than a museum ticket, and it fixes your bearings for the rest of the week.
Every city highlights ride →
Three kinds of bike ride you will still be describing at home.
A city loop is the sensible booking. These are the ones people talk about afterwards: a Roman road, a coast path with no cars on it, a park you can only cross on two wheels.
Ancient roads by bike
Rome paved the Appian Way in 312 BC and you can still ride the original basalt out past the aqueducts and the catacombs. Ancient sites were built along roads rather than around car parks, so a bike gets closer to most of them than a coach ever will. The blocks are uneven and polished, which is the one real argument for taking the motor.
- 1Historical Singapore Bike Tour on Full-Sized Bicycles★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 1,421 reviews
- 22.5-Hour Bike or E-Bike Historical Tour★★★★★★★★★★ 4.5 · 1,262 reviews
- 3Asheville Historic Downtown Guided Electric Bike Tour with Scenic Views★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 1,234 reviews
Coast roads and beach paths
The best coastal riding is flat, car-free and impossible to get lost on, which is a rarer combination than it sounds. Rottnest Island off Perth bans private cars outright. Valencia and Barcelona run paved seafront for miles. Carry more water than you think you need and set off before the afternoon wind gets up.
- 1Rottnest Island Full-Day Bike and Ferry Trip★★★★★★★★★★ 4.7 · 2,548 reviews
- 2Valencia Bike Tour from the City to the Beach, plus Bike Guy App!★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 1,187 reviews
- 3Electric Bike Beach Adventure with Tequila Tasting and Lunch★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 1,162 reviews
Parks and greenways
A park is where a bike stops being transport and becomes the reason you came. Car-free loops, shade, and a surface anyone can handle on a hire bike. Singapore rides its park connectors from the reservoirs down to the sea, and American cities have quietly laid hundreds of miles of the same thing along abandoned rail lines.
- 1Central Park Bike Rentals★★★★★★★★★★ 4.2 · 2,528 reviews
- 2Central Park Bike Rental★★★★★★★★★★ 4.1 · 1,651 reviews
- 3Highlights of Central Park Bike or eBike Tour★★★★★★★★★★ 4.6 · 800 reviews
What actually decides whether a bike tour works for you.
Four things settle it and none of them are on the booking page. How much climbing the route does. Whether the bike has a motor. What the traffic is like where you are riding. And the minimum age or height, which quietly rules out most under-tens. If any of those give you pause, the answer is usually an e-bike, a park route, or a rental you can turn round whenever you like.
What a bike tour actually costs, from a day rental to a private guide.
Every ride on the site grouped by price. A good number of the best ones sit under fifty dollars, and a day on a hire bike costs less than lunch.
City loops, park rides and day rentals. Where most of the good ones live.
Full mornings with a guide, e-bike included, and lunch on the better ones.
Private guides, all-day countryside routes and the rides that finish at a cellar door.
Hiring a bike costs less than the bus fare in most of these cities.
A day on a hire bike starts around six dollars beside Central Park and stays under fifteen across most of Europe. You give up the guide and the stories. You get the whole day, your own route, and permission to stop for as long as you like.
- 1Central Park Bike Rentalsfrom $9
- 2Central Park Bike Rentalfrom $8
- 3San Francisco Golden Gate Bridge Bike or Electric Bike Rentalfrom $20
The bike tours that stop for a market, a cellar or a long lunch.
A market ride through Rome, a vineyard loop with the tasting at the end, a Tuscan lane that finishes at a long table. Riding earns the meal and, usefully, it also spaces it out.
Four bike days that will not wait for you.
Most rides can be booked from a phone the night before. These four run on timed entry, ferry timetables and a sun that takes no interest in your plans.
- 01Versailles Palace Bike Tour with Market & Marie-Antoinette hamletThe palace closes on Mondays and the ride is built around market days, so the date gets chosen for you.
- 02Red Rock Canyon eBike Half-Day TourThe scenic loop runs on timed entry reservations for most of the year, and the cool morning slots go first.
- 03Rottnest Island Full-Day Bike and Ferry TripYou ride to a ferry timetable. Miss the last boat back to Perth and there is no second option.
- 04Siesta Key Electric Bike Sunset TourSunset shifts by around two hours across the season, so the departure time that works in June is the wrong one in September.
Amsterdam to Barcelona, one bike tour at a time.
Prague
FlorenceThe newest bike tour reviews.
The rest of the new ones →
Albufeira: E-Bike tour of Nature Trails and Tradition
Read our review →
Albufera Bike Adventure: Wetlands, Beaches & Biodiversity
Read our review →
Albufeira: 4 or 8 – hour E-bike Rental with Hotel Delivery
Read our review →
Alberobello: E-Bike Tour with Focaccia and Wine
Read our review →
Akaroa: Guided Electric Mountain Bike Tour-Lava Loop
Read our review →
Aix-en-Provence: E-Bike Tour of Mount Sainte-Victoire
Read our review →
Afternoon Bamboo Forest and Monkey Park Bike Tour
Read our review →
Adamas: Milos Highlights Tour on an Electric Bike
Read our review →
Bar Harbor: Acadia National Park Carriage Roads Ebike Tour
Read our review →
