Even if you limited your worldwide cycle tour search to official and formal options, there are so many available that you couldn’t possibly do them all if you had an entire year. Cycle tours enjoy increasing popularity because they make for one of the most affordable ways to go sightseeing virtually anywhere in the world where they’re available really, but if you have some knowledge of some public sightseeing routes, you can enjoy going on cycle tours for free. Your only real expense would then be the initial cost of getting your equipment sorted, such as your bike and other cycling gear. Cyclist tourists who do this sort of thing regularly are meticulous about their bikes and equipment, often opting to invest in specialized bikes and other specialist gear to ensure they always get full value out of their experiences of various cycle routes.
It can be rather challenging to just mount your bike and hunt cycling routes to enjoy though, especially if you’re travelling overseas and even if they’re self-guided tours. If you are indeed looking for some cycling tours around the world to get enchanted by, there are plenty of options.
Africa
Africa’s a vast continent with plenty of cycle routes for enthusiasts to explore. Some of the popular ones include the likes of South Africa, offering a majestic scenic tour of the Garden Route to Cape Town, which tops the list as a favourite. If you find yourself deep inland however and you’ve made your way all the way to the economic hub of South Africa (Gauteng Province), the Soweto Township tours will make for an eye-opening experience, giving you the unique chance of visiting the only street in the world housing the homes of no less than two Nobel Peace Prize winners. Otherwise Madagascar’s coast awaits the eager cyclist making their way from the Highlands, while Morocco’s Atlas Mountains are a cycle tourist’s dream. One of Tanzania’s more popular sightseeing routes on bike is that which is centred on Mount Kilimanjaro and the Chala Crater Lake, while Namibia which borders South Africa offers a nice cycling safari with first-hand views of the world’s oldest desert. This is perhaps the only cycling tour in which bikers don’t really need their cycle helmets, but by no means does this mean there’s nothing to see.
If you are indeed hitting the continent of Africa with the view of experiencing the many cycle tours on offer, depending on where you’re travelling from, you’d then naturally not likely take your own bike along. Renting a bike generally works out very cheaply if you’re going to go on self-guided, expedition type cycle tours and in many instances you can rent a bike out for an entire day. Do be careful of theft though, particularly in the fuller urban areas, otherwise the secluded areas don’t really have problems with bike thefts and other petty crimes.
As far as the guided tours go, all you really need to bring is yourself. Guided tours can be a great way to learn more about what you’re seeing in front of you as the tour guide often doubles up as a narrator, so it’s about more than just sightseeing but a cultural experience as well.