Rent a Villa for a Week of Loop Rides, Yes

But be careful to find out where that villa is located! Is it at the top of a three kilometer long gravel road? Or, perhaps at the end of a two-mile long dead end leading to a small provincial road so that every ride you take requires you to repeat the same twenty kilometers every day.

In short, some villas lend themselves to great mountain biking, others are great for racing or hybrid bikes. But if you've not seen the property or if you are relying solely on the beautiful pictures on the villa agent's web site, be careful. Ask a few critical questions and take a look at some online resources. You might have just rented the perfect villa for mountain biking. But if you aren't a mountain biker . . .

The folks at BikeRentalsPlus! have plenty of experience in matching you up with the right type of accommodation.

What Kind of Bicycle? Road/Racing Bike, Hybrid Bike or Mountain Bike?

You are headed overseas for a bike tour or a villa rental and two-week stay and you're wondering. What kind of bike should I request, rent, look for - a road bike? Hybrid or city bike? Or mountain bike?


The answer is: what do you usually ride? What kind of rider are you? And what bikes are available?

Start with the first two: Do you love road bikes? Do you really enjoy the sports-car feel of a racing bike? Will you be carrying "stuff" on your bike - gear for camping? Or just items for the day (if that) - camera, lunch, water, phrase book? Then plan on a road bike. But ask questions about the gearing! Do you refuse to use a granny gear? Or do you insist on having one? Make sure you ask BEFORE you go.

Bike Rentals Plus addressed this issue years ago and uses a Cannondale factory modified "sports road bike" with a triple crank for touring but a racing geometry for fun. There's a photo in this post.

If you aren't used to racing bikes, by all means request a hybrid or city bike, shown in the upper right corner here. In Austria and Germany, this is almost the only kind of bike that you'll find available (usually with fenders, chain guards, lights, and kick stands!)

What about mountain bikes? In places like Costa Rica, southern Tuscany or Umbria - for the serious off-road rider, a mountain bike is likely your best choice.

So start your planning by thinking about the kind of rider you are - racer, casual tourist, off-road - then find out what's available.

Take a look at Bike Rentals Plus for even more details on bicycles.

Hub and Spoke Tours

Who said a bicycle vacation has to involve packing and moving every day? Try a hub and spoke tour in a villa or hotel base with loop rides every day. We work with many small groups of families or friends who prefer this way of bicycling. They find (or we find for them) a villa or hotel in Provence or Tuscany (or lots of other places), settle in for a week, and take rides out from their base. Those who wish, ride hard and long while those who prefer to take it easy take shorter rides to nearby villages, enjoy time by the pool, and take more leisurely rides from the hotel shown here in Central Tuscany, Italy.

If you are serious cyclists or just want to cover more territory you can rent a car or a van. If someone in your group doesn't ride but will agree to drive make them the designated driver. So maybe on some days you'll leave early and do a long ride to a town that everyone wants to see, then the designated driver comes and picks the cyclists up.

Bike Rentals Plus can help set you up with roof or car racks to make this easier.

Click here for details on villa and hotel hub and spoke bicycle vacations in France and Italy.

How to Choose a Tour Company

Ten Questions to Ask Any Bicycle Tour Operator

How do you know which one is the best bicycle touring company for you?
Here’s a list of questions that will help guide you to the right choice.

1. How long has your company been in business?
New companies are okay, but be aware that the Internet has enabled small and inexperienced companies to look very impressive. This question will help you determine just how much and what kind of experience a company really has.

2. How is your company structured? Do you have staff in the home office AND overseas?
Some companies have a skeleton staff in the home office, and these same people run their tours overseas! That may be okay, but make sure that the BEST people are both answering questions in the home office AND running tours abroad.

3. Describe your tours for me. Who takes them? Is there a good match between your needs and the tour company? What is the "culture" of the company? Who will you be traveling with, veteran cyclists? Experienced travelers?

4. What distinguishes your adventure travel company from others?
Do they provide luxury travel?
The packing list you’ll receive for most tours includes a section about “what not to bring” including your gold jewels, your evening gown, or your business suit. Our tours are casual and our philosophy is to enjoy the best of the local culture, including authentic cuisine and centrally-located, locally-owned comfortable hotels.

Do they cater to extreme sports or just the adventure portion of your trip?
We love to ride our bikes and believe that there is no better way to explore the world. We have itineraries for all levels of experience and ability, and we find nothing more satisfying that converting “non-cyclists” to cycle touring. By getting out of the car or bus, your senses are open to the sights, sounds, smells around you…AND you become accessible to chance encounters with local people. When’s the last time you had an old Italian woman cheer for you on the uphill as she beats a rug on her balcony?

Are they an educational travel company? Do they provide guided tours, or self-guided tours? If you are looking for something specific, such as a wine tour, culinary tour, or cooking classes, can they provide this?

5. How long have you been running the specific tour I am interested in? Whether it's a bike tour through Italy, France or Turkey, every adventure tour has a "life" of its own. If the company has been offering a tour for a long time, they can tell you all about it. If it's a new tour, there are probably some bugs that need working out. That may be okay if they're a reputable travel company. But you should at least ask.

6. What is your most popular active vacation, and why? This lets you know where and in what they specialize. They should be able to tell you a lot about this particular tour.

7. How have past customers described the degree of difficulty on this tour? Many travel companies rate the difficulty of their active vacations. This allows you to choose a vacation package that suits your fitness level. Our tour rating system clearly ranks the physical challenge of each tour we offer.

8. May I speak with someone who has been on this tour? You should be able to speak with a staff member who has been on the tour that interests you. When you pick up the phone to ask if you’ll survive the climb over the Andes, you’ll talk to someone who has actually done it. Alternatively, ask for names of customers who have done the trip.

If you are a single woman in your 50’s interested in touring Europe, for example, ask to speak to someone like you who has been there before. If you travel as a couple, ask for the email addresses or phone numbers of at least two couples.

9. Tell me about the composition of the group on the vacation I've selected. You probably don't want to be the only single 30-year-old in a group of older couples on a cycling tour through France. So, ask about group composition. But remember, you'll probably have more fun with a mixed group rather than a homogeneous group anyway.


10. What is the history of this particular tour? Does this tour usually fill up? How often have you cancelled it? You want to ask these questions for two reasons: First, if it is a popular tour that fills fast, you don't want to be left out! Second, if the tour cancels often (which is sometimes the case during low or “shoulder” season), you don't want to get stuck with an airplane ticket and no tour!