When traveling, especially in areas such as Europe, you'll find that cycling tours are becoming more popular. These tours allow you to get up close to the attractions in a relative easy manner, without having to rely on tour buses and taxis. With the guided tours you are able to not only get around the cities quickly, you are able to truly experience the city that you are in and see the major attractions that the destination has to offer.

During these tours you will be expected to keep up with the group, rather than the group going at your pace. This means that if for some reason you fall behind, you are probably going to be left behind. This is especially true in France, where cycling is quite popular, and it is expecting that you be able to cycle if you are on the tour. This means that if you are out of shape or haven't ridden a bike in a long time, you probably should avoid this tour.

A few years back, I went on one of these tours in Italy. The tour was a four hour long tour. The tour was slated to have mild cycling required. When I got on the bike and realized that we had to travel 10 miles to the first location, I began to understand that the local definition of light cycling was far different than my own. As a regular runner, I didn't have any issue with keeping up, but even for me, the trip was somewhat rough. There are other tours however, where the tour will take you to other countries. These tours are definitely meant for the hardcore enthusiasts.

The main thing to keep in mind is that a cycle tour isn't like what you would see in the United States. These are hardcore tours for people that are really in shape. The majority of the people come out in full cycling gear, with their backpacks, and are very serious about the cycling aspect of the tour, not just the tour itself. If you aren't ready for this type of hardcore cycling, then you need to consider something else.

There are however, what are called family tours. These family tours allow families to go at a much slower pace, but even on these tours the distances that are required to travel are substantial. The nice thing is that you can go at a somewhat slower pace. However, I stress the somewhat part of that last sentence, as the majority of the tour operators really try to push you if you are lagging behind.

But if you are capable of handling the pace, and the distance, and you think you are physically capable of doing it, then the cycling tour can be one of the best ways to see any city.

Learn more about this author, Clacky McSnackins.
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