Bike Vacations

On a bike, you travel at your own pace. Linger longer at the cafe, and less in the medieval museum -- or vice versa. Stop to visit an old castle if you want -- or skip it and bike that extra loop through the forest.

A bike vacation offers all the camaraderie of traveling amongst a fun group, but with the flexibility to set your own schedule. There's no time you've got to be "back on the bus." No waiting in the parking lot for the fellow travelers who decided, at boarding time, they needed a pit stop.

Just don't be late for dinner. And after a day of biking, enjoy dessert with a clear conscience.

The first trips ever offered by Alyson Adventures, the gay adventure travel company that sponsors this site, were bike trips in France. We choose France because it combines a varied wealth of both natural and historic scenery with a great network of quiet, scenic, and little-used roads. Our first trip included lunch atop the 2000-year old Pont du Gard (the Roman aqueduct shown at left), a visit to the abandoned castle of the Marquis de Sade, and time to walk in a field of red poppies.

Add in a small, friendly gay and lesbian group, and you'll see why so many people say that a gay bike tour in Europe was "the best vacation I ever had."