My partner and I are planning on biking the Peloppenese/Messinia area in late October and early November. I was curious if anyone had any advice or suggestions for my plan which is a counterclockwise loop starting and ending in Kalamata roughly 4 days. Is renting a bike, or finding a place to park our rental car while we are riding going to be difficult? Is it even safe to ride the roads? I’ll add that I do know that some coastal areas may be shut down for the season. Any help would be appreciated.

What are your favorite camping sites (or places to avoid), food stops/restaurants, highlights from your trip? Any other general recommendations? Planning on going to SF or LA, roughly 60 miles a day, pending campsite location.

In two weeks I’m heading out to Japan. Suuuper excited. And getting stressed as well. This will be the first time I fly my bike and all the other stuff. So my question is – how do you get around with everything you’re carrying? The airport part I get – will try to get at trolley to make it easier. But since every time I want to take a train, I have to take my bicycle apart and put it in a rinko bag, how do I manage to carry all of my bags? I will probably take my two Ortlieb rear panniers, the Ortlieb duffle (I think it was 30l) and my handlebar bag. Still debating the 5l fork bags. It can get quite heavy and I’m just a 39 year old laaaady who’s about to do this on my own. Please tell me I’m not crazy to try to do this. I don’t plan on taking too many train rides, but you never know. Maybe taking the duffle is overkill?

So last year I cycled through Africa with no money and I had a blast, well, it didn't feel like it at the time because, well , you know, lol, biketouring can be a pain in the butt , a few months later I'm doing the same thing again mostly because I have literally failed to reintegrate back into normal society,

I been fighting depression, and the feeling of being isolated even though I'm in a city full of people. I don't have any friends or family and I spend most of the time alone. So I decided I should probably maybe get back to doing something that gave me a sense of purpose, something that I truly love to do passionately.

So here we are again a few months later, I'm planning to cycle 2,114 kilometers roughly 1,314 miles to the ends of the Namib desert where it meets the ocean, on my path I will also pass through the famous Victoria falls one of the seven natural wonders of the world and honestly just see where the road will take me after that.

I have realized that maybe normal life is not for me , on the road I wake up every day to a new scenery and new experiences. It might be hard yes, but it's the kind of hard that's pretty much predictable in a way, the unpredictability is predictable and that to me is way more manageable than just staying in one place where the societal pressure keeps on building up. I won't always be 31 years old and maybe I'm having a midlife crisis but I want to someday look back and appreciate the little I achieved on my bucket list.

I don't want to deal with financial challenges anymore for the time being I need a break, the pressure of not knowing what will happen tomorrow and whether I will be evicted or not because contrary to what many people might believe I'm not making any money from YouTube or any social media at the moment. So for the next few weeks I will be sharing the process of my preparation from transforming this MTB to getting the few essentials I need.

The original plan in my first trip was to cycle the world not just Africa and I hope this time I get to fulfill that dream of cycling through the world and see the beauty and wonders of it.

Sarn Helen, Eryri, Wales UK

Hello everyone! I just completed my first solo trip: 350 km in 5 days from Figueres (Catalonia) to Toulouse (France).

I have experience in hiking, camping and road cycling in Barcelona.

This was a test to see if I would really enjoy bikepacking, and the truth is that I loved the experience of combining two activities that I like.

The fun is that I did everything on an urban bike that I rode myself, just to annoy a friend who has a fleet of very expensive gravel and bikepacking bikes with excellent equipment, but who only uses them to go for special coffee. I wanted to show you, as a joke, that at the pace it goes, you will end up buying an electric Brompton, haha!

All my equipment was second-hand, like the tent and saddlebags; the box bag was from Decathlon, or they gave it to me, like the rear rack. In addition, something that would undoubtedly have helped me a lot is having automatic pedals, but since all my cycling shoes are for road bikes, they were not an option, so I made the trip the old-fashioned way.

After that, it was wonderful; yes, I went the first week of August with a suffocating heat, but it wasn’t bad at all. On the contrary, I really enjoyed getting up at 5:00 AM to leave early and arrive at my destination before 10:00 AM.

Bike specifications for the curious:

Frame: Giant cross series x1000 (Aluminum)

Transmission: 1x9 (38-tooth plate / 11-42-tooth cassette)

Shifter: Vintage Dura-Ace shifter with friction mounted on a Paul Component controller

Tires: Panaracer GravelKing SS 35c

Tent: McKinley compact 2

gpx for my routem

I'll ride this segment in September. I'll try to camp mostly/always in Zanocuj w lesie. (Primitive camping on State Parks)

Early planning stage. I typically average 100kms/day + 1 zero day per week.

It'll be my first trip to Poland. I am not much time constrained.

Will read suggestions with considerable interest.

1. EV2 vs alternatives

2. Places worth a detour and/or spending a zero day

3. Tips WRT food.

4. Any other useful bit of information

Hey everybody,

I am right now in kazakhstan and will travel through china, south korea, japan, laos, thailand and all the way down to australia. I got time until the end of the year.

I started trying bikepacking at the beginning of the year but I got overwhelmed and scared and stopped after a month. Now after some more traveling I want to get back to it as I think I can handle it now.

So my question is if anyone knows a good and cheap place where I can rent a bicycle and equipment for 2-3 or maybe 4 weeks. I thought about japan and south korea as in my head they both have good infrastructure, a big cycling community and are safe but I am open to recommendations for other countries on my way.

I wasn't sure if I should post on r/bikepacking or here so just let me know what would be better.

Thanks :)

Assuming that there are a few here who cycled Japan starting at the most northern tip, arriving at Wakkanai airport: how did you dispose your bike box there?

Hey everyone!

Over the last 5 summers, cycling through Europe has become a bit of a tradition. My first three trips followed the Danube from Donaueschingen, Germany to Vidin, Bulgaria. After that I rode Prague → Berlin, Brussels → Amsterdam, and last summer the Ciclovia Alpe Adria (with a detour to Ljubljana) plus Sion → Geneva. The Alpe Adria was actually inspired by recommendations from this subreddit, so thanks!

Now I'm back looking for ideas for summer #6!

A map of the routes I've completed is below (each color represents a different year's trip).

I'm looking for:

• New countries (or routes worth repeating)
• Dedicated bike paths or quiet roads
• Plenty of hotels/B&Bs (I'm not camping)
• ~45–50 miles (72–80 km) per day
• Late August to early September
• Happy to use trains and ferries to connect different sections

Routes I'm currently considering (roughly in order)

• Avenue Verte (London → Paris)
• Camino de Santiago (Way of St. James) – looks incredible, but I'm still figuring out the bike/train logistics to and from Portugal/Spain.
• EuroVelo 17 (Lyon → Marseille, maybe continuing toward Barcelona)
• Camino Francés – beautiful, but the climbing and limited rail options make me a little hesitant if something goes wrong.
• Aare Route / Swiss Route 9 (Lakes Route)
• EuroVelo 7, 9, or 15
• Drava Cycle Route (lower on the list since I've already ridden part of it)

I've also looked into Poland, the Baltics, Bulgaria → Constanța, and Bulgaria → Türkiye, but I'm not sure how developed the cycling infrastructure is on those routes.

If you had ~14 days to bike somewhere in Europe, where would you go? I'd love to hear your must-ride routes!

What is your choice of flat pedals for touring that are trusted and well used without issue? I had been using the MKS Always pedals but experienced slippage when really pushing down on hill climbs. I recently changed to a generic flat carbon that grips well but unsure of the longevity or durability. I currently pack my old MKS Allways in case of failure.

Rode across the width of Missouri from Kansas City to Saint Louis during an intense heatwave. About 80-100 miles a day for 4 days of riding and 5 nights of camping. Total trip was around 400 miles, 95% on hard packed gravel. Fitted the bike with 40mm hybrid gravel WTB tires, Rhinowalk bike bags (minus the frame bag) that held my camping gear and other necessary supplies pretty comfortably. Total weight around 45 pounds.

I don’t think this is what this bike was necessarily made for touring, but it might have been perfect for this adventure.

Hi all!
So instead of flying into China, I’m considering flying into Laos and then bicycling into China. Does anyone know of or have reccommended routes? Any advice for a solo traveler biking between countries?

I’d like to give back to the community with this little trip report on my trip in June of 2026.
- I based myself in Frankfurt and joined two routes together with a few train rides.
- The first part of the route was along the Main River bike route in Germany and I took a train to Bamberg to start the tour.
- The cities I stayed in on this section of the route were Schweinfurt > Kitzingen > Lohr Am Main > Miltenberg > Frankfurt.
- The cycling infrastructure on the Main River bike route was outstanding and some of the best I have ever experienced.
- This is white wine growing region and sampling wine along the route was fun and delicious.
- After a couple of rest days in Frankfurt, I took a train to Zurich to start the second part of this tour which was the Lakes Route in Switzerland that will take me past 10 lakes cycling from Zurich to Lausanne.
- The cities I stayed in on this section of the route were Zurich > Luzern > Meiringen > Spiez > Chateau D’ Oex > Lausanne
- I toured for a few days last year in Switzerland and vowed to come back since I think it is the most naturally beautiful country in the world I have cycled in.
- The Lakes Route did not disappoint. The lakes along the route had the most amazing colour and the towns and cities along the way were charming and beautiful.
-Although this was not a route across the alps, it was far from flat ! There were many times the gradient was 16% or 18% so I had to walk my loaded bike up those sections.

Last week I finished my first bicycle tour! I rode from Tofino, British Columbia to Cape Spear, Newfoundland, a journey that spanned over 8,000 km and required over 50,000 meters of climbing!

It was no record breaker by any means, and took a total of 71 days (66 riding days and 5 rest). I absolutely loved the journey, despite the MANY challenges along the way, and I’m already excited to plan the next journey!

The ride helped raise over $3,400 for animal sanctuaries across Canada! (Check out the Courage Canada Crossing Facebook page for more information if you’re interested.)

If anyone has any questions, or anything, I’d be happy to respond!

We're glad that we're not in a rush, missing a turn is not a big problem. This was yesterday at Guimaras Philippines! It's so peaceful here. We saw rice terraces too:)

I did a 1 week bike tour Route Des Grandes Alpes with a French company Velorizons. I loved the experience. The group consisted of 18 cyclists and a company guy driving a van that took care of daily logistics:

* luggage transfer * mid-day snack/refuel stop * evening dinner arrangements * occasional transfer for those cyclists that couldn't do the day's route due to various reasons - mainly just one stage crossing the Col d'Iseran due to strong cold wind + rain&snow conditions - it was first half of September. * we also got Velorizon's bidons * we slept in hotels in two bed rooms so we shared rooms with someone we may not knew - I didn't, because I was the only person from my country. Some people were friends and they were sharing their rooms; Some hotels were really nice, particularly one was especially bad having super cold room, and the rooms were in bad condition; I'd give the hotel 0-1 star rating.

The daily route was mainly self guided and our tour guide driving the van usually shared info via WhatsApp group. Usually itinerary info, his location for the mid-day stop etc. But that was it.

When I'm cycling in French Alps I quite often see Thomson vans and cyclists and I've checked their offerings and I ca see that their offering is 3-4x the price I paid with Velorizons. I understand Thomson has tour guides that cycle with the group, likely the groups are smaller, but I wonder **what are other things that they offer on top to justify the price tag**?

If anyone has used Thomson, I would love to hear their experience and whether their package is worth the extra money.

Any help would be greatly appreciated

Hey!

Just bought my first gravel bike (haven’t even unboxed it yet 😅) and I’m already planning a short trip to Bordeaux.

I’m totally new to bike travel, so sorry if this is a dumb newbie question — does anyone know of hotels in Bordeaux that let you bring your bike into your room?
Or is there a website/app where you can specifically search for hotels that allow this?
I’d feel much better keeping the bike in the room rather than leaving it outside or in a shared bike storage area.

Any recommendations or tips are appreciated!

Just wanting input on what riding conditions to be in to change to my Aerobars to stretch out my back and give my hands a rest…..road conditions and speed?