This is a time of year to shake things up a bit, and we don’t mean in a new year’s resolution way. We mean in a new year adventurous ablutions way. We highly recommend washing winter blues away, cleansing that metaphorical cabin you’ve been living in and finding a winter pick-me-up with a cycling holiday. In short, don’t let the freezing seasons frazzle you. Let them refresh you instead and choose one of our best cycling holidays in January and February.
Best winter cycling destinations in Italy
Cycling in Puglia
This eight day cycling holiday between Alberobello and Lecce in Puglia pulls off a perfect duet of both cultural and natural heritage. You get some immediate cultural highs from the get-go on this holiday, which is only available from late February, exploring the UNESCO town of Alberobello, with its ancient rock churches and trulli stone houses.
You then explore some superb traditional towns and villages, as well as wine-producing regions like Manduria, which is the capital of Primitivo grapes. You will certainly blow away the Christmas cobwebs in Gallipoli as well as on the Cape of Otranto, Italy’s easternmost point, where the currents of the Adriatic and Ionian seas come together. There is an option to rent e-bikes on this tour, which is also accessible by rail.
Winter cycling tours in Liguria
Who wouldn’t love a little Liguria in the heart of winter? Especially on a centre-based cycling holiday staying in a traditional seaside resort of San Bartolomeo al Mare. It will be quiet, that’s for sure and, as it’s only a five day break, with three full days of cycling, this really is a speedy injection of Italian vai vai vai vibes. Feel the coastal breeze on cycles to San Remo and Cervo, or early spring in the air in Liguria’s inland valleys and villages, many with ancient olive groves. This is slow travel in a season where it’s great to regroup a little, so why not reconnect with old friends and have some cycling time together?
Biking tours on the Costa Blanca, Spain
We have a shiny new collection of Costa Blanca cycling holidays to help you celebrate a new year from the saddle. You have a choice of following coastal and inland trails, with the latter exploring Marina Alta Valley, also known as Vall de Pop or Jalón Valley. And for those who love to cling to capes, coves and cliffs, Parque Natural del Montgó is a winter tonic of a trail. So, with mild daytime temperatures averaging 16C (albeit with nights dipping to 6C), go biking Blanca style and give your winter a boost.
Winter sun cycling holidays on the Rota Vicentina, Portugal
Although most of the Fishermen’s Trail is for walkers only, we do have two cycling holidays that follow different routes from this wonderful wild web of the Rota Vicentina. Career down the coast for nine days on this trip between Santiago do Cacém and Lagos, north to south, with plenty of time built in to park up and head down to the sea. This tour is available from February, but we have a seven day version of the same, starting halfway down the route covering the Algarve only, available January and February.
These are both gentle itineraries, which we categorise as easy to moderate. So you don’t have to hurry a picnic at Zambujeira do Mar beach or on the cliffs overlooking the fine Cabo Sardão or Cabo de São Vicente lighthouses. They are definitely cycling holidays to just go tranquilo, especially with average temperatures of 16C. And you can keep things even more relaxed if you opt to rent an e-bike.
Mountain biking holidays in Morocco
If you want to work off all that Christmas chocolate, crisps and couch time, but it just feels too dreary to get back on your bike, the Atlas Mountains will give you the push you need. This mountain biking holiday takes you up winding steep slopes, past ochre Berber villages that merge with the rock faces of the same hue, following in the tracks of shepherds or goat herders and their trusty pack mules.
Cycling highs along the way include a ride up to Kik, a plateau in the High Atlas foothills of Mount Toubkal, North Africa’s highest mountain. Or a challenging ascent to Tadmant Pass (1,800m), with views across the vast Haouz Plain or Ourika Valley.
Pootle around Provence on a winter sun cycling treat
Take five days off in January or February on a cycling holiday in Provence that is sure to boost your serotonin. Cycling between Avignon and Arles, this holiday is also accessible by train from the UK, so you can get the year off to a green start by counting carbon savings.
Staying in small local guesthouses, with your luggage transferred for you, daily cycle routes of around 50km take you through glorious spots such as The Camargue, the Montagnette Hills and the quiet trails of the Alpilles. Staying in wellness and spa hotels along the way. Escape the freeze in France? Hell yeah.
Winter cycling tours in New Zealand
Of course it isn’t winter in New Zealand, but if you’re a Northern Hemisphere person in need of revitalising, say kia ora to some great Kiwi cycling trails. They are both epic and epicurean in their itineraries. Such as cycling the South Island’s Great Taste Trail, with a fantastic menu not only of food and wine along the way, but also landscapes like Abel Tasman National Park. Another epicurean experience is on an e-bike around the Hawke’s Bay Wine Region, one of New Zealand’s most celebrated wine regions on the east coast of the North Island. Cycling the Otago Central Rail Trail is our other golden option for this time of year, on a five day adventure through the former gold rush region, following its former railway route, with colossal backdrops of Rock and Pillar Range and Ida Valley.
Winter cycling trips in Cambodia
Although our Cambodia cycling holiday runs all year round, celebrating a new year in Cambodia is a seasonal sensation. Especially as this adventure has not only four days of cycling but also some kayaking and hiking thrown into its magical mix. Such as cycling through Angkor Wat, and along a coastal trail to Kep and around Sambor Prei Kuk, a UNESCO World Heritage Site dating back to the 7th century.
Swap pedals for paddles on a kayaking trip to Tonle Sap Lake and then it’s boots on for a hike in Kep National Park. All with a private guide, who knows a few extra tips and spots along the way. January and February offer some of the best times to go to Cambodia, as there is hardly any rain, and well known for having blue skies at this time of year, with slightly cooler temperatures of between 21-32C, and low humidity.
We hope this has given you a few ideas for getting back on a bike at the start of the year. We have plenty more cycling holidays here. And please do not hesitate to contact us for more information.
Cycling in Liguria (Centre-based)
Cycling the Costa Blanca (Centre-based)
Cycling the Costa Blanca: Inland and Coast
Cycling the Costa Blanca in Comfort (Centre-based)
Cycling in the Atlas Mountains
Cycling the Great Taste Trail
Cycling in Hawke’s Bay Wine Region by E-bike
Cycling the Otago Central Rail Trail
Cycling in Puglia Highlights
Cycling the Rota Vicentina
Cycling in South Portugal: Alentejo and Algarve
