There’s a lot to think about when organising bike holidays. We often do 5-10 cycle trips each year, so we know what it’s like!
Below you’ll find our favourite cycling resources, the ones we use when planning a bike holiday.
This article includes details of products and/or services that we have used ourselves or which we would consider using. Some are paid features or include affiliate links where if you click on a link and make a booking or buy something, we may earn a commission. As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases. Please read our disclosure policy for further information.
Best of the best cycling resources
Resources to help decide where to go
Books
The following road cycling books have inspired a lot of our trips:
- Mountain High by Daniel Friebe: inspiring photos and insightful text makes you want to pack your bike and get on a plane. The book covers 50 of Europe’s most famous climbs and gives you a sense of the awe-inspiring scenery. We also love the anecdotes and cycling history. Route profiles give a flavour of what each mountain is like to ride, though the book is better for motivation than practical planning. You can read our full review of Mountain High by Daniel Friebe, here.
- 50 places to bike before you die by Chris Santella: good for ideas for awesome places to ride. Each destination is recommended by a different person and tells the story of their love for the destination. You come away with an overall sense of each place and some tips on route highlights. Each destination has a brief “If you go” section, but there are no maps or route profiles.
- Epic bike rides of the world by Lonely Planet: truly worldwide and with great photos, this book is excellent for making you want to get out there and have an adventure. Each ride has a “toolkit” of practical detail, but it’s not extensive. Also, quite a lot of the routes are off-road, and you won’t find route profiles or gradient information.
The common theme is that books are better for inspiration than practical detail.
And that’s fine: you’ve got Epic Road Rides for the detail!
You can also check out this list of our favourite cycling books.
www.epicroadrides.com (this site!)
Of course! We’ve got everything you need to decide where to go and then plan your trip:
- Destination guides: packed full of the information you need to plan a trip including our tips on the best places to stay for cyclists, what the bike hire options are like and what’s the best time to visit. Each of our destination guides also has details of our favourite rides and comes with a detailed account of the ride and what to expect. There are also route profiles, maps and GPX downloads.
- Inspiration articles: we’ve got loads of inspiration articles which shares our picks of everything from the best climbs to the best cycling destinations in Europe and the best cycling holidays. We also have dedicated sections on multi-day routes, events and organised trips.
- How to plan: tips on all the practicalities of planning a trip, like how to plan for different kinds of trip, how to cycle if you’ve got a family and what to look for in cycling accommodation. Plus our favourite cycling resources, information insurance and what to watch on TV!
- What to pack: take the stress out of packing by using one of our packing lists. Or get info on taking your bike on a plane and bike hire. We also tell you about our favourite cycle gear – what we love and things to be aware of if you’re going to buy it.
Resources to help you book holidays
Skyscanner
We adore this website. It’s our go-to site for finding the cheapest flights. But it’s also great for finding cheap car hire. Key reasons to use it:
We love the filters. You can easily choose direct flights only, time of day you want to travel, airlines you want to look at/not look at.
It seems to work. We like to book our flights direct with the airline, but we often find the flights are cheaper if we find them through Skyscanner.
It’s got a great app.
Booking.com
Booking.com is excellent for tracking down the best places to stay and has a ton of features that make it easy to love:
Great sorting and filtering options: all the usual options of being able to sort by facilities, location, price etc but you can also sort the reviews based on different kinds of guests.
Lots of reviews: not as many as Trip Advisor perhaps but still enough to make you feel you’re getting a good representative view.
Free cancellation policy on many properties.
“Secret” deals like half-off hotels for short windows of time.
Homeaway and Airbnb
These are our go-to resources if we’re after a holiday villa. We’ve used both sites for years and wouldn’t be without them.
Airbnb’s website has a funky, trendy feel and its focus on photos makes it fun to use. They text you when you have messages from property owners, which we find helpful. We have noticed a significant tightening up on their security procedures, with measures like guests having to provide passport identity verification.
HomeAway: You might assume there is a big overlap between properties on Airbnb and properties on more established sites like HomeAway, but we’ve often found very different properties on each site. If you’re looking in America, Airbnb has a lot of options, but otherwise, HomeAway may be your best bet. Their site now looks very similar to Airbnb, with a strong focus on photos and the useful ability to browse the map for properties. We also like the fact you can filter by the maximum number of bedrooms on HomeAway, which you can’t on Airbnb.
Resources to help you buy kit for the trip
We couldn’t live without Amazon and Wiggle! For a busy household with young children, they are our go-to.
What the two companies have in common is that they are super competitive on price, have excellent customer service, an easy returns policy and prompt delivery:
Amazon
We have the paid for Amazon Prime service which gives unlimited free one day delivery on a huge range of items as well as a lot of other useful extras such as unlimited photo storage and exclusive access to movies and TV shows.
Wiggle
Wiggle is almost like the Amazon of the cycling world. It’s huge, stocks everything and is very easy to deal with. Plus you get a free mini bag of Haribo with every order…!
And now you’ve got everything you need to plan a great trip, here are some biking quotes to motivate you!
Over to you!
Which are your favourite cycling resources? Comment below or send us a message!
If you’re planning a road cycling trip, don’t forget your cycle travel insurance – our guide to what to look out for may be useful.
Finally, don’t miss our guides to the best cycling destinations and cycling routes. You’ll also find an easy to use destination search to help inspire you!
Please support Epic Road Rides
A huge amount of time and effort goes into the article you’ve just read, all with the aim of helping you!
If you found what you’ve read useful, I’d really appreciate it if you dropped something in the tip jar here.
It’s a way you can say thank you and help us carry on creating top quality content with no annoying ads and no pay wall.
Got a question for Clare?
Fill out this form and we will send it to Clare. We aim to get you an answer within 24 hours wherever possible!
Clare Dewey is a cyclist with a passion for travel. She set up epicroadrides.com in 2018 to help make it easy for cyclists to explore the world by bike. Today her mission is still inspiring cyclists to discover new places on two wheels – and doing what she can to make sure they have the best possible time while they’re there. Clare has visited 50+ destinations around the world, many of them by bike.
The contents of this website are provided for general information purposes only. It is not intended to amount to advice and you should not rely on it. You should carry out your own due diligence and risk assessments and take professional advice. Views expressed by interviewees or other users of this website do not necessarily represent our views. We make no representations, warranties or guarantees, whether express or implied, that the content on our website is accurate, complete or up to date. If you use any information or content on this website, download from, or otherwise obtain content or services through our website, it is entirely at your own discretion and risk. Epic Road Rides Ltd disclaims all liability and responsibility arising from any reliance placed on the information and content on this website. Find out more here.