Vacation by Bicycle: Multiday Cycling Offers a Novel Way to Experience Places

From overnight to cross-country trips, shift your senses to high gear to explore by bike in ways you can’t by car

Dan Gjelten and Lisa Burke pictured in Washington, D.C., on 2021.

Dan Gjelten and Lisa Burke rode 1,400 miles from St. Paul, Minnesota, to Washington, D.C., in 2021.

Courtesy Dan Gjelten

Sheryl Jean,

AARP

En español

Published October 16, 2023

The name of the bike tour, “Beaches and Breezes,” attracted Marian Holmes, but she was nervous to go solo without her electric bicycle.

But “it was easy enough for me,” the 74-year-old Washington, D.C., resident says of her 80-mile Rhode Island bike tour for 50-plus adults in July. “Almost every day we were by the water or in some really scenic place. There’s time to learn history, have a decent lunch and soak up whatever culture is nearby.”

More older adults are participating in adventure travel like multiday cycling to experience places in a novel way. The average age of Adventure Cycling Association members is 63, says spokeswoman Lauren Hudgins, as retirees have time for a long-distance bike trip that may be on their bucket list.

Retirees “want to see the world, and be fit and healthy doing it,” says Ned Raynolds, owner of Senior Cycling in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Cyclists up to age 84 ride 110 to 180 miles over five or six days in places such as Cape Cod, Massachusetts, and Quebec, Canada, he says.

See the beauty across the country through dozens of established bicycle trails that vary from about 25 miles to nearly 4,600 miles. Many allow pedal-assist electric bicycles. You can camp along the way or ride from lodging to lodging.

The allure of a multiday bike trip “is seeing the landscape up close,” says Dan Gjelten, 72, who estimates he and his wife, Lisa Burke, 60, have cycled about 13,000 miles in the past six years from their home in St. Paul, Minnesota, to places such as New Orleans and Washington, D.C. “It’s a very sensual experience. You start hearing different accents and seeing different foods.”

You can plot your route and accommodations, if you have the time and inclination, but you also can pay for bike tours. Tours can be fully supported (you have a guide, carry no gear and sleep in a bed), or provide shuttle services (someone takes you back to your car at the end) or hybrid services. U.S. bicycle tour prices range from about $1,000 to more than $5,000.

Most cyclists average about 10 mph, Hudgins says, but it depends on how many stops you make along the way and if you carry your own gear.

Consult your doctor before beginning any strenuous activity. In addition, before hitting the road, make sure you’re comfortable on a bike, know some basic mechanics, such as how to change a flat tire, and bring plenty of food and water.

Check out these six bike tours of varying distances and locations. They all offer nearby lodgings, including camping, B&Bs and motels.

Two overnight trails

Experts advise starting small and working your way to longer rides as you gain confidence and stamina. Bike to a destination 20 to 40 miles away, stay in a hotel or camp overnight and bike back the next day.

a woman riding bike along the Cape Cod shore

The Cape Cod Trail passes through Provincetown, Massachusetts.

Michael Matthews / Alamy Stock Photo

Trail: Cape Cod Rail Trail

Where: Brewster to Provincetown, Massachusetts

Distance: 25 miles

Why not start at the beach (even in winter)? Most of this flat multiuse path is a paved trail, except the last 3 miles into Provincetown are on road. You’ll pass by many beaches and lighthouses in six towns, as well as state and national parks, including the vast Cape Cod National Seashore. There are plenty of scenic viewpoints, restrooms, eateries and lodging along the way.

a man bikes along the American River Parkway trail

The American River Parkway trail in Sacramento, California, traverses 32 miles.

Chris Allan / Alamy Stock Photo

Trail: American River Parkway — Jedediah Smith Memorial Trail

Where: Sacramento to Folsom, California

Distance: 32 miles

This paved, mostly flat trail follows the American River in Northern California. You’ll see Sutter’s Landing Park (where Sacramento’s founder, John Sutter, arrived), a small replica of San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge, and Folsom Lake. This is a year-round trail.

Two mid-length trails

a male cyclist at a repair station along the Trail of the Coeur d'Alenes

A bike repair station can be found along the Trail of the Coeur d’Alenes at the trailhead in Plummer, Idaho.

Danita Delimont / Alamy Stock Photo

Trail: Trail of the Coeur d’Alenes

Where: Mullan to Plummer, Idaho

Distance: 73 miles

This spectacular, gently graded, paved rail trail is mostly downhill if you bike from Mullan to Plummer. It winds through a historic valley where silver was mined, passing small mining towns and 15 small lakes, following the Coeur d’Alene River and Coeur d’Alene Lake before crossing the 3,100-foot Chatcolet Bridge. Twenty waysides with picnic tables offer respite.

a cyclists bikes alongside a person on a horse on the The Great Allegheny Passage

The Great Allegheny Passage links to the C&O Canal Towpath, seen here, for a 335-mile route from Pittsburgh to Washington, D.C.

Courtesy Dan Gjelten

Trail: Great Allegheny Passage

Where: Pittsburgh to Cumberland, Maryland

Distance: 150 miles

Known as the GAP, this rail trail goes through coal-mining country. You’ll cycle through tunnels, gorges, by aqueducts and waterfalls, and over the Eastern Continental Divide. The trail, which is mostly crushed limestone with some short, paved sections, is open year-round. At the end, you must arrange to return to your car via Amtrak, a private shuttle service, outfitter or friend. The GAP links to the C&O Canal Towpath for a 335-mile route to Washington, D.C.

“There’s this wonderful museum in Connellsville, Pennsylvania, [Connellsville Canteen Museum] — a World War II history museum with a café and restaurant,” Raynolds says. “We take our group there for lunch because that’s our demographic.”

Two longer trails

an Empire State Trail kiosk and signage in lower Manhattan

The Hudson River Valley Greenway Trail, which is part of the larger Empire State Trail, begins or ends in Manhattan.

Patti McConville/ Alamy Stock Photo

Trail: Hudson River Valley Greenway Trail

Where: New York City to Whitehall, New York

Distance: 275 miles

You can leave Manhattan on a bicycle and ride north into the bucolic Hudson River Valley for art, culture, history and quaint small towns such as Tivoli and Germantown. A little farther north, shift from two wheels to two legs to cross the Hudson River Skywalk connecting the homes of two Hudson River School artists, Frederic Church and Thomas Cole. Or, go back 300 years at Historic Huguenot Street, a French settlement in New Paltz with seven stone-house museums and the community’s cemetery. The Hudson River Valley trail is mostly gravel or paved, with some roadways, and is part of the 750-mile multiuse Empire State Trail.

a male cyclist along the The Natchez Trace Parkway

The Natchez Trace Parkway travels through three states: Mississippi, Alabama and Tennessee.

Courtesy Lisa Burke

Trail: Natchez Trace Parkway

Where: Nashville, Tennessee, to Natchez, Mississippi

Distance: 444 miles

This scenic paved trail snakes along a historic forest path used by Native Americans, European settlers, soldiers and others in three states. Learn about the Trail of Tears (when thousands of Cherokee people were displaced and relocated) at several locations along the Trace where their migration paths crossed. You’ll also see antebellum and Victorian-era homes, Civil War cemeteries and cities such as Jackson, Mississippi. Cars are allowed on the parkway, but traffic usually is light, except during rush hour and near cities, with the speed limit at 50 mph. The whole trail is a national park. The Trace also provides five bicycle-only campgrounds along the route.

“That’s the No. 1 bucket-list ride, says Gjelten, who biked the Trace in 2018. “It’s absolutely beautiful.”

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Sheryl Jean is a contributing writer who covers aging, business, technology, travel, health and human-interest stories. A former reporter for several daily metropolitan newspapers, her work has appeared in the Chicago Tribune and The Dallas Morning News and on the American Heart Association’s website.