In the Norfolk town of Deepdale, visitors can rent bikes for exploring the countryside. Deepdale Bike Hire (Deepdale Farm Cottages, Burnham Deepdale, Norfolk PE31 8DD, United Kingdom; phone 07747 618424) is open 10 a.m.-5 p.m. daily. Bike rental costs £16 for seven hours or £10 (near $16) for three hours. Includes helmet, pump, lock, repair kit and self-guided routes.
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I do not recommend the “Italy-Austria: Cultures and Landscapes” biking tour to anyone who is a strong biker or who wants to experience some adventure. The 14-day tour, offered by Elderhostel (11 Ave. de Lafayette, Boston, MA 02111; phone 877/426-8056, e-mail registration@elderhostel.org), placed great emphasis on biking safety. However, in my opinion, this emphasis was quite extreme and created a very rigid, boring biking experience.
Go Pedal is a service supplying bikes to guests of any hotel in London. The simple hybrid bikes come with locks, helmets, maps and touring advice. Rental costs about £20 (near $39) per day (more for just one bike), including delivery and collection. Call 07850 796320, www.gopedal.co.uk.
During summertime (from mid-May to September), Helsinki offers Citybikes. Find one of the 26 Citybike stands in the city center, pay a deposit of €2 ($2.65) and tour as you please on one of the bright green bikes. After you have finished, return the bike to any Citybike stand and your €2 deposit is returned. There are well-marked bike paths throughout Helsinki and in scenic districts such as Töölö Bay. Visit www.hel.fi/hkl.
Some travelers are surprised when I tell them to consider biking in Europe. I explain that it’s not only a cheap way to travel but it gets you close to the ground and close to the people. Whether you rent a bicycle for a day in a bike-friendly city like Copenhagen or decide to pedal across France for a month, you’ll experience a more local side of Europe that many travelers rarely see.
Eight days/seven nights. “Moderate” level (7½-10 miles’ walking on each of two days plus one day of cycling 12 miles). Highlights: Walk from Glenbeigh to Kerry Bog Village Museum/coastal Kerry Way/cycle in Killarney National Park/15th-century Muckross Abbey/boat trip on the three Lakes of Killarney/Ross Castle. Land, $1,250. Single supp., $275. Active Journeys (4891 Dundas St. West #4, Toronto, ON, Canada; 800/597-5594, http://activejourneys.com).
I had heard about the beauty of the Rhodopen Mountain region in the south of Bulgaria and took a cycling tour, Aug. 14-21, 2010, with Penguin Travel (9 Orlej Str., 1421 Sofia, Bulgaria; phone +359 2 400 10 50), which I found online.
The price, €710 (near $977), included ground transfers from/to the Sofia airport, hotels, breakfasts, dinners, my single supplement and bicycle rental.
The website www.cyclecopenhagen.dk allows travelers to plan bike routes through Copenhagen and nearby Frederiksberg, Denmark. Users can select multiple stops, then choose the shortest route or the route with the most bike lanes or the route with the most green spaces visible. Also at no cost, maps may be printed out with turn-by-turn directions.
Those exploring Britain by bicycle can use a collection of pocket-sized map cards called “Cyclist’s Britain in a Box” (2011, Interlink Publ,. ISBN 1566568579 — 50 cards, $19.95).
Each card has a cycling route fully illustrated, with directions, plus info on transportation and points of interest. Routes vary in difficulty, and many begin near transportation hubs in towns.