Biking Travel
Mountain Bike and Cycling Holidays Worldwide
With a track record that stretches back more than 20 years, KE Adventure Travel has more accumulated experience of adventure cycling holidays than any other tour operator. By the early 90`s we had already set up a number of ultra-classic mountain biking holdays such as the Leh to Manali mountain bike traverse in India and the Lhasa to Kathmandu mountain bike ride in Tibet Subsequently, our collection of worldwide mountain bike adventures has continued to expand and diversify, with new cycling holidays being established in places as diverse as Guatemala and Bhutan In Europe, we now have a selection of week-long biking breaks, including the challenging Tour of Mont Blanc ride.
Our collection of road cycling holidays has also increased, both in Europe and further afield, with the addition of exciting bike rides in Thailand and Morocco .
All of our cycling holidays are created by bikers for bikers. We have bike holidays to satisfy most levels of cycling ability, with the emphasis on providing adventure trips for regular riders. When you turn up on one of our biking holidays, you know you’ll be with like-minded riders. It makes a big difference! Whatever your interests or aspirations, we’re sure to have a trip to suit – the hardest part will be choosing one! Please refer to our grading system, which identifies an individual biking trip’s level of difficulty and enables you to compare the difficulty of two or more cycling holidays of the same type.
Bike Fat Tyre
These are our most technically demanding mountain bike holidays, generally on singletrack, dirt roads and jeep tracks, with the vehicle support not always able to follow the riders. A hardtail mountain bike with suspension forks, or a full suspension cross-country bike is required. As the name suggests, knobbly off-road tyres are also needed. Most trips involve a journey such as Morocco’s Atlas Traverse Trip or the Pokhara to Kathmandu mountain bike ride in Nepal. However, some of these mountain bike holidays have more of a day-ride format from a single base or a number of bases, like Guatemala’s Ride on the Wild Side.
Bhutan Thunder Dragon Ride
The classic bike ride across Bhutan is one of the world’s most challenging cycle holidays. At the eastern end of the Himalaya, sandwiched between India and Tibet, the ‘Shangri La’ kingdom of Bhutan is renowned for its colourful Buddhist culture and for the beauty of its unspoiled mountain scenery. A single spectacular road runs west to east across the country, traversing a succession of steep-sided and heavily wooded ridges. Presenting long climbs on easy-angled switchbacks, as well as mind-blowing descents that seem to last for hours, this largely deserted single-track highway provides the basis for one of the worlds’ great bike journeys. Starting out from Paro and crossing several high passes, we accumulate a total of 15,500m/50,856ft of ascent and a staggering 18,200m/59,715ft of descent, en route to the eastern land border with India at Sandrup Jongkhar. Staying primarily in characterful lodges and with plenty of opportunity to meet the Bhutanese people, this is an unmissable adventure biking holiday. A sparsely populated country, Bhutan is often likened to Switzerland because of its small size, jealously guarded isolation and stunning mountain scenery. More than 90% of the population are hill farmers who live in small villages spread over rugged mountain country. Buddhist teachings and philosophy are influential throughout the kingdom, as they have been since the 7th century and a deep and traditional reverence for nature has led to Bhutan imposing some of the strictest standards of environmental preservation in the world. More than 65% of the land is still under forest cover and some of the rarest of Himalayan wildlife, such as the blue sheep, takin and golden langur, are quite common. It is often said that ‘‘even the most experienced cycle traveller will find Bhutan a revelation” and we cannot disagree. In this country known as Druk Yul, the ‘Land of the Thunder Dragon’, the fortunate visitor will find a rare combination of harmony and accord, amongst incredible natural beauty. The air is clean and unpolluted, the mountains are magnificent and the architecture is inspiring. Bhutan is the least visited of all the Himalayan countries, as a direct result of deliberate Bhutanese government policy. In an attempt to protect the delicate sensitivities of its environment, and the sacred values of its peoples, the Bhutanese Government actively restricts the number of tourists allowed into the country.
We run this holiday in conjunction with our friends at Hauser, the German adventure specialists. This enables us to gather together sufficient numbers of like-minded adventurers to get the trip up and running quickly. The cosmopolitan nature of the groups will be an important part of the experience! The holiday will be led by an English-speaking guide.
Cuba Buena Vista Biking
A wonderful cycling holiday around the tropical island paradise of Cuba. Biking is the perfect way to explore the island. Cycling on quiet backroads we explore a landscape of mountains,plains and coast. Our journey by bike through Cuba leads us through varied scenery with limestone outcrops, tobacco fields and the lush jungles around Vinales. Cycling to colonial Trinidad we are treated to pretty bays and sun-drenched beaches. Since the break up of the Soviet Union, in the early 1990′s, Cuba has started to become more open and accessible. Arriving in Havana, the faded, but still glorious colonial architecture of the seafront Malecon promenade, together with the city’s 40-year-old classic American cars, provides an unforgettable first impression of Cuba. Known for its cigars, music and dance and beautiful people, Cubastill sees relatively few tourists and all visitors are assured of a warm welcome. Especially those on a bike. We’ll visit the mausoleum of Che Guevara and Cienfuegos too before biking inland to discover the fascinating Mogotes and Vinales.If you are looking for a relaxed cycling holiday with time on the beach too, famously laid-back Cuba by bike is hard to beat.
Lake Titicaca to Machu Picchu Mountain Bike Tour
Starting out on the shores of sacred Lake Titicaca, this exceptional biking expedition traverses a rarely visited part of Peru, following little-used dirt roads across the high Andes and passing through stunning scenery en route to the Sacred Valley of the Incas. The holiday culminates in an early morning visit to Machu Picchu, before the crowds arrive, and also enjoys a day’s sightseeing in the cosmopolitan traveller’s city of Cusco. Before setting out on our bikes, we spend time acclimatising and exploring at Titicaca, with an exhilarating boat trip out to the floating reed islands, home of the Uros people. The route has been carefully researched to avoid busy main roads, choosing instead to ride dirt tracks leading to forgotten villages, charming colonial towns, picturesque lakes and high, windswept passes. Much of our ride is on the ‘altiplano’, a high plain where we encounter llamas, amazing rock formations and the very rare puya raimondii, with its 10 metre-high flower spike. On our journey, we’ll also have a 
chance to interact with the local people, for many of whom bikes are the preferred form of transport. There is some more technical off-road, such as the long descent from Chequereq across the Chinchero Plain and into the Sacred Valley, following ancient Inca trails and rated as the best one-day bike trip in Peru. Only biked by our groups for the first time in 2010, this ride is set to become an Andean mountain bike classic.
We run this holiday in conjunction with our friends at Hauser, the German adventure specialists. This enables us to gather together sufficient numbers of like-minded adventurers to get the trip up and running quickly. The cosmopolitan nature of the groups will be an important part of the experience! The holiday will be led by an English-speaking guide.
Jordan biking – Dead 2 Red
A thrilling journey, awash with geographical and cultural splendour, as we cross the amazing kingdom of Jordan. On this superb mountain bike ride we encounter many of the ‘must see’ locations of this engaging country and also experience its warm and traditional hospitality. From the spiritual site of Mount Nebo we’ll witness the stunning views across to the ‘Promised Land’, before a descent to the shores of the Dead Sea – an incredible 400 metres below sea level! This is the lowest point on earth and it’s a truly unique experience to climb back up to sea level and beyond. On a mix of tarmac and jeep trails we then traverse one of the longest canyons in Jordan, arriving at the high mountain plateau of Dana, where the magnificent panorama includes the Wadi Araba
desert, far below. Following a chain of impressive Crusader fortresses, we enjoy exhilarating biking as we descend through the Valley of Moses to Petra, where we have a welcome rest day at the ancient ‘rose-red city’. Moving on from Petra, we discover the majestic grandeur of the desert landscapes at Wadi Rum, once home to Lawrence of Arabia. After a night under the stars with our Bedouin hosts, it’s a short ride to the Red Sea, where we will be ready for a well-earned drink and swim to end this action-packed week of adventure biking.