Maturin

My fourteen year old has expressed interest on doing a bike tour for his big sixteenth birthday trip -- probably two weeks. At the info-gathering stage and am hoping for advice on best resources sites. From early looks, we don't have the coin for the four-star guided trips, and that's not really our style anyway.

Still debating possible routes, but most likely either something through France and Germany or my preference of something through Germany and Denmark (family there).

Any advice, experience, resources, etc., greatly appreciated. Both of us in decent shape, figure fifty to sixty miles a day would give time to enjoy the ride and look around when interested. Can do camping as well as hostel, so further advice on bikepacking gear--bring our own or rent with bikes?

Thanks.

DangerousDanR

Mrs. Dan and I did a loop starting in Dijon. Dijon to Besançon; Besançon back to Chalon Sur Saron... On from there to Cluny (note well: do not skip Cluny! If you are there you MUST visit the university) Then over to Couches. Then back to Dijon. An absolute blast.

Planned the whole thing using Google maps street view. Mostly stuck to the Eurovello 6 when possible going to Besançon. France has a lot of good bicycle routes on old canal tow paths. Take them when you can. Found our accommodations on line, since we are far too old to be sleeping on the ground.

We have a RItchey Breakaway tandem which we used for this tour. You don't say where you are coming from, but you may find that bringing your own bike is cheaper than renting one. Price it out, but I find bicycle rental prices tend to be absurd.

Yan 

I use​​​ these three tools for route planning, comparing the suggestions of all three to choose the best.

https://brouter.de/brouter-web/
www.cycle.travel
Mapy.cz app

I always bring my own bike. Bikes fly for free on most airlines, so it's cheaper than renting.

Paul Waque 

My partner and I did a short tour in the Loire starting in Blois and ending in Tours. We traveled at the end of April, the crowds were fine and we booked Airbnb as we went. We rented sturdy hybrid style bikes near the train station. We did not reserve, but it would have been wise to. The bikes had racks, but did not fit the paniers that I brought. There is a network of routes along secondary roads to tractor roads to bike paths connecting many towns and Chateaus along the river. Our short trip ended in Tours and we took a commuter train with our bikes back to Blois. I think some rental places allow for a different drop-off location.

indyfabz

In the touring world, “self-guided” typically means something between guided and unsupported/self contained.

For the latter, a company provides the route and arranges for luggage transport and accommodations. You might want to look into such trips. They are usually much less expensive than guided trips.

https://www.biketours.com/find-my-to...ed-bike-tours/

Herzlos

I'd have a look at see if there are any used bike charity places near your start and end point - most biggish cities should have them, then see if you can buy a couple of bikes at the start and donate them at the end. The price may be lower than renting and there's no risk of having to pay for damages, although you'd be riding refurbed used bikes instead of newish rental fleets.

msu2001la

If I were you, I'd definitely be looking into flying your own bikes. Backpacking is going to require some specific equipment to carry your gear - finding rental bikes that work for this seems like it would be tricky.

I don't have a lot of experience flying with bikes, but many of my biking friends fly with their bikes and they make it seem like it's no big deal.

That said, the few times I've rented bikes from shops (in Colorado and Utah) it worked out very well and the bikes were very high end. Cost was high though.