Essential Thailand Bike Tour

Vibrant cities, ancient ruins, colossal karst pillars and tropical jungles home to elephants and hill tribes – north Thailand is a region of rich culture and natural wonder. This 12-day epic bike tour covers all the best bits, from the UNESCO World Heritage Sites of Ayutthaya and Sukhothai to the hilly borderlands of Tha Ton.

Discover the East on two wheels! Asia and the South Pacific are home to some truly incredible cycling routes, combining millennia-old cultural heritage with scenery of breathtaking majesty, from the mighty Himalaya to the volcanic isles of Polynesia! A cycling tour gives you the chance to explore these epic landscapes under your own steam; there are no trains to catch, no 4 am starts, no watching the sublime country pass you by from the back seat of a packed bus. Better still, a bike holiday allows you to interact with people and places in a much more intimate fashion than is possible on many tours, where you are forever surrounded by coachloads of other tourists in default travel mode: stop, snap, shop, split. On tours like these the main things are planned for you – hotels, routes, even the best time of year to travel – leaving you free to enjoy the awesome cycling!

This 12-day cycling tour gives you the chance to truly explore the beautiful lands of Thailand. From Bangkok you will take in Nakhon Sawan and the flat agricultural central plains of the north, dotted with villages and Buddhist temples. You will also discover the ancient, fabled Sukhothai. Further on and the flat plains start giving way to rolling hills and thick forests. You'll enjoy a free day in Chiang Mai, one of the original Thai Kingdoms, experience its vibrant night market and admire the handicrafts. The final leg of the trip winds its way through the dramatic karst outcroppings of the hill country north of Chiang Mai. Among the sights awaiting you are Thailand's ethnic tribes, still living their traditional ways. For a final memory of this experience of a lifetime you will ride alongside the Mae Kok River which flows out of China's highlands.

This bike tour is aimed at intermediate to advanced level riders, but is definitely suitable for energetic beginners who put in some pre-trip training. You’ll be covering a total of 703 km, averaging 87 km per day, so endurance is a must. There are climbs throughout.

The roads are well-paved and relatively quiet, meaning you don’t have to worry about negotiating frenzied traffic or deciphering alien road signs. If for any reason you are struggling with the riding, you can get a lift in the back-up van at the beginning or end of the day, so there’s no danger of you holding up the other riders. The daily itinerary is flexible and you can arrange a pace that suits the group.

Private tours can also be arranged for two to five people. Groups are normally made up of eight to twelve riders, but there may be more or less.