Like many things in life, experience counts when it comes to choosing which bicycle travel company you might want to work with for your European adventure. Does the company have a large or small staff? Is there a lot of variation in the type of trips offered and destinations visited? Does the cost for the trip seem fair for what you get? And, most importantly, will you get to do all the areas you want on a trip?
These are all rational and good questions to ask, thoughts you should keep in mind as you begin researching your trip. BikesPlus Travel has been in the active travel scene for a long time. It doesn’t offer tons of destinations or tour types, but with its large staff, chances are every detail of your trip will be covered, so all you have to do is show up and ride.
About BikesPlus Travel
Formerly called Cycle Europe, the company changed its name in March 2025 to BikesPlus Travel. But the family-run business has been in the active travel space since 1972. Originally founded by Rick Price and Paola Malpezzi Price, the company is now run by Monica and Maria Elena Malpezzi Price.
BikesPlus Travel’s mission is fairly straightforward, yet a bit open-ended: “To power dreams and meaningful connections through active and immersive travel.” That viewpoint has evolved over time, but the company has operated on three core values.
- Quality, integrity, and transparency
- Curiosity and connection
- Responsible and sustainable travel.
BikePlus Travel’s Tour Levels and Types
A bicycle travel company, outside of nice accommodations and other amenities, should primarily be about the actual cycling a guest gets to do. BikesPlus Travel breaks their tours down to three levels. If you like longer rides (40 miles or more), then you should choose a level three ride, which also features a good amount of climbing with up to 3,ooo feet of elevation gain.
In terms of the type of tours, the company again has three from which you can choose: self-guided, guided, and private/ custom tours. The private or custom tours can be self-guided, guided, or whatever you prefer to meet you’re cycling dream expectations.
BikePlus Travels European Destinations
BikesPlus Travel appears to have a large staff, which is a true anomaly when it comes to most bicycle travel companies. Other companies have a three or four office workers, then either run the tours themselves or hire locals on a contract basis. BikesPlus Travel has just enough personnel to cover all its trips, so the company offers only 8 destinations.
Italy (where the company is based, specifically the Tuscany region) and France are the countries where it hosts the most trips. BikesPlus Travels also covers Croatia, Switzerland, Portugal, Spain, Germany, and the U.K. For those places, the company has one trip each.
Trip Price (Sample Trip) and Inclusions
Switzerland is one of those countries with austere beauty and plenty of good roads to ride that also holds a UCI sanctioned event every year with the Tour of Switzerland. BikesPlus Travel has a 7 day self-guided trip called Cycling the Swiss Lakes Route that covers 154 miles for 1578 Euros ($1,780). This ride is considered a level three tour where each day cyclists ride from 21 to 48 miles.
Here’s what’s included for this trip.
- 6 nights in 3-, 4- and 5-star hotels or accommodation of similar quality
- All breakfasts
- Access to smartphone app with tracks and digital roadbook
- Travel documents (1 x per room)
- Luggage transfers (Allowed only one 20kg piece of luggage per person)
- Boat ride Spiez – Interlaken
- Switzerland Mobility Plus subscription for one year
- PLEASE NOTE: bike fitting and welcome meeting are not included at the start of this tour. Guests will find their rental bikes at the starting hotel, and will receive detailed tour information prior to arrival.
- PLEASE NOTE: the navigation routes included in this tour lead to the center of town, usually 200-300 ms. from the included accommodation. You can navigate to your accommodation as indicated by a waypoint on the route map (using Google Maps or similar).
- Optional funicular ride Vevey – Le Mont Pèlerin (bike ticket needed – day 1)
- Optional train ride Meiringen – Brünigpass (bike ticket requested – day 5)
Last Thoughts
If you have never done an international bicycle trip, then BikesPlus Travel is a good place to book your time. Their trips are cycling intensive, so if a steady diet of riding each day answers your need, then the company covers that.
BikesPlus Travels offerings, in terms of price and inclusions, is comparative to other companies, but if you want to travel with a company where your every possible need might be met, you can’t go wrong with them.
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