Great Bike Tours

Welcome to the wonderful world of Great Bike Tours

Welcome to the wonderful world of Great Bike Tours. Our family-run company offers a wide range of active vacations to suit every taste and ability. Our season starts in January with our easy warm-winter bike tours in the Florida Keys & Everglades, followed in February and March by our once-in-a-lifetime 13-day New Zealand active vacation. In April we run our Georgia coast bike tours in the magical Golden Isles south of Savannah. In late April and May we feature our new “bike & boat tours” — South Carolina Bike & Boat and Rhode Island Bike & Boat.

August is the perfect month to join our multisport vacation in New York’s Adirondack Park, and then in mid September we head back to the coast for our Nantucket & Martha’s Vineyard bike tour. Check out our BRAND NEW TRIP in late September — New Hampshire: Mountains to the Sea! In October we offer our famous Vermont fall foliage bike tours, followed by an easy Virginia bike tour in the Colonial Williamsburg area. Please join us in 2020 for one of these exciting active vacations. Book now!

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CAPTAIN’S LOG 2020

 

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL OUR CYCLING FRIENDS AROUND THE GLOBE.

 

NEW TRIP FOR 2020!
New Hampshire: Mountains to the Sea. Sept. 27-Oct. 2. Learn More!
NEW VACATION FOR 2020!
Vermont Farm to Fork Bicycle Vacation. July 18-24. Book Now!
EARN $100 for each person that you refer to us (that ends up traveling). Learn more!
LISTEN TO THE PODCAST featuring our Martha’s Vineyard Bike Tour. Listen now!

BIKE TOURS 2020

Florida biking vacations

The Florida Keys

The Everglades, Florida Keys, and Key West
Georgia Bike Tours

Georgia's Golden Isles

St. Simons Island, Jekyll Island, and Savannah

South Carolina Bike & Boat

Hilton Head to Charleston

Nantucket and Martha's Vineyard

The Jewels of Cape Cod

New York's Adirondacks

Bike, Hike, and Paddle

New Zealand Bike Tours

13 Days Down Under

Vermont Fall Foliage

The Heart of New England

Virginia's Colonial Williamsburg

Jamestown, Yorktown, and Colonial Williamsburg
Rhode Island Bike Tour

Rhode Island Bike & Boat

Providence, Newport, and Block Island

New Hampshire

Mountains to the Sea

Your Bike Tour Guides

The tour guides are the heart of the business, we all know that. They can help make or break your bicycle vacation. We want them to be enthusiastic, fun, supportive, patient, informative, and encouraging. We depend upon them to haul our luggage, fix our bikes, feed us, and generally take excellent care of us. So why entrust your bicycle vacation to just any average-joe guide? It’s time to travel with the best Great Bike Tours! Our veteran guides have been leading bicycle vacations since 1996, and have accompanied over 5,000 people on their trip-of-a-lifetime. So what are you waiting for… come travel with us!

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Simon Burrows

Born in South Africa and raised in England, Simon has worn many hats in his lifetime… nuclear physicist, published author, Innkeeper… he’s done it all. Simon is a 24-year veteran of the bicycle tour business, and has led bike tours in New Zealand, Canada, and in every corner of the U.S. In 2004 he founded his first bike tour company, followed in 2012 by his second company – Great Bike Tours – of which he is the co-owner.
Jessie-Lacroix

Jessica Lacroix

Keeping everyone in line is Jessica, our Operations Manager. She is constantly designing fantastic new tours for us, and has personally led all of our trips in the U.S., Canada, and New Zealand. She is the co-owner of Great Bike Tours.
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Chris Morrissey

Over the last 19 years over 1,700 people have been lucky to have Chris as their bike tour guide. As a certified bike technician from the United Bicycle Institute in Oregon, we are also very lucky to have Chris managing our fleet of bikes.

When he’s not working for GBT, Chris is busy building out his own company, Cool Motion Outdoor Sports (CMOS), which he owns with fellow tour guide (and wife) Samantha. They have visions of CMOS becoming a fully-fledged outdoor adventure center serving the local communities in Vermont’s Green Mountains.

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Elliot Lacroix

A devotee of the National Outdoor Leadership School, Elliot’s degree in Leadership Training and Wilderness Therapy are serving him well at GBT. He is a certified bicycle technician (United Bicycle Institute in Oregon). Although a Vermont native, Elliot resides in Colorado and loves rock climbing, sustainable living, and cooking.
Paula-Sheridan

Paula Sheridan

Born in Canada, Paula has been guiding bike tours and dreaming up new bike vacations for the last 22 years. She has designed a number of custom bike tours in Canada for Great Bike Tours, including “Vancouver and the Gulf Islands” and the “Okanagan Wine Country.” Along with her tour-guide-husband Swade, Paula formed KVR Outfitters to provide rental bikes and bike tour services for guests on the local Kettle Valley Rail Trail in British Columbia.

For the other half of the year Paula & Swade live in New Zealand, where they started Okarito Boat Tours. One of the highlights of our New Zealand bike trip is their guided eco-boat tour of the Okarito Lagoon.

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Samantha Morrissey

Samantha loves to meet new people and experience new places and adventures. This is why you’ll find her guiding trips with us.

Most days you can find Samantha working for the Rainforest Alliance to create a world where people and nature thrive in harmony. As the organization’s Forest Sector Lead, Samantha overseas Rainforest Alliance’s strategy on forests and works with international corporations to create responsible supply chains and implement sustainability programs and projects.

Samantha also co-owns Cool Motion Outdoor Sports in Bristol, VT with her husband and fellow tour guide Chris.

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Julian Lacroix

Julian has been a bike-tour-leader-extraordinaire for GBT since 2012. He brings to the job a love for the great outdoors, a passion that he loves to share with everyone he meets. Julian is a certified bicycle mechanic (through the United Bicycle Institute in Oregon).

Julian graduated from Prescott College in Arizona with a degree in Adventure Education and Wilderness Leadership and has studied at the National Outdoor Leadership School (India). Professionally, Julian has worked as a sea kayaking guide in Alaska, a rafting guide in Arizona, and a climbing guide in the Tetons.

When not working for GBT, Julian can be found leading backpacking expeditions for Wildland Trekking in Olympic National Park and Mount Rainier National Park.

Lu-Sutton

Lu Sutton

Born in England, the effervescent Lu has been leading walking and biking trips for some 15 years across Europe, North and South America, and New Zealand. A passionate traveler, gastronome, and linguist, she will share her enthusiasm and professionalism wherever she goes. Most recently she qualified as a Laughter Yoga Teacher, so prepare for some fun! When she’s not working for Great Bike Tours, Lu resides in northwest corner of Spain.

Why Travel With GBT

We are a family owned and operated bike tour company that treats you like royalty. We offer very personal bike vacations, with small groups of people (18 max). Our guides are professional, patient, friendly, and fun, and we all have a genuine desire to make each person’s trip special and memorable. We will go above-and-beyond what you’ve experienced before. You’ve traveled with the rest, now travel with the best – Great Bike Tours.

Family-owned and operated

Our family-run bike tour company is able to offer very personal bike vacations, and by the end of the week we hope you’ll feel like part of the family, our family.

Our company is small, by design. We only run one tour at a time… your tour. And by concentrating all our energy and passion into your vacation, we can ensure that your vacation is a “trip of a lifetime.” We empower our guides with the ability & flexibility to make each and every person’s trip special and memorable. A recent guest said: “They managed to make me feel like I was the only person on the tour.”

Unique Destinations

GBT is on the cutting edge of bike tour research, seeking out new and novel bike-tour-destinations that the larger companies haven’t even thought of yet. We were the first company to design trips in the Florida Keys, Rhode Island, Georgia’s Golden Isles, Hilton Head Island, and the Adirondacks of New York. Watch this space for our next exciting new destinations.

High Customer Satisfaction

To help understand why GBT has such high customer satisfaction, one only has to look at the glowing testimonials. Our past guests tell us they keep coming back to GBT because:

– Our tours are so much fun, all while getting some exercise and meeting new friends

– We are unpretentious. Our guides have a relaxed vibe and a laid-back attitude

– We welcome and accommodate cyclists of all abilities

– We allow and encourage our cyclists to travel at their own pace – after all, it’s not a race, it’s your vacation.

– Our staff has an incredible attention to detail

GBT has received the TripAdvisor Certificate of Excellence for the last five years, 2015-19. This award is given to the top 10 percent of bike-tour-companies that have “continually delivered a superior customer experience.”

GBT has been recommended by the Washington Post, Departures magazine, and more

Two Vans Supporting Your Every Move

Each of our trips is supported by two 15-passenger vans. Two vehicles makes it easier for us to cater to everyone’s needs and desires – we have enough room in our air-conditioned vans for everyone on the tour – no more waiting by the side of the road because the van is full.

The vast majority of our trips will have three leaders and two vans. We may even add a 4th guide if it will benefit the tour. On some of our smaller trips (13 people or less), we might opt for two leaders and one van, as long as we can still guarantee everyone a seat in the van while maintaining our exemplary level of service.

Three Friendly Tour Leaders at Your Service

Our great tour leaders are the key to your fantastic vacation. You’ll be in great hands with these professionals – not only are they highly experienced, but our guides are also friendly and fun, kind and compassionate, and enthusiastic and encouraging. Most companies provide you with two guides per trip, but we’ve decided to up-the-ante by providing you with three top-notch guides per trip. You’ll receive such great service, that we know you’ll be back!

FROM PREVIOUS BIKE TOURS

Take a look at photos & videos from previous tours.
Read testimonials from our new and repeat guests.

Florida Keys Promo Video 2021

Vermont Promo Video 2019

Georgia Promo Video 2020

New Zealand Promo Video 2020

South Carolina Promo Video 2020

Photos from Recent Tours

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READ OUR RAVE REVIEWS

See Reviews for Each Destination

BOOK YOUR TRIP (or request more information)

As a small family owned and operated bike tour company, our trips sell out quickly. Sign up soon for our 2020 tour dates.

Great Bike Tours

3282 Mt. Philo Rd,
Charlotte, VT 05445

Have any questions? Contact us!

(802) 777-2009

[email protected]

FEATURED IN

BOOK YOUR TRIP (or request more information)

As a small family owned and operated bike tour company, our trips sell out quickly. Sign up soon for our 2020 tour dates.

Great Bike Tours

3282 Mt. Philo Rd,
Charlotte, VT 05445

Have any questions? Contact us!

(802) 777-2009

[email protected]

FEATURED IN