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 12-day New Zealand active vacation. In the Spring we run three trips on the east coast, starting in Savannah in early April with Georgia’s Golden Isles bike vacation. In late April and May we feature our “bike & boat tours” — South Carolina Bike & Boat and Rhode Island Bike & Boat.

During the heat of summer we head up to cool New England, starting with our New Hampshire: Mountains to the Sea trip in July, followed by our multi-sport vacation in New York’s Adirondack Park in August. In mid September we head back to the coast for our Nantucket & Martha’s Vineyard bike tour.

In the autumn we feature several fall foliage bike trips, starting in late September with a return to our New Hampshire: Mountains to the Sea trip, followed in early October by our famous Vermont fall foliage bike tours, and then in late October we head down to Colonial Williamsburg for our easy Virginia bike tour. Please join us in 2022-23 for one of these exciting active vacations. Book now!

Private Trips
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Awards
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LATEST UPDATES

 

FULL VACCINATIONS REQUIRED
Sept. 1, 2021 – Until further notice, we require all guests to be fully vaccinated. Learn more.
Our 2022 bike tours are selling out fast – BOOK YOUR TRIP TODAY!
Due to popular demand, all of our trips are SOLD OUT through July 2022.
EARN $100 for each person you refer to us (that ends up traveling). Find out more!
LISTEN TO THE PODCAST featuring our Martha’s Vineyard Bike Tour. Listen now!
WHY NO MASKS IN OUR WEBSITE PHOTOS?
Please note: All our photos were taken prior to COVID-19. Today, we require all our guests & staff to follow the latest mask (and social distancing) guidelines issued by state and federal authorities.

BIKE TOURS 2022-23

Florida biking vacations

Florida Keys

The Everglades, Florida Keys, and Key West

New Zealand

12 Days Down Under
Georgia Bike Tours

Georgia's Golden Isles

St. Simons Island, Jekyll Island, and Savannah

South Carolina Bike & Boat

Hilton Head to Charleston
Rhode Island Bike Tour

Rhode Island Bike & Boat

Providence, Newport, and Block Island
New York's Adirondack Multi-Sport Vacation

New York's Adirondacks

Bike, Hike, and Paddle
Nantucket Bike Tours

Nantucket and Martha's Vineyard

The Jewels of Cape Cod

New Hampshire

Mountains to the Sea

Vermont Fall Foliage

The Heart of New England

Virginia's Colonial Williamsburg

Jamestown, Yorktown, and Colonial Williamsburg

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

Simon is the co-owner of our family-owned and operated travel company – Great Bike Tours. Although he spends plenty of hours behind his computer, you’re very likely to have Simon himself as one of your tour guides.

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 25-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 Simon founded his first bike tour company, and in 2012 Simon and Jessica started Great Bike Tours.

Jessie-Lacroix

Jessica Lacroix

Jessica is the co-owner of Great Bike Tours, along with Simon. She has the unenviable task of keeping us all in line, and she does it with perfection.

As the Operations Manager of the company, Jessica is usually working behind the scenes dealing with all that office-type-stuff. She takes great pleasure in designing new tours for GBT, seeking out new and novel bike-tour-destinations that the larger companies haven’t even thought of yet.

Jessica has personally led all of our trips in North America and New Zealand, and if you’re really lucky, she may be guiding your next trip!

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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 courtesy of the United Bicycle Institute.

Julian graduated 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 the Pacific Northwest. He also has training in furniture design, and continues to produce exquisite pieces.

Elliot-Lacroix

Elliot Lacroix

Elliot has been with GBT since its inception, and has guided (and helped develop) all ten of our trips. He is passionate about every trip he leads, but his favorite is probably New Zealand, and he might well choose to live there all year if they’d let him!

You’ll be in excellent hands with Elliot as your guide: he has a degree in Leadership Training and Wilderness Therapy; he is a certified bicycle mechanic; he’s a great cook and sommelier.

Although a Vermont native, Elliot usually resides in Colorado or Utah. He is also a passionate rock climber, and during his COVID downtime he’s launched a new company that specializes in climbing rope art.

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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Danielle Plouffe

Danielle has enjoyed biking adventures all over the world – including the southern tip of Patagonia, Nepal, and throughout the United States. She often says that her favorite aspect of cycling is the powerful sensation of exploration combined with the nostalgia of feeling like a little kid. She’s delighted to bring her enthusiasm and knowledge to your next GBT tour as we explore incredible scenery, from ocean views in the Florida Keys to stunning fall foliage in Vermont.

When not contributing to GBT, Danielle is often off looking for her next backpacking or rock climbing adventure. She also works as a traveling ER nurse for part of the year, adding to her impeccable levels of organization and calm.

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Kiwi John

John van der Loo is our go-to guide in New Zealand. We call him “Kiwi John,” and he provides plenty of “local flavor” during our 12-day trip in New Zealand. John grew up in Dunedin, where we begin our tour, and has explored every corner of the country with his partner Janette in their motorhome.

One of the highlights of our New Zealand tour is our visit to John’s hometown, a small seaside village on the West Coast called Okarito. Be sure to ask him about his home-brew beer, hokey-pokey ice cream, and his encounter with John McEnroe.

One of John’s passions is photography, and his love of the varied New Zealand landscapes are very evident in his photos – check out his lovely website.

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Dan Purdy

Ever since leaving his engineering career, Dan has pursued a life of travel and adventure, and has been a professional guide ever since. Originally from Minnesota, Dan discovered his love of the outdoors while learning to rock climb on cliffs overlooking Lake Superior. From there, he’s biked, hiked, and climbed his way around the world. From biking around Patagonia to hiking on volcanos in Nicaragua, Dan is always looking for his next experience, and brings his passion for the outdoors and guiding to every GBT tour.

Outside of guiding for GBT, Dan also runs his own content writing business at BestDraft LLC and can often be found typing away as he writes up stories for different magazine publications.

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Chris Morrissey

Chris, aka CMO, started his outdoor adventure career in 1998 when he began working for Vermont Bicycle Touring as a bike mechanic working out of an old dairy barn in Bristol, VT. The impressive sight of the 15-passenger vans full of bicycles & travelers inspired him, and before too long he became a tour guide so he could join them!

Bicycle touring has proved a perfect fit for Chris. Besides being a full-time guide for GBT, he also manages our bicycle fleet, vehicle maintenance, and designs state-of-the-art bike racks for our vans.

When he’s not working for GBT, Chris and his wife Samantha (also a GBT guide) are busy with their new endeavor, Cool Motion Outdoor Sports (CMOs), a family-owned outdoor recreation center (biking, skiing & snowboarding) located in their hometown of Bristol, VT.

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, the Adirondacks of New York, and New Hampshire! 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 six years, 2015-20. 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 videos from previous tours.
Read testimonials from our new and repeat guests.

Florida Keys Promo Video 2022

Vermont Fall Foliage Promo Video 2021

Georgia's Golden Isles Promo Video 2021

New Zealand Promo Video 2022

South Carolina Bike & Boat Tour - Promo Video 2021

Rhode Island Bike & Boat Tour - Promo Video 2021

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 2022-23 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 2022-23 tour dates.

Great Bike Tours

3282 Mt. Philo Rd,
Charlotte, VT 05445

Have any questions? Contact us!

(802) 777-2009

[email protected]

FEATURED IN