The headline price of a cycling tour tells you surprisingly little. Two tours at the same price can be very different value once you count what is in them, and what you will be paying for separately before you have even reached the start.
This is a line-by-line guide, using our own tours as examples because we know exactly what is in them. The same questions apply to any operator.
Almost always included
Accommodation. Usually one night fewer than the number of days. Check whether the price is for twin sharing (most are) and what a single room adds.
A ride leader or guide, and daily route briefings.
A support vehicle carrying water, electrolytes, fruit and snacks.
Route files. On a well-run tour you get the GPS files for every day, so you can load them onto your own bike computer and study the climbs.
Luggage moved between hotels, on tours that change hotels.
Where tours differ most: meals
This is where the variation is biggest, and the one line most worth counting. Across our own tours:
Tour of Northern Thailand: 7 breakfasts, 4 lunches and 7 dinners over 8 nights.
Mae Hong Son Loop: 8 breakfasts, 8 lunches and 10 dinners over 10 nights.
Girona camp: 6 breakfasts, 1 lunch and 5 dinners over 7 nights.
Chiang Mai training camp: dinners only, two of them.
None of these is wrong. They are different products. But "meals included" means nothing until you see the numbers, and the meals not included are part of the real price.
What the support vehicle actually does
On our Northern Thailand tour, a van carries luggage, spares and bicycles, with a minibus for riders. On Mae Hong Son there are two vehicles: one that can carry riders and their bikes, and one that moves baggage and sets up drink stops. On our Chiang Mai camp, the vehicle carries water, fruit and essentials only. It is not there to collect riders, and the page says so.
Same word, three different services.
Mechanical support
Some tours have a bicycle technician with the group on the road. Others offer mechanical support at the hotel. Our Chiang Mai camp provides bike setup and post-ride technical support, but no mechanical help during rides. If you are riding somewhere remote, find out which you are getting.
The small extras
Some tours include things that would otherwise cost money: a longtail boat on the Mae Kok river and to the Golden Triangle in Northern Thailand, subject to availability; the entrance fee to Doi Inthanon National Park on Mae Hong Son; coffee stops on the road in Girona. They are rarely the reason to choose a tour, but they belong in the comparison.
What you will almost always pay for
Flights to the start and from the finish.
Visas, where needed, and for Europe, the time it takes to get one.
Travel insurance. Check that it covers cycling, and your bike.
Bike hire, if you are not bringing your own. Several of our tours offer rental at extra cost; in Tuscany, for instance, both road bikes and an e-bike.
Airline fees for your bike, if you are bringing it. These can be substantial on international flights, and our guide to flying with your bike from India covers them.
Meals that are not listed, alcohol, and entrance fees to sights not mentioned in the inclusions.
A single room supplement, if you want a room of your own.
Taxes
Check whether the price includes taxes. Our prices are inclusive of GST. Some operators quote before tax, and the difference can be significant.
How to compare two tours
Put them side by side and go through them line by line: nights, meals by type, what the vehicle does, whether there is a mechanic on the road, route files, transfers, extras, and taxes. Then add what you will pay separately: flights, visa, insurance, bike transport or hire. That total is the real price.
The tour that looks cheaper often isn't. Occasionally it is. Either way, you will know.
If you want to ask more of an operator before paying, see our ten questions to ask any cycling tour operator.
Written by Barnowl Adventures.
