Cycling holidays with Electric Bikes

Mixed groups are carefully managed by our experienced guides who are already accustomed to handling a range of paces and fitness levels. The pace is always set to those not riding an e-bike. If a group holiday reaches more than a 50/50 split of e-bike riders, we’ll always let you know.

You may bring your own e-bike on any e-bike holiday or tour where we offer e-bikes for hire. Your bike must be legally compliant with UK law or in the country that you are visiting. Make sure you chat to our team about the suitability of your e-bike for the trip – we can advise if the battery has the right capacity etc. If you are travelling abroad, it might be easier to hire an e-bike due to the restrictions on flying (see the question below).

You cannot fly with an e-bike battery but if you’re travelling by train or car, then you may bring your own e-bike on one of our tours provided it’s a tour with e-bike options, you let us know in advance, and your bike is legally compliant with the e-bike laws in the country you are visiting.

This is not a straightforward question. E-bikes are designed to give you a boost up hills and you can certainly cover a greater distance each day. However, e-bikes are also heavier, and you might experience achy muscles from manoeuvring the bike around. In the UK, e-bikes have a speed limit of 15mph so once you exceed this, the battery-assist will cut out, and you might feel like the bike is harder to pedal than a regular bike. If your chosen route has rough or technical off-road sections, then hiring an e-bike won’t make riding this terrain any easier. We always recommend reading the grade description carefully and chatting with our team if you have any questions about the holiday grade.

We recommend that you try an e-bike first if you can. You may hire an e-bike even if you’ve never ridden one before, but you might want to choose an easier grade holiday than you would usually ride so you can get used to the bike. Also keep in mind that, as mentioned above, riding an e-bike doesn’t necessarily make the trip easier so it’s important to choose the right grade for you. Check out our tips for riding e-bikes too.

Our selected bikes and itineraries have been designed to allow you to ride the daily distances with one charge. If you use the power modes efficiently then you’ll easily make the battery last – check out our e-bike tips for how to get the most out of your battery. Of course, if there’s a problem with your bike or you have a charging mishap, we’re always on hand to help just as we would for any other bike-related issues.

The minimum age for riding an e-bike is 14.

You don’t need any specialist kit for riding an e-bike, but you might like to pack more layers than you would for an ordinary bike ride, as you won’t be exerting yourself as much on the hills and may feel cooler.

We’ll show you how to remove your battery each evening so you can take it into your room to charge it. If you’re bringing your own e-bike with an integrated battery, then make sure you let us know in advance so we can ensure there is somewhere appropriate to charge it. All our accommodation is carefully selected for being cycle-friendly and there will be somewhere safe to store your bike at night.

E-bikes are a rapidly evolving technology and we’re always testing the latest models to see how best they can integrate with our cycling holidays. Some of our holidays are not a good fit for e-bikes, too remote or there is limited availability or unreliable charging. If you are interested in a holiday which doesn't have an e-bike supplement as standard then do chat to our team as we may be able to make an exception in special circumstances or suggest another trip which may be more appropriate.