The nine best tours of 2025
- Simon Weir
- Nov 28, 2025
- 8 min read
Updated: Dec 12, 2025
It’s been a busy year. And not just for me. I’ve done a lot of touring with Chickenstrip and trying to pack in as many trips for myself, researching new routes, but also I planned 20% more trips for people to ride this summer than I did the year before… and there were some absolute epics. Here’s my pick of 2025's custom-planned tours.
The big one: France & Spain
Riders: Greg & Rob (& Pete) • Duration: 43 days • Total distance: 4700 miles
I’ve planned a couple of trips before for Greg, an Aussie who works in Scotland. For this monster trip, his buddy Rob flew out, then their wives came to France to meet them; when the girls flew home, Pete flew from Melbourne to Barcelona and hired a bike to join the trip on the Spanish leg. There were rest days along the way (especially when the wives were over) but in total there were 24 riding days.
Greg explains why they did such a massive trip. “We have a long journey to get to this side of the world; and the bikes are stored in Scotland so it’s still a trek to get into Europe.”
What was the best ride? “Could have been one of a number of days or roads, but I’d say it was the Puy Mary loop,” says Greg. And the best place to visit? “Auxerre – we had a great ride leading up to it, then a few days off the bike for a barge trip with our wives. Great accommodation, great restaurants. Good memories.”
Any advice for people planning a similar big trip? “Make time to be off the bike as much as on it. It’s an immersive experience – not just roads.”
• If you need an epic tour planned, just get in touch.
The other big one: also France and Spain
Riders: David and Rachel • Duration: 36 days • Total distance: 4420 miles
Husband and wife riders David and Rachel were able to align their diaries to create space for a trip combining a motorcycle tour with time off in places they wanted to visit.
So what was the best place? "Logroño in Spain. It's a lovely town," David says. "Great tapas restaurants, we did a wine tour on our day off, went to the museum and saw the Michelangelo painting in the cathedral."
And what was the best ride? "It's hard to pick one day or one route. The riding was varied and mostly spectacular… but Probably Mont Ventoux," he says. "A landscape like a moon landing, crazy heights – made even more mad by the cyclists ascending it too."
Any lessons to share for people doing a similar big trip? "Make the most of your time in all the places you visit. Experience local food, wine and traditions," he says.
The northern one: Nordkapp and Norway
Riders: Steve; Robbie & Paul; Ray • Duration: 9 / 15 days (in Scandinavia) • Total distance: 1930 / 3465 miles
Building and refining a Norway trip has taken several years and a lot of help from local riders. I’ve now had six groups do the full run to Nordkapp and this year I also put together a shorter version for Ray.
The overall verdict from all of them was essentially: best thing I’ve done on two wheels. But why? “There were too many great days to single one out. The whole country is just fabulous,” says Paul, who rode to Nordkapp with his old friend Robbie. “My favourite day was the second one, into Stavanger,” Robbie says, singling one out. “The views from the mountain tops were fantastic.”
“One genuine highlight for me was taking a ferry for part of the trip – like a mini-cruise, passing into the Arctic Circle,” says Steve. The boat makes it practical to ride the Lotofen Islands, one of the most spectacular landscapes on the way to Nordkapp.
Ray’s shorter trip skipped that, turning south again through the mountains. “From the moment I rode off the ferry, I was on superb roads with little traffic, immersed in wonderful scenery with beautiful lakes, rivers, wooden cabins and so on,” he says.
Their advice for people looking to ride in Norway? "Leave early each morning. It's your adventure – enjoy it to its fullest," says Steve.
"Don't be put off by stories of high prices," says Robbie. "Fuel was a little more expensive but accommodation was reasonable and food and drink was no worse than city prices in the UK."
"Plan, plan, plan… but don't get too ambitious," advises Ray. "There are plenty of ferries and those soak up time."
• Both of these trips are now available as self-guide tours here.
The multi-generational one: Eastern Alps
Riders: Mike, Mike Senior & Taylor • Duration: 8 days • 1995 miles
I’ve ridden with Mike in Spain and he's a good rider, so when he needed a memorable trip to do with his son Taylor and ex-pat father (Mike Senior, flying back from Oz) there was no question which one to aim for: my Eastern Alps, Big Hitters tour. Only catch… it had to be packed into just eight days.
“Dad had always told me about a car trip he’d done with his father as a child,” Mike explains. “So what better than to try to recreate it – but on bikes?”
What was the best ride? “Impossible to pick one – they were all excellent. We explored so many bucket-list mountain passes,” says Mike. “I can’t pick a best place, either – Andermatt is beautiful, Austria is beautiful. We experienced an amazing celebration in Nuremburg…
“My favourite moment was waking to the sound of church bells, before riding the Großglockner,” he adds, “Or stumbling over the town of Breckenried – somewhere my dad remembered from his childhood trip and just a short detour from the route.”
Any advice for someone looking to do a similar trip? “Don’t cram a huge tour into a short amount of time. I could easily have doubled the time away and savoured it all the more.”
• The Eastern Alps, Big Hitters tour runs for nine to (better) 14 days – more info here.
The two-up one: French Pyrenees
Rider & pillion: Andy & Tracy • Duration: 14 days • Distance: 1850 miles
I know Andy very well – he’s a regular on our Chickenstrips guided tours. Last year I planned a trip for him and his wife Tracy that became the basis of the Historic Spain tour. It achieved its aim of making her fall back in love with riding pillion… but also confirmed that she’s no sailor. So the ferry to Spain was off the table for this year’s trip, so instead we looked at a tour to the French Pyrenees, but very much built to reflect what she’d enjoyed on the Spanish trip – and finishing off in Paris.
What was the best place they visited? “For Tracy, it was Carcassonne – we stayed within the walled citadel, which was amazing. For me, it was Sarlat le Canéda,” says Andy. “Both places are highly recommended.”
And the best day’s ride? “The ride into Lourdes,” says Andy. Riding through caves was special, but the mountains were spectacular. I wouldn’t necessarily go back to Lourdes, but I’d happily ride that route every day.”
Any tips for someone looking at a similar tour? “Give yourself time to enjoy the moment,” Andy says. “Don’t just focus on getting to the next stop – you’ll enjoy it much more.”
• You can download standard from-Calais French Pyrenees tour (which doesn't go to Paris) or, if you can face the ferry, the Pure Pyrenees tour, which covers both the French and Spanish sides of the mountains from Santander.
The extended two-up one: Croatia
Rider and pillion: Andrew and Deborah • Duration: 20 days • Distance: 3160 miles
My standard Croatia tour is a long one anyway – 13 days before adding sightseeing and rest days. But it’s a long way to Dubrovnik, which means those are still pretty full days. A trip to celebrate Deborah’s birthday called for a more-relaxed schedule, which was great as it also let me add in a few bits there just isn’t time for in the basic tour.
“We particularly loved travelling through Slovenia – Croatia had more tourists in camper vans so the roads were somewhat congested in places,” notes Andrew.
In fact, their favourite road wasn’t in the Balkans at all. “We both agreed the best riding was the Großglockner – and the ride from there to Bavaria was the best of the trip,” Andrew says.
The best advice for someone looking to do a similar trip? “Get up early and get going,” says Andrew. “There’s such a lot to take in and an early start gives a chance to explore when you reach where you’re staying that day.”
• The you can download the standard Croatia tour here.
The bucket-list one: Italy
Riders: Charles, Sam & Tom • Duration: 9 days • Distance: 1990 miles
Another birthday-commemorating trip, Charles had always talked about riding to the Ducati museum. So his sons decided to make it happen for him. The aim was to make sure the ride there and back was every bit as memorable as the museum and factory visit.
“There were so many incredible moments, but the day riding across Switzerland to Splüggen was probably the stand-out,” Tom says. “Endless hairpins, unbelievable views.” Splüggen was also his favourite place – amazing hotel, great food, fantastic beer…”
His best advice? “Review the routes. Have a map session each day and know the next few major towns. It makes the whole ride less stressful.”
• You can ride the passes around Splüggen on the freshly updated Swiss Alps tour.
The solo one: The Dolomite
Rider: Lou • Duration: nine days • Distance: 2110 miles
Lou is another old friend from the Chickenstrips tours, but as well as the group trips, she wants to challenge herself as a solo traveller, inspired by other people’s stories of great roads and great scenery. Which is why for her summer tour, she asked me to put together a run to the Dolomites – via Switzerland, to take a day to ride the Five Passes.
“The highlight was definitely riding the Sella Ronda in the Dolomites, into Cortina d’Ampezzo, then riding the three peaks on the way to Lago di Misurina for a picnic,” she says. “The mixture of technical roads and breath-taking scenery made it one of the best days I’ve ever had on a bike.”
Her top tip for travellers? “Apart from ‘Watch out for the crazy Italian bus drivers’, it’s to allow plenty of time. You will want to stop and take pictures, to bring home those memories.”
• The updated Dolomites tour is packed with all these memorable moments (and more).
The hot solo one: Spain and Portugal
Rider: Raj • Duration: 8 days • Distance: 1365 miles
I have several tours of Spain as well as the popular Portugal & Picos tour… but none of them quite ticked the right boxes for Raj. Which is fine – because I can always adapt and combine and custom-plan routes to get the right trip for any rider. This eight-day run was based on elements of the other trips, packed with great roads, scenery and places.
“I loved Segovia,” says Raj. “Such a picturesque town, packed with historic buildings – it was like stepping back in time.” Could he pick out a favourite road? “The Portuguese Stelvio, the N339,” he says. “It’s an amazing, sweeping roads with great views and absolutely no traffic. I had the whole road to myself.”
What's his top tip for travellers heading out there? “Take your time. There’s so much to see, clicking the camera every five minutes,” Raj says. “If I’d had a film camera, it would have been expensive to develop all those photos!”
• Visit Segovia on the Historic Spain tour, or ride the Portuguese Stelvio on the Portugal & Picos tour.
• Now is the best time to organise next year's tour. There are plenty of options on the tours page of the website – or if you need something planned specially for you, drop me a line.
