Publications

Books and maps

Almost all of our tour operators (except where noted) provide materials, like route details and sightseeing information, in English—some basic information by email in advance and more detailed printed information at your start hotel.

If you’re like most travelers, the building anticipation of your bicycle tour is half the fun, and you may enjoy doing some research and getting additional materials in advance of your tour. Of course, you may also wish to research information that reflects your specific interests. If you’re a curious traveler who wants all the details and background info on sights on your route, you’ll be happiest if you supplement the tour materials with guidebooks.

We’re always happy with the selection of guidebooks on Amazon.com.

Magazines

We’re big fans of Adventure Cyclist magazine. It inspires us to see what bike tourists are doing around the world!

“Adventure Cyclist is the one magazine truly dedicated to bicycle adventure. Through feature accounts of bicycle journeys of discovery across the United States and around the globe, Adventure Cyclist continues to bring insightful stories and essays, as well as inspiring photographs, to its readers from a wide variety of talented bicyclists.”

Find out more and get a free issue by visiting adventurecycling.org.

Language tools

English may be widely spoken in some destinations (and definitely isn’t in others), so the need for language tools ranges from facilitating polite interactions to a necessity for navigating. Here are some recommendations for tools beyond the bulky translation dictionary:

• ECTACO offers electronic talking dictionaries and pocket voice translators for 35 languages. They have full text and speech-to-speech translators, and translation software that includes talking dictionaries, travel voice phrasebooks, and flashcards (for Windows, Pocket PC, Palm OS, and mobile phones).
• If you’ve enabled the data package on your smartphone for overseas use, search your app store for translation apps. There are plenty out there.