Self-guided/supported bike tours for kids

Many self-guided bike trips in Europe have been enjoyed by us over the years. We've biked in the Netherlands, which is a breeze...both meanings...very enjoyable. Safety of bicyclists is a governmental priority and not an afterthought. We've biked around Lake Constance and it was fine. Have you considered biking along the Mosel River starting in Trier (skip Koblenz)? It's a beautiful area to ride on dedicated bike/pedestrian paths, through villages and small towns. Safe, easy biking. The Daube River biking trip was just OK for us. Overall, the best idea is to talk with staff at Bike Tours dot com. It's a company based in the United States and lists many bike trips (self-guided and guided) in Europe on the related website. Staff are great. We've only enjoyed self-guided versions, with suitable bikes and route directions provided, hotels booked and luggage transported daily.

The Mosel River looks very conveniently located for us, but thought wine country may not be that interesting to them (wine country is nearby us at home). Though looking at pictures of it, there would be some other interesting scenery too.

Sounds like you have plenty of experience. Any favorites or ones you would want to do with kids along? "Fine" and "Ok" don't sound like rave reviews for either Lake Constance or the Danube! Thank you for the website recommendation, I will take a look and do some more homework.

My first choice of a self-guided bike trip given your circumstances is along the Mosel River, starting in Trier and ending in Treis-Karden. A trip in Holland would also suit you well and be very safe. Again, I'd suggest talking with staff at the firm I mentioned. Please offer a trip report once concluded.

We are going to the Mosel R, Alsace and Burgundy next month. We are using Le Velo Voyageur, through whom we booked two years ago in the Dordogne (too hilly for your kids) and the Loire Valley (could work well for you).

See https://www.levelovoyageur.com/en/homepage/

Don’t know if some of the daily distances are too far for your kids, but we worked with Velo Voyageur to modify nearly all past and upcoming trips which they have easily agreed to do. Daily distances may vary from 25 to 40 to 45 miles; 40 to 65 or so km. I think I noticed lower prices for kids, but I did not really dwell on that.

Two years ago we gave them 4 stars on Trip Advisor for the Dordogne and 5 for the Loire. The vendor they used for the Dordogne used bikes that were not fully satisfactory … especially for that hilly region.

Not sure how well they’ll do for us on next month’s Mosel trip. They have expanded their range beyond France, so we don’t yet know if they’re out of their depth, but I am hopeful.

Our initial RS forum query and my trail of breadcrumbs for our cycling planning for us along the Mosel in Germany can be found here:

https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/germany/rhine-and-beyond-itinerary-ideas

The above includes suggestions from others and German vendors who they suggested or who I found, but could not adequately vet to my way of thinking.

Our TR from two years ago and comments about Velo Voyageur are here:

https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/trip-reports/fabulous-tour-de-france-2-weeks-on-foot-and-by-train-2-weeks-by-e-bike

Hopefully something here will be useful. I am impressed you’re taking this on with your 7 year old. Don’t be shy about asking any vendor to make changes to meet your kids’ needs. I love that you’re doing this.

I live near both the Mosel and Rhine bike routes, and visit along both rivers with regularity. There are major advantages for considering either of the routes between Trier and Koblenz (Mosel) or Mainz and Koblenz (Rhine). (And yes, you may want to start/end elsewhere, but stay between those points.)

Both of these paths are wide, well paved, and run along the rivers (with some minor deviations) separate from the automotive roads. As such they are fairly flat. Also you have hotels, parks, places to shop and eat, all along the routes. you also have the trains, where you can take the bikes, and that allows you to base in one place and ride out from, or back to, that point without having to bike both directions (unless you want to.) And both of these routes also have bike rental businesses for both conventional and e bikes. It's extremely common to find families biking these routes on holiday.

I prefer the Mosel, but you'll get a lot of good input on this forum regarding either. Note that the large majority of the towns on either route are small, with limited attractions other than the food, hospitality, and scenery. That being said, the major cities (Trier, Koblenz, and Mainz) all have much more in the way of museums, historical points of interest, etc. Still, either f those routes will offer, castles, river cruises, train rides, hiking, biking, etc.

I can also comment on the trails around Lake Constance, as I visit there annually. This is rather different, as much of the bike path will be on roads shared with motor vehicles. These small towns, and the few bigger cities (Konstanz, Lindau, etc) have some bike routes but many of the small towns do not have dedicated lanes. And the roads do not stay right along the lakeside. Plus you don't have the same level of transit that allows you to move your bikes when you are not riding, although there is some. Still, there's a lot to see and do around the Bodensee.

I really don't see the need for a planned tour. The bikeline books are excellent, with detailed maps, and when combined with some of the apps available and a little research, it should be easy to put together a week, or longer, tour.

Bettundbike.de is an association of hotels that will transfer your luggage between their hotels

I think the Mosel/Rhine/Lahn river valleys are a good choice since that would put you need to Dusseldorf, as is the Romantic Road between Wertheim ( which is where I started ) or Wurzburg to Fuessen.

I have received such great advice here! I really appreciate everyone's comments. In looking into it more, it does look like this might be relatively simple to book ourselves. I have found options in several locations for luggage transfer services and bike rentals, including one way rental in the Moselle area. I was a little hesitant to create and book our own tour as it will be our first real bike tour experience and I wanted someone else in charge...but it seems like the cost savings may be worth it. I think now it will just be a matter of choosing our destination. Germany hotels look more affordable than the Netherlands coast, in the summer at least, so I am leaning toward the Moselle area even though wine country is not a big appeal. We really just want a pleasant ride; hopefully castles and other sights along the way can help keep things interesting.

If you plan your own route, remember that you usually want to travel downstream, and the Mosel and Rhine drain north. Once you get an basic idea as to which route, come back and ask about what's too see and do along the way. And don't forget youtube has videos of most of the popular routes

The gradient of the big rivers is so small that going with or against the river’s flow makes little difference. often on smaller rivers in narrower valleys, the wind direction can be upstream and be more of a problem than the gradient

Doing the trip on your own is not difficult and is much cheaper. The only time I did an organized trip was 1 week at the start of a month long trip. It was so inexpensively priced that I couldn’t resist, especially with only a $50 single supplement.