Get on your bike: 10 great cycling holidays

1 Budget family fun, Britain

1 Budget family fun, Britain

Celebrate the 126th birthday of the CTC, the UK's national cyclists' organisation, by joining its Peak Rides cycling holiday in the beautiful surroundings of the Peak District. This is an ideal break for families on a budget or those who want to test a cycling holiday before venturing abroad. A single-base trip, it offers different activities for each day, including road and off-road rides aimed at all abilities, with competitions and challenges and a treasure hunt, as well as evening entertainment. Accommodation is a choice between camping pitches and self-catering dormitories or rooms in the Thornbridge Outdoor Centre or Bakewell or Eyam Youth Hostels. Or arrange your own accommodation and just register to join the rides.

Get cycling: CTC (0870- 873 0060; www.ctcbirthdayrides.org; www.ctc.org.uk) Peak Rides 2004, 31 July-7 August. Accommodation costs from £200 for a pitch (camping or motorhome) for a family of four (under-fives free) to £461 for a self-catering family room, sleeping a maximum of four, at Thornbridge Outdoor Centre. A week's registration only for non-members costs adults £35, children £7. Both prices include some rides; others attract a small fee. Entrance to sites and social events extra.

2 Gourmet tour of Gascony, France

Cycling for Softies' self-led bicycle tours in rural France put the emphasis on the choice of hotels and standard of cuisine. Tours are tailor-made, with you choosing the pace and route. New this year is a Gascony itinerary, which explores one of the country's least populated regions, home also to the vineyards that produce Armagnac. The cycling is on quiet roads through rolling countryside, a good choice for novices or those preferring a gentler pace. Cycling for Softies also runs tours in nine other scenic regions, with a choice of 170 hand-picked hotels. You can opt to do all your cycling from one hotel base or move on by bike between different hotels, exploring as you go.

Get cycling: Cycling for Softies (0161-248 8282; www.cycling-for-softies.co.uk) offers its Gascony package from £948 per person, based on two sharing, until 20 September, rising to £1,048 per person from 17 July to 7 August. The price includes seven nights' half board at three hotels (two are châteaux) and bike hire with service back-up. (Child seats or trailers are available.) A phrasebook, maps, itineraries and ideas for exploring are also provided. Travel from the UK costs extra.

3 Cultural pursuits in Tuscany, Italy

Explore the Tuscan landscape on two wheels, taking time to soak up your surroundings. LB Freedom Tours offers self-guided itineraries stopping for two nights at each destination. The alternate "travel" and "freedom" days take you cycling through areas of historical and cultural interest on the first day and give a choice of activities on the second. The Tuscan Classic tour visits the heart of the Val d'Orcia region, where you can freewheel through locations where films such as The English Patient were filmed and call in at vineyards to taste local wine and olive oil. Cultural highlights include Siena, Renaissance frescoes in local churches and abbeys, medieval fortresses such as Rocca d'Orcia and the thermal baths at San Casciano dei Bagni and Bagno Vignoni, which provide the perfect balm after a day's pedalling. Many of the hotels are converted farmhouses and all serve regional cuisine. The cycling is graded moderate-plus, but it can be designed to suit a range of abilities. Ask about special singles trips.

Get cycling: LB Freedom Tours (01442 263377; www.lbfreedomtours.com) offers this eight-night package from £769 per person, based on two sharing, including mostly half-board accommodation (except two dinners), bicycle and equipment hire, maps and itineraries. Flights cost extra but can be arranged by the company.

4 Fairytale Bavaria, Germany

With its pace set at a "gentle potter", the cycling might not take your breath away, but the scenery will. The suggested itinerary takes you through lush green valleys, via bathing lakes, mountains and moorland, and quaint Alpine towns and villages, allowing time to visit some of the fairytale castles of Mad King Ludwig. The self-led Garmisch and the Romantic Castles tour makes use of easy, picturesque routes and is aimed at any healthy cycling tourist. The popular lake resort of Garmisch, sitting at the foot of Germany's highest mountain, the Zugspitze, is home to a network of bike rides around the lakes. Other highlights include a day's cycling over the border in Austria's Tyrolean countryside, a chance to view the finest example of Rococo art in southern Germany, the Wies Church frescoes, and an option to visit Munich.

Get cycling: Bents Bicycle and Walking Holidays (01568 780800; www.bentstours.com) offers this tour from £719 per person, based on two sharing, including flights, eight nights' b&b in four hotels, bike hire (including child bikes, seats and trailers), full itinerary and maps, with suggested lunch stops, and main luggage transfers.

5 Follow the towpath, Holland

Mount the nation's favoured form of transport and spend your days touring the wide open landscapes of Holland. In the evenings, you can relax on a barge, which will motor you and your bike to the next destination, using the country's network of canals and lakes. Saddle Skedaddle's Green Heart of Holland tour explores the best of the country's southern region. On arrival, a short warm-up ride around historic Amsterdam is followed by dinner on the barge. The itinerary combines overnight stops in and routes around historic towns and cities - Delft, Leiden, Haarlem, Utrecht and Rotterdam - with long, leisurely rides along rivers and towpaths, taking in sights such as the group of 18 windmills at Kinderdijk. Other features include cycling through the sand dunes of Scheveningen and a stop in Oudewater, famous as the place where suspected "witches" were once weighed to assess their guilt. The flat landscape makes for easy cycling and all routes are self-guided.

Get cycling: Saddle Skedaddle (0191-265 1110; www.skedaddle.co.uk) offers this tour from £525 per person, based on two sharing, including seven nights' half-board accommodation in an en-suite cabin, daily packed lunches, bike and equipment hire, tour guide, route information and internal ferry fares. Departures 26 June, 17 July, 28 August.

6 Off-roading in the peaks, Spain

Adventurous cyclists can hit Spain this summer and avoid the usually forbidding heat. The Picos de Europa is a small range of limestone peaks in the cooler north of the country, just south of Asturias, which offers a diverse choice of challenging biking routes and forest tracks. Based at two centres, this trip involves 75 per cent off-roading, so some experience and a reasonable level of fitness are required. The rest of the tour takes place on quiet Tarmac roads. On most of the trip you will have vehicle support and the varied cross-country and high-level biking routes will take you through some stunning scenery, from mountains and forests to valleys and villages. And when you reach the higher levels, there will be opportunity for lots of downhill action.

Get cycling: Discover Adventure (01722 718444; www.discoveradventure.com) offers its itinerary in Picos de Europa from £569 per person in shared twin rooms, small supplement for a private room, including seven nights' b&b at three-star hotels and pensions and all other meals. Bike hire costs £95. Departures available on 17 July and 25 July. Flights cost extra. Return flights to Bilbao cost from £71 with easyJet (0871 750 1000; www.easyJet.com) from London Gatwick or Stansted.

7 Cycling and spas, Hungary

What a relief to plunge into warm, healing waters after a hard day in the saddle. On this seven-night tour of Puszta, Hungary, you will travel from one spa resort to another, including Kunhegyes, Tiszaors-Furdo and Hajduszoboszlo, with its 17 swimming, wave, spring and thermal pools. The trip passes through a conservation area rich in wildlife and the Hortobagy National Park, where you can jump off the bike and take a boat trip. Other highlights include an overnight stop in Nadudvar, famous for its black pottery. The distances and level of cycling make this a good choice for beginners.

Get cycling: Scottish Cycling Holidays (01250 876100; www.scotcycle.co.uk) offers the Spa Tour Through the Puszta from £480 per person, based on two sharing, including seven nights' b&b in hotels or pensions, all evening meals (two with wine), bike hire, luggage transport, vehicle support and guide, most sightseeing excursions, including one to Budapest, and entrance to five thermal spas. Flights cost extra. The company advises guests to fly into Vienna (transfers £18). Austrian Airlines (08701 242625; www.austrianairlines.co.uk) offers flights from £103.

8 Island hopping, Finland

Go island hopping with a difference on this tour of the Turku archipelago, a cluster of more than 20,000 islands off the south-west coast of Finland. Sherpa Expeditions' self-guided cycling tour traces a loop from Turku, Finland's oldest city, to the islands and back, via a system of ferries. Most accommodation is in small guest houses or hotels, including overnights in a converted airport building, manor house and lighthouse. This trip allows time to take in the area's natural beauty.

Get cycling: Sherpa Expeditions (020-8577 2717; www.sherpa-expeditions.co.uk) offers the Finland Archipelago Island Hopping tour from £867 per person, based on two sharing, including flights, six nights' b&b, two evening meals, bike and helmet hire, support serviceand route notes. Departures until 21 August.

9 Wine on wheels, California

Cycle through the hills and valleys of California's wine country, stopping to sample the area's most famous vintages. Trek Travel's California Wine Country tour involves leisurely cycling in the Napa and Sonoma Valleys, taking in the pretty towns of Sonoma, Calistoga and Yountville, and some of the area's smaller wineries. Included is a private dinner and tasting at the Michel-Schlumberger Winery near Healdsburg and a chance to view modern art at the Hess Collection Winery. You can also opt for a day to unwind at the Vintage Inn Spa. All stays are in top-class hotels.

Get cycling: Trek Travel (001 920 478 4672; www.trektravel.com) offers this tour from $2,275 (£1,239) per person, based on two sharing, including five nights' accommodation, most meals, snacks and drinks on rides, evening receptions, bike hire, guides, route support, private tours and tastings, all entrance fees, transfers, luggage transfers and gratuities. Departures in September and October.

10 Adventure playground, Laos

Starting in northern Thailand, this tour crosses into Laos, a country still relatively untouched by Western influences. This tour takes you on tough mountain climbs, through thick jungle and along the Mekong river. Although Red Spokes tries to accommodate varying levels of ability, this requires fitness and cycling experience. During your 17 days you will have the chance to visit Luang Prabang, with its exquisite Buddhist temples, take a boat journey through the mist, see crafts at a night market and visit the capital, Vientiane.

Get cycling: Red Spokes (020-7502 7252; www.redspokes.co.uk) offers Laos - Lost in Time from £649 per person, based on two sharing, including 16 nights' accommodation, all food apart from two lunches and two dinners, internal flights, vehicle support and guide. Flights cost extra. Thai Airways (020-7491 7953; www.thai airways.co.uk) offers flights from Heathrow to Bangkok from £657 in November.