The Best Bike Tours for Food and Drink Lovers

During my time at Freedom Treks, I have tasted several regional delicacies, ranging from port and a 'francesinha' on our Porto to Lisbon Bike Tour to trying 'verivorst' (blood sausage) and 'Tanker' beer while cycling our Riga to Tallinn Bike Tour.

Each one of our cycling holidays will have its own unique local dish or drink to discover, but these are a few of my top recommendations that fellow foodies must have on their radar!

I've selected our Salzburg to Grado Bike Tour due to its great variety of food & drink options along the route. From schnitzels and strudels in Austria to pizza and pasta in Italy, you certainly won't be going hungry on this tour.

You'll follow the beautiful Alpe-Adria cycle path from the Alps to the Adriatic Sea, experiencing both Austria’s spectacular mountains and Italy’s vibrant coast. The cycle route integrates old railway tracks and numerous tunnels, taking you through the breathtaking scenery of the Austrian and Italian Alps - with plenty of stops for coffee and snacks, of course!

En route, impressive rivers, dramatic waterfalls, charming ancient towns and magnificent castles paint the scene before you arrive at the lagoon town of Grado. Here, you can celebrate with 'frico', a local dish from Italy's Friuli-Venezia Giulia region, consisting of heated cheese and potatoes. This tasty dish is a little like a potato pancake, only you pile on lots of cheese, specifically Montasio, a mild Alpine cheese. Accompanied by a glass of red wine or a cold beer, you have the perfect end to a wonderful tour.

"Everything worked out very well with our bike trip. Evan communicated well with us throughout the planning process. Everything was well organized and professional. The Alpe-Adria route is gorgeous and the pathways are amazing. Excellent, sturdy, reliable ebikes. We were really glad to have e-bikes for the uphill portions, especially in the mountains of Austria!" - Kathy Beauregard

View tour: Alpe Adria Cycle Path - Salzburg to Grado Bike Tour

The clue is in the name with this tour!

It's hopefully expected that you'll discover fantastic food on all of our Italian bike tours. With that said, our Umbria Gastronomic Bike Tour is a flagship foodie experience. As you tour between towns and traditional hamlets, you’ll stop off for cookery classes with local chefs and learn how to make regional favourites of antipasti, risotto and fresh pasta. A wine tasting session in the medieval town of Torgiano is something to look forward to, and in Spoleto, you'll discover the secrets of authentic Umbrian cuisine.

Long lunches, leisurely dinners and lots of yummy snacks make up quintessential Umbrian cuisine. And there are so many local dishes, delicacies and wines to discover for all tastes.

My top recommendation is to try 'crescionda' when you're in Spoleto. This chocolate and amaretti dessert originates from the Middle Ages, and has strong links to Umbria's Carnival of Spoleto. Delectable yet light, it's bursting with flavours and sits high upon my list in Umbria.

"Interesting and varied hotels, excellent e-bikes, brilliant app for directions, in every respect a great holiday! Just enjoy this wonderful part of Italy and the great service arranged by Freedom Treks." - Jacky Fisher

View tour: Umbria Gastronomic Bike Tour

Having cycled from Porto to Lisbon myself, I'm well aware of the fantastic variety of food and drink on offer in both cities, and along the way. Porto, of course, has its Port distilleries you can visit, and Lisbon has a large variety of local and international restaurants. Most restaurants along the route serve great fresh seafood, which I found to be the perfect light mid-ride lunch.

And the food isn't the only highlight on this tour. The cycling, culture and views are all immense too. Pedalling south from Porto, I loved the scenic coastal trails past pristine beaches and spectacular cliffs, before exploring Aveiro's canals, saltpans and São Jacinto Dunes. That's not to mention discovering Figueira da Foz's beachfront restaurants and cafes, and pedalling into Lisbon, with its charming sloped streets and brightly painted facades.

As you cycle between the two cities, there are many brilliant local coffee shops and bakeries where you can sample the Portuguese classic, pastéis de nata. This was an absolute highlight for me! Plus, food and drink are more affordable in Portugal compared to the rest of Western Europe, meaning you feel much more justified 'fueling up' on these every couple of hours!

You can read more about my experience on this tour in my Porto to Lisbon trip report.

"Another great trip with Freedom Treks: from the beautiful Porto and its delicious Port, to the dramatic Atlantic coast, Sintra National park, historical Lisbon, wonderful seafood and of course pastel de nata, this trip has it all. Thoroughly recommended!" - Paul Weiss

View tour: Porto to Lisbon Bike Tour

Expect to try some of the best Spanish cuisine when you cycle from Granada to Ronda, pedalling between country lanes, on unpaved roads and tracks into beautiful rural areas with some good climbs and welcome descents. This tour is rated as Moderate to Challenging, so I'd recommend it to confident cyclists.

The scenery varies from limestone mountains and green hills to oak trees, olive groves and lunar landscapes, and you’ll pass an emerald green nature reserve, home to Spanish Ibex.

You'll also cycle through white-washed villages and ancient towns, which are enchanting places to stop for tapas and wine. Tapas, which is commonly believed to have originated in Andalucia, is my favourite kind of food - so enjoying multiple delicious plates in Spain is a real highlight!

Look forward to cured meats, local cheeses, olives, padron peppers, croquettes, calamari, tortillas and my favourite, patatas bravas. The list goes on! A real flavour-filled tour to round off my suggestions.

"We cycled Granada to Ronda on e-bikes and had a fabulous time. The bikes were great and had batteries that easily lasted all day-even when we cycled over 60km! The routes were well planned with a nice mix of quiet country roads and off road tracks. The scenery was amazing and we were blessed with great weather. All the hotels were superb, comfortable with friendly staff and safe storage and charging for the bikes. The local rep was very knowledgeable and helpful. All together a wonderful holiday. We would definitely book with Freedom Treks again." - John Helliwell

View tour: Granada to Ronda Bike Tour

Ready to saddle up and taste your way through your next adventure? If you're a foodie like me who enjoys cycling too, a cycling holiday is the perfect blend of both.

You can book any of the tours I've mentioned above on the respective tour page on our website, or if you'd like some more information, our friendly team are happy to chat things through. Call us on +44 (0)1273 224066, or contact us and we'll be in touch.

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