We knew that we wanted to go to Thailand for an epic bike tour, and finally our travel dreams became a reality. By two wheels, we discovered a land of magical enchantment filled with surprises and mystery around every turn. We avoided the hectic bustle and crowds so often associated with Asian countries. We did all of this on a tour that expertly guided and balanced between different types of adventures, both on and off the saddle. If experiencing a country up close and personal with the wind in your hair, your heart-rate pumping, with a new adventure over the next hill sounds good to you, then check out our 10 tips to picking the perfect bike tour in Thailand.
1 – Pick the Right Tour Company
We researched many tour companies in Thailand and decided to go with Grasshopper Adventures. Grasshopper touts themselves as Asia’s Best Bike Tour which we would not argue with. Tripadvisor ratings support this claim, however, you need to read a little deeper into reviews between long tours and day trips. There are two distinctly different sets of skills required for each, and it is possible for a company to excel in one area while struggling in the other.
Grasshopper Adventures goes on to explain why they are the Asia’s best bike tour. “At Grasshopper Adventures we believe in authentic, quality experiences, delivered in a well planned, seamless manner. We enjoy luxury wherever possible, but won’t sacrifice an amazing ride just for a star rating.” Watch for these keywords showing up again in this list: authentic, well planned, seamless, luxury and amazing ride. Those words certainly described our experience to a tee. What surprised us the most was luxury. Choosing tour companies is like picking a cruise, you need to choose the right level of luxury for you.
2 – Pick the Right Route
Grasshopper says “Cycling should be enjoyed by everyone. We are not just for the lycra (spandex) – clad members of the cycling community, but for anyone who appreciates the simple pleasure of riding a bike.“ That being said, some of the tours they offered would have been somewhere between painful and impossible for us. We aren’t ironman triathletes. We are average people who enjoy extraordinary adventures.
You can (and should) research the mileage and elevation changes before you go. We were riding about 50 miles a day on the tour, which is Jenn’s max distance ridden recently. Day number four was tough for Jenn, not only due to accumulated fatigue, but it was also our hottest day. This distance was about 80% of Ed’s top distance so he felt no cumulative impact. Our experience suggest your body will only take about four days of top effort before you will start feeling it. Another quick rule of thumb is to find out what type of bikes will be used. If the group is on road bikes, there will be some racing going on.
3 – Prepare for Your Ride
Not only will you have more fun on your dream vacation if you do some training, but it’s a great excuse to work out. At a minimum, you should be up to riding the max daily distance in training, but distance is not the only factor. You should also be training for the weather. Thailand is a hot, humid tropical country. We used all of our heat training from Arizona to get ready for Thailand with proper hydration and physical toughness. Along those lines take into consideration the time of year you were visiting. It is important to make sure that the weather conditions will make for a comfortable ride. If not comfortable, at least doable. You should also prepare for elevation gain or altitude or whatever nuance the trip has in store for you. Luckily for us we got to train on some of the best biking in San Diego, which has some stealthy oceanside climbs. However, this part is entirely on you. Train young grasshopper, train.
4 – Set Up Your Personal Space
We spent a little extra time time setting up the alignment of our bikes and it made all the difference. The most common adjustments revolve around the seat height, angle and distance. However, you can adjust more than just that on a bike. Your guide should have extra headsets available to extend (or contract) the torso spacing or raise the handlebar height. Your seat saves your knees, your handlebars saves your core (or your wrists if you need to compensate for misalignment by over weighting your handlebars). These are all reasons Jenn rides a women’s specific hybrid at home, but those aren’t always available when you’re on tour.
Don’t forget the specialized extras for your bike like shoes, saddles, or gloves but above all else remember your bike shorts. Pad your shorts, not your seat for optimal comfort. Besides the bike there is a wide assortment of ointments and creams for your body that you should really consider. Sunscreen is an obvious one but there are more. Chamois cream will improve your riding comfort by preventing the chafing that can lead to saddle sores. Bengay or some other muscle rub can help with sore muscles and recovery on multi-day rides. These ‘extras’ could well be worth their weight in your suitcase and possibly hard to find in country.
5 – Find a Quality Guide
We got lucky with our guide Tick and our support driver Vinny. They were simply amazing. We could almost write a blog post entirely about Tick. We met other travellers while we were in Thailand who shared similar stories about their Grasshopper guides, so perhaps it was more than just luck. You could repeat our ride from using the exact itinerary we laid out here, but it wouldn’t be the same trip without Tick.
Tick was the pointman for the seamless attribute Grasshopper Tours claims. He would wake up early in the morning to buy fresh fruits for snacks. He would make constant, minute adjustments to personalize the itinerary to for our interests and abilities. He would even order ahead all meals so that we had hot and yummy food waiting at every restaurant we visited, without spending riding time sitting at a table.
Many ‘travellers’ might disagree, but we wholeheartedly believe that a good guide increases the authenticity of a trip. He shared details about his time as a buddhist monk and the courtship between himself and his wife that gave special insight to the cultures and people of Thailand. In addition to his personal story, he was a great resource for all things Thai. He shared the history of each of the Thai King’s reign. He knew the detailed economics for the each of the businesses we passed by, from harvesting coconuts, to fishing villages, to salt processing, to rubber plantations, and even the gathering of bird nests to make soup or sweet semi-alcoholic drinks. He introduced eastern religions and Thai culture in a, well, authentic and local way. We unabashedly recommend finding local guides for a true, seamless and authentic experience.
If it wasn’t for Tick we wouldn’t have heard about Toon Bodyslam’s 400 km run for charity. Toon is a Thai rockstar and endurance runner. The four day run raised about 2 million USD for the Bang Saphan Hospital. In true Thai style, the singer also encouraged people to exercise so that they will not be a burden to their hospitals. As it turns out, the course he was running was nearly identical in time and location to ours. Everyday, we would hear how we was staying at the hotel next door or paying off ‘challenges’ because he reached a donation goal. Finally, on the last day, we waited for him to pass. The crowds filled with fans and bubbled with anticipation until it exploded with joy at his passing. We passed by the entourage on our bike and waved to the fans lining the road for the next. They just smiled and waved back, happy to be part of the day.
We found this same level of service glamping with Elephant Hills in Khao Sok. The two tours paired so well in service level, cost/day, and logistic continuity we found a way to packaged them together in a 13-day Thailand eco-adventure that we are really proud of.
6 – Enjoy The Sites Along The Way
One of the most beautiful things about a bike is that there are no walls separating you from the world around you. You can see the country roll by to the edges of your view. You can hear the sounds of the cows mooing in the fields, dogs barking (as Tick ran cover for us), monks chanting in their temples or the crowds cheering for Toon Bodyslam. You can even taste the air around you. There was the foul odor of rubber plantations, the salty ocean air, and the mouthwatering aroma of roadside food stands. I can imagine how much we could experience from our saddle if we had pounded out a hundred miles a day.
Another beauty of bikes is that you can get off them so easily. We were definitely on a ride a little, play a little pace. We started our ride in a local temple that didn’t even show up on Google Maps yet had guided Buddhas everywhere. It seemed like no sooner than we pulled away from there, we were stopping at a roadside fruit stand. We stopped at temples, rested in national parks, fed monkeys, ate from roadside stands, shopped at the morning markets and toured aquariums. These were the planned stops. We also took some unplanned stops. One time, we saw a 6 week old puppy who had lost its way. We gave it to our support driver Vinny who found its brother waiting nervously in a nearby farm house. Another time we stopped to watch a family open coconuts. Tick explained in detail how the fruit was sent to one company for processing for food, the husks to another for fiber and even the rotten coconuts for charcoal. We visited with them for quite a while. They offered us fresh coconut to eat and drink and we gave the little kids snacks from our packs.Thai kids are so cute. Even the littlest one was helping with the family harvest and she immediately packed her sugary treat away for later.
7 – Savor The Food
First off, Thai food in Thailand is amazing and that is not counting for the fresh tropical fruits or mango sticky rice from roadside vendors but…… We weren’t just having any old Thai food. Tick has done this tour many times and we always got the best dishes from the best, local restaurants. Near Prachuap Khiri Khan, we pulled into a beachfront eatery with no english name that looked like nothing more than a shack. Inside, we were eating 2 tables over from the famous Thai comedian Nod Udom, who was in town to support his friend Toon Bodyslams charity run. It was no wonder he was here because the crab curry was to die for. In Chumphon, we ate at Prikhorn, which is Lonely Planet’s number 1 restaurant for the province. Every place was curated for a culinary adventure. We were certain they were trying to fatten us up.
A bike tour is no place for a diet. Besides missing out, you need the energy to perform and recover. We estimate that we spent about 1500 calories a day riding, so we earned our treats. Tick made his job easy by putting food in our belly and water in our hands. Even on our rest stops he made sure there were cookies, fruit and tea in front of us. We never went without
8 – Utilize The SAG Wagon
Where would we have been without Vinny driving the support van? Besides the obvious, carting our own bags and leaving a lost puppy abandoned on the side of the road. The bikes were in fine shape but having available amenities made everything so much better. On Jenn’s grueling day four, Vinny was there with cold towels and surplus water. We had so much water available we could spray her down every ten minutes as we rode from our water bottles to keep her cool. We could switch out which camera gear we wanted for whatever reason or grab a fresh bottle of sunscreen. I could only imagine how useful SAG could be if it rained.
Hate to admit it, but one time we actually put our bikes in the van and hopped in. The sun was setting and we here an hour out from our hotel. We would have made it with a little time to spare, but we saw the glowing temple on the top of the hill, and we wanted to explore it. In no time, we had our bikes loaded up and drove up the hill towards Wat Tang Sai Temple near Baan Grood. Wat Tang Sai Temple turned out to be our favorite temple in Thailand including all of Bangkok and Chiang Mai. The contrast between the Golden Buddha and blue sky was sublime. The dragons snaking up the hillside was awesome and the views out to the ocean went on forever. We never would have seen this without driving, and I wouldn’t be the fastest rider in Thailand on that section if I had to peddle my bike up that hill. Strava doesn’t lie, but it does get confused sometimes when certain people leave it running.
9 – Recover At Night
The hotels we stayed at were nothing short of gorgeous. At the Trishawa Resort in Prachuap Khiri Khan, we had a private pool on our balcony that overlooked the ocean. In Baan Grood at the Arcadia Hotel, we had a poolside villa. The beds were sublime, and quality Thai massage was available at every location for $10//90 minutes. We did that more than once. A good massage more than made up for the strange lack of hot tubs in Thailand. Perhaps, they don’t see the need to heat water in a tropical country. Even the little pools you would expect to be hot were not, never did stop surprising us.
Apart from the luxuries, there was necessary recovery too. We had a stretching session every night to keep our hamstrings loose and our backs limber. We avoided heavy drinking, no matter how yummy the rum drinks sounded, and pounded the water instead. Maybe we’re showing our age, but I could imagine a night of bad choices making the next day a living hell.
10 – Approach Each Mile With An Attitude Of Gratitude
You have no reason to be riding if you’re not having fun. You can put your bike in the SAG wagon anytime you want and hop in the van. Every pedal is for you. Every breath is a chance to smell something new. Every turn gives new view. Every stop is earned (perhaps not the Wat Tang Sai Temple but…) Besides, if you weren’t riding, you couldn’t eat all that Thai food guilt free. In fact, like so many adventures, the ultimate success or failure comes down to you and your attitude.
We are excited to share our journey with you
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An awesome article filled with tidbits interesting and informative information for me to use on my next Thailand trip. I never thought you could arrange such a phenomenal bike ride so I thank you for bringing that to the Forefront. I will definitely use this company and I look forward to some fantastic biking!
Thank you so much for taking the time to comment. Our bike trip was one of the highlights of our time in Thailand, and we cannot recommend that mode of travel enough. We also highly recommend Grasshopper, they really did an amazing job and treated us right!
Such a great idea! Visiting a new place by bike is definitely a great experience! Bonus: You can even stay fit on the road! Your recommendations are great! Thanks!
Absolutely, glad you liked it and thanks for stopping by.
Bike tours are the best way to explore a city. I’ll have to check out Grasshopper Tours the next time I’m in Thailand.
We would highly recommended! They do a wide variety of tours ranging from seven day, to a few hours. They even do a night-time Bangkok one that looks like a lot of fun!
Some great planning tips for the first timer. The hot and humid weather looks a challenge as where we cycle is usually quite cold and wet.
Having time to see the sites is good and of course, the food!
We were really lucky that was overcast for 2.5 of the 4 days! When the sun came out is was brutal…for me! Ed and Tick were cruising along just fine, laughing at me!
SO COOL. I did a motorcycle tour of Vietnam which was amazing, but biking seems like an even better way to really get to know a country, and WOW — you really figured out the parts to make it fabulous! Your guide sounds awesome, too.
He was amazing! Really a big part of what made it special for us.
What an inspiration- I couldn’t cycle 5 miles a day let alone 50! I completely understand why by day 5 Jenn was exhausted. Sounds like a fab trip though, and so glad you enjoyed!
The great thing about cycling is that it is something that I truly believe everyone can do. It is pretty easy on the joints, and a wonderful way to see the world. The muscle that needs to be strongest I have found is perseverance. As long as you have the discipline to keep your rear on the bike and your legs moving, you can travel distances you had no idea you were capable of.
Awesome tips. They will come handy as I haven’t done a bike tour before and I really thinking about it.
You should definitely do it! Can’t recommend it enough. Just make sure you remember are tips and come prepared 🙂
Yesssss! I’ve also done a couple bike tours in Thailand. Love this and added a few spots for my next time there. Thanks!
Thank you! Glad you enjoyed the post! What type of tours did you do? What were your favorites?
It seems you’ve done a fair share of riding through Thailand, and it shows in a well-rounded guide for beginners. Do you have any tips for a favorite route through the land of smiles?
This was our first trip to Thailand, so we don’t have a lot of experience as far as favorite routes go, Our guide Tick told us that the route we were on, he really enjoyed riding from Bangkok to Phuket, and riding up north to Chiang Mai. We have the maps for each days individual ride on Strava if you’re interested give us a shout via email: [email protected] . They are not super detailed since they were recorded off-line, but they do give the general route. On our specific route, day two and three were my absolute favorite!
I agree that the guide makes a huge difference. First, if you’re doing a multi-day trip you have to spend time with this person every day. You want them to be both fun and knowledgeable. And their tips can make or break your trip. It’s not much fun for anyone when the guide is stiff and monotone.
We definitely agree with you! All of the things we learned about Thai culture and history we learned in conversations over amazing meals or out pounding out the miles really made the experience special.
This sounds like such an amazing adventure! I’m not sure I could do 5 days of cycling, especially in the heat, but kudos to you guys for completing it. Tick sounds like a godsend, and you’re right – a great guide makes a massive difference!
I bet you could! All it takes is a strong will and a tough bootie 😉 (A good guide doesn’t hurt)
OOOH this bike tour sounds like a lot of fun. I love doing bike tours in any new place! Great post!
It was a blast! Great to hear you are also one with the bike 😉
Pretty awesome! I haven’t done any bike tours in Thailand but might on my next trip! I agree that guides can make or break a situation. We had a fantastic guide en route to Ha Long Bay this past spring, but the first time I went the guide was more interested in getting everyone wasted than talking about the history of the area.
That sounds like a potentially painful, yet amusing situation! After a while I am sure the novelty would subside if you are there for the multitude of other reasons, besides getting wasted.
I salute you! I’ve been to Thailand and every time I saw cyclists all I could think of was the intense heat! I actually really enjoy cycling but I don’t think I could do it for many days in a row. You seem to have had a great time though!
It was one of our most memorable experiences in country.
I have never even considered a bike tour…I don’t know how long it would take me to get in shape for one! But, I can see the appeal. My husband rides a motorbike and I ride on the back. You feel so much closer to the sites that way than when you ride in a car. I imagine that it is even more so on a bicycle! Even though I would not be cycling….that massage sound fantastic!!
The massages were awesome! We were really lucky that our first experience doing traditional Thai massage in Thailand, and Ed’s first time ever having a Thai massage was really a top notch experience. That massage actually became the marker to which all other Thai massages on our trip we’re judged. Unfortunately none quite measured up.
How COOL! I honestly didn’t even know you could do a bike tour in Thailand! This is now officially on my bucket list. Loved the specifics on each day!
You should check it out! Grasshopper runs tour all over Southeast Asia, in fact.
Great tips and an amazing way to experience a country. I would love to try that, as I assume it gives you a very different perspective on what you see, but I don’t think I could do it. It would probably take half a year of training to at least try to think about it.
You will be amazed to find out what you could do if you set your mind to it. You can get into cycling shape quicker then you may think 😉
Bike tours looks really interesting.. I enjoy cycling so this would my kinda thing. Looks like loads of fun.
Once you do one, you will want to do many more…..they are like the Pringles of tours 🙂
That picture with the monkey made me laugh!! Not sure a bike tour is for me, I get out of breath after about ten minutes but looks like you had an awesome time! And it does look like a beautiful way to see the country.
That monkey cracked us up as well!! It was so awesome to interact with those little fellas!
So interesting and useful information. I have a friend who loves to bike around all the terrains and has covered most of India on bike. I am going to send your post to him as a gift 🙂
Thank you so much for the support! We are glad you like the post-enough to send it forward to your friend. We hope he enjoys it as well and it inspires him to take another journey.
My Dad just got back from touring in Cuba, and he’s trying to convince me to get on my bike to tour somewhere with him. Thailand has always been at the top of my list, so why not bike it? Would you recommend it for biking novices? Thank you !
Absolutely! I would definitely do your training before-hand, but if you follow all of our suggestion points, you should be ready to go. I would give yourself at least a month and make sure you can comfortably ride a few days in a row, and can achieve the max daily distance in your training rides. Good luck to you, a trip like this with your dad will be one that you both will remember for years to come!
I live in suburban New Jersey close to New York and Philadelphia, so I absolutely love the whole bike-sharing thing and exploring the cities with just bikes. It’s a great substitute for walking for sure ;P Great work on putting together such a comprehensive guide for this bike tour!
Thank you! We are beginning to get more bike sharing available here in San Diego, and it is awesome!
Great tips! I road bike for fun when I am not traveling, I am going to keep this in mind when I book my next trip to Thailand it sounds like an amazing experience.
You would love it! You can do road bike trips up to 7 days! There are lots of great trips to choose from.
I love your tips! Specially about choosing the right guide for getting to know the best spots of the city! Do you know any good one for Cambodia?
If you are interested in cycling Cambodia, Grasshopper runs several different trips there 🙂
Great advice, especially for first-time travelers. I agree as far as picking the right Tour Company. I think a good tour can definitely add to your awesome experience when visiting a new place.
I dream of visiting Thailand. Now, I hope to bike around town.
Happy Travels 🙂
Thank you so much for stopping by! If you can dream it you can make it happen 😀
I have never even heard of a bicycle tour. Not sure I’m up for it but, it looked as if you went to some amazing places and yes a great guide can make all of the difference. Glad you had a great time.
If you are interested in touring on wheels, you can can try a Segway Tour. I have not been on one yet, but they offer them here in San Diego and I hear they are fun!
I’ve never tried bike tour, but it seems like a great way to explore the destination! I can’t believe your cycle tour lasted 4 days! I think one day would be enough for me 😛
A one day bike tour is a great place to start to see if you like them 🙂
Thailand is such a lovely country with so many treasures to see and experience. A bike tour would be a great way to get an immersive experience of the land. It is a great opportunity to get close to the place.
You are absolutely correct! Seeing it by bike definately brings you into the area much more intimately
I know that motorbiking is popular there but I didn’t realise pedal biking was too so I found this a really interesting post! Thank you 🙂
We are glad you enjoyed the post. Maybe you might be enticed to try a cycling tour in the future, you can start with a 1 day-er….. 😉
I feel weird saying this but I don’t know how to ride a bike. I have planned to learn and cancelled. Reading this has surely motivated me to learn riding. Seems like the best way to explore a city.
If you start with a bike that you can touch the ground when sitting in the seat it will be much easier to learn and you will feel more safe. Once you are comfortable on a bike you will want to raise the seat to save your knees, but you would be there within the week I am sure! Good Luck!!
These are great tips! I don’t know if I could do five days of cycling but it looks like fun!
It really is fun! You could start out slow just riding every other day and soon you’ll be trained up to be able to ride multiple days. Definitely worth it!
Thank you for the detailed guide! Now I’m ready for biking in Thailand. I like the “attitude of gratitude” part – I think we should approach most things in life like this! Happy biking!
We are glad that you caught that and appreciate it. It is something that we both work on on a daily basis, remembering what we are grateful for. It is also something that we’ve worked hard to instill in Ed’s daughter. I believe that if you approach things with an attitude of gratitude, it is much easier to be happy and find joy not only in the situation, but in your life 🙂
Whilst i don’t normally book trips through a tour company and opt to plan them myself, I can definitely see the advantage of doing this for a cycling trip. Honestly, I’m not sure I’m fit enough for a tour like this but it certainly sounds awesome. So thank you for the very detailed guide. This is incredibly useful.
If you plan it far enough ahead and stick to a training schedule you would absolutely be fit enough!
These are great tips! I never took a “proper” bike tour, but I did do one by myself, and I think I got a bit ahead of myself. My legs felt like jelly afterwards, but it was one of the most fun experiences I’ve ever had! I now recommend doing a bike tour in every city you visit, it’s a different way to see the city!
It is definitely a more intimate way to experience an area.
Okay yea no there’s no way I can do this- because of the heat and humidity! I love how you put quotations around “travelers” haha. I’ll have to agree with you, a good guide makes ALL the difference in the world. How else would we find out about the tips and tricks that only locals know without a good guide? Tick sounds like a true MVP.
Tick was amazing! We got lucky in that it was overcast and not too hot for three of the four days, make that Jenn got really lucky, LOL!
How great to discover you guys also like to go bike riding while traveling! I did this for first time a few months ago here in the US and loved! Your tour was way more intense though… For me, it’s all about the seating! hahaha
A good seat can take you far in life 😉
Nice post. I learn something new and challenging on websites
I stumbleupon everyday. It will always be useful to
read articles from other writers and practice something from their sites.
We agree 100%!
I couldn’t resist commenting. Perffectly written!
Thank you! We are glad you enjoyed the post! We have more on Thailand coming out soon!
Thailand is a great place for riding cycle.
Can’t wait to go thailand again.
Where did you go in Thailand and, most important, did you get to ride there?
We absolutely loved exploring Thailand by bike, it was the highlight of our trip!