Hire or Fly With Your Bike?
Taking your bike on a plane opens up a whole world (literally) of cycling holiday destinations. People sometimes ask me at airports, when they see me with my bike, why I don't just hire when I reach my destination. There are many reasons, the main one being that I'm most comfortable on my own bike and comfort matters if you are riding for several hours a day. Another big advantage is that flights are often sold as singles rather than returns nowadays, and that is ideal if you are planning a linear trip as you can fly into one airport and out of another one some distance away. Organising one-way bike hire is not so easy, and traveling back to the bike hire shop by train just wastes valuable holiday time. And let's not forget cost -- the longer your bike tour, the more likely it will work out cheaper to take a bicycle rather than hire one. But flying with a bike can be quite a hassle, and for periods of a week or less it may make sense to leave it at home. When planning a c...