Difficulty Grades Cycling

The guidelines below should give you a general idea of what to expect from your adventure holiday. Mind that hiking and cycling times and distances are strongly affected by the steepness of terrain and elevation change i.e. a 10 km easy hike may take 3 hours along a fairly flat route but a 10 km moderate hike up and downhill over steeper terrain may take 5-6 hours. Therefore if in doubt it is better to refer to both time and distance when provided.

EASY: Relaxed cycling, ideal for beginners and for families looking for a cycling adventure. You will have plenty of time to relax en-route with short cycling days and not many uphills, the terrain being mostly flat. Cycling distance is typically up to 35 km per day.

EASY TO MODERATE: Perfect for the occasional rider: mostly Easy but may include longer Moderate stretches on some days on generally flat terrain with some occasional moderate uphill/downhill sections. Cycling distance is typically between 25 and 55 km per day.

MODERATE: Suitable for more regular cyclists who have an active lifestyle. Moderate grade itineraries include longer cycling days and steeper ascents and descents. May include longer stretches of uphill climbs and descents or a number of shorter steeper uphill and downhill sections along the route. Cycling distance is typically between 45 and 75 km per day.

MODERATE TO STRENUOUS: Suitable for very active cyclists with an excellent level of fitness looking for more demanding and challenging cycling. Moderate to strenuous itineraries involve extended steep ascents and descents along routes. Cycling distance is typically between 65 and 85 km per day.

STRENUOUS: These are challenging itineraries, great for keen cyclists who have solid long-distance cycling experience over multiple days and are in perfect shape. These are typically road cycling tours. Cycling distance is typically over 85 km per day.

Mixed Grades: Certain holidays combine options for different routes on some or all days i.e. it is possible to choose either an easy or a moderate hike. These are presented with a distinctive colour scheme – the example here shows a holiday that as a whole can be graded either as MODERATE or MODERATE TO STRENUOUS depending on the options chosen for each walking day.