What Is Bike Touring?
Think of bike touring as a blend bike riding and backpacking. It typically involves traveling for days, weeks or months at a time on mostly paved roads with the occasional foray onto dirt or gravel (as opposed to bikepacking, which is primarily done on singletrack trails and dirt forest roads.)

There are many different ways to bike tour. You can head out on a self-supported ride where you carry all your gear and clothing with you on your bike and are prepared to camp outdoors and cook meals. Or, you can join an organized tour run by a commercial outfitter that will handle all the planning and even shuttle your overnight supplies in a car to your destination for the day, which is often a hotel. If you don’t want to go on an organized tour but aren’t up for sleeping outside and preparing meals, then do a credit card tour, where you plan your own adventure but pay for food and overnight lodging as you go.