Mountainbiking and Cycling (Tours)

Especially in summertime there are quite a lot of tourists biking through New Zealand. It is a popular country to bike in because of its relatively easy accessible Drinking Water, its choice of (cheap) Accommodation (including campsites), its uncrowdedness and its nice scenery. Another great advantage is that New Zealand is not too hot or too cold to bike in. Finally New Zealand has a landscape for every type of biker; from high steep mountains to be climbed to flat regions.

There are many tour operators offering (mountain)biking tours. It is also possible to attend a tour which will bring you uphill, in for example Christchurch’ s Port Hills (Canterbury) and you have to bike downhill only.

Some of the tramping (walking, trekking) tracks are opened for mountainbiking as well. You can check at one of the Department of Conservation offices New Zealand has. Or visit their website: http://www.doc.govt.nz. Please check otherwise you will risk getting fined. A nice tramping track opened for bikers is The Queen Charlotte Track (Marlborough & Nelson). More information about (mountain)biking in New Zealand can be found under the following link: http://www.bikenz.org.nz.

Sometimes busses will only accept your bike when there is enough space for it. Furthermore bus companies sometimes charge up to 15NZ$ per bike.

Renting a bike costs around 35NZ$ per day. Important to know: by law you must wear a Safety helmet. Besides that, for your own Safety, it is important to have reflection and a light on your bike; for during night times.