As you age, travelling doesn’t need to stop – New Zealand offers fantastic destinations for senior travellers!
With some careful planning, you can find an unforgettable trip tailored to your ability. Below are some of the top biker tours for seniors in New Zealand; these offers provide an unforgettable experience of this beautiful country!
Hawke’s Bay Trails
New Zealand’s North Island lures visitors with soaring peaks, deep forests and lakes that defy Instagram filters – but its charm goes much beyond spectacular trails and bubbling geysers – it offers world-class wine, delicious cuisine and welcoming hospitality that are hard to match!
Discover New Zealand’s North Island on foot or bike. Whether it be an easy stroll or thrilling suspension bridge, New Zealand’s Great Walks will satisfy your curiosity.
Explore Hawke’s Bay on your own cycling tour with a focus on wineries. Start in Hastings where you will pick up bike rental, helmet rental and winery map at Ash Ridge Wines before setting out across Hawke’s Bay’s river trails and vineyards on an independent journey.
On this tour, you’ll pedal 12 miles (21 km) comfortably while visiting wineries and sampling their wines at each location. Stop at Abbey Cellars, Alpha Domus, Sileni Estates, Ngatarawa Estate and Trinity Hill Winery to sample some of New Zealand’s finest vintages.
Sunrise Hut offers stunning panoramic views of both the Pacific Ocean and its surrounding mountains, making this 20-bunk hut popular with hikers – so arrive early if possible to secure yourself a place.
West Coast Trail
At New Zealand’s rugged West Coast, this off-road trail showcases one of the country’s most dramatic natural landscapes. Enjoy driftwood-strewn beaches, dense rain forests, pristine rivers lakes and wetlands – with snow-capped Southern Alps providing a picturesque backdrop.
Explore West Coast history as you ride ancient Maori pounamu (greenstone) trails, old logging railways, and former railway bridges as part of this Great Ride. Along your journey you can expect local hospitality such as cafes, accommodation and visitor attractions as you take this extraordinary experience on two wheels or take it in smaller sections over four days or take shorter sections at your own pace – whatever suits you best, you are certain to leave feeling completely inspired!
The West Coast Wilderness Trail is an easy cycle route between Greymouth and Ross on South Island’s West Coast, designed to fully immerse cyclists into its beauty, culture and history.
Highlights of this trail include visiting Kumara’s newly restored Theatre Royal pub; Cowboy Paradise, a replica Wild West town that’s perfect for sheltering from sudden bursts of rain; and taking pictures at Hokitika beach’s iconic driftwood sign. Furthermore, as this trail passes by multiple Native Reservations be sure to respect their boundaries and stay on the trail!
Alps 2 Ocean
This incredible tour takes you on an incredible ride through the iconic Alps 2 Ocean cycle trail, passing under snow-capped peaks and glaciers, through sparkling glacial lakes, stunning braided rivers, and incredible waterfalls to reach Pacific Ocean. No matter whether it is road cycling or off-road riding that appeals to you, this scenic bike tour will delight everyone involved.
Many cyclists who traverse Alps 2 Ocean do so through a tour company, which offers rental bikes, accommodation booking, meals, luggage transfer, and guided portions of the journey with experienced guides handling logistics while you pedal and admire the views.
As well as mountain biking, this tour allows visitors to visit a lavender farm and view Maori rock art. Furthermore, this journey crosses lower Waitaki Valley’s vineyard-rich lower Waitaki Valley before visiting Elephant Rocks, tunnel and railway park before finally ending up at Oamaru on the Pacific Ocean shores.
As you cycle through New Zealand’s stunning Alps, you will be mesmerized by towering mountain vistas, high country basins and charming alpine villages. Additionally, you will experience a scenic helicopter flight to Tasman Glacier as well as welcoming high country hospitality from local guides – making your time spent here unforgettable! It will leave lasting memories for years to come.
Old Ghost Trail
Mountain bikers love Old Ghost Road as it traverses ancient forest and rugged high alpine terrain on both old bench-cut and machine-built tracks, providing an epic mountain biking adventure through old forest and varied high alpine terrain. As one of the world’s toughest trails, this trail requires riders with some level of backcountry experience to ride safely.
Trail Rider starts in dense native bush and slowly climbs a series of tight single track and exposure sections until reaching the misty high alpine ridgeline, where riders will encounter tight single track. Over time, this trail has been created using dynamite, helicopters and gravel crushers; nonetheless, riders still require good fitness levels as well as technical mountain biking skills to navigate it successfully.
There are countless impressive podocarp trees, such as giant kahikatea and matai trees with circumferences up to 1.5 metres, which have been spared from logging by their remote location. Old Ghost Road is considered one of New Zealand’s Great Rides as part of Nga Haerenga New Zealand Cycle Trails.
As with any backcountry adventure, it’s essential to bring along appropriate gear and understand your abilities. Make sure your bike is balanced and maintained regularly and carry a repair kit; sharing your itinerary with someone trusted is also advised; MSC’s free Plan My Walk app offers walking/tramping planning tools like gear lists, weather forecasts and trip plans that you can share with friends or family members.