Plan your trip
Guided or self-guided? The honest answer.
We offer both, depending on the experience you’re after. Here’s the real difference.
What never changes
Whichever way you ride with us: the beds are booked and they are good ones, your bags travel ahead so you ride light, the bikes are quality and fitted to you, the routes are the ones we would ride ourselves, and you get the truth about every trail before you book.
Guided: the crew comes with you
A guided tour means an experienced guide riding with you on the trails and a support driver keeping the vehicle close by, every day, for the whole tour. In practice that buys four things. Company: a small group, twelve at most, that usually feels like friends by the second dinner. Optionality: the van means any hill, any afternoon, any whole day is skippable, no explanations needed. Depth: the guide knows every bend, every story and every good pie between Christchurch and the coast. And weightlessness: from the welcome dinner to the farewell one, nobody in your party is the one doing the organising. Our guided tours run on e-bikes as standard, on fixed departure dates, with a minimum of six riders.
They are: Alps, Valleys & Lakes > and Wilderness, Coastlines & Vines >
Self-guided: the freedom comes with backup
A self-guided tour means the logistics are ours and the day is yours. You start any day between October and April that accommodation allows, rather than a fixed departure. You ride at exactly your pace: dawn starts or long brunches, nobody is waiting and nobody is being waited for. It works from two people, so a couple is a complete tour. And it costs less, because you are not paying for a crew. You are also the navigator and the flat-fixer, the trails are well marked and our notes are thorough, and the depot team is a phone call away throughout.
The range runs from the Little River day trip > through the West Coast Wilderness >, the Otago Triple Treat > and both Alps 2 Ocean versions, the Otago Central Rail Trail 3 day > and the 4 day >, the Alps 2 Ocean 8 day> and the Alps 2 Ocean Classic>, with multi-day tours and e-bike upgrades available on every one.
Why the prices differ, plainly
Guided costs more because more comes with you: two professionals, a Mercedes support vehicle, e-bikes as standard, most meals, a curated itinerary that selects the best parts of multiple trails and ten days of somebody else doing every piece of thinking. Self-guided costs less because you bring the navigation and the pace-setting yourself, and plenty of riders genuinely prefer it that way. Neither is the budget-shaped version of the other: they are different holidays that happen to share trails, and the honest question is not which is cheaper but which one you will still be talking about in five years.
Choose guided if:
The idea of a van nearby changes how brave you feel: that is precisely what it is for.
You want company at dinner and stories on the trail, and you like the sound of a group that starts as strangers.
You are the one who always ends up organising things, and you would rather not be, just once.
Your dates can meet a departure calendar, and a set itinerary reads as relaxing rather than restricting.
Choose self-guided if:
Your dates are your own and you want to start on a Tuesday because it is your anniversary.
Riding as a two feels like the whole point.
You are comfortable reading a map, fixing the odd flat, and calling the pace yourself.
The lower price frees up the e-bike upgrade, the extra night, or the next trip.
The questions we get asked
One of us is keen and one of us is nervous. Which way should we go?
This is the most common question we get, and there are two good answers. Guided, because the van makes every section optional for the nervous one while the keen one rides every metre: you holiday together without compromising either. Or self-guided with the e-bike upgrade for the nervous rider, which flattens the effort gap between you on the spot. If you tell us which trails are calling, we will give you a straight recommendation.
Can we mix the two, or switch once we have booked?
They are separate products with separate rhythms, so not mid-tour. Before departure, talk to us: if a switch makes your trip better and the calendar allows it, we will do our best to make it work.
I am travelling solo. Which suits me?
Guided is the natural fit: the group is ready-made company, and if you are happy to share we will try to pair you with another solo rider, which saves the single supplement. Self-guided needs a minimum of two, so solo riders ride guided with us.
Is self-guided safe if something goes wrong?
Our depot team is only a phone call away throughout your ride, and your bikes are equipped with the basic repair essentials. On self-guided tours, riders should be comfortable handling minor issues along the way, including changing a flat tyre. Think of it as riding independently with a safety net, should you need one.
You know your answer, or you are one conversation away
