I'm planning to spend a couple of weeks next May touring somewhere in Europe. Because I'm always evangelizing about how wonderful bike touring is, I've tentatively convinced some family members to tag along. It will be a credit card tour since I'm the only one of the bunch who enjoys sleeping in a tent, but we'll each be carrying our own clothing, toiletries, etc. 

My question is this:  Because some of the others in the group are very inexperienced cyclists, especially on hills, where is a very flat, but beautiful/interesting place to ride? We'll be doing about 30-35 miles/50 km a day so no one will be exhausted, and also be able to do some sightseeing at the end of the day.  Five days of riding, then a rest day, then five days of riding. Preferably circular, because bikes on trains adds another element none of us are familiar with, but it's a consideration.

I'm currently thinking about Amsterdam to Bruges to Antwerp to Amsterdam, but am open to other suggestions.

Not a loop but along the Danube from Vienna toward Budapest is fairly flat as the route follows alongside the river. Fairly frequent towns and pleasant enough riding.

The Loire Valley of France is one of the classic beginner cycle tour areas. Chateaux overload is a risk but otherwise a wonderful area to introduce people to the joys of cycle travel. 

I’ve stolen this itinerary from a commercial tour group as a sample route.

I was thinking of the Danube too.  It’s not only flat, but it’s technically pretty easy.  We first rode it, westbound, 25 years ago and we’re amazed by the bike traffic - we were passing people of all ages, three generation families on tour and so on, all day long.  It’s not a loop though, so you’d need a plan for getting back to the start.

Hi,

The Burgundy canals offer a circular route, but I’m not sure how much time it would take. Ten days would be adequate for me, but you may have more roses to smell.

Cheers,

Keith

When I rode it a few years back it was an easy task to bring the bikes on the train from Budapest back to Vienna.

我推荐骑行莱茵河,也就是EV15 .除了阿尔卑斯山的的100公里大下坡要控制速度骑行,以便保证安全外,从库尔(库尔)开始到鹿特丹都是平路和缓下坡。特别适合第一次骑行。一路城市风光和自然风光都好,第一次家庭骑行建议从库尔或博斯腾湖边开始骑行。一路到大西洋。

I like the idea of the Danube. "Fairly frequent towns and pleasant enough riding" sounds like my kind of tour!   Thanks for responding.

Thanks for the suggestion, Graham, and have fun on your tour!

I know you have a lot of experience, and really appreciate the input. Thanks!