Touring on foot or by bike

Niall McIlroy surveys some of the options for slow-pace cycling and walking tours, both at home and overseas.

Whether exploring on foot or by bicycle, there are itineraries that span the globe. Not all at once, of course. Bite-sized is best when travelling under your own steam - active travel is great but it's best when you have time to stop, absorb and enjoy.

The beauty of the huge range of packages is that they've been carefully crafted, graded by difficulty or fitness required, and made manageable with a comfortable place to rest for the night and take breakfast in the morning. Some, especially longer-distance bike trips, have a bus or van supplied to carry your luggage, mechanics available and meal stops mapped out.

I have toured Vietnam by bicycle, and left with a real sense of having experienced the country. It felt like a friendship rather than a brief acquaintance. The 15-day cycling tour took us through big cities, whirling with excitement and colour, to monolithic landmarks such as Ho Chi Minh's tomb and a pho noodle soup restaurant where Bill Clinton ate. But the moments I most value were spent pedalling through hamlets hundreds of years old, on crumbling tracks inaccessible to cars - off-limits to most travellers.

There, it was us on show - we were the novelties. Uniformed schoolchildren heading to and from class laughed and shouted and cheered us on, families ran from their houses to wave, smile and ask us in to share a meal. Boys held civet cats, children clambered in the trees, market chicks flapped in wicker baskets near piglets sleeping in cages.

Lunch and dinner were always fresh, a local recipe, home-cooked and delicious - and always fit for a president. This felt like a journey through a way of life rather than a packaged tour.

That it is one of World Expeditions most popular tours is no surprise. In 2015, it leaves at least once a month from Hanoi - a good frequency for a two-week tour - and is packed with experiences.

After sightseeing in the Vietnamese capital, there's a cycle to Ninh Binh and then a complete change of pace with a one-night junk cruise among the ethereal karst shapes and old sea villages on Halong Bay. A sleeper train trip on the Reunification Express ends in the old capital Hue, a great place for a leisurely cycle from the imposing Forbidden City to Tu Doc's royal tomb.

Hoi An on the mid-Vietnam coast is a well-preserved old port and bustling trading town - another intriguing ride - easy-paced, with sparse traffic.

Into the highlands, the tour meanders through coffee and rubber plantations into small, remote villages home to cultures such as the Mnong who live in longhouses. There's a welcome downhill ride and then a couple of days spent in the growing beachside resort town of Nha Trang before a short flight to Ho Chi Minh City for sightseeing and a visit to the notorious Cu Chi Tunnels.

The first few days are lighter on cycling, allowing travellers to get accustomed to the humid climate and the tour is best for those with a reasonable level of fitness. A comfortable air-conditioned coach is never far away for those who'd like to rest the legs. The package costs from $2690 and includes airport transfers, all accommodation, 21-gear bicycles, water, snacks and fruit, the internal flight and train travel in sleeper carriages, guide and sightseeing. All breakfasts, 10 lunches and eight dinners are included. My fellow travellers were from the Eastern States, England and Canada - all of us got on well and, on nights when dinner wasn't provided, we searched out restaurants and ate together.

UTracks is another World Expeditions company and specialises in self-guided walking and cycling trips through Europe.

Travellers choose a package including accommodation and receive detailed route notes and maps with support from local operators if they need any assistance. And because it's self-guided, the pace is very much up to the participants. If they see somewhere they like they can linger - or skip the parts that don't hold as much interest. Luggage is transported to the next night's lodging so travellers can pack light for the day out, and cycling trips include fitted 21-gear bikes, helmets, panniers and instructions. Accommodation can be in a country inn, a guesthouse or a bed and breakfast - they are chosen for comfort and convenience.

In 2015, there are 340 itineraries to choose from in UTracks Active Europe program.

Thirty of these are new, with more options for walkers on the Santiago De Camino pilgrimage through Spain, France and Portugal, a family adventure through Rome and the Amalfi Coast. All the old favourites are there, too, with three different Cinque Terre itineraries: guided, independent, and another that spends longer in the five villages.

In northern Europe, there's a new itinerary along Norway's third largest fjord. The six-day package, rated moderate to challenging, operates every Wednesday from May 27-August 26, round trip from the west coast city of Bergen.

A train ride ends inland at Voss where there's an overnight stay then some of the most scenic cycling imaginable. The countryside is punctuated by small towns interspersed with fruit orchards, snow-capped mountains in the background. A 43km cycle to Ulvik passes the Skjervefossen falls which drop some 150m. The following days include cycling along Hardangerfjord with a vista of mountains and icy glaciers and two ferry rides to give a different point of view. Over the course of the itinerary, there's about 200km of cycling, with accommodation and meals in country hotels with meals before an express boat back to Bergen. The package costs from $2250 per person.

It's almost 40 years since Peregrine Adventures' first small-group tour to Nepal. They've branched out in the decades since from the Himalayas, which, combined with India still has a dedicated catalogue, to Europe, Africa, the Middle East, Latin America, the Arctic and Antarctica. The emphasis has always been on "immersion" in a place and B&B stays rather than generic hotels, with packages divided between trekking, walking and cycling. Small-group tours are capped at 16 people and there are self-guided itineraries, too.

New for Peregrine in 2015 will be Independent Journeys - single country itineraries of say, Italy, Turkey or Morocco, tailored to one person or a couple, and Independent Experiences - multiple day stays in one city or region - packages in which time is on the traveller's side. These have many of the benefits of a group tour, without the other people; they include airport transfers, accommodation, a tour guide and can depart on any day. Choose from 14 Independent Experiences, all in Southern Europe or Morocco, including the four-day Barcelona option. From a comfortable hotel base including breakfast, there's plenty of time to see the Picasso Museum, and enjoy guided tours to the Sagrada Familia, the Gothic Quarter, the markets at La Boqueria and Gaudi's works at Park Guell. The package costs from $2780 per person.

Classic Cycling Tours is the hub for packages offered by many different tour providers.

From a 45-day Paris to Moscow Napoleon Expedition to a 15-day Elephant Coast cycle from Windhoek, Namibia to Cape Town, the range is staggering.

Accommodation and other inclusions vary but most of the European cycle tours have hotel stays, maps and instructions, bikes, mechanical assistance and maintenance and airport transfers.

An eight-day self-guided Cycle the Como Region departs round-trip from Cernobbio each Saturday between March and October. It includes three nights in Cernobbio, two nights at Pian del Noci and two nights at Bellagio with breakfast daily. The trip costs around $1446.

On Foot Holidays works on a similar format; its website has independent walking holidays in 12 European countries with five difficulty gradings.

Travellers start their holiday any day of the week and have their luggage transported to the included accommodation each day. An eight-night Rhine Castles trek includes bed and breakfast accommodation, three picnics and one evening meal and costs from around $1177. It stretches from Bingen to Koblenz, past 20 castles and through villages such as Kaub, Bacharach, St Goar, Boppard and Rhens, with between three and a half and six hours walking each day. On Foot Holidays also supplies maps and advice on where to eat and what to say along the way.

Closer to home, there are great treks in every State.

Remote, spectacular, well- maintained but not too taxing during the cooler months, the Larapinta Trail is one of the world's great walks. A division of World Expeditions, Australian Walking Holidays, has a six-day Classic Larapinta Trek which heads west from the Alice Springs Telegraph Station along the ridgeline of the MacDonnell Ranges to Standley Chasm, Ormiston Gorge and Mt Sonder.

The trek operates between April and October and includes meals, a professional wilderness guide and support staff, camping equipment, five nights exclusive semi-permanent campsites comprising safari tents, stretcher beds, swags and hot showers, all national park and Aboriginal traditional owner fees, first aid kit and off-road transport. It costs from $2195 for an April 5 departure.

Tasmanian Expeditions has a six-day trek on the Overland Track with weekly roundtrip departures from Launceston. It takes walkers into the ruggedly beautiful Tasmanian Wilderness around Cradle Mountain and Lake St Clair. There are treks to Lake Windermere, Pelion Plains, Mount Ossa, Kia Ora and Windy Ridge, and daily food drops keep hikers' backpacks light. Priced from $1995, the guided trek includes five breakfasts, six lunches and five dinners, national park fees, an Overland Track permit, tents, a backpack, sleeping bag, mat and sheet, group camping equipment, emergency communications and a group first aid kit.

There's no need to fly anywhere to enjoy an easy-paced break.

In our own backyard the Bibbulmun Track covers nearly 1000km from Kalamunda to Albany, through forest and fields and along the coast. The Bibbulmun Track Foundation offers eight Bibbulmun Walking Breaks comprised of two-night, three-day walks with comfortable stays in some of the great bed and breakfasts in towns along the route. Examples include Perth Hills, Dwellingup, Collie River Valley, Balingup and the Blackwood Valley, Pemberton karri kingdom, Northcliffe - centre of the southern forests, Walpole and the tingle forest - and Denmark and the coast. Travellers get accommodation and meals, drop-offs and pick-ups from accommodation to the track, and day-walk map packs. Packages start from $420 per person while individual itineraries can be devised from around $182 per person.

The South West corner of WA is blessed with beautiful coast, perfect for a trekking break and a number of groups offer walking holidays on the Cape to Cape Track that meanders for 135km along the ridge between Cape Naturaliste and Cape Leeuwin. Many itineraries are comprised of a bite-sized section, but with comfortable accommodation, a walk along the entire length of the trail is enjoyable for most travellers.

Local company Travel with Me has a fully escorted nine-day walk from Cape Naturaliste to Cape Leeuwin from October 3-11.

The package includes self-contained deluxe accommodation, transfers from Perth and Mandurah and to and from the track each day, trip notes and maps, three dinners, packed lunch for all six walking days, a Margaret River winery tour and lunch, brunch on the beach in Busselton on the way back home. It costs from $2350 per person, twin-share, with three single rooms available for a surcharge.

Cape to Cape Explorer Tours has multi-day walks and in May, September and October, 2015, will offer seven-day packages with accommodation in Margaret's Beach Resort. Walks are split up into sections of between 14 and 22km visiting varied terrain such as Smiths Beach and Boranup Forest with return transfers from Perth, transfers to the track, meals including packed lunches and a Japanese degustation dinner. The package costs from $2550 per person.

This felt like a journey through a way of life rather than a packaged tour.

Enjoy an urban sojourn

Longer regional and city stays are also increasing in popularity, allowing travellers to get a feel for a destination that they might otherwise only catch a glimpse of on a coach tour.

Monograms, part of the Globus group, offers independent packages in Europe. All the logistics are taken care of; travellers simply nominate their dates and turn up. Hotels are central to attractions and travellers have the services of a local host who supplies, maps and advice, can answer questions, give tips on shopping and restaurants, organise excursions (these can also be booked and paid for from home) and take guests sightseeing. Transfers are included, as are breakfasts. Single-city stays in, for example, Budapest, last four days (from $669), a multi-city combo of Barcelona and Madrid could last seven days (from $1933) or take a two-week package to explore London and Paris (from $2435).

Insight Vacations has an Easy Pace collection that includes a minimum of three nights in each destination but it is the City Break tours that allow travellers to explore at their own speed. A seven-day London Week package includes a half-day sightseeing the West End and there are four full days of free time. Prices vary but a stay in April 2015 costs from $1165 per person and includes six nights at the Thistle Marble Arch. insightvacations.com/au and 1300 237 886.