Benefits of hiring for your family cycling holiday

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Family cycling holidays are great fun, but getting all the equipment you need to carry your kids and your kit can be time consuming and expensive. This article has kindly been sponsored by Bike Trailer Hire to share the benefits of hiring family cycling equipment such as trailers and luggage bags for your next family cycling holiday. We’ll look at what equipment you might need for different terrains, how you can get started.

A family cycling holiday is a massively broad title. You might be heading to Centre Parcs and wanting to ride around the forest with your family, or perhaps you're keen to cycle between youth hostels, taking your bikes on the ferry to Brittany like Saskia did last year or planning some epic Scottish island hopping trip. All require a sense of adventure and some kit to carry your kids, snacks, warm layers and maybe even some camping supplies.

Whatever your level of challenge and adventure, time spent outside on bikes with your family is a win in our books! And hiring can be a brilliant way to test out if you and your family like something before you invest for your next holiday.

How to plan a family cycling holiday

Decide your level of adventure: are you wanting to head to the wilderness, or a well-known accessible trail?
Duration: how long are you going for and therefore how much equipment will you need to carry?
Terrain: are you thinking of riding along quiet lanes and smooth cycle paths, or will you be venturing off the hardpack onto some bumpier tracks?

There are so many incredible routes and places to ride, so we won't attempt to solve that problem here, but head to our where to ride pages and Komoot profile for some route inspiration.

Benefits of hiring for your family cycling holiday

There’s no doubt that all of the equipment to ride together as a family can be incredibly expensive, and a huge outlay of cash when you might not even be sure if you and your kids enjoy holidays like this. They can be glamorised on social media but we won't pretend that carrying kids and all the equipment needed can be hard work, and we think that testing out if it's for you before splashing the cash is a brilliant idea!

If you're only planning occasional family bike rides and holidays, hiring equipment will enable you to change your set up as your children grow, without the expense of buying new and faff of selling old equipment. You may need a double trailer for both kids one year, the next a single trailer as the older kid is cycling independently, and then the third year just a cargo trailer for all of your equipment and no kids!

Hiring is also:

Hassle-free: Door-to-door delivery, with flexible hire periods.
Flexible: From a long weekend to a full summer season exploring.
Great for holidaymakers and overseas visitors: Hire items can be delivered straight to your accommodation, saving you the expense and faff of transporting kit in an already loaded car or on public transport.
Sustainable: Hire the product that you like… and only when you need it.
Storage-free: The rental model means you don’t have to worry about storing a bulky item away in the winter months.

And if you decide after your adventure that it was brilliant and every family holiday will now be on two wheels (we really hope so!) then Bike Trailer Hire offers a ‘try before you buy’ service, meaning if you love the kit you’re hiring you can buy it at the end of your hire period!

How to carry your kit

Whether you're planning day rides with lots of snacks and warm layers, or a multi-day family bikepacking trip with tents, sleeping bags, stoves and food, consider how much stuff you’ll need and how you’ll carry it all.

If you are using a bike trailer for carrying your kids, they often have some storage space, but for a longer family adventure you might need some additional bags. If you only have one child needing transporting in a trailer, you could consider a double trailer for extra carrying capacity within the trailer.

For an adventure on roads, lanes and smooth off-road riding, a pannier setup will work well, offering loads of carrying capacity and easy packing.

Panniers are bags that attach to a rack over your rear wheel. The Vaude Karakoram panniers that are available to hire from Bike Trailer Hire have a capacity of 65L, which is A LOT of snacks, layers, nappies and warm clothes. Bike Trailer Hire even hires out a rear rack if your bike doesn't have this on already and is compatible.

For bumpier adventures away from roads, bikepacking bags will be more suitable than panniers. Panniers have fewer attachment points and can wiggle around on uneven terrain, whereas bikepacking bags are more secure on the rough stuff.

Bike Trailer Hire has bikepacking bags available to hire, with a carrying capacity of 28L for small bikes, and 35L for medium and large bikes.

If your kids are old enough to ride independently, a Burley Nomad cargo trailer is a brilliant option for carrying everything you need to take with you.

How to carry your kids

You might have your kid-carrying setup dialed, maybe you're familiar with a rear seat, trailer or front seat, or perhaps your child is old enough to ride on their own bike.

We have a whole website full of advice on how to carry kids and get them loving cycling, but here are two brilliant options for trailers from Bike Trailer Hire.

If you have a child that isn't cycling independently yet, a trailer that you hitch to your bike is a brilliant option. Trailers keep kids sheltered from the rain and have lots of space for toys and warm layers. You can also un-hitch them from your bike and use as a buggy.

If you are planning a ride along quiet lanes and smooth trails, a trailer without suspension, such as the Burley Bee would be perfect, it also comes in a one or two child option so can suit your family set up.

If you're planning to venture off-road and onto sections of muddy or bumpy trails, then a trailer with suspension, such as the Burley D'Lite X will make it a more comfortable ride for your children.

If trailers aren't for you, check out our other towing, cargo bike and carrying kids articles.

After some family cycling holiday inspiration? Check out Alvaro's adventure with his 2 year old daughter on his Instagram page.

In 2023 he sett off from Lyme Regis, to ride along the coast all the way back to Brighton. He rode off road, self-supported, and wild camped along the way, all while pulling his 2 year old daughter in a trailer.

The route was 300km through the Jurassic Coast, Isle of Wight, New Forest and the South Downs, ending in Brighton. You can see more images and inspiration from his adventure on his Instagram page.

A Burley D'Lite X Trailer hire was perfect for Alvaro and his daughter for this one off big adventure, meaning they could get a top of the range trailer for off road use without having to buy one they might not use again or grow out of.