2020 Victorian High Country
7 days | 18th to 24thNovember
- Transport throughout by custom mini vans
- Services of our experienced tour guides, mechanics and drivers
- 6 nights accommodation 3 & 4 star hotels
- Buffet breakfast daily
- 2 course evening meals on 4 nights, gourmet lunch
- Wine at welcome and farewell dinners
- Scheduled arrival transfer on day one from Melboure Airport
- Scheduled departure transfer on final day to Melbourne Airport
- Mechanical assistance with your bike
- Ride files and Bikestyle guide to the High Country
- Bikestyle Tours cap and musette bag
Tour Departs
Melbourne, Victoria, November 18, 2021Tour Finishes
Melbourne, Victoria, November 24, 2021Tour Style
Group Size: 15 guests – 3 staff Rides: Mostly sealed roads, some gravel Challenge Rating: Mostly climbing Accommodation: 3 to 4 star hotels, twin share, optional single supplement when bookingTrip Suitability
Social Riding and Leisure: We understand that your cycling holiday is a HOLIDAY! We understand that you don’t normally ride everyday at home. Our ride routes cherry-pick the best areas.
Experienced Riders: Your cycling holiday is all actually about the bike! Our epic and challenge ride options seek more vertical metres and longer miles.Meals Included
4 Dinners and 1 LunchTour Inclusions
Why we Love this Tour
- Travelling in a small group of cyclists on carefully designed ride routes that maximise your safety, enjoyment and challenge
- Mechanical and vehicle support for peace of mind
- 6 of the Official 7 Peaks Challenge
- Lake Mountain, Mt Buller, Falls Creek, Dinner Plain, Mt Buffalo, Mt Hotham
- Scenic ride routes, avoiding major roads and making the most of the picturesque area
- Gravel road segments
- Choose from the challenging ride option or the easier ride option each day
Pricing
Price: AUD $3,690 (twin share) (twin share)
Single Supplement: AUD $690
Note: All trip costs are per person, not including airfare and based on two persons per room. If travelling alone we will match you with a person to share. Alternatively, you may choose to have a room of your own by paying the single supplement.
Note: It is a requirement of Bikestyle Tours that you have Travel Insurance for your trip.
Conquer the Victorian High Country
We’ve been running cycling tours for over 28 years. Many of our guests cherish their experiences of conquering bucket list climbs.
Q. Are there great ride itineraries in Australia? Comparable to a European experience?
A. Simply, the answer is yes. We deliver fully supported European style cycling tours in Australia.
Victoria’s high country is spectacular, challenging and captivating
In recent years, our guides explored the Victorian High Country to investigate the logistics for running a trip that included completing the 7 Peaks Challenge. It can be quite a challenge completing the 7 Peaks over a short time period. You need outside assistance. You need transport, comfortable places to stay and most importantly ride support and nutrition. Our 7 day trip completes 6 of the official 7 Peaks, you may wish to extend your holiday either at the beginning or end and include Mt Baw Baw, it is just a short distance from Melbourne.
For all of our trips, we look after every detail and support you on and off the bike. You only need to worry about riding your bike. We’ll help you have fun! Uniquely to our 7 Peaks trip, we have planned experiences along the way to showcase the incredible produce and friendly country hospitality of North East Victoria.
We’ve partnered with the great crew at Ride High Country. Together we’ve identified touristic highlights and ensure that you will have a memorable local experience. Our focus however is completing climbs of the Official 7 Peaks Challenge.
Roll through the valleys, climb the twisty alpine roads, enjoy friendly country hospitality
Starting from Melbourne, our trip takes us to the Marysville, a place rebuilt after the devastating Black Saturday fires. We’ll tackle Lake Mountain before we travel toward the North East and ride one of the most popular climbs Mount Buller. We take a pause for a moment and enjoy the local produce and heritage town of Beechworth soaking in the friendly country hospitality. Our riding kicks up a gear as we tackle a double climb day over Falls Creek and returning via Dinner Plain. An epic day on the bike. If you have concerns about making the double, we have a shorter option for you.
Our final 3 nights are in Bright the heart of the Alpine country and giving us easy access to Mt Hotham and Mt Buffalo. We stay at deluxe accommodation all the way, air conditioned comfort, country style and luxurious beds for a great nights sleep. Dinner on 4 of the nights, giving you opportunity to treat yourself to a romantic dinner or just take in the country life on the other nights. We’ll admire our achievements and celebrate our friendships at a final lunch highlighting the local produce before returning you to Melbourne.
Victorian High Country Tour Itinerary
Welcome to Marysville
Staff will meet you are Melbourne Airport, Tullamarine. Our scheduled collection is at 10am. After a short drive, we’ll arrive in the surrounding mountains, at beautiful Marysville.
After arriving at our accommodation, we’ll assemble our bikes and enjoy a leisurely warm-up ride, we have something special installed for our first ride. A perfect way to meet other guests and test out our bikes for our travels through the Victorian high country.
DAILY HIGHLIGHTS
- Welcome dinner
- Warm-up ride Yarra Valley
- Accommodation in beautiful Marysville
After setting up our bikes we will head out for an easy 30km shakedown ride through the Yarra Valley to check that our bikes are in working order ahead of a great week on our bikes.
Marysville and Lake Mountain
Lake Mountain climb starts from the roundabout as we leave Marysville. The more difficult part of the climb is early on, meaning most of the climbing is down by the time we reach halfway.
As we enter the resort road the gradient flattens and we have an opportunity to push bigger gears and increase our speed.
The views across the valley are stunning and the small gums that have germinated after the fires fume the air with eucalyptus. Tonight you are free to try one of the many restaurants in town.
DAILY HIGHLIGHTS
- Lake Mountain
- Stunning views across the Cathedral Range
Our ride today is up to Lake Mountain, one of Australia’s most popular ski resorts. The climb starts from Marysville so we will add a little loop to warm up before tackling the climb. The climb itself is 21km and averages 4% with a few pinches at 10% so it is a great gentle climb. The best thing is we have an all downhill return to our accommodation!
Mt Buller and Bright
We’ll enjoy a quality coffee this morning along with a cafe breakfast before we head off toward the alpine country. We’ll travel to near the base of Mt Buller to start our ride, skipping some of the busier roads out of Mansfield. In our distance are the silhouettes of Mount Stirling and Mount Buller. After our ride, we will for our transfer into the heart of the Victorian Alps. Tonight we’ll enjoy dinner together from a local bistro that highlights in-season local produce.
DAILY HIGHLIGHTS
- Ride Mt Buller
- Stunning views of Mt Stirling and the High Country panorama.
We will have a little warm-up before getting to the climb. The climb from Mirimbah to Mt Buller is 15km with an average gradient of 6.2%. It is a steady climb but save yourself for a couple of kickers near the top as the ski resort comes in view and tantalisingly close.
After grouping at the top, enjoy a second coffee from the small cafe and we’ll descend back to our transport.
Falls Creek and Dinner Plain
Today’s is our epic ride and with that comes conquering 2 climbs of the Victorian High Country. We will start with an early breakfast and make our way down the valley with transport to a great little village at the end of the Kiewa Valley, Mount Beauty. We’ll start our rides up Falls Creek and Dinner Plain from here and enjoying the spectacular views of Feathertop.
We’ll arrive in Bright during the afternoon elated we’ve achieved 2 big climbs of the Victorian high country. Tonight we will enjoy dinner together to celebrate a long day in the saddle.
DAILY HIGHLIGHTS
- Ride the 2nd highest mountain in Australia, Falls Creek
- Group dinner in Bright
- Visit Mount Beauty
We will start our ride in Mount Beauty for the 30km climb to Falls Creek, you will enjoy a nice road and steady gradient 4% average all the way to the top of the climb. At the summit, we have 2 options available. Our epic venture today continues over the climb for the ascent of Dinner Plain. Our short ride returns to Mount Beauty before finishing on the much shorter climb over Tawonga Gap.
Mount Buffalo and The Horn
Yesterday was a big day for us, so we’ll reduce the volume today and save some bickies for tomorrow’s final peak. A distinctive feature of the landscape is the impressive silhouette rising to the west of Bright. The Buffalo shape inspired the name for the mountain. At the top is an extensive plateau that has the Horn, yes the Buffalo’s horn, at the southernmost tip. After our ride is a good opportunity to visit the Bright hotel for a relaxing afternoon in the gardens.
DAILY HIGHLIGHTS
- Ride Mount Buffalo
- Enjoy a relaxing afternoon at the Bright Hotel
Our climb starts about 10km from Bright where a series a twisty and gently rising section takes us up the northern side of the mountain. There are sheer cliffs, imposing granite boulders, tumbling waterfalls, snow gums and stunning wildflowers. After reaching the summit we can stand on top of the towering cliffs and admire the incredible view across the alpine valleys before descending back to Bright.
Mt Hotham
We have a special ride installed to finish our trip, possibly the most challenging climb Australia has to offer, Mt Hotham. To do the summit of Hotham you are filled with mixed emotions. Magical, confronting, painful, joyful and satisfying all describe your experiences during the climb. It is a fantastic climb that is rewarded with a 30km descent after a well-deserved coffee at the summit. This afternoon you are free to check out beautiful Bright.
Tonight we will celebrate our final night together with a farewell dinner.
DAILY HIGHLIGHTS
- Farewell dinner
- Ride the challenging climb Australia has to offer, Mt Hotham
- Fantastic 30km descent
Mt Hotham is one of our favourite rides, approach Hotham in its three sections and you’ll love it. Section one starts from Harrietville with a nice forest canopy and good road surface. Once you reach “The Meg” the road starts to kick up but only for a short while. It is best to save your legs over the next 10kms for the final section with steep gradients and often windy conditions. It will be a welcome sight once the ski village in touching distance.
Buckland Valley and Farewell
Sadly our trip comes to an end today but not before one last ride. After breakfast and checking out from our hotel, we will jump on our bikes for an easy roll along the valley. Together, we can share our great memories of the week together in Victoria high country. We will ride to Punkah for a lunch at the pub before parking our bikes.
Our lunch venue has recently received a full make-over for the sole purpose of (re)establishing a good friendly country pub with great food and drinks along with a welcoming and friendly atmosphere. Its a perfect location for our farewell gathering.
After lunch, we will travel back to Melbourne arriving at Tullamarine airport by 6 pm. If you are planning your flight home this evening, we suggest catching a flight that departs after 7 pm. If you’d like to stay on in Melbourne, there is a regular SkyBus service connecting you with Spencer St station and all major hotels within the CBD.
DAILY HIGHLIGHTS
- Final lunch
- Gentle roll through the Buckland Valley
- Time to head home
We have an easy ride to finish our trip through the Buckland Valley. It is an access road for remote camping sites as well as local farms and nothing to strenuous for our legs.
Why Book with Bikestyle Tours?
A COVID-Safe plan
- All staff and guests must complete a pre-travel questionnaire prior to the start of the trip
- Bikestyle Tours complies with the QLD COVID Safe Industry Plan (Tourism and Accommodation, Bike Tours); such as controls for social distancing, cleaning and hygiene, vehicle transport.
Bookings are risk-free and guarantee you a spot!
Our covid-19 period booking system is a risk-free way to reserve your place. That means during the declared pandemic you are eligible to reschedule your trip or receive a full refund if due to travel restrictions enforced by Australian government jurisdictions you are unable to arrive at the designated start location on the date specified.
Are Trips Guaranteed Departures?
We make every effort to guarantee departures to give you peace of mind that once you’ve booked your trip – you’re going! We do not cancel trips due to insufficient numbers leaving you stranded.