Bike Tours to UNESCO World Heritage Sites

Bike Tours to UNESCO World Heritage Sites

Our bike tours at Wilderness Voyageurs visit a growing number of UNESCO World Heritage Sites. A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area which is chosen by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) as having cultural, historical, scientific or other form of significance, and is legally protected by international treaties. Each of these sites are unique and beautiful in their own way. Rolling into each of these incredible places on your bike will be an experience you won’t soon forget.

The 20th-Century Architecture of Frank Lloyd Wright

Eight buildings designed by Frank Lloyd Wright during the first half of the 20th century have been added to the list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites. These include well known designs such as Fallingwater in Mill Run, Pennsylvania and the Guggenheim Museum in New York. These buildings reflect the ‘organic architecture’ developed by Wright, which includes an open plan, a blurring of the boundaries between exterior and interior and the unprecedented use of materials such as steel and concrete. Each of these buildings offers innovative solutions to the needs for housing, worship, work or leisure. Wright’s work from this period had a strong impact on the development of modern architecture in Europe. We visit Fallingwater on two bike tours, the Great Allegheny Passage bike tour, and the Pennsylvania & Maryland Easy Rider tour.

Viñales Valley

The Viñales Valley is encircled by mountains and its landscape is interspersed with dramatic rocky outcrops. Traditional techniques are still in use for agricultural production, particularly of tobacco. The quality of this cultural landscape is enhanced by the vernacular architecture of its farms and villages, where a rich multi-ethnic society survives, illustrating the cultural development of the islands of the Caribbean, and of Cuba. We visit the Viñales Valley on our Quintessential West Cuba bike tour.

Learn more about traveling to Cuba legally.

Trinidad and the Valley de los Ingenios

Founded in the early 16th century in honour of the Holy Trinity, the city was a bridgehead for the conquest of the American continent. Its 18th- and 19th-century buildings, such as the Palacio Brunet and the Palacio Cantero, were built in its days of prosperity from the sugar trade. On our Cuba Clásico bike tour, we spend two nights in historic Trinidad.

Old Havana and its Fortification System

Havana was founded in 1519 by the Spanish. By the 17th century, it had become one of the Caribbean’s main centres for ship-building. Although it is today a sprawling metropolis of 2 million inhabitants, its old centre retains an interesting mix of Baroque and neoclassical monuments, and a homogeneous ensemble of private houses with arcades, balconies, wrought-iron gates and internal courtyards. Since a trip to Cuba wouldn’t be complete without a visit to Old Havana, both our Cuba Clásico bike tour and our Quintessential West Cuba bike tour spend some time touring the city!

Urban Historic Centre of Cienfuegos

The colonial town of Cienfuegos was founded in 1819 in the Spanish territory but was initially settled by immigrants of French origin. It became a trading place for sugar cane, tobacco and coffee. Situated on the Caribbean coast of southern-central Cuba at the heart of the country’s sugar cane, mango, tobacco and coffee production area, the town first developed in the neoclassical style. It later became more eclectic but retained a harmonious overall townscape. Among buildings of particular interest are the Government Palace (City Hall), San Lorenzo School, the Bishopric, the Ferrer Palace, the former lyceum, and some residential houses. Cienfuegos is the first, and an outstanding example of an architectural ensemble representing the new ideas of modernity, hygiene and order in urban planning as developed in Latin America from the 19th century. On the Cuba Clásico bike tour we visit this winsome ocean-front city — well deserving of its moniker “Pearl of the South.”

Olympic National Park

Located in the north-west of Washington State, Olympic National Park is renowned for the diversity of its ecosystems. Glacier-clad peaks interspersed with extensive alpine meadows are surrounded by an extensive old growth forest, among which is the best example of intact and protected temperate rainforest in the Pacific Northwest. Eleven major river systems drain the Olympic mountains, offering some of the best habitat for anadromous fish species in the country. The park also includes 100 km of wilderness coastline, the longest undeveloped coast in the contiguous United States, and is rich in native and endemic animal and plant species, including critical populations of the endangered northern spotted owl, marbled murrelet and bull trout. We take an extra day at the end of our Washington Olympic Peninsula bike tour to explore Olympic National Park.

Champlain-Adirondack Biosphere Reserve

Although not a World Heritage Site, this huge area of New York and Vermont is an important UNESCO-designated biosphere. The Champlain-Adirondack Biosphere Reserve straddles the border of north-central New York and northwestern Vermont. Lake Champlain, the sixth largest lake in the United States, and the Adirondack and Green Mountains are the central features of the biosphere reserve. It includes extensive temperate coniferous and deciduous forests as well as large numbers of lakes, bogs, and freshwater wetlands.  The primary goal of the Champlain-Adirondack Biosphere Reserve is to use education, research, and demonstration projects to encourage social and economic vitality and to preserve and improve the environmental health of the region. We ride through this beautiful and diverse area on our New York Adirondacks bike tour.

Tucson, Arizona

Located in the Sonoran Desert, Tucson has the longest agricultural history of any city in the United States of America. It has a 300-year tradition of vineyards, orchards, and livestock ranching that have forged the wide array of the local heritage foods, a source of identity and vitality for the local population of 1 million inhabitants. The distinctive cuisine of Tucson has developed from a culturally layered history, a variety of heritage food ingredients, and a continuity of traditional food preparation techniques. To maintain its thriving culinary sector, the city focuses particularly on innovative programs and regulations for food security and sustainable local food production and distribution (UNESCO, 2015). We ride in and around this vibrant city on our Arizona Tucson Hub & Spoke Bike Tour.

If you’re interested in any of these trips, please request an itinerary! Wilderness Voyageurs is here to provide support and make your vacation fantastic! All of our inn-to-inn bike tours include a support vehicle, two professional guides, fantastic food and well-planned routes to incredible places. Join us on your next adventure!

You can reach our bike tour experts at 800-272-4141.  They are sitting in Ohiopyle, Pennsylvania looking over the Great Allegheny Passage.