After riding all over our planet, this is our first expedition organized to ride, see and understand our earth as one entity. Although we have ridden in many countries around the world, this is an ultimate motorcycle project to amalgamate riding on all five continents in one complete journey. This extraordinary ride is the adventure of a lifetime. 11 months, 50,000 riding miles and 5 continents. Just do it.

Imagine arriving at an unfamiliar country in a far-away land, only to be greeted by a smiling Edelweiss tour guide who will schlep your luggage for the trip's duration. Imagine test riding the latest, greatest, newest bikes from some of the world's most prestigious manufacturers. Imagine a full day's ride on one of these steeds along roads and scenery you've only seen in pictures and without bulky luggage on the bike to slow you down. You get the choice of joining our experienced ride leaders or independently seeking out your own loop before meeting up with the entire tour group at the next hotel. Imagine luxuriating in specially selected hotels, where all you have to do after a tremendously rich day of riding is eat, drink, laugh with fast friends and get some sleep before doing it all over again the next day. Imagine how relaxed you will be on such a journey. Now, think of how fortunate you are to have such an active imagination, and that ours are just as good. Welcome to edelweiss CLASSIC tours.

If you've long dreamed of taking a vacation in the world's best motorcycle regions, then you must visit at least one of the edelweiss TOURING CENTER. They're located in the best motorcycle touring regions. On these convenient tours, guests do daytrips from the same attractive, centrally located hotel. This breeds great regional familiarity and relief from having to pack and unpack every day. You'll have total freedom to decide your daily destinations. Plan your own route, ride with our professionally trained tour guides, or kick back for a day at the spa with a special someone. Need to unwind after a hectic day's ride in paradise? No problem. Each of our edelweiss TOURING CENTER offer outstanding service and delicious regional cuisine. An edelweiss TOURING CENTER is the ideal motorcycle holiday to bring non-riding family members along; while you are discovering the best route, they can enjoy the hotel and local regional sights.

Do you love adventures? You want to experience foreign cultures, unusual landscapes and unique physical challenges? edelweiss ADVENTURE tours will bring out the world-traveller in you. And you don't have to be an experienced off-road pilot to enjoy the pleasures of these adventures. Due to our vast experience of guiding motorcycle tours on every continent, we offer the most fascinating regions on paved and easily navigated secondary roads. Our specially trained adventure tour guides are there for you every mile of the way. They can teach you new riding skills en route as well as introduce you to a local region's mysteries. As the world's leading motorcycle touring company, we offer our high standards of service and accommodations on our adventure tours. This means two tour guides, a support van for your luggage and routes that are well organized and scouted ahead of time. Join us on our edelweiss ADVENTURE tours and enjoy the motorcycle experience of a lifetime.

Setting the bar even higher, these high-end tours consist of small groups enjoying upscale accommodations and more rest days to soak it all in. You want to feel like royalty on your well-deserved vacation? If so, edelweiss ROYAL tours are for you. When planning royal tours, we single out our best, longest running, wildly popular or most unique motorcycling vacations in the world's most beautiful regions and kick them up a notch. ROYAL tour hotel standards are higher, their meals exquisite, our ROYAL guides even better, and the overall level of service taken to the next level, one not previously experienced by motorcycle tourists. No longer mere motorcycle tourists in strange lands, ROYAL tourists stay in upscale hotels and ride our best bikes free of awkward luggage. After a fascinating day zooming around twisting tarmac, you will dine in fine restaurants; enjoy the delicious dinner and look forward to the next day while sipping fine wine. We even include more rest days in the edelweiss ROYAL tours schedules. They can be used for two-wheel exploring; sightseeing, shopping, a day at the spa, or playing golf on epic courses.

When taking a motorcycle tour away from home, it's always fun and excitement that we are after. This is the focus of edelweiss RIDE4FUN tours. Tours that show you exciting scenery, are fun to ride, and acquaint you with the way people think and live in the places we are touring. Our hotels have local flavor and are not over the top in price or amenities. You ride in a group, with one tour guide on the bike in front. Or you ride in your own little group finding your own secret path; it's up to you! Breakfast and some dinners are part of the package, but we go to different places for lunch and most dinners. Important to you and to us is your choice of the best bike for the trip. There is a good selection of motorcycles waiting for you, or you can bring your own. You must feel good on your steed! It's a younger group of motorcyclists that typically joins edelweiss RIDE4FUN tours. There is a lot to see during the riding day, but the evening is there to be enjoyed as well – our tours offer local flavor in people, food and more. RIDE4FUN groups are international, so you learn more about motorcycling in other parts of the world as you mingle and make new friends overseas! Your one-week supply of shirts, socks and your toothbrush go on your bike; it's easy with the luggage cases provided. It's a real motorcycle tour! Your RIDE4FUN tour guides are ready to ride and have fun with you.

A new motorcycle touring concept has arrived: edelweiss DUCATI tours and the Ducati Travel Experience World. On exclusive journeys you can explore places, cultures and thrills in the most intense, exciting way possible – on a motorcycle. Whatever your destination or your dream, it is no longer out of reach. edelweiss DUCATI tours are journeys with the taste of adventure and the spirit of the red Italian dream. All you have to do is jump on and go off in search of unparalleled experiences.

Join us for a unique Adventure Tour on the brand new Triumph Tiger. Find out what this motorcycle made in England can do and enjoy the performance of the Tiger on all different kinds of roads. Feel the spirit of adventure on lonesome backcountry roads and gravel sections, leave work and stress far behind. Share the experience with other passionate riders, all on the same bike, the new Triumph Tiger. Face the challenge of some outstanding roads and add some gravel roads too if you like. It is all about riding pleasure. Enjoy the stunning scenery during the day and the unique atmosphere and good food in the hotels at night. The edelweiss TRIUMPH tours are combining these aspects in a special way. Every day there are nice roads with different character, some challenging ones, some easier ones, but for sure the best in the specific area. Of course we do some sightseeing, too, you will not miss the major spots, but on this tour the focus is more on riding and exploring some hidden places. As the name says: adventure! Are you ready?

Yes, they are here! They're everywhere, they're refreshing, they are different, and it's great fun to ride around and enjoy life with them. edelweiss SCOOTER tours induce exactly this exciting feeling. Discover all the hidden secrets of a chosen touring area at a leisurely pace on the smallest of roads and paths. You feel like drinking a cappuccino or eating a gelato? No problem, scooter tours have been developed to tour at your own pace and enjoy life, not to race around loading up on more miles than anyone else. So turn on your indicator, pass those congested cars and head for the next Piazza, park your scooter in front of the Café and order "Un latte macchiato e un tartufo per favour…" Life can be so beautiful!

Edelweiss offers each year a number of tours to destinations that are new and exciting. These tours can be on easy roads or contain a portion of natural surface, gravel and dirt. Riding routes, sights and accommodation can vary a lot. edelweiss SCOUTING tours are something special because not everything is 100 percent planned. There might be changes at any time during the tour!

Since 1980 we have been touring this globe with customers from all corners of the world, with different skill levels and a huge variety in what they are looking for on their upcoming motorcycle experience. They all are driven by the common idea to experience the region they want to ride in on dream roads. Unfortunately, it is sometimes difficult for them to appraise whether the tour they are looking for fits their needs, motorcycle experience and offers the motorcycle adventure they are looking for without overstraining themselves. For this reason Edelweiss decided to set up a number of edelweiss TRAINING opportunities to assist motorcyclists at any skill level make their next motorcycle tour a relaxed one while taking the edge off the challenge.

Yes, we have ridden around the world! From November 21, 2010 to July 25, 2011 we went on the first guided motorcycle world tour. All in all we rode more than 40,000 riding miles on six continents, and it was a tremendous experience for the group, and of course, for me personally. We went to 30 different countries, experienced a myriad of fascinating cultures and viewed landscapes ranging from sandy desert to mountain passes at an altitude of 16,400 ft! We stopped in huge metropolises as well as in tiny little villages and all the way out to the boonies. The riding experiences were wonderful, and sometimes we had some stops that weren't on the itinerary – but that's all part of the adventure! Our group of bikers from 8 countries meshed well together, and there was an abundance of highlights which I consider newsworthy!

Here are a few of them:

• At the coastal road in the Western Sahara, three of us could not resist testing the water temperature of the Atlantic Ocean by diving in and taking a swim! It was about 53.6 °F! It was cold, but we were euphoric, a fact which our Moroccan audience did not seem to understand.


• Each of us is familiar with the Ayers Rock, having probably seen countless pictures of it; however, once you arrive there on your bike and this giant rock appears in front of you – it is a primal experience, and one we could barely understand! I was the only one in the group who then climbed up the rock by foot, although the Aborigines did not like to watch me. I worked my way up the rock very carefully, always respectful of the natural wonder upon which I was now treading. Standing on top is a feeling and experience I will never forget. I worked my way up the rock very carefully, always respectful of the natural wonder upon which I was now treading, and with the help and guidance of the other tourers.


• The route in South America included a rest day in the vicinity of Machu Picchu. I did not want to go there at first, figuring there would be too many tourists. But in the end I stayed an extra day trying to understand how the Incas could have built these structures on the steep rocks. I still marvel about that today!


• When being on the road in the southwest of China, we were allowed to enjoy the full diversity of Chinese cuisine. Each stop we had along the route was a special and unique experience. It turns out that Chinese people are friendly and curious. We soon gathered 50 then 100, then 200 and more observers. We were surrounded and our attempts at eating with chop sticks caused lots of amusement for our Chinese friends. More and more food was served and all our efforts to pay failed. The restaurant owner just shook her head and laughed with her two daughters. 20 of us were invited, and all of us left happy, not because we had saved something like $2, but because the warm hospitality given to us, complete strangers to the area, was something special to experience. We were not strangers anymore, we had become friends!

With this first motorcycle world tour we celebrated 30 years of Edelweiss Bike Travel, and of course we learned a lot:

• You should not be in a hurry while on this motorcycle expedition. Sometimes it is more important to stay in one place than to move on to the next.


• The contact with local peoples with all their cultural differences and national differences is often more important than the beautiful scenery and the great motorcycle roads.


• The time in between the sections should be well used: Self-guided bike tours, a few extra days at a special place, jetting home or being visited by family are a few of the options on tour to make this experience more convenient and interesting.

Learning from all our own experiences, we have developed an expedition that offers many possibilities for our riders:

• The entire tour lasts 365 days.


• The expedition never halts, because after the first leg of the journey, the second one immediately begins, then the third one and so on.


• Each participant has the opportunity to embark on "his own" world tour at the start of each section.


• Riders can go the whole round at once, or in single sections.


• This concept makes it possible to stretch the whole round over a few years, because participants don't need to do the whole expedition at once. Family, friends, and work are then easier to convince and to accept your journey.

I envy many of you who now can make your decision in favor of the world trip. And I want to be there to ride specific sections again, because the route developed from everything we learned (and loved) on the first Around the World tour!

For more information please visit our website www.edelweissbike.com
or send us an e-mail to worldtours@edelweissbike.com.