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This route (created by the Kennett brothers) is one of the strings in New Zealand’s bow of epic pedal powered adventures. We have created a fully supported version of this ride, closely following the classic route, so you can get on with the pedaling and enjoy all the benefits that come with exploring on two wheels, without the stress of tricky logistics.
Taking you into the thick of the North Island’s most remote, rugged and off the beaten track towns: you will experience ocean vistas, pristine podocarp forest, cycle trails and rural farm life, knowing that we have got your back and lunch is ready just around the corner! You will be immersed into the small communities we pass through, interacting with locals and enjoying the slower pace of life that touring brings. Why not jump into the ocean for a mid-ride dip? Or stop at that tiny cafe for a brew? You might even get roped in to help herd some rogue sheep along the road!
This is a fully supported cycle tour, one crew will ride with the group whilst the other goes ahead to set up snack, water and lunch breaks. The support vehicle will have all your luggage and supplies for each day and is also available if you would like to take a break from the saddle.
We are not running a Cape to Cape Cycle Tour in 2025, however we are planning for it to be back better than ever in 2026! Let us know you’re interested by using the enquiry form.
Meeting Point: Rotorua
Ride Start: East Cape
Ride Finish: Cape Egmont
Tour Ends: Rotorua
Arrive in Rotorua by midday. Meet with your tour leaders & fellow bikers for lunch and bike set up, then load up and drive out to your accommodation on the East Cape. Approx 4hours.
Accommodation: Motel
Meals: Dinner
We transfer the last section out towards the East Cape lighthouse by vehicle. Then limber up and hop onto our bike to ride the most stunning part of the cape. Rugged coastline, windswept landscapes and ancient Pohutukawa trees.
Cycling Distance: 77km
Accommodation: Motel
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch
We follow the coastal road on the north of the East Cape as it meanders to and from the coast, through bush, farmland and small coastal settlements chock full of boats. Look out for the steam cloud of Whakaari, White Island, out in the bay. And enjoy the scenic dunes section of the Motu trail as we arrive in Ōpōtiki.
Cycling Distance: 104km
Accommodation: Holiday Park Cabins
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch
Here begins the road less travelled. Sharing the road with only the odd farm vehicle or free-range animal, we head inland and climb the Mōtu road. Part of the first vehicle road connecting Gisborne to the Eastern Bay of Plenty back in 1914. Back country views, historic farmland and lush forest.
Cycling Distance: 106km
Accommodation: Farmstay
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
We set off across country, getting access to private farm tracks and quiet rural roads this is a real adventure by bike!
Cycling Distance: 90km
Accommodation: Farm stay
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
What goes up must come down. And then go back up again! If the road building lacks tact – it makes up for it later in the day with good looks, don’t worry we only need to make it halfway before we can lounge on the shores of Lake Whakamarino.
Cycling Distance: 91km
Accommodation: Rustic Lodge
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
You might have a feeling that you deserve today… and your rewards come in the form of lakes, bush and birds of Lake Waikaremoana and Te Urewera National Park and a very long downhill. Keep your eyes peeled for free roaming cows, sheep and horses.
Cycling Distance: 93km
Accommodation: Rustic Lodge
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner,
If ever there was a day of contrast – this is it. We leave the dense forest and gravel roads behind and take a long straight road for a change. We pass by Waimangu Volcanic Valley, the perfect opportunity for a stint off the bikes, learning about the incredible geothermal activity that shaped the landscape around you. Then it’s all downhill to Rotorua, you’ll be ready for a soak in one of the many hot springs.
Cycling Distance: 85km
Accommodation: Motel
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch
A well-earned rest day and time to explore the many attractions of Rotorua. Te Puia is the place for Māori culture and an incredible geothermal landscape, or hot pools and a massage might be more your style.
Accommodation: Motel
Meals: Breakfast
We head into the rolling hills and valleys of the mighty King Country, or Te Rohe Pōtae, named back in the 1860s at the time of the New Zealand wars. Quiet country roads and the Waikato River cycle trail, make for a memorable day.
Cycling Distance: 74km
Accommodation: Rustic lodge
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Starting the day on quiet roads, we are quickly engulfed by Pureora Forest Park – the centre most point of the North Island is quickly followed by the famous Timber Trail. Virgin rainforest, timber industry relics, cool suspension bridges and a cosy lodge complete the day.
Cycling Distance: 81km
Accommodation: Timber Trail Lodge
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
We ride the second half of the amazing Timber Trail cycle way following historic milling cycle tracks to Ongarue. Then it is sealed roads, rolling all the way to tiny Ōhura for the night.
Cycling Distance: 90km
Accommodation: Cottages
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch
A big day’s ride on the Forgotten World Highway. At the top of the Paparata Saddle, hilly farm country swaps out to native forest and the Tāngarākau Gorge. Get your passports out, we’re passing through the Whangamōmona Republic!
Cycling Distance: 127km
Accommodation: Motel
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch
A wee stretch of the legs is required to make our final lunge out to Cape Egmont. We take the scenic route over a low foothill of Mt Taranaki and down to the Cape Egmont. We transfer back to New Plymouth for our final dinner together.
Cycling Distance: 64km
Accommodation: Hotel
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch
Our final breakfast together for this tour before we load up and transfer approx. 3.5 hours back to Rotorua and say our farewells.
Meals: Breakfast
Our ‘Sag Wagon’ support is available (most of the time) should you need a break from the saddle.
We’ll sort the nitty gritty! Before your tour begins, we will organise all the logistics and book all accommodation. We will give you daily digital route maps, that you can follow on your phone or GPS, and route cue notes so that you can ride at your own pace, stop when you like to smell the roses and grab a coffee when the opportunity presents, while always knowing that we are there if you need us.
On tour, your awesome Escape Adventures support crew will have your breakfast ready for an early start and provide snacks for you to carry with you. They will provide daily ride information and ride sweep with first aid and mechanical support. Our support vehicle will carry your luggage, and on most days set up a ‘floating picnic lunch’ on route so that you can picnic at a time that suits you, and top up on water and snacks. The support vehicle is also there if you need first aid or mechanical support, or if you need a break from the saddle.
This cycle tour includes rides of 30-127 km per day. Please do read about the daily riding distances taking note of the riding terrain in the itinerary and prepare accordingly. The more prepared you are the more you will enjoy your adventure! Preparing for your cycle tour should involve:
– Riding on gravel and other unpaved surfaces.
– Lots of hills!
– Riding 3-4 times a week with rides of 40-80km in length.
Please do contact us if you would like some help with a detailed training plan.
Support: Our trusty support vehicle carries all your luggage, has lunch, snacks and water at hand, and is there if you need a break from the saddle.
Included in your tour are all breakfasts and riding snacks, most lunches and seven evening meals. (One lunch is not included). The one lunch and most of the evening meals (as per the tour itinerary) are in places where there are dining and wining options available – therefore at your own cost and choosing. (This gives you more control over the cost of your tour AND spreads the love supporting local businesses!). We are most definitely able to cater for vegetarians and special diets. If this includes you, it is essential to advise us of this before your tour begins, so that the support vehicle can be stocked with the necessary supplies.
Typical Included Meals:
Accommodation is included for all 15 nights of the cycle tour. Our job is to explore and find the most fitting accommodation to work in with the riding route. The Cape to Cape is a very remote, rural riding route and the availability of accommodation is limited with often only basic options available. We will be staying in a combination of motels, holiday park cabins, farm stays, historic lodges and hotels. Where possible we choose accommodation with ensuite bathrooms, however for about half the nights it will be necessary to share bathrooms.
Travelling Solo? We do not charge a single supplement!
Accommodation is on a share twin basis. If you’re traveling alone, we’ll pair you to twin-share with another biker.
However, if you do not wish to share a single supplement is available. *Single room options may be limited in some locations.
The ideal bike for the tour is a hardtail mountain bike or a touring bike with off road tyres. A gravel bike is also an option – but only if you are familiar with riding one on unpaved surfaces! You will need to be able to carry up to 1.5-2L water, a jacket and snacks in a backpack, front roll or frame bag.
Escape Adventures have a small fleet of bikes and E-bikes available for hire available for hire in S M L & XL. (Bookings Essential).
○ Trek X-Caliber mountain bikes $500
○ E-Bikes (Brand and Model TBC) – $1050
When you hire one of our bikes – they are maintained by us and kept in excellent running condition.
Contact us if you plan on hiring a bike.
This trip has 8-12 guests, plus two experienced Escape Adventures tour leaders
The experience – This trip was both a challenge and an adventure with a small group of like minded cyclists who were supportive of each other and lots of fun to be with. Being part of a group certainly has some advantages and I have done many touring trips unsupported in the past. I highly recommend this trip and the Escape Adventures team. The trip- a 1000 plus kilometre cycling adventure both by road and on trails and cycle paths with variable terrain through the back roads of New Zealand . We visited remote parts of the country and experienced wonderful hospitality. It’s at your own pace but there’s backup if you need it. The Company – Mandy and John provided great communication, answering any questions we had prior to the Tour and ongoing support during it especially as Omicron was about to hit and we had to change our planned East Cape light house start to accommodate this. We got rained off the Timber trail by a Cyclone but they quickly reorganised our accommodation and the riding plan so we could carry on. We have been offered a free weekend on the Timber trail in February as a replacement. The accommodation was memorable and the meals too that we shared. I had last cycled with Escape Adventures in Africa in 2009 and China in 2010 , so a happy customer who returned for a new experience. The Guides – Bruce and Alice were professional,fun, well organised and made the tour the success that it was. I felt well supported but also independent and free to ride at my own pace. The snack stops and the quality of the food was amazing and we all put on weight despite some strenuous days riding ! I felt very well cared for and couldn’t ask for more
What an amazing trip! The Cape to Cape was an absolutely brilliant two weeks riding through some of the best scenery that Te Ika-a-Māui has to offer. Every day we experienced unique and beautiful parts of Aotearoa; enjoyed delicious, nutritious food served up by the fantastic support team; and enjoyed each other’s company as we rode our way across the country. The riding was great – a few big days, but you have nothing to do but ride and enjoy, and its such a great feeling when you get to the top of the hill, or reach your accommodation for the evening. Escape Adventures organisation and planning is amazing, and the support team work tirelessly to make sure everything is organised for you making it a fantastic escape from ‘reality’ where you can just focus on riding and enjoying the trip. I was really impressed by Escape’s commitment to sustainability and minimising waste along the trip – it was evident in everything that they did. If you are thinking of doing the Cape to Cape, don’t hesitate, just sign-up! There’s no way you’ll regret choosing to do the Cape to Cape with Escape.
Escape have done it yet again, another superbly organised epic bike ride, wiggling our way from East Cape to Cape Egmont, the widest part of New Zealand. What a way to explore and see so much of remote, rural and the small towns of the North Island, riding our bikes along scenic coastline, fabulous trails, through native forest and back country roads. Of course, there were a few good hills, but they came down too! The support crew of Bruce and Alice were amazing – again. Always thinking ahead and on hand to support us and keep us topped up with great snack food along the way. I can’t recommend this enough, just prepare yourself to really enjoy a ride of your life!!
Despite a very nervous start, the ride became a pleasure, a challenge, an opportunity.. a blast! The riding company was great, the support excellent, the food varied but generally excellent, making for a comfortable experience. Best of all, the weather was almost perfect. Highlights included the regular coffee stops, in some very unlikely places, wonderful nibbles and lunch stops, and help whenever required. Thank you Mandy, Alice and Bruce for all tour efforts to provide a positive, first class riding event of a 1000 plus kilometres.
I am finding it hard to express how much I enjoyed my C2C trip. Just everything went so well. I was quite unsure as to how I would manage what was a major challenge for me, as I hadn’t done anything like it before. Everyone, both those of you in the office and the wonderful Bruce and Alice were so supportive, helpful, knowledgeable and fun. When changes were required these happened smoothly, professionally, and were communicated to us very well. In fact we were well informed throughout the trip with good information about the days ride, when we were likely to next see the van, as well our evening arrangements. I can’t leave this without mention of the wonderful snacks that were very plentiful at the stops – very much appreciated. So thank you all so much for making my big birthday challenge so successful and fun. I’m still finding it a bit hard to believe that I actually did it!!!