Best cycling countries...

I wouldn't call myself a seasoned vet, but for me the area that fits your description is the northern part of SE Asia - northern Thailand/Laos/Vietnam and south-western China (Yunnan and Guangxi province). While it certainly not 'pristine' (where in the world is anymore?), there are wonderful landscapes, some very interesting 'tribal' cultures, great cycling (so long as they don't decide to rip up the road you are taking), and its all relatively safe for solo travellers. Its one (of many) places that cyclists definitely get more out of than any other travellers, its so easy to wander off the beaten path on a bike. Mind you, the most exotic flora and fauna to be seen is usually in the food markets!

A country that fascinates me now for cycling is Japan. While its a very densely populated country, the countryside is surprisingly empty and lovely. I found it fascinating for cycling, its a country I really want to return to. Contrary to its reputation its surprisingly cheap for cycling as camping is fairly easy and local eating spots are much cheaper than the big cities. People are very hospitable. Despite a few high profile murders of foreign women (all of women working in Tokyo, not tourists) I think its possibly the safest country in the world for the solo traveller. You have to time a tour very carefull though to get the best of the weather and to avoid the intense local holiday seasons.

For physically tougher cycling, but an amazing experience, the India Himalaya is wonderful. Landscapes in Ladakh and other areas along the border with Tibet and Nepal are truly breathtaking. The roads are of very mixed quality and the climate can be extreme (so you have to time your trip carefully). There is a hassle element when you go to the lower altitudes (where the population density is far higher), but the buddhist peoples of the higher altitudes (Ladakhi's, Tibetans, Spitians, etc.) are very hospitable to travellers and its a generally safe and hassle free area for female cyclists. Its not a place I'd recommend though for the less fit cyclist or an inexperienced solo traveller.

An area I've never been to, but I'm fascinated by, it the eastern Himalaya area - the border areas of the Tibetan Autonomous Area and China (but still mainly ethnically Tibetan). Its rapidly being 'developed' by the Chinese so it may not be so beautiful for long, but I think it would be hard to beat for a cultural experience and great cycling.

For so long I've wanted to go to the areas in India and Tibet PhD talks about. Reading all about it, and finally soon I may head there ... this summer.

With a bit more experience you would probably find Alaska nice, except you need to give yourself lots of time if you want to take the sidetrips to see the natural wonders. Also, it's not cheap.

Ladakh in north east India was my favourite destination of those which would work for a solo female, but you need to be up for extremely high mountain passes.

Hey,
if its high mountain passes you need to invigorate your life with, nothing beats the Pyrenees for ancient European grandeur, really great roads and the wonderful french spirit for cyclists which gets them wishin' you "bon chance" and "bon courage" as you plow steadily up to the top of all the famous tour de france hills. There is simply no feeling qute like the 4 hour descent off Col Tourmalet.....and everything is set up for cycling..........camping, hotels that feed even vegos like me copious quantities of energy food, all the people you meet on the road are in similarly "happy pants" even those that take the buses to the tops of the cols and then whizz down.... everyone gets a great experience.

I'm sure you will too if you follow the Raid Pyreneen as described in Lonely planet cycling France, and accomplish the ten day tourist version. Mind blowing mountains!

Enjoy enjoyText

Although i did it by motorbike, i think Norway from Bergen northwards and even across into Finland would be a very very good trip. Obviously you have to do it in summer and its going to be expensive for food but that's all you need to spend money on. But camping out and about is relatively easy. Again for norway, you should be fit as there are lots of hills but the roads are lovely. Many dutch and northern europeans made this their summer vacation.

I think segements in Australia would be challenging and interseting - Tasmania, West coast of Australia, North East coast of Australia (cairns to cape york), Darwin to Alice Springs, not sure about the nullabor though many do it.

New Zealand would probably be worthwhile.

As a young lady traveling alone I would always check the U.S.A. government site that is something like "travel.gov" or whatever they have a CIA update on problem spots and tell you the relative risk of each country ( I was too lazy to look it up but I just did; it is Travel.state.gov). This is good info. With that said I just love Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, and China just over the border from Laos. You might like West coast of Mexico, NZ, and Costa Rica. Since this is all I have done I can offer no more. My readings, gut feeling and experiences lead my to believe that bill weir, Phd, pq and many of those you read a bout on this site are to be considered elite cyclists in that they just go where ever they damn well please and this takes guts. The Daniel Robinson horse back problem gives a look at what can go terribly wrong.

Definitely study, read, think and go over the gov. site before going off alone.

Good luck,
A fellow American

Thailand my favourite so far for pure enjoyment and the Australian outback for pure challenge. NZ probably the most disappointing but that was probably my fault for expecting too much and spending too much time there.

Poster No 6 - I think the general advice here is to avoid the US Gov website, its advice is inconsistent. Like the UK one, it is politically biased and hence can be very misleading. It overplays the dangers in some (relatively safe) countries, for example doesn't it still warn against travel in Lao!! and also like the UK Gov site it tends NOT to warn against politically friendly countries which can be far more dangerous.

Favourite countries:
For overall everything (climate, people, scenery, food, roads, etc, etc) and therefore great for first timer or repeat visits, its got to be Thailand
For the wow wow wow factor - India, which is still probably my favourite albeit somtimes challenging country.
The UK takes some beating, except for the weather.

To add to other people's recommendations, South America along the Andes provides great varieties of scenery, including extensive near-pristine wildernesses, distinctive culture and flora. There are special areas for wildlife but in general one has to make a special effort to visit them. Between the wildernesses, the environment has been heavily modified in some areas, eg central Chile.

Iceland provides pristine wildernesses and a lot of wild-life (mainly birds and sea-mammals), though the culture is a bit hidden as tourists predominate (in season) outside the capital. Because of the volcanic/glacial factor, I find it has a greater variety of scenery than Norway (mentioned above), and the wildernesses are more pristine, ie not covered in summerhouses to the same extent as Norway.

Ireland provides culture and friendliness, though its wildernesses are far from pristine and it isn't really a wildlife destination.

I was going to add parts of North Africa/Middle East, but probably not easy for a single female.

Btw friendly people often doesn't equate to a high level of safety. For example, among the "Andean" nations (Bolivia and northwards), Bolivia is probably the most "tranquilo" in terms of incidents of concern to travellers, but its people are also the most reserved of those nations.