Favorite DIY or organized cruise bicycling experiences

On one of our last cruises (New England and Canada, HAL Boston to Montreal Sept/Oct 2016) my wife and I made our first attempts at bicycling in some of the ports we visited. We absolutely loved it and are looking forward to doing it again on future cruises.

I'd love to hear about other's peoples adventures bicycling in or around their ports. They can be cruise excursions, local tours or DIY bicycling.

I've found a few notes about people's bicycling adventures in other threads, but didn't find one specifically dedicated to sharing information about bicycling. I'm including our favorites here in no particular order.

Quebec City - We rented bicycles from a bicycle shop a few blocks from the cruise terminal. I had looked for bicycle rentals before we got on the cruise and found several options. Quebec City has some wonderful bicycle paths and we rarely had to ride on the roads. We rode out to Montmorency Falls, then back to the cruise port and then a little further up the St. Lawrence River toward Montreal. It was a great ride and with the fall colors there were some spectacular sites along the way. The bicycling was almost all flat and the easy.

Halifax, Nova Scotia - The bicycling here was a bit more difficult with more road riding and some pretty decent hills. We once again found a place to rent bicycles before we got to port and went there first after getting off the shift. The bicycle shop had a really nice bicycling maps with some suggested routes. I forget the name of the company, but the map is available online even if you don't rent their bicycles. We road down to and through Point Pleasant Park then headed back to the ferry terminal and took a ferry over to Woodside Ferry Terminal and then bicycled back into Dartmouth. We headed out past Sullivan's Pond and around Lake Banook before heading back to Halifax on the ferry from the Alderney Ferry stop. After that we took the bikes up to the Halifax Public Gardens and had a great time walking through there with the bicycles locked up outside. It was a fantastic day except we lost one bike lock key and I had to make a mad dash down to the bike place, get a spare key and dash back to the park to unlock the bike and get back to the ship in time.

Charollotetown, Prince Edward Island - We also had a wonderful bicycle ride here. We got bicycles from the visitor's center (be sure to reserve them if you can because they have a limit on the number of bicycles the keep there) and headed out of town to the Confederation Trail. The trail extends the link of the island and is bicycles and pedestrians only. There were very few places were it crossed the road and although it did go through some more industrial and commercial centers on the way out to the trail the main trail was through rural landscapes. It's along an old railroad right of way and it was cool because there were apple trees randomly situated along the trail. According to the locals the apple trees were from places where apples thrown from the trail sprouted and grew. There were also some interesting plants along the way as well. The trail was very flat for the most part with very few hills.

We haven't done it yet, but the next time we're in Bar Harbor I'd like to rent bicycles to bike to Acadia National Park. We kayaked our first time there but just walked around the town (and across the bar) the second time.

We were considering bicycling in Bar Harbor but we did the Great Head trail from Sand Beach after taking the shuttle bus there and then did the Ocean Path for a while before picking up the shuttle again further down the road. There were very few people in the Great Head trail when we were there in late September.

San Francisco - I've never been to San Francisco on a cruise ship because I live close by, so this is information from a local rather than from a visitor. My wife and I like to go up to San Francisco for bicycle rides with our dogs (who ride in seats on the backs of our bicycles.) One of our favorite routes takes us right by the San Francisco Cruise terminal and is great for most people.

There are a number of bicycle rental options in San Francisco, but you should probably make arrangements for a bicycle to be sure you get one if this is your intended activity while in San Francisco. There are several bike share options that allow you to make unlimited 30 minute rides at a set price for the day or for one 30 minute ride at a set price as well. This wouldn't be a great way to to do a bicycle ride in San Francisco unless you like to stop a lot. You can also take public transit or walk from the cruise terminal to get to several of the bicycle rental places.

We usually start our rides around AT&T park (where the Giants play) but it can be started where you get the bicycle rental. We ride along the Embarcadero (the street the cruise terminal is on) on the bicycle and walking path until we get to Fisherman's Wharf. From there it really makes sense to get on Jefferson Street until you get past Fisherman's Wharf and get to Aquatic Park. From there the bike and walking path continues. Once you get to the end of the park you get to the only big hill on the route. Lots of people get off of their bikes and walk up the hill which takes you into Fort Mason. From the top of the hill ride down through Fort Mason towards Marina Green. Ride through Marina Green (I like taking the path closest to the water although there is one close to Marina Blvd as well.) Continue riding towards the Golden Gate Bridge through the Presidio. You can keep riding until you get to the end of the bicycle and walking trail at the Warming Hut and cafe. Then you have to get back on the road if you want to go out to Fort Point at the bottom of the Golden Gate Bridge. If you're up for walking your bike up another hill you can walk it up to the south end of the bridge and bicycle across if you wish.

If you have plenty of time you can also ride down from the north end of the bridge into Sausalito but this is done on roads with a fair amount of traffic so it isn't as pleasant as the rest of the trip. From Sausalito you can take the ferry back to the ferry building if you have time.

Another option is San Francisco is to take public transit to the Golden Gate Park area and ride through the park. There are several places to rent bicycles around the park but note you will be going downhill as you go towards the ocean and uphill on your way back.