One of our most relaxed tours, this week features exploration of these NC barrier islands that are so steeped in history. There were colonists here thirty years before the Pilgrims. This is where the Wright Brothers made their first flight at Kitty Hawk. Home to legendary pirates, shipwrecks, lighthouses and wild horses.

It's a "Hub" tour - settle into your comfortable room for the entire week (with optional full ocean view upgrade), no packing/unpacking!  You won’t be able to miss the Atlantic Ocean beaches and Albemarle Sound marinas. Surfers, paddle boarders and hang gliders seem to be everywhere! There’s excellent shopping, fine and casual dining to enjoy. Naturalists can enjoy several wildlife refuges in the area, perfect for bird watching. Fisherman have their choice of several piers, surf fishing or chartered services.

You'll love our lodging: The Hilton Garden Inn Outer Banks/Kitty Hawk, has a relaxed resort feel about it, with its beach front location, Tiki Bar, restaurant, indoor and outdoor heated pools, fitness room, fishing pier and more.

The riding here is easy, since it’s flat terrain and we’ll be almost entirely on bike paths. We’ll include a visit to the Wright Brothers National Memorial, have lunch in a town called Duck, and you’ll have plenty of time to walk the beach, charter a fishing trip, see the wild horses, or just read a book in the shade. We’ll ride alongside giant sand dunes, through quiet woodlands, past docks and piers on the sound, utilizing the Dare County bike paths. We’ll also visit Manteo’s Festival Park, Fort Raleigh and the North Carolina State Aquarium. You will have one entire day without any scheduling to do whatever you please.

Tour Leaders: Jack Pettry & Maer Seibert

Senior Cycling does NOT have E-bikes available for rent, but you are welcome to bring your own Class 1 (Pedal-assist only) E-bike on this tour.  

On a scale of 1-5, with 5 being most difficult, this tour is rated a 2 - probably the easiest tour we run, with flat terrain and small daily distances - not a 1 only because wind conditions can sometimes be challenging. 

Please review Senior Cycling's Cancellation Policy here.  

And, Please purchase trip insurance. Especially at our age, even though no one expects or wants it, health issues arise and accidents happen.  At Travelinsurance.com you can get quotes for coverage from several different providers and get all your questions answered about different levels of coverage, such as "Cancel For Any Reason (COFR)" polices and Pre-Existing Condition waivers. Allianz Travel Insurance and TravelGuard by AIG are also well-known companies with reasonable rates. Please check it out and protect your travel investment.

Meet at our hotel, the Hilton Garden Outer Banks. An introductory meeting at 5:00pm will begin our tour with cocktails, snacks, maps and details. Following the meeting we'll enjoy dinner together at a nearby restaurant (included). 

11 or 22 miles - We ride from our hotel via bike paths to the Wright Brothers National Memorial (admission included). We'll have a picnic lunch (provided) near the Visitors Center. Cycle back to the hotel or ride back in the van, depending on wind/weather conditions and your liking. 

16-22 miles, flat terrain. Today features a combination of roadside bike path and neighborhood roads + some walking. We’ll load bikes into the trailer, jump in the van and head north along the barrier island to the Currituck Banks Maritime Forest. We'll park and begin our day's exploration with a leisurely 2 mile out-and-back stroll to the lookout site on Raccoon Bay. Then we'll begin cycling south, through quiet Corolla Village to visit the sprawling and gorgeous grounds of Historic Corolla Park, which features a magnificent view from the 162 ft., 220 step red brick Currituck Beach Lighthouse as well as the Currituck Maritime Museum, the excellent NC Wildlife Educational Center, and Whalehead Club. You can take your time exploring as much or as little as you like before continuing south along Ocean Trail toward the town of Duck, where you'll get lunch on your own.* After lunch you can ride the remaining 6 miles back to the hotel on the roadside bike path or take the van. 

You are on your own to enjoy the area’s many attractions. From relaxing by the pool, beachcombing or kite-flying out the hotel’s back door, a wild horse tour, to chartered fishing, to surfing… the day is yours. 

 15 miles, flat terrain

Today we’ll regroup to share stories and pictures from our rest day activities, and do some more riding to see the sound side of the Outer Banks from Roanoke Island. We'll take the van to Roanoke Island Festival Park to begin our ride through the quiet town of Manteo to the NC Aquarium (admission included), followed by a snack. A stop at Fort Raleigh is next, a park with lots of history.

You’ll ride back on the trail and end up in downtown Manteo for lunch on your own, plus a chance to walk the scenic boardwalk on the marina and to see the many shops there. A quick van ride back to the hotel, then out for dinner in Kill Devil Hills, included!

For anyone interested, we'll take a 20 minute ride in the van to Jockey's Ridge State Park in Nags Head, which includes includes the tallest active sand dune system in the eastern United States. The visitor center features a museum about cultural and natural history of the park, including the dunes, plants and wildlife, weather, pirates and local maritime history. The ridge area is accessed either from the back deck of the visitor center or the parking lot via a 350-foot-long boardwalk. You may see hang gliding lessons in progress! We'll return to hotel in time for check-out at 11:00. You've thoroughly experienced the famous Outer Banks of North Carolina!