Riding towns between DC and Charleston

[akmonkey]

Hey guys,

I'll be on the East Coast for a couple weeks starting April 15. My plan is to fly into DC and spend a week in the area between DC and Charleston. I'd like to find a couple/few small towns to stay in where I can rent a bike and ride daily. Are there any standout towns or areas? Coastal would be a bonus.

The second week I'll be in Charleston kiteboarding and biking, so any bike shop and/or ride recommendations in the Charleston area would be appreciated.

Thank you!!!

Jim

[TiminVA]

Not on the coast, but the Asheville area has great cycling.

[rnhood]

Asheville is nice but not on his track. Williamsburg and Yorktown are both excellent. Richmond is good too, but it is a bigger city. You can stay in th downtown Hi-Hostel(excellent hostel) and ride around Monument Ave, Shockoe Bottom and the capital. Excellent sight seeing. All three of these cities are a must, imho.

Heading further south, you can stop at Elizabeth City (NC), and ride up and down and around outer banks. Visit a few small cities like Nags Head, Kitty Hawk, Hatteras maybe, etc. Lots of places to visit around there. There is really not a lot there, but it is a NC highlight with some history. Take your time and enjoy it.

And heading further south, Wilmington is a bigger city with some places to visit but, traffic can be a headache. Some of the nearby beaches are beautiful. The Cape Fear River is historic.

A little further and into SC, I have always liked Georgetown. A solid southern city in the best tradition of southern cities. Suitably laid back, lots of trees the Spanish Moss, and some beautiful old homes. A city kind of stuck back in time.

Then comes Charleston. It's worth spending at least two days here. Downtown Charleston (especially the Battery) is a must. Just lots of good places to see, and things to do. Don't rush your tour. It's worth the extra time.

That's my recommendation since you only have a week. I might be inclined to skip Wilmington and spend extra time in and around Charleston.

[acorn_user]

Charlottesville or Harrisonburg could work pretty nicely for you. Lots of very good riding options, and good bike shops where you could rent a decent bike (Blue Ridge Cyclery in Charlottesville rents Trek Domanes). Most of the roads in this area aren't too busy. I feel like the Williamsburg and Richmond areas require a bit more local knowledge to avoid busy roads....

[skiezo]

About an 1.5 hours from Charleston is Savannah Ga. Great old southern city with lots to see and do and a great food scene.
Isle of Palms is also a nice oceanside area just outside of Charleston.
New Bern NC is also a great place to visit and ride around.
Are you going to rent one bike and travel with just one bike or try to rent from each city?
I am 2 hours from DC and have a few bikes that you could choose from if you are going to travel with one bike and they are your size. Just throwing out this option.

[Spaghetti Legs]

Drop me a line if you decide to come through Charlottesville. 2 hours south of DC, then you go back east one hour and you’re back in Richmond on I95 south. Sights to see include the Blue Ridge mountains, Monticello, University of Virginia, lots of good food, vineyards, breweries.

[akmonkey]

Thank you, guys. All great recommendations!

Jim

[Gummee]

Richmond has some awesome mtn biking along the river.

There's a great trail between Richmond and Williamsburg that people seem to enjoy riding.

HTH

M

edited to add: there's a metric crap ton of good riding in the DC area. Road, mountain, and gravel all have great places to ride. In fact, you can ride from the city to Occoquan on either dedicated MUTs, then hit the Cross County Trail which is a little bit mtn biking, 2-track, single-track, and a bit of pavement to connect the sections.

[djg]

The Charlottesville area has some great riding, although it's a bit out of the way (southwest of DC, rather than southeast). There are places to ride near Williamsburg, VA, which folks have mentioned -- it's not a great college town, but there are things there, and it's a nice area. There used to be some nice riding around Chapel Hill, NC, but my experience there might be dated -- it's about 20 years since I spent more than a day or two at a time down there.

So . . . on the coastal thing . . . I like the coast and we've been there a fair bit, from the Northern Neck, down into the NC Outer Banks, and Hilton Head, etc. There are places to ride, to be sure, and I've always brought a bike when we're doing a summer beach week, but for VA and NC I've always much preferred riding well off the coast, and I imagine I'd say the same about SC if I'd done much riding there.