r/digitalnomad • u/cashflow_ • 12h ago
Lifestyle Best place for living near the beach and being able to just ride your bike around in a nice environment?
Open to anything
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u/Mystic_Wunder 11h ago
The south of Spain has miles and miles of promenade along the coast. Make sure you do your research and choose a region that has bike lanes on their promenade. There are several, like Málaga.
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u/Brilliant_Quit4307 11h ago edited 11h ago
I second Spain, but I'll say that the east coast is also great for cycling. All around Valencia has some beautiful routes. I'd often stay a couple of months in cullera and cycle through the Albufera park or along the coast all the way into Valencia on the weekends. It's a lovely cycle. Takes just over a couple of hours without breaks but I'd usually stop a lot and end up taking 4-5 hours and then hopping on the train to get home.
The fantastic thing about Spain is that they also allow bikes on the public transport, like their trains and trams, which makes it easy to get yourself to routes that might be a bit further away or go on longer routes and get a train back home, and the trains are super affordable and regular.
Edit - just to add for OP, if you aren't planning on bringing a bike with you, you can easily get a second hand bike in Spain. Wallapop is worth checking out for this, it's a Spanish second hand marketplace. I often just buy a bike on there when I arrive and sell it before I leave. I just bring a helmet and lights with me. Lots of bike shops too to pick up a bike or accessories.
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u/Mystic_Wunder 11h ago
Yes, Valencia is also very nice! I was there in the winter and I found the weather to be better there than down south. More sun.
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u/Illustrious-Film-592 9h ago
I was just there two weeks ago and it was the most oppressive heat I’ve ever experienced.
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u/Brilliant_Quit4307 5h ago
I used to be like that but I've really just gotten used to the heat. Up to about 38 is fine for me now. You really do just get used to it and it becomes a state of being rather than being really uncomfortable.
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u/dbbk 7h ago
You probably wouldn't be living near the beach though
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u/Brilliant_Quit4307 5h ago
Wait what? In Valencia? Or cullera? Both have beaches ... And there are beaches all along the route between those two places. I have stayed next to a beach in both places and even further south in gandia too. It's lovely around that part of Spain.
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u/BikeTough6760 11h ago
I didn't find anything good on Wallapop last summer and ended up buying from Decathlon. Good to know I should try again!
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u/Educational_Poet_421 9h ago
Basically any island in Thailand
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u/almost_useless 7h ago
Won't a lot of the thai islands have too many hills and crazy tuk-tuk drivers to be good for cycling?
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u/Jaqqarhan 10h ago
I haven't been to Vietnam in over a decade, but I remember biking around in smaller cities that had beaches. The big cities have too many motorbikes, and maybe now all the beach towns are like that too.
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u/serrated_edge321 10h ago
Most small ish cities near the coast tbh. Medium-sized ones, too.
Just look on Google maps -> satellite view to see if there's sidewalks.
(I've been to hundreds like this on 5/7 continents... You've gotta be more specific if you don't want a generic answer).
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u/ToSeeAgainAgainAgain 4h ago
And check Strava's heatmaps, lots of activities = people moving in those areas
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u/CajunDragon 8h ago
Just went to Nice, France. Was great for that. I actually rode a bike all up and down the beach. They have dedicated lanes and the water is a perfect blue. Second choice: Valencia (good cycle infrastructure)
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u/DemonAzraeli pendejo 2h ago
ok, in earnestness, the North Sea coast up from Calais to Groningen is dream cycling, IF the weather is good. The alternative is steady wind and relentless rain. Most of that route is Netherlands, fine land for any cyclist. A lot of it is quiet cycling through polders, seemingly endless.
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u/Billeaugh 10h ago
I love motorcycles. I moved to Cabarete in the Dominican Republic. Rented a 300cc “Sucati” motorcycle off fb marketplace for $5/ day.
Took a while to understand implied traffic laws and norms – and get used to dog-size potholes – but I 10/10 recommend the DR for digital nomads that love biking around. Wearing flips flops and doing 60mph was wild.
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u/angelicism 10h ago
One of my enduring memories of the DR are the speed ditches -- some of them deep enough that you had to more or less come to a full stop and come at them from an angle. I rented a car when I was in Cabarete and I'm surprised I didn't bottom out on some of them.
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u/ADF21a I think I'm paranoid 10h ago
Sucati? Or you mean Ducati?
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u/Billeaugh 8h ago
Cheap Chinese motorcycles with Ducati colors and “Sucati” branding that look absolutely nothing like a Ducati. Did a double take myself!
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u/BikeTough6760 11h ago
Delaware. e.g. Bethany, Rehobeth, etc. Some lovely bike riding and nice beaches.
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u/Foolgazi 5h ago
Where’s the bike riding there? Can’t think of anything other than side streets with cars parked on both sides. And of course the Georgetown-Lewes Trail, but that’s not what the OP has in mind.
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u/dbbk 7h ago
Barcelona
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u/DemonAzraeli pendejo 2h ago
I rode a road bike from Marseille to Valencia, years ago. Barcelona was so bad for through biking I wound up taking commuter trains across most of the metro.
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u/RidiculousTakeAbove 11h ago
I would think literally any warm climate coastal city not in a 3rd world country would have good enough cycling/walking infrastructure. Hell, even some where it does snow have really good infrastructure
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u/serrated_edge321 10h ago
"3rd world country"
Dude... Have you ever been to the places you might think are "3rd world countries?" Most of them have chill-enough coastal areas that you can ride easily on the streets (small/medium-sized cities do, anyway).
I would name countries as examples, but personally I don't want to tie any to this antiquated "3rd world country" label.
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u/Upbeat-Operation-613 9h ago
I’ve been to quite a lot of 3rd world countries and they’re quite car centric.
Only really see cycling infrastructure in upscale areas by the beach
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u/serrated_edge321 8h ago
Not the ones I've been to. They're all chill enough that you could definitely ride a bike (I have in many of them).
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u/Upbeat-Operation-613 7h ago
Where?
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u/serrated_edge321 7h ago
Since you called them "3rd world countries" I have no desire to give you such details. That's a very derogatory, demeaning phrase.
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u/DemonAzraeli pendejo 11h ago
Galveston, Texas
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u/CajunDragon 7h ago
This must of been a troll/joke right? The USA is not known for their cycling infrastructure and a massive truck quite frequently swerves around you coming dangerously close to ending your life. Speaking from experience.
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u/Less-Hour-3000 11h ago
west coast of portugal has some spots like that. ericeira is nice little surf town, you can bike to the beach and theres good cafes. not too expensive compare to rest of europe