Summer is on its way out, and what remains are some of the best weeks of the year for riding: mild temperatures, low light, empty roads. The question is where European cycle tourists will go between now and November. A reasonable answer comes from looking at where they went last year, and for the first time that data exists: the Cycle Tourism Index, presented in March 2026 on the stage of the Cycle Tourism Show in Padua.
Who won autumn 2025
At the top of the autumn ranking are the Balearic Islands, with 63.45 points, followed a hair’s breadth behind by Istria (62.13) and the Canary Islands (54.90). The podium traces a clear geography: those who set off in autumn are looking for the warmth that has already ended up north, and they find it in the Mediterranean and the Atlantic. Right behind comes a compact Croatian block — Zadar County (48.30), Dubrovnik-Neretva (46.37), Šibenik-Knin (46.25).
Italy makes it into the upper part of the ranking with Trentino-Alto Adige, first among the Italian regions in autumn as in every other season, followed by Sardinia (38.61). Over the full year, on the other hand, the crown goes to Istria (71.12), ahead of the Balearics (67.35) and Primorje-Gorski Kotar (58.25).
How the index works
The Cycle Tourism Index was born out of the collaboration between Bikenomist and komoot, the navigation app used by more than 50 million cyclists. The starting point is the aggregated data of activities recorded in 2025, filtered to keep only foreign cyclists: those who rode in a region while residing in another country. Rides by residents are left out of the count, because the index measures tourist flows.
From there two indicators are derived. The first is the volume of distinct users recorded in each region. The second is the ratio between foreign and local cyclists, which tells you how much a destination attracts from outside relative to its own home catchment: it is the item that allows a small territory to compete with a huge region. The two values are normalised on a comparable scale and combined into the final score.
The scope covers 14 European countries (Italy, Germany, France, Spain, the United Kingdom, Austria, Switzerland, Belgium, the Netherlands, Poland, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovenia and Croatia) analysed at the level of administrative regions, with separate rankings for the four seasons. This way a destination may find itself outside the overall top ten and yet dominate a single quarter, as happens to those that live on winter sun or summer altitude.
Who will be next autumn’s queen
Will the Balearics defend their title, will Istria take autumn as well, or will someone who today sits mid-table climb up? The data from the season that is starting right now will feed into the next edition of the index, which will be presented at the Cycle Tourism Show, 19–21 March 2027 at Padua. Three days to see the numbers, meet the destinations that produced them and understand where European cycle tourism is heading. See you there? To learn more, contact us.
