Graduating college in May and thinking about doing an international cycling trip with some friends for a senior trip (US based) at the end of May/early June. Any suggestions? Initially thought about French Alps/Italy but also have been considering South America like Columbia. Have there been any places that are must sees?
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Tenerife
In the Summer, it has to be the Alps. France, Italy, Switzerland. So many amazing climbs, thousands of road cyclists, a lot of cycling culture with caffès, milestone markers and villages completely focused on cycling.
For Spring and Fall, Tenerife and Mallorca. Amazing weather, great climbs, beautiful scenery.
For Winter, Watopia 
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Most governments don’t consider Colombia a safe place to travel. I’d reconsider that. YMMV.
I’ll give a plug for Portugal (my parents are from there). This is a granfondo route I did a couple of years ago. Definitely an underrated option when everyone talks about France/Spain/Italy
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I loved my one week trip in Japan.
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The end of May/early June may be a bit early for some of the higher alpine passes but it does vary from year to year.
Majorca’s excellent for road cycling, a lot of pro teams have winter/spring training camps there and a lot of infrastructure, hotels, cafés, etc. are set up for cyclists. It’s not a big island though and four or five days would see you having ridden most of the roads at least once.
Southern Spain would be good at that time of year - Andalusia and Murcia.
There’s a GCN video “places you must ride before you die” that might be worth watching.
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I highly recommend Nice as a base for a cycling trip. Fantastic mix of challenging climbs and scenic coastal rides. The cycling culture is evident throughout the region. Not to mention there has to be a reason why so many pros live and train there.
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Did not know this, might have to take it off the list then
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Where in Japan?
Is there anything to do in Tenerife besides cycling and the beach? Europe is appealing because there’s also good bars and touristy things to do
Nice/Monaco/really anywhere in southern France.
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Having cycled a bit around Europe, (including the popular Swiss alps and the canary Islands), my favorite place hands down is Wicklow Ireland! I love it so much here I’ve moved to Dublin just so I can continue to cycle here!
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Honshu. Started outside Tokyo up to the coast on the Sea of Japan and then back down to finish in Kyoto.
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Ignoring the cycling portion of the question, if its your first time in Europe try and visit Rome and Paris. I’ve travelled for business all over Europe, and always enjoy visiting those two cities (museums, history, etc). Also really enjoy my trips to Japan, but I don’t know anything about cycling in that country.
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Wow that’s high praise. Will have to look into it. Is it not cold end of May over there?
I’ve been to Europe before just never with my bike. Spent a week in Paris and a month in London before. I also went to Italy when I was a little kid but don’t remember much lol
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I’ve only been to Europe with my ski boots!
Ireland is generally quite mild with weather. In fact both it and the UK are much warmer than their latitude would suggest as they are warmed by the Gulf Stream so things are temperate rather than cold. I live in northern England and we might have had one or two nights at 0C last winter, that was as cold as it got. Most UK residents would be in t-shirts and shorts by the end of May (this year was an exception as it was a cold spring). The downside is that it’s likely to be raining!
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A ton actually.
The „beach“ is actually not what people expect it to be, with all the Sand being volcanic.
When my wife and I were there we hiked to
The peak of Mount Teide (Europe’s highest volcano and the highest mountain of Spain at 3700m+), we did paragliding, a whale cruise, went to a water theme park, my wife went exploring the island horse back riding.
Also, the Island has a lot of good restaurants. We even had a Michelin starred restaurant in our hotel.
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