About Warmshowers
The Warmshowers.org Foundation is a vibrant community comprising touring cyclists and gracious hosts who exemplify the spirit of reciprocal hospitality. Our community serves as a platform for cyclists seeking meaningful connections during their journeys, and perhaps even the comfort of a warm shower along the way.
Our dedicated hosts, the embodiment of the kindness at the heart of our mission, generously open their doors to cyclists, creating genuine moments of joy for all involved.
Our History
The Warmshowers journey started over 40 years ago.
In that time, thousands of hosts and riders from all corners of the globe have formed friendships, shared stories, shared hospitality, and made lifelong connections. Our love of cycling, adventure, and meeting new people binds us into a robust and diverse community of over 200,000 touring cyclists and hosts who offer free hospitality in nearly every country of the world.
Warmshowers becomes official
We have come a long way since 1976, when John Mosley kept a Rolodex with about 600 names of people willing to host touring cyclists. In 1993, Terry Zmrhal and Geoff Cashman officially started Warmshowers, and by 2005, the Rolodex had been converted into a map-enabled database website, allowing us to go global.
Over 200,000 users and counting
In 2014, Warmshowers.org Foundation became a US charitable non-profit organization. Within a year, we reached a user base of nearly 60,000. Today, Warmshowers continues its dramatic growth in line with the ever-increasing popularity of touring cycling. But two things remain the same: our vision and our mission
Our vision
We envision a future where everyone, everywhere, views Warmshowers as THE community for connecting touring cyclists and those who host them, making millions of connections possible.
Our mission
To facilitate and promote safe, free reciprocal hospitality in the worldwide touring bicycling community.