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So back in 2016 over the course of about 60 days I rode a bicycle 4,000 miles over Blue Ridge, The Rockies and the Cascades and 14 states from Virginia to Oregon. It was the most incredible journey of my life, and opened my eyes to beauty of the world and the freedom that a self-powered vehicle can offer you. I'm currently in the middle of a Peace Corps service in Ukraine and will finish up the spring of 2019, with plenty of time (and with a large enough severance package) to make a similar trek across Europe comfortably in the realm of the possible. I've found at least one partner more than willing to take part, and we're in the beginning-beginning stages of planning such a route. Our plan is to start in the capital of Ukraine, Kyiv, and we have mutually selected our destination as Lisbon, Portugal. Everything in between is totally fluid at this point and open for consideration. We'll have about 90 days, and we're both physically fit enough to manage an average of about 70-100 miles a day (110 to 160 km) with minimal rest days. Ideally, we're looking for a route that takes us through as many mountains as possible, but also allows for maximum appreciation of rural and metropolitan culture. We'd appreciate advice on dangerous roads or areas to stay away from, as well as communities known to be overtly hostile to cyclists or tourists. We'd like to know of any must-see sights, or locations of some good climbing (we're both avid climbers). Also, if we could be recommended any reputable local charities on the route that take walk-in volunteers for the day (for example, Habitat for Humanity) that would be great. We'll have already both had our fill of the Balkans, but we're really not against anything, even making a wild swing up to Oslo or a deep dive into Italy. That being said, our route will most likely adhere somewhat to: Kyiv, Ukraine L'viv, Ukraine Budapest, Hungary Vienna, Austria Then, either swing UP to Germany/Denmark or DOWN into Italy If Italy Venice, Italy Bologna, Italy Florence, Italy Rome, Italy Pisa, Italy Genoa, Italy Cannes, France Marseilles, France Montpellier, France Barcelona, Spain If Germany Prague, Czechia Berlin, Germany Lubeck, Germany Copenhagen, Denmark Odense, Denmark Hamburg, Germany Bremen, Germany Amsterdam, Netherlands The Hague, Netherlands Bruges, Belgium  Brussels, Belgium Amiens, France Paris, France Limogese, France Toulouse, France Barcelona, Spain Then Zaragoza or Valencia, Spain Madrid, Spain Salamanca, Spain Coimbra, Portugal Lisbon, Portugal We're really leaning toward Italy since we'd be able to follow the coast through Marseilles, France into Spain. Though I'd imagine we'd be missing some incredible stuff in inner France, so we can be convinced otherwise. I've consulted some of the other European travel threads, but I figured it would be nice to get some advice specific for a trip on a bicycle from people knowledgeable about the area. Some other odds and ends: it's unclear whether we'll also have a support vehicle or be totally self-supported. I'd say at this point it's about a 75% chance we'll be self-supported, which wouldn't be a problem. We're going to be doing this ride for charity, so we're hoping to spend most of our trip staying in churches/camping/hostels/couch surfing/warm showers to keep costs down and will be calling ahead of time to secure places to stay. I'd be more than happy to update this thread with pictures/progress when we undergo the trip next year. God Hole fucked around with this message at 13:39 on Mar 15, 2018 |
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Mar 15, 2018 13:33
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If you'd be okay with missing Madrid and adding a bit of distance, I'd consider following the north coast of Spain starting in San Sebastian and continuing all the way to A Coruna, then proceeding south through Santiago de Compostela, Vigo, Porto, etc. through to Lisbon. Another possibility could be following the Camino de Santiago through Pamplona and Logrono, if you want to go a bit more inland, before turning south into Portugal. Apart from that, I don't know I can offer any specific advice, but it sounds cool and I look forward to hearing how it turns out.
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Mar 16, 2018 15:52
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You want to cycle through mountains but you’re bypassing the Alps! Switzerland is great for biking and with couch surfing you can do it pretty cheaply. Not Ukraine cheap though. Your southern route sounds way more fun but the cycling in Italy will definitely be more stressful than Germany (narrower lanes, shittier drivers). I’m not a biker though so can’t give any super specific advice.
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Mar 16, 2018 17:25
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PT6A posted:If you'd be okay with missing Madrid and adding a bit of distance, I'd consider following the north coast of Spain starting in San Sebastian and continuing all the way to A Coruna, then proceeding south through Santiago de Compostela, Vigo, Porto, etc. through to Lisbon. Thanks for the rec! Have you been to the North coast before? Why would you recommend checking that out over Madrid if you don't mind me asking Saladman posted:You want to cycle through mountains but you're bypassing the Alps! Switzerland is great for biking and with couch surfing you can do it pretty cheaply. Not Ukraine cheap though. I know! We considered it but figured it might add too much of a horseshoe to either route, but it's good to hear that prices aren't too prohibitive, that was what we were most worried about. We'll leave it open for consideration for sure.
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Mar 16, 2018 21:23
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God Hole posted:Thanks for the rec! Have you been to the North coast before? Why would you recommend checking that out over Madrid if you don't mind me asking I have been to San Sebastian, Logrono (not quite along the north coast, but a possible route) and A Coruna. They are gorgeous, surprisingly mountainous if, the food is amazing from the cheapest stuff you can get to the most expensive, and excepting San Sebastian itself, they are quite inexpensive. Plus, I think you'll probably have more interesting places to stop along the way. In terms of significant cities along the north coast, there's San Sebastian, Bilbao, Santander, Gijon/Oviedo, and then A Coruna and/or Santiago de Compostela. A lot of it depends on timing. If you're doing this in the summer, the coastal route will be amazing and the route through the interior will roast you alive. If you're doing it between late fall and early spring, you may be wet and miserable along the coast. If you want a better idea of advantages and disadvantages, look at info about the Camino de Santiago. The Camino del Norte follows the north coast, and the Camino de Frances is flatter and further inland (Wikipedia notes that many pilgrims prefer that because the Camino del Norte goes up and down a lot more, but if you want mountains and stuff...) Granted these routes won't be 100% original, since a fair number of travellers walk or bike them, but on the other hand, you can consult trip reports for advice and the infrastructure for this sort of trip is decently established. I certainly wouldn't discourage you from seeing Madrid, because it's an awesome city and I love it, it just seems there'd be fewer things between Barcelona and Madrid, and then Madrid and Portugal, that interest me, but that's a personal opinion.
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Mar 16, 2018 22:45
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Can't speak for Germany but the biking in Tuscany is fantastic. If it were me, I'd at least swing through the northern third of Italy.
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Apr 23, 2018 12:13
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You may already know about them, but have you looked at European bike highways ? They are basically connecting cycling paths along the main European rivers, which should make travel easier when you're not in the mountains 
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Jul 30, 2018 08:17
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You can ride from Austria to Cortina d'Ampezzo in Italy if you want mountainous riding and climbing. Then keep heading south into Tuscany.
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Jul 31, 2018 16:55
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What kind of bike do you use for a trip like this, and how fit should you be? I've always wanted to do a long distance bike trip. I think in Holland there's a small community of long distance cyclists who drive all the way from Holland to like Kyrgyzstan and stuff
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Sep 8, 2018 16:04
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Shibawanko posted:What kind of bike do you use for a trip like this, and how fit should you be? I've always wanted to do a long distance bike trip. I think in Holland there's a small community of long distance cyclists who drive all the way from Holland to like Kyrgyzstan and stuff I'm using the bike I used to get across the US, a standard 2015 Giant Defy [endurance] road bike. It's aluminum rather than carbon fiber, which didn't really noticeably affect my performance. The people who brought carbon bikes on my last trip kind of regretted it because those are typically higher end and they got beat the hell up. I'd guess a touring bike would be more appropriate for a trip like this, but imo a road bike is perfectly serviceable. I've never tried a touring bike so I can't say how much better or worse they are though. I was able to adequately prepare for my trip thanks to the various bike threads in YLLS. The best piece of advice I received was to invest in a good saddle, and the less cushioning the better. I opted to replace my stock saddle with a Brooks Cambium about halfway through my last trip and my saddle sores disappeared practically overnight. Honestly, you can't physically over-prepare for a trip like this, but I was worried about not having trained enough before my last trip and I was just fine (Blue Ridge Parkway notwithstanding). This is speaking as a former varsity college athlete though so ymmv. I'd recommend at least doing about 300-500 miles of training in the months leading up to your trip, with at least one 70-mile day. Use and try out all of your equipment. The people on my trip who were from Florida really suffered the most because they had almost no opportunity to get elevation training, the air was comparatively really dry, and almost all of them got altitude sickness over 4500 feet. They were the most fun to drink with in Denver cuz they got really loopy after like one IPA. I'd suggest doing some intervals in a really high gear and maybe doing a high-altitude hiking trip if you're in a similar situation and want to see if you can handle it. asur posted:You can ride from Austria to Cortina d'Ampezzo in Italy if you want mountainous riding and climbing. Then keep heading south into Tuscany. This looks divine. Thank you! Chikimiki posted:You may already know about them, but have you looked at European bike highways ? They are basically connecting cycling paths along the main European rivers, which should make travel easier when you're not in the mountains Yeah we'll most likely be incorporating some of those highways into our trip, but won't be sticking to them exclusively So after consulting with many leaders in the Ukrainian non-profit sector, and researching organizational reputability, it looks like the charity we will be sponsoring with our ride is Таблеточки (Tabletochki) http://tabletochki.org/en, an organization with the express purpose of treating and supporting children in Ukraine with blood cancer. We'll also be donating toward campaigns that support legislation against distracted driving, and we're currently taking recommendations if you have any in mind!
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Sep 24, 2018 12:06
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Okay we've pretty much got our route all planned out. We've really relied on a lot of the recommendations in this thread and I think you'll find that reflected in our final itinerary. So thanks a lot! It'll take place over a period of about 45 days: Uzhhorod, Ukraine Košice, Slovakia Poprad, Slovakia Banská Bystrica, Slovakia Nitra, Slovakia Bratislava, Slovakia Vienna, Austria Linz, Austria Salzburg, Austria Halstadt, Austria Bruck an der Großglocknerstraße, Austria Lienz, Austria Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy Bolzano, Italy Premadio, Italy Domaso, Italy Magadino, Switzerland Andermatt, Switzerland Lucerne, Switzerland Interlaken, Switzerland Montreux, Switzerland Geneva, Switzerland Lyon, France Valence, France Avignon, France Marseille, France Montpellier, France Leucate, France Girona, Spain Barcelona, Spain Lleida, Spain Zaragoza, Spain Pamplona, Spain San Sebastián, Spain Bilbao, Spain Santander, Spain Gijón / Oviedo, Spain Ribadeo, Spain A Coruña, Spain Santiago de Compostela, Spain Vigo, Spain Porto, Portugal Coimbra, Portugal Caldas da Rainha, Portugal Lisbon, Portugal A more detailed spreadsheet with rough distances / elevation gains calculated (on google maps so take with a grain of salt), as well as notes on what to do and see in those locations can be found here: A couple of the highlights: We've incorporated Stelvio Pass (which I'm really pumped for) and Großglockner Alpine Road, and we'll prob be hiking up to Lac de Moiry. Also possible we'll catch the running of the bulls in in Pamplona. We'll be utilizing about 5 different EuroVelo routes at some point or another on this trip as well as the Camino del Norte in Spain. We will most likely begin our journey in the middle or toward the end of May 2019 and finishing sometime in June. I'm considering, when we begin, documenting our trip live on SA for you guys in this thread or maybe another subforum if it's more appropriate? Depends on the level on interest I suppose. Also, I haven't finished doing the more detailed turn-by-turn mapping yet, so if you guys know of any pressing information like "that road is closed in June" or "they entirely outlawed roads there actually" or any info on hip campgrounds, I'd be very interested in hearing it! God Hole fucked around with this message at 01:07 on Jan 11, 2023 |
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Jan 12, 2019 18:57
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Looks epic! When you start planning the route through Switzerland, take a good look at the bike routes here: https://www.schweizmobil.ch/en/veloland.html These routes are extremely well signposted, there's a sign at every intersection along them, even if it's just an up arrow telling you to go straight ahead, so it really makes it easy to just ride without looking for a street name or however you're planning to do it. I'm not exaggerating either, there will be a sign at every cross street and sometimes a hundred yards before it if there's something tricky you should do to turn left or if you're descending and there's a turn. They're always brown and they're numbered.  One-digit routes are national, they go for 300-400km. The regional routes have two digits and the local routes have three digits. They all incorporate a lot of side streets and some hard dirt trails to get you off the motorways so they're pretty peaceful if your wheels can deal with some roots and rocks (usually they're pretty smooth but it is technically off-road). I feel like the regional and local routes have more trails, but maybe that's just around Bern. You can click on a stage in the map and then click "more info" and it will tell you the distances on asphalt and on natural surfaces.
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Jan 12, 2019 19:53
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God Hole posted:We will most likely begin our journey in the middle or toward the end of May 2019 and finishing sometime in June. I'm considering, when we begin, documenting our trip live on SA for you guys in this thread or maybe another subforum if it's more appropriate? Depends on the level on interest I suppose.
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Jan 12, 2019 23:01
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Yo, are you doing this trip, then ? I don't think I can host you but if you want I can show you a bit of Vienna!
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Apr 22, 2019 14:37
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Yep, I'll be in Vienna the evening of June 12th and all of June 13th. Thanks, that would be much appreciated! I'll pm you
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Apr 23, 2019 09:54
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crossposting from the bicycle touring megathreadGod Hole posted:Well it's finally happening, but I don't think it'll feel real until after the first full day of riding. I've got an extended vacation from my work in Ukraine, taking a train from Kyiv to Uzhhorod and then biking to Lisbon, Portugal in 45 days starting on the 6th. I've previously biked across the US in 2016 but that was with a group and it wasn't loaded. I'm sure I'll be making adjustments as I go but so far I'm pretty confident in my setup: God Hole fucked around with this message at 01:07 on Jan 11, 2023 |
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Jun 2, 2019 09:03
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Good luck! Interested in the updates. I just read the book Quondam by John Devoy that you might enjoy when you get a chance, and then thank god you're biking through Europe in 2019 and not through the Sahara in 1986.
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Jun 2, 2019 13:38
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x-posting from bicycle touring megathread. Felt the need to wrap this thread up! It was quite the journey, thanks for all the advice guys!God Hole posted:Some updates on the cross-Europe tour: God Hole posted:So I finished my trans-European trip (Ukraine to Portugal) back on July 20th. Needed some time to get back into real-world life before I could post an update. Saladman posted:Good luck! Interested in the updates. I just read the book Quondam by John Devoy that you might enjoy when you get a chance, and then thank god you're biking through Europe in 2019 and not through the Sahara in 1986. I ended up staying with a few hosts on this trip who have spent years bike touring through Africa and by all reports, it seems like a really pleasant place to have a tour if you plan intelligently. Of course, I don't think any of them were stupid enough to bike through the Sahara lol I'll check it out, thanks for the rec! God Hole fucked around with this message at 01:16 on Jan 11, 2023 |
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Aug 13, 2019 08:49
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God Hole posted:x-posting from bicycle touring megathread. Felt the need to wrap this thread up! It was quite the journey, thanks for all the advice guys! Do you have a map of your itinerary? Your Strava page doesn't seem to be updated. You can set up to something like 30 destinations on Google Maps if you do it through URL editing (if you do "add destination" it stops at 10). There're of course tons of other tools for route mapping, but Google Maps is nice since it has a better interface and is more interactive than stuff that like Garmin puts out. e.g. https://www.google.com/maps/dir/L%C3%BC,+Switzerland/Chur/Andermatt/Geneva/ You can just change the URL to add in Interlaken like: https://www.google.com/maps/dir/L%C3%BC,+Switzerland/Chur/Andermatt/Interlaken/Geneva/ I guess you'd probably have to do like minimum 50-60 destinations to make it follow your route reasonably precisely, but it'd be easy enough to spread that over 2 or 3 different Google Maps routes. E: Also that AirBnB in Interlaken looks dope, especially with that patio with the telescope. Saladman fucked around with this message at 09:07 on Aug 13, 2019 |
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Aug 13, 2019 09:03
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Saladman posted:Do you have a map of your itinerary? Your Strava page doesn't seem to be updated. You can set up to something like 30 destinations on Google Maps if you do it through URL editing (if you do "add destination" it stops at 10). There're of course tons of other tools for route mapping, but Google Maps is nice since it has a better interface and is more interactive than stuff that like Garmin puts out. e.g. I planned my whole route out on Komoot, I deleted each daily route as I completed them to free up space though. Yeah I just checked and for some reason "cycling" was the sport that was switched to "private" in my strava settings. No other sport was. Not sure why that is. Here's day 1, let me know if you have trouble accessing the others God Hole fucked around with this message at 01:08 on Jan 11, 2023 |
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Aug 13, 2019 11:00
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God Hole posted:I planned my whole route out on Komoot, I deleted each daily route as I completed them to free up space though. Ah, yeah working now. I just signed up for a Strava account for the first time; their map interface sure is a lot better if you're logged in. If you're just 'previewing' it you can't even move around on the map at all. I was going to ask you how the Swiss National Park was -- I've never been through the main part of it but I've been pretty much everywhere else in Switzerland -- but sounds like it was uh, not the best ride. Hopped on a train, drat. Fluela Pass and Albula pass are both beautiful... when the weather is nice. Also I'd never heard of a border crossing that was only for "local residents" within the EU, what a pain in the rear end way to start out your trip. Saladman fucked around with this message at 12:27 on Aug 13, 2019 |
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Aug 13, 2019 12:25
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Saladman posted:Ah, yeah working now. I just signed up for a Strava account for the first time; their map interface sure is a lot better if you're logged in. If you're just 'previewing' it you can't even move around on the map at all. I was going to ask you how the Swiss National Park was -- I've never been through the main part of it but I've been pretty much everywhere else in Switzerland -- but sounds like it was uh, not the best ride. Hopped on a train, drat. Fluela Pass and Albula pass are both beautiful... when the weather is nice. I did manage to bike Fluela and Albula, they were absolutely breathtaking, and that wasn't even because I was entering the beginning stages of hypothermia lol yeah I did try to minimize the riding of trains. I only did it that day, and in the final few miles of my ride into Barcelona (local recommended it, saying that the roads into the city were dangerous as gently caress) The border crossing was annoying, but that was a comparatively small hitch.
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Aug 13, 2019 12:34
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You should absolutely consider Mexico next. It took me five months to do it north to south because hosts would never let me leave
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Aug 23, 2019 18:35
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