Cycling through Europe

Has anyone here done any long cycling trips through Europe?

I'm planning on going there next summer and I think I would like to bike my way around instead of taking the train. I did some poking around on Google, but didn't find any trails or routes. Just a bunch of general tips. Ideally, my trip would be about two months, and I would like to see London, Paris, Amsterdam, and Berlin. I would bike from Paris to Amsterdam, then to Berlin.

Has anyone done a similar route? I would appreciate your tales or tips, if you have any.

I was also thinking of starting a Kickstarter account to help fund some of it, and then make a short film of an American biker's travels.

i think it's rare for Europeans to do something like this. i was amazed by that guy (North American) on here.. er.. can't remember his name.. walking around Europe. Er, yeah.

Some country roads in Europe are in pretty bad shape; I was surprised to see how good the roads are in California when I visited last September. What europeans normally do is buy a month Interrail train pass, and basically use all the train lines in Europe to explore whatever countries they want as they please in any direction for a month. People say it's a great experience, you hop on and off at every little town at your heart's content, from country to country - maybe it would be logistically easier for you if you'd cycle and use trains as well.

If you're cycling in central Europe, I would recommend that you see the Bavaria (Munich) region in Germany; it's beautiful in the summertime, Norway (especially the west) and Italy (especially Tuscany) are off your route, but they're also beautiful to visit during the summer.

Are you into checking out food and wine while you're travelling?

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I would bike from Paris to Amsterdam, then to Berlin.

ugh, good looking finding a nice route, cos else that's going to be an ugly, crowded ride.

maybe do Milan -> Zurich -> Paris instead? more quiet, esthetic, and less flat.

  On 11/22/2011 at 2:54 PM, kokeboka said:

Norway (especially the west)

i've been in Norway on my bike last year's autumn/winter (in the north near Tromso). awesomely empty and big country up there. there's some really long tunnels on those highways though and altho there was barely any traffic, some encounters with big trucks on slippery icy road were kind of sketchy.

however there's not much in the ways of cities or urban attractions :)

  On 11/22/2011 at 3:03 PM, iep said:

  On 11/22/2011 at 2:54 PM, kokeboka said:

Norway (especially the west)

 

i've been in Norway on my bike last year's autumn/winter (in the north near Tromso). awesomely empty and big country up there. there's some really long tunnels on those highways though and altho there was barely any traffic, some encounters with big trucks on slippery icy road were kind of sketchy.

 

however there's not much in the ways of cities or urban attractions :)

The weather must be pretty harsh in Tromso during wintertime...

That's a fact, yeah. It's more for outdoor, "go find yourself" kind of travelling. The fjords are beautiful, people are genuinely friendly, and in Rogaland and Haugeland you have these quaint little villages and farms here and there, with larger coastal settlements like Stavanger and Alesund - but nothing really buzzing with cosmopolitan atmosphere.

long distance biking is harder than it sounds. mostly because the only roads between cities are busy highways. at least, that was my experience trying to get across canada.

  On 11/22/2011 at 5:19 PM, kokeboka said:

  On 11/22/2011 at 3:03 PM, iep said:

  On 11/22/2011 at 2:54 PM, kokeboka said:

Norway (especially the west)

 

i've been in Norway on my bike last year's autumn/winter (in the north near Tromso). awesomely empty and big country up there. there's some really long tunnels on those highways though and altho there was barely any traffic, some encounters with big trucks on slippery icy road were kind of sketchy.

 

however there's not much in the ways of cities or urban attractions :)

 

The weather must be pretty harsh in Tromso during wintertime...

i was in early november, weather was pretty mild near the coast/fjords, not much below freezing, but snowy. inland up in the hills and plateaus it was colder. really nice place to ride around! nice empty empty roads, well-bikable.

  On 11/22/2011 at 6:43 PM, iep said:

i was in early november, weather was pretty mild near the coast/fjords, not much below freezing, but snowy. inland up in the hills and plateaus it was colder. really nice place to ride around! nice empty empty roads, well-bikable.

some pics, these are all taken close to the main (pretty much only) highway between bodo and tromso:

I didn't make it myself but a good friend of mine did with his cousin. It wasn't a so long travel I think (from Lyon in France to somewhere in Austria if I remember well) but still hugely impressive for someone like me who never took the bike for more than two hours in a day.

I remember he told me it's better to do it with someone else unless you're a fuckin' warrior. Especially when there's some wind because you can alternatively drive very close behind your mate so that you take a a lot less air and you can somewhat rest a little bit before to take your turn in the front.

Anyway... All that I remember he told me I think. Also, I hitch-hiked with him from Geneva (Switzerland) to Leipzig in Germany about two weeks ago and that was a piece of fun. And sometimes a little piece of shit especially when we got stuck for fifteen hours in the same gas station next to Nuremberg and everyone looked at us as if we were aliens or nazi-rappers or something each time we asked for being took by car. If the weather had been better we could have chosen to do it by bike. I'd love to make such a travel one day.

Good luck anyway !

edit : iep, you are the warrior

beautiful pictures btw

If there's time, I would love to go down into Bavaria. That's where my mom's side of the family is from, actually.

  On 11/22/2011 at 6:39 PM, chaosmachine said:

long distance biking is harder than it sounds. mostly because the only roads between cities are busy highways. at least, that was my experience trying to get across canada.

I'm actually going to be doing a ride from San Francisco down to San Diego [about 800mi/1,287km] before I go on the European trip, so we'll see how I do. I'm a very strong rider, but haven't done any intense long rides yet. I bike around SF on a single speed and there are few hills I can't beat, just to give you an idea.

  On 11/22/2011 at 7:07 PM, iep said:

  On 11/22/2011 at 6:43 PM, iep said:

i was in early november, weather was pretty mild near the coast/fjords, not much below freezing, but snowy. inland up in the hills and plateaus it was colder. really nice place to ride around! nice empty empty roads, well-bikable.

 

some pics, these are all taken close to the main (pretty much only) highway between bodo and tromso:

 

 

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Beautiful photos! Norway is probably too far, but maybe that can be another trip.

  On 11/22/2011 at 7:07 PM, iep said:

some pics, these are all taken close to the main (pretty much only) highway between bodo and tromso:

 

 

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Awesome pics, iep! Norway (and Scandinavia in general) is a pretty special place, some parts of it remind me of the best of Alaska. I don't bike, but I wish I had hiked more while I was over there.

Have you been to Europe before, braintree?

I've never been to Europe before, and if I never go back, I want to make this trip something I'll never forget.

I read the OP title as "Crying through Europe"

;-]

Probably some of that too.

Sounds like a great idea!! I've done some long distance rides in the UK, never on the continent however.As someone has already mentioned, it's far far better to go with one or more other people. the companionship for one thing. It's also good to have someone to spur you on when you're really saddle sore and your legs are close to falling off.

also, be really well prepared. not only with supplies and spares, but with your route as well. Stick to the side of caution as to daily distances etc, and if your gonna be hosteling along the way be sure to get that sorted in advance, save yourself any further hassles when you just wanna bed down.

It's tough to recommend anything good in particular to go an see. You look like your planning on covering a lot of land. All I could really suggest is to plan a vague route and then research on things you can see on the way. Theres so much stuff to see and you'll no doubt go to some great places.

Kickstart sounds like a cool idea, the other optimum would be to see if you can get some kinda sponsorship or charity involvement. I've wanted to do a similar thing for a while, riding across Russia from St Petersburg, all the way to Beijing in China. I'd hope to do it for charity, raise money for Moorefields eye hospital.

wicked idea though, really hope you get a plan together. if you do make it to the UK and need a place to crash, providing I'm still innthe south, you're more than welcome!

You can take a bike on the Eurostar between London and Paris. Which means you have to go drinking with me and Dan before you set off.

iep: Are you Norwegian? I'm from Bodø myself, and although I love the nature up north, I wouldn't even consider cycling in november.

Braintree: You should definately combine an interrail pass with that bike, or even just go on an interrail trip and just rent a bike at the places you would like to explore more. If you like urban cycling, try Copenhagen and Amsterdam. Both are fantastic cities for cycling, and bikes are easy to rent.

  On 11/23/2011 at 11:52 AM, MortstoX said:

iep: Are you Norwegian? I'm from Bodø myself, and although I love the nature up north, I wouldn't even consider cycling in november.

nah, i'm dutch. Bodø area is awesome geologically-speaking (stetind!) with IMO a pretty mild sea-climate, but that's for another thread :)

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If there's time, I would love to go down into Bavaria.

if you still want to do the paris->amsterdam->berlin thing, you could take a route thru the schwarzwald. which is great cycling, and most likely extra nice with the relentless urban-ness of the rest of yer route.

I wonder what she's tripped over.

  On 11/23/2011 at 7:54 AM, TechDiff said:

Sounds like a great idea!! I've done some long distance rides in the UK, never on the continent however.As someone has already mentioned, it's far far better to go with one or more other people. the companionship for one thing. It's also good to have someone to spur you on when you're really saddle sore and your legs are close to falling off.

 

also, be really well prepared. not only with supplies and spares, but with your route as well. Stick to the side of caution as to daily distances etc, and if your gonna be hosteling along the way be sure to get that sorted in advance, save yourself any further hassles when you just wanna bed down.

 

It's tough to recommend anything good in particular to go an see. You look like your planning on covering a lot of land. All I could really suggest is to plan a vague route and then research on things you can see on the way. Theres so much stuff to see and you'll no doubt go to some great places.

 

Kickstart sounds like a cool idea, the other optimum would be to see if you can get some kinda sponsorship or charity involvement. I've wanted to do a similar thing for a while, riding across Russia from St Petersburg, all the way to Beijing in China. I'd hope to do it for charity, raise money for Moorefields eye hospital.

 

wicked idea though, really hope you get a plan together. if you do make it to the UK and need a place to crash, providing I'm still innthe south, you're more than welcome!

A sponsorship sounds like a good idea! I could probably hit up Chrome or another local company and see if they would donate money or a bike.

  On 11/23/2011 at 11:05 AM, Iain C said:

You can take a bike on the Eurostar between London and Paris. Which means you have to go drinking with me and Dan before you set off.

That would be awesome!

  On 11/23/2011 at 11:52 AM, MortstoX said:

iep: Are you Norwegian? I'm from Bodø myself, and although I love the nature up north, I wouldn't even consider cycling in november.

 

Braintree: You should definately combine an interrail pass with that bike, or even just go on an interrail trip and just rent a bike at the places you would like to explore more. If you like urban cycling, try Copenhagen and Amsterdam. Both are fantastic cities for cycling, and bikes are easy to rent.

I'm pretty set on biking the whole way, but if this isn't attainable, I'll think about the trains.

  On 11/23/2011 at 5:16 PM, iep said:

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If there's time, I would love to go down into Bavaria.

 

if you still want to do the paris->amsterdam->berlin thing, you could take a route thru the schwarzwald. which is great cycling, and most likely extra nice with the relentless urban-ness of the rest of yer route.

I'm basically going to try the easiest route that let's me see the most stuff, so if that turns out to involve the Schwarzwald, then I'll definitely consider it. I'm sure it's quite beautiful!

  On 11/22/2011 at 2:54 PM, kokeboka said:

Some country roads in Europe are in pretty bad shape; I was surprised to see how good the roads are in California when I visited last September. What europeans normally do is buy a month Interrail train pass, and basically use all the train lines in Europe to explore whatever countries they want as they please in any direction for a month. People say it's a great experience, you hop on and off at every little town at your heart's content, from country to country - maybe it would be logistically easier for you if you'd cycle and use trains as well.

Really? I thought the Californian highways were in a much worse state than most British roads. Not sure about the 'country roads', but I think we have a better standard over here. I imagine that in rural France/Austria there are some pretty dilapidated roads, though.

But yeah, cycling Europe sounds idyllic but it's probably a little too difficult to be enjoyable. Combining it with a few trains would be the best idea. Cycle 'round London, maybe up to Wales, get a train to Paris or ferry to Calais and then cycle north-east towards Belgium. Get a train into Holland and then across to Germany. From there, maybe Austria/Switzerland. Italy? Get on a boat from Italy to Spain?

  On 11/22/2011 at 2:54 PM, kokeboka said:

What europeans normally do is buy a month Interrail train pass, and basically use all the train lines in Europe to explore whatever countries they want as they please in any direction for a month.

This is 100% true

it's true that it seems like a lot of folk, especially kids, do that. i'd rather go by van or something, but oh well.

dang, it looks like interrail-tickets are over 600 euro's for a month. you could actually BUY a van for that.

such a ticket is 640 actually, for 2nd class seats.