Cycling Around 7 Continents

[De Bruyn]

Hi guys... My friend and I are cycling through all seven continents and is currently in Europe, our second continents. We are currently heading over from Ireland towards the UK and then into the rest of Europe. Do any of you have any route suggestions or info that might be useful towards our Europe leg? Our first few countries are:
- Wales
- England
- Belgium
- Netherlands
- Germany
- Poland
- Czech Re[

You guys can check out our Facebook page at : www.facebook.com/around7continents. Looking forward in hearing from all of you! Cheers

 

[Volnix]

Hi!

Sounds awesome but its really cold in these countries at the moment!

This website is about cycling routes in Europe:

http://www.eurovelo.org/ .

There are a few types of routes. The "realized ones" are complete with signs etc. The "Planned" ones are only drafted on paper and dont have any signs.

You can read a bit about how the routes are selected on the website.

http://www.eurovelo.org/routes/

You can also check this website. Its a community for touring cyclists. Never used it my self but you might get some info on local routes, hotels etc...

https://www.warmshowers.org/

Oh and something else... If you are camping in random places (like the woods etc) check with the authorities first if its legal to do so. Some countries in Europe have very strict laws about free camping and if you get spotted you might get arrested and processed...

If you want any more info just ask!

 

[De Bruyn]

Thanx, will go through this and have a look! Will help a lot! Do you know which of the countries have the strict policies on the camping? We are just camping as we go

 

[Volnix]

Originally Posted by De Bruyn
Thanx, will go through this and have a look! Will help a lot! Do you know which of the countries have the strict policies on the camping? We are just camping as we go

I did some free camping in Austria without any problems. In the UK it might be best if you just sit under a bridge and dont deploy a tent in the cities but in the countryside it might be different. In Greece if you are spotted with a tent on any non-camping ground and there is a police station near you will be arrested for sure. The same might apply for Italy. Just a call to a police station will clarify that.

They are not doing it because of the wacky cyclists, they are doing it to prevent big gypsy settlements which tend to become nests for illegal activity and also to support the tourism industry. Allthough some times tourists get away with it (maybe) but I do know of people gettin arrested like that. (Not gypsies, just people chilling in the beach overnight in a tent in the summer. Not too skunky ones either...

)

Eurovelo has a proper route (realized) from the UK to France and from there there are more realized routes.

The link to the new map is:
http://www.eurovelo.com/en/images/eurovelo-map
(it describes the various routes with distances etc).

The more to the east and south you go the less good the cycling infastructure becomes... But people are used to seeing cycling tourists. Just be careful to stay away from the motorways where its -again-

illegal to ride a bike. In some countries you might also be denied to load a bike in a train.

If you want any more info just ask!

Good luck!