I did a thing: 2100 miles by bike across Europe

[geargrrl]

I rode the Eurovelo 6 up the Loire from the Atlantic, across Switzerland, then over the hill to the Danube, down the Danube to Belgrade, Serbia. It's a fantastic, easy route with incredible cycle paths and bike infrastructure all along the rivers. There is very little riding with cars until Hungary. The further east you go, the ration of beautiful cycle path to highways changes dramatically. It was amazing: small OLD village, castles, museums, history going back to the Neolithic times, SO MUCH HISTORY, scenery, food, people, riding along the river every single day.... We did 2171 miles in 62 days with a mix of camping and accommodations. I don't know where to start with photos so I'll choose just a few.

Castle of Angers:


Blois:





Chateau Sully-sur-Loire




Amazing Neolithic artifacts:

 

[geargrrl]

Bike path next to highway:



along the Rhine:


the "pass" between the Rhine and Danube:


Headwaters of Danube


The Munster (old church) central Ulm


Stumbling stones, Holocaust war memorials that indicate where someone lived and how they died. (canp, murdered etc)

 

[geargrrl]

Sometimes the path was dirt:


old hunting lodge:



Wachau valley after Passau


Lots of old Roman forts along the Danube. The river was the northern frontier of the Empire.


Stopped in Vienna for a few days: (Paliament)

 

[ilovepugs]

Incredible pictures and amazing adventure! How did you plan it? How long was the journey?

 

[geargrrl]

Just a sample of European city bike infrastructure;


Bratislava:


Lots of levee riding:


Art from Jewish Quarter of Budapest:


Memorials like this all along the Danube: Memorial to where Jews and others (gypsy, partisans, other ethnic groups) were roped together, lined up and shot into the river. Intensely moving.

So beautiful

 

[geargrrl]

We went through France, Switzerland, Germany, Austria, Slovakia, Hungary, Croatia and Serbia. The route goes through Romania to the Constanta on the Black Sea. We opted to stop at Belgrade because there gets to be too much highway, too much traffic, camping and accommodation options really drop and it was getting into triple digits for temps.

Welcome to Croatia:


Modern war memorial:


Welcome to Serbia:


Got caught in music festival pedestrian traffic early one morning


The farmers on the side of the road


End of the line, Belgrade Serbia

 

[VickiK]

WOW! This is SOMETHING!

 

[Jenny]

Very nice - pics look like you had some great weather.

 

[RachelV]

What an incredible trip! What was the schedule like in terms of pace? Did you have days where you didn't ride at all?

Cycling tourism: Atlantic-Black Sea cycle route - EuroVelo

Discover the 11 UNESCO sites along theAtlantic-Black Sea cycle route

en.eurovelo.com

Are these EuroVelo routes official in any way or are they just recommended routes if you're bikepacking?

 

[VickiK]

@RachelV starts off with 3 questions, and I'd have so many more. Hope you post more about it, @geargrrl .

 

[RachelV]

I actually edited the post to remove several more questions before I posted it, too

 

[geargrrl]

Ask away. :-)

The EV system is very well established. I think there are 15 or 18 routes. Some routes are totally developed, some are "under development". The 6 is one of the most popular ones. There are maps and books you can buy plus GPS files free for download. It is very well signed for the most part, but not every single turn is marked so there is some route finding. Through France, Switzerland, Germany and Austria it's almost all bike path, canal road, very quiet road or farm road. You might have to ride in traffic a few blocks to connect sections. As you go further east there is more road and more sections that are "under development" - this means it's a route but there's no cycle infrastructure.

Other than a meetup with our son in Passau, we didn't have a schedule. The goal was about 60 km a day with a rest day once a week. In the beginning, 60 km took more time than it did after a few weeks in the saddle. Length of the day did vary some depending on distance between campgrounds or towns we wanted to stop at. We typically did rest days at cities/large towns with museums or other things to see. We'd get an air bnb with a washer lol.

examples of signs

 

[geargrrl]

Note on schedule. If you live outside of EU "Schengen" rules you have 90 days.

 

[santacruz skier]

What an amazing trip! Thanks so much for sharing.

 

[Skier31]

Wow! Fabulous!

 

[MissySki]

Incredible journey!

 

[BlizzardBabe]

So, So, Cool!!! Thank you for sharing!

 

[elemmac]

Ask away. :-)

Invite accepted.

- Stop me if this gets too personal...haha. As someone that is exploring options for an MTB bikepacking journey (i.e. nowhere near 62 days nor 2100 miles). I see in one photo you have a chamois hanging from your handlebar. How did you manage your underlayer? Bring 2, wash/dry one and wear the other...rinse and repeat (literally)?

Quite an amazing journey! Glad to see you spent a little time in Budapest...such a beautiful city!

 

[geargrrl]

Nothing too personal. Two chamois, one to wear and one to wash/dry. If it didn't dry overnight I hung it on my bars to dry during the day. Hub the same. Sometimes I had socks and or a shirt on there somewhere to. Sanitation is everything. Get out of it as soon as you stop and get them washed and hanging to dry right away

 

[geargrrl]

OMG the food in Budapest....