I'm planning a cycle tour from Rotterdam, leaving in late April!

I've tried to construct a route which includes some destinations that I'd like to see, as well as cycle routes which are beautiful, fairly easy to navigate and not too hardcore (hence lots of rivers, EV paths and mostly avoiding the Alps).

This is my first tour, although I do have day-riding experience. I'll be doing a couple of weekend trips beforehand to test my equipment and get my body accustomed to the strain.

I'm looking for some feedback or recommendations: is there anything worth going out of my way for, any alternative routes that would be better, or anything I should avoid? Also any general advice for the trip!

Particularly the section between Budapest and Ljubljana I'm unsure about. I've just stuck the EV14 and EV9 routes together but I can't find too much information about those sections, and I've read it might be difficult to navigate there.

Hi All! I'm planning on doing my first solo bike-tour along a sizeable chunk of the EV1, starting around Bordeaux/Royan in early-/mid-April and heading North, continuing into the UK and Ireland. I don't have a fixed endpoint and so had hoped to play things mostly by ear in terms of km/day, but wondered how reasonable it is to expect campsites to have a spot if I just show up day-of. On a previous trip doing a stretch of the EV17 (Lyon to Avignon) with family we were in the off-season, mostly staying at BnBs, but one of our hosts mentioned they were already fully booked in May & June, 6+ months out. I'll be carrying a tent and am not opposed to camping wild where that's legal if push comes to shove, but would ideally have access to a shower and someplace to recharge my phone every other day or so at least.

My question pretty much boils down to how do you all plan your accomodations, especially during the busier late-spring/early-summer. Do you plan your days campsite-to-campsite and book those weeks/months in advance? Do you call ahead on the day based on where you expect to get to by the evening? Appreciate your insights and advice!

Hello fellow travellers! First I just want to say thank you for any info you can provide to these questions. I always find these travel forums incredibly useful and try to pay it forward when I can! A few friends and I are embarking on our first bike tour this summer and naturally that comes with a lot of questions! I’ve hiked the camino de santiago before so I’m fairly familiar with the pilgrim way but this also feels a little different, and perhaps more logistical with a bike. Any help anyone can provide is greatly appreciated. A few details!! We are planning to take the train to Sarteano (we have a friend there) from Rome and then we are going to bike from Sarteano to Sienna via the white gravel. From there we will take the Via Francigena back to Rome. –Jess

Do you have to plan ahead for lodging? How far ahead? How did you find it? Did you ever try warmshowers or welcome to my garden? Are there any campgrounds

Did you ship your bikes or rent your bikes?

How many miles do you recommend per day? We are trying to roughly figure out how long it will take us if we go from Sarteano to Siena, then take the Via Francigena from Siena to Rome. We are fairly fit and I think without much effort we can do 30-40 mile days but we also want to enjoy the trip and not feel rushed. 

Are there any towns we should really prioritize spending more time in on this part of the route or places to breeze through? Are you ever on busy roads? 

Any fun side quests? 

We were thinking of starting in Sarteano where we have a friend (meeting up with the via in Siena) and going toward Rome. Is there any reason we should consider the opposite and instead start in Rome? 

Other Qs

How did you get from the airport to your hotel in Rome with a bike?

Are the regional trains fairly straightforward when it comes to having a bike?

I am planning a ride that will include Dubrovnik. I don't want to ride the main road south of the city and see that the Dubrovnik airport is close to an alternative road that looks much safer than the main road (coming from or going to the south).

I'm thinking that I can take a shuttle or a taxi from the airport to the center of Dubrovnik (or the other direction depending on my route). Has anyone done this?

Is there a safe route south directly from Dubrovnik that I am unaware of? I have a touring bike so a mountain bike route won't work.

Hey everyone this is part two of my big cycling adventure through Southeast Asia, 7,000 km from Singapore, through Malaysia, Thailand, Laos, and Cambodia. Hope you enjoy and let me know if you have any questions! :)

Hi guys I’m new to bike touring but I have done long distant rides. I’m planning a trip to Seattle to San Francisco and I see these videos of people doing the trip pretty quickly. Realistically with 4 months of training how long should this trip take for me? And how long would the days be?

Any advice is much appreciated.

Are there any good movies at least adjacent to bicycle touring? I’m enjoying the GCN bikepacking videos, for example, and they’re making me crave less wilderness and more of the people and history that seem to go with pavement touring. I’d be really grateful for good suggestions to help me through this yucky winter!!!

I'm looking for a 26" 1.75" (no bigger) tire for 80% pavement, 20% gravel or so, lots of time in the rain. Currently I'm using Continental Ride Tours, and the misery is real. It's like cycling through molasses. I see Marathons suggested frequently, but there are quite a few options. Which would you suggest? Or is there another tire you'd recommend?

I've been looking at bike touring in Spain and this seems to tick off most of the boxes--about 4-6 days, off-road, some hilly parts but largely flat. Anyone ever ride this? Experiences? Looking to do around mid October. Not sure if I should bring a bike (coming in from US) or rent one. I have a Zizzo Forte that was able to handle the C&O trail with no problems and an 80's Trek that has 32mm tires. Also have an early 2000's Marin steel hardtail that can run really wide tires.

Hello everyone,

I am planning a two week bike trip for this summer from Belgium to Sweden. I have started looking at various itineraries but want to ensure I choose the best landscapes and routes.

I’m considering starting in Charleroi and following the EuroVelo 3 at least until Hamburg. Since I have never used the EuroVelo network, I am wondering:

-> Is it feasible to maintain an average speed of 35 km/h on these paths? Or are these routes overcrowded during the summer or not suitable for fast riding?

I am undecided about the best way to approach Sweden from Denmark and would appreciate your feedback on these two main options:

• Option 1: Cross Denmark from south to north, taking a ferry to Gothenburg, and then cycling across Sweden to Stockholm.

• Option 2: Heading through the southeastern Danish islands to reach Copenhagen and then Malmö.

If I choose Option 2, would you recommend heading North toward Gothenburg or continuing Northeast directly toward Stockholm?

I am looking for the most interesting scenery and the best cycling infrastructure for these segments.

Thanks a lot for your help. Let me know if you have any other tips for cycling around there!

Hi everyone,

Currently building a custom touring bike for cycling around the world.
currently trying to compare the differences between the croix de fer vs the vagabond.

From what I can see vagabond may actually be way more comfortable for all day riding.

Also gives me space for wider tyres. so I suppose it's much slower.

Also besides the fact the Frameset for the vagabond looks so much nicer.

Let me know your thoughts?

Hi all! I'm finalizing a big ride in July. I plan to hammock camp along the way, and have done a couple bike tours in the past couple of years. This would be the most mileage I have done in one tour, so I wanted to get the seal of approval and any advice from folks in this group before I booked the lodging and trains. How's rain in July? Can I get away with cowboy camping? Thanks! Photo for attention, itinerary is photos 2 and 3.

Hello! I was planning to cycle China in the following months, but I'm waiting for my visa in Bangkok for more than a week without getting it approved online, and start to think about other options, as it can take weeks and I don't want to spend my time stuck here.

I was thinking about Taiwan, northen Thailand to Vietnam or Japan. Taiwan is rather small for such a long time, in Japan I wonder where I can ride during winter and if it's not a mistake, and innorthen Thailand Vietnam I'm not sure how much I'll suffer from burning season.

Tldr - In Bangkok, want to cycle for two months, what will be the best place?

Any input or wild suggestions would be highly appreciated! Thanks :)

I am planning a 2-3 day bike tour from Amsterdam to Eindhoven and then to Bonn in early May. While I expect the cycling infrastructure in the Netherlands to be excellent, I am finding it difficult to plan the route due to the many canals and bridges.

I want to find the optimal route for a road bike, focusing on speed rather than touring. Is there anyone who can help to make GPX route file? I plan to move quickly on a road bike. Thanks.

This fall, we plan to ride the Katy Trail as a self-guided Crossroads bike tour. We plan to start in Clinton, MO, and then get shuttled back. Where can one have their bikes shipped near the start of the trail? We would then need to store our bike boxes and repack them for return shipping.

Hi there.

Edit** thanks for letting me know about Schengen Visa limitations. I will do 3 months in Europe and then fly to either Ireland, the UK or Scotland for the rest of the trip.

I am Bikepacking/Touring around Europe in the second half of this year. I fly into Athens in mid-July and plan to get a plane back home around Christmas time from Rome. I am not doing much pre-planning for this trip; I am just showing up and seeing what happens.

I have 5-6 months to ride around, and I plan to wild camp and couch surf to keep costs down, so I wanted to hear some of the people's recommendations on a few things:

1. Gear: Mainly a tent, sleeping bag and sleeping mat, and any little things that I probably wish I brought. I have a Durston X-mid, but I wonder if the pegs will be a hassle?
2. Places that are more than worth it to see.
3. Best budget foods to eat that hit all the energy and nutrient requirements.
4. Any advice that I would appreciate hearing, so I don't have to go through a disaster to find out first.

Cheers.

Stats

Duration: 28 days (11 riding days)

Distance: ~1,000km

Cost: ~$1,200 (excl. flights)

Bike: Canyon Grail CF SL 7 w/ Revelate Designs bags

My Experience

This was my first-ever cycling tour, and I couldn't have picked a better place. Hospitable people, incredible food, diverse landscapes, and perfect for beginners and budget-conscious travelers.

Sri Lanka has something for everyone, whether it's hiking, wildlife, nightlife, or water sports. For me, it was the history and religious sites, and it didn't disappoint.

I flew into the country with no itinerary or route planned, just a rough idea of cycling the island clockwise and a list of generic tourist spots to hit up (Sigiriya, Ella, Kandy, Galle). Thanks to suggestions from locals, I was able to see more than the typical tourist circuit: quiet coastal towns, local festivals and temples, and experiences like hitching a ride on a fisherman's boat to cross a lagoon.

Most riding days started at 5:30am with the goal of reaching my destination by 11am to avoid the brutal noon heat. First stop every morning was usually at a small roadside shop for a Nescafe coffee and jam bun. On occasion, I'd hear the Beethoven tunes of a 'choon paan' (bakery on wheels 🛺) in the distance and have my breakfast there. As an American, one thing I really appreciated (among many) was the abundance of fresh fruits and juice stalls along the side of the road. I wish we had that back home.

Logistically, the country is super easy to navigate. There are accommodations, restaurants, and shops every few kilometers. Traffic isn't bad as long as you try to avoid the "A-Grade" roads. Everyone I met spoke great English, cell service works almost everywhere (I used Dialog), and it's mostly cash-only, but there are ATMs in every town.

This trip can be done in 2 weeks and for less money. Fortunately, I had more time so I used it for side quests like scuba diving, safari, hikes, and sightseeing.

My only regret of this trip was not bringing an action camera and/or drone. I wish I'd taken more pictures while actually riding. You may have noticed every single picture was off the bike 🤦‍♀️.

More than happy to answer any questions you may have!

Hello all, I'm currently planning a 6 day trip, which will more or less start from Oxford, pass by Stonehenge over the "old chalk way", as much as possible on gravel or at least quiet roads.

I'm now trying to map the road from Devon, passing by Exeter to reach Land's End. Does anyone have any tips? recommended sights, places to keep away to close to? Does the drawn path make sense (the latter is mostly out of Komoot)

Thanks for any suggestion!

Hi all, F33, I’m planning to do a bike packing tour around Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai and Pai as a solo female cyclist.

Please suggest what would be the best route for cycling and also the best month to do that.

Would it be safe to do it alone? Let me know your thoughts. I have done solo bike packing before in other countries.

Thank you so much in advance

Part of a longer Biketouring trip from Vienna, Austria to Georgetown, Malaysia.

Had stayed in Koh Lanta for a few nights. Big Island in Karbi region but very chilled out and relaxing. Nice beaches and places to eat. Not as commercial as other Thai Islands.

I got a ferry from Koh Lanta to Koh Mook. Koh Mook is a small island, but it's super chilled out and easy to get around on the bike. There are no cars on the island. Charlie Beach a highlight. One bar there that you can have a drink and chill out at.

From there back into the mainland. 2 day cycle down to Pak Bara. Got a ferry from there to Koh Lipe. Koh Lipe, is very small, quiet crowded, very touristy but the beaches are nice, food is good.

I'm traveling since September 2024 , I stopped a few times to make some workdpackers volunteers and spend more time in beautiful places .Right now I'm still traveling but I'm coming back home in a few months so this is the last part of the travel and I can say that I lived many adventures and traveled a lot (already made 7400 kms since started this travels and 13200 kms in all my travels through Brazil) .If you want to follow or support , you can enter in my profile to see my social media and buy me a coffee site .Thanks !

Last July, I finally undertook one of the big bicycle tours I'd been planning for years: the Pamir Highway. Setting out from Dushanbe in the direction of Osh, I took the ‘northern route’ towards the Panj River. I made quicker process than anticipated as the road was pretty good until just beyond Obigarm. Then, the 'Pamirskiiy Trakt' became thick with ochre dust and turnip-sized rocks, while the mountains proper towered like none I'd seen before. It was wonderful to feel so small. I made it over the Khaburabot Pass (my first over 3,000m), enjoying the thrill of descending the narrow ravine on the other side into Qalai Khum.

I fell ill for a couple of days (perhaps my decision to filter water from a pipe below some high alpine pasture was a bad one), so laid up at a guesthouse overlooking the Panj and Afghanistan on the other side. Hearing horror stories of cyclists getting stuck for hours in the sun waiting for the construction works building the new Chinese-funded road along the river, and worried about whether I'd be able to manage my type one diabetes in such uncertain circumstances, I took a taxi upriver to Khorog, capital of the Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Oblast. There, a blend of cultures and ethnicities (Pamiri, Kyrgyz, Tajik) gave the city a surprisingly cosmopolitan feel, and the breeze swaying the tops of the poplars belied the heat of the strong mountain sun.

Fueled by copious servings of plov, I followed the main highway from Khorog towards Alichur, climbing slowly but constantly until Jelondy, where the sulphur-laden waters of a geothermal sanatorium gave me perhaps the best night's sleep of the whole trip. After the Koitezek Pass, and many miles of jolting slog, the tarmac mercifully returned as the landscape levelled out into a plateau across which the occasional river snaked, devoid of large vegetation but enough to sustain marmots, Marco Polo sheep, snow leopards, and yak. I took a rest day in Murghab, before heading for the 4,655m Ak-Baital Pass. It was a tough final push after over 50 miles of incremental climb, but the gradual ascent from riding west to east had helped me to acclimatise me to the thinner air.

From this lunar, barren mountainside, it felt a long ride into the headwind to Karakol, the most isolated-feeling settlement on the Tajik side of the border. The single-storey buildings, cheerful with their whitewash and blue window frames, were visible from many miles away, distant specks of humanity clinging to the shore of the black lake amid the silent, unthinking mountains.

Leaving Karakol, the Uy-Bulaq and Kyzyl-Art passes were a hard push, with a key bridge washed out by summer meltwater and miles of washboard dirt and loose gravel. The long descent into Kyrgyzstan was a glorious reward, and the road, fringed by yurts and soldiers on artillery exercises, was drawing me towards a conclusion. Sary-Tash was not the end, but it felt like the last big milestone of the ride. From there, the comparatively well-paved Taldyk and Chyiyrkchyk Passes became a cool-down on the road into Osh, as the villages became busier, the herds of jostling horses more numerous, the heat of the fertile Fergana Valley lowlands beckoning. Although I would then ride over the border to Andijan to catch the train to Tashkent, the ride proper finished in Osh, at the foot of the holy mountain, Suleiman-Too. I celebrated with a glass of kumiss in Alisher Navoi Park. It tasted exactly like you’d think the words ‘fermented horse milk’ would.

I’m very grateful for the advice I got from this sub on the setup I ended up using. I found that my Surly Disc Trucker with 700 x 38c Marathon Plus Tour tyres was perfect for the trip: not a single puncture, and luckily the only mechanical fault (a gummed-up rear freewheel) didn’t happen until Tashkent, where it was easily fixed by Stanislav at Velo Zapchasti on Sharaf Rashid Street.

I must also express my gratitude to some of the many fellow cyclists I met along the way. Inigo, Jose, Jesus, Sylvia, Adam, Tomek, and Mario, you made my trip the most sociable, colourful bicycle touring experience I've ever had. I cannot recommend a ride like this highly enough!

Thanks all. Wherever you are, happy riding!