Anyone Done EuroVelo5?

[NerfMiester]

I am looking for information (route, climbing, accom. etc) for EuroVelo5. UK to Italy. Anyone done it?

 

[andym]

Detailed blog here:

http://pilgrimagepublications.blogspot.com/2007/09/day-1-060707-canterbury.html

the same people have published (or will publish?) 3 guidebooks. Info here:

http://www.pilgrimagepublications.com/via_francigena1.htm

 

[massimozx]

I can help you for the Rome - Bari leg, in Italy. I live in Benevento, in the middle of that route and I can offer accomodation and assistance if you need. I'm responsible for a local urban cyclists' assiciation. See www.sannioinbici.org - although I know you have already visited that blog ;-)

 

[rich p]

Interesting. I'd never heard of it. I see that one of the rules to qualify for a route is that no incline should be more than 6%. Hard to believe if it has to go over the St Bernard pass.

I have cycled fom England to Italy but not on that route.

 

[massimozx]

No, Rich, I don't think there is a rule about route inclination no more than 6%. Usually, the routes follow the best ways in terms of low traffic, scenic, smooth roads as long as possible. And it's just great that Europe has such a variety of different geographical features

 

[rich p]

Massimo, according to Wikipedia, which is not always correct!

For a route to be part of EuroVelo it must:

have no gradient above 6%
be wide enough for two cyclists
have an average of no more than 1,000 motorised vehicles a day
be sealed for 80% of its length
be open 365 days a year, have provision points every 30km, accommodation every 50km, and public transport every 150km

 

[bike_the_planet]

Massimo, according to Wikipedia, which is not always correct!

For a route to be part of EuroVelo it must:

have no gradient above 6%
be wide enough for two cyclists
have an average of no more than 1,000 motorised vehicles a day
be sealed for 80% of its length
be open 365 days a year, have provision points every 30km, accommodation every 50km, and public transport every 150km

I've no doubt that this is the ideal that the ECF are aiming for. In practice - who knows?

Lat year my wife and I spent 3 1/2 happy months riding part of EV 6 as well as other routes. We didn't even see an 'EV 6' sign until we'd done several hundred kms of the route!

The other point to be aware of is that, from what we could see, most of the budget accomodation and camping was off the route, and usually up a hill! I don't mind hills but I thought it a bit odd that they didn't put the route where the accomodation was...

 

[BalkanExpress]

Eurovelo don't yet have a dedicated website for Eurovelo5 yet (not that all the others are as informative as you might like).

One idea would be to contact them directly and ask for details/contact points in the national cycling organisations,

Contact via European Cyclists federation

www.ecf.com

 

[apsykes]

I am planning on cycling the Eurovelo 5 in summer 2010 and have my plans and thoughts on a website: http://www.puglia2010.wordpress.com . I'll be cycling from Reading in Berkshire to Brindisi in hopefully under 6 weeks...

 

[rich p]

The only bit of Eurovelo route that I have knowingly done was in Slovenia last summer on the road to Maribor when the signs directed you up a series of ridiculously steep, narrow hills for several kilometers before taking you back on to the busier road it was supposedly avoiding. Utterly pointless, time and effort wasting.
Obviously that won't always be the case but it's worth being aware of and being pragmatic not dogmatic.

 

[Pissant Partisan]

We cycled from Calais to Chiasso (southern Switzerland, where Eurovelo 5 supposedly enters Italy) last summer and have all kinds of info on our blog about it: GPS downloadable maps, photos, daily updates, statistics on elevation for the entire route etc. While we didn't strictly follow Eurovelo 5, probably because it doesn't exist, we used it as a rough guide so it might be of use.

Calais to Chiasso Blog