English speaking countries for cycle touring

[Pottsy]

So where would you recommend?

 

[potsy]

Scotland?
Though it can be tricky to understand their 'English'

 

[skudupnorth]

After Potsy has been beaten by the Scots....i have popcorn ! Most of Europe speaks English ! I even went to some of the backwaters of the Czech Republic and they spoke English.....no fun to be had there then !

 

[Pat "5mph"]

Cyprus

 

[Pottsy]

I've done lots in France and Italy in the past, but I fancy being able to communicate more fully, particularly when away for more than a week or two and traveling alone.

Scotland is a good shout, with it having to be our summer of course.

Any views on Canada? New Zealand? Australia?

 

[Dayvo]

Definitely recommend Australia. Good roads, plenty of variation:coastal, wooded, tropical, farmland and pastural, hilly/mountainous, desert, urban etc.

Friendly and generous people, pretty cheap, and a little bit old-fashioned.

 

[Pottsy]

Definitely recommend Australia. Good roads, plenty of variation:coastal, farmland and pastuaral, hilly/mountainous, desert, urban etc.

Friendly and generous people, pretty cheap, and a little bit old-fashioned.

Yes I kind of fancy it. I've traveled around there years ago but not cycling. I thought maybe the gaps might be a bit large and places to stay a bit sparse, especially NT and WA? I suppose Victoria, NSW and Queensland still leaves lots to see.

 

[Dayvo]

I cycled from Sydney to Adelaide, via Melbourne, following the coast road as closely as possible.

I had 26 cycling days over a 6/7-week period. Would definitely tour there again, one day for much longer.

 

[compo]

England isn't a bad place. Can be a bit dicey regarding the weather but apart from that it has good scenery, lot's of interesting history and there are even a few left who actually speak English.

 

[vernon]

England isn't a bad place. Can be a bit dicey regarding the weather but apart from that it has good scenery, lot's of interesting history and there are even a few left who actually speak English.

It's still possible to meet English folk whose regional accent renders their speech unintelligible. Cumbria, County Durham and Northumbria house such folk.

I come from County Durham and it came as a surprise to me that I couldn't understand some folk from my own and neighbouring counties has I passed through on various cycle tours.

 

[Ian Cooper]

Sadly, although I live here, I can't recommend the US. It's a vast wasteland compared to England in terms of history and culture. And there are precious few pubs or inexpensive places to stay. And the food is awful - I've been here 23 years and I've yet to find a good restaurant - and forget finding food that satisfies the craving for what we get at home - no good Indian restaurants and forget fish and chips.

I'd stick with Blighty (if I had the choice)

 

[vernon]

I've done lots in France and Italy in the past, but I fancy being able to communicate more fully, particularly when away for more than a week or two and traveling alone.

Scotland is a good shout, with it having to be our summer of course.

Any views on Canada? New Zealand? Australia?

Why not learn a language and communicate more fully with Johnny Foreigner?

I get a hell of a buzz from being able to converse with the French in their own language and made it a feature of all of my French cycle tours that I'd stop speaking English from the moment I set foot on French soil. Over three years my French has got to the point where conversations flow rather than being punctuated by my awkward silences.

I will admit to being lazy for my forthcoming tour as the effort of learning German, Slovakian and Hungarian for my Danube tour is a tad too much to take on.

 

[Pottsy]

I'm not the most gifted linguist unfortunately. It would take me a long time for me to be able to express myself fully - I like talking to people and find only basic conversational skills almost more frustrating than none at all (I do speak some Spanish from spending time in Latin America).

So maybe summer months, it looks like UK - Scotland and Wales I'm thinking. Winter times and a long trip, maybe Australia, perhaps some New Zealand.

 

[GrumpyGregry]

Slovenia, everyone I met there spoke English better than 80% of native English speakers.

 

[skudupnorth]

German's are super friendly and also speak great English....strange !