European Tour Advice

[faith_in_chaos]

Hi, I'm planning to cycle from London to Budapest over the summer and was wondering if someone could give me a little advice with regards to which route to take or of any resources which might help me plan this.

The vague plan is to cycle from London to Harwich to get the ferry to the Netherlands and from there cycle down through Germany, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and then into Hungary. Does this sound ok? I think the south of Germany is meant to be really mountainous, is this the case? I'm having trouble finding a decent contour map and am pretty poor with reading them anyway. If it is, is it uncyclable to a novice?

Also, I went into a map shop yesterday and they said that unless I want to spend hundreds on maps I'd have to make do with a scale of roughly 1:400,000 considering the amount of countries I'll be going through. I plan to buy most of the maps on the way, but what is the sort of scale I'd expect to find in petrol stations on the continent? And is this scale too lacking in detail? I'm getting all sorts of conflicting advice!

Thank you for your time

 

[Comatosed]

I think buying / selling / swapping good quality maps along the way is the right idea. It's also good to stay in hostels etc where you might find fellow cyclists, they might be able to advise on what's coming up if they have come from the opposite direction.

Oh, might be stating the obvious but make sure you carry a compass and know how to use it.

 

[xilios]

Make use of the many tourist office's in the countries you would be traveling. As far as Holland, Germany are concerned, there are cycling paths everywhere, again do check with the local tourist office for information on where to stay and which is the best route. For maps, anything between 1:250,000 to 1:400,000 is perfect.
If you're worried or just don't want to climb much just follow the Rhine to Freiburg than the Donube to Budapest.
Warning, rivers can get borring after a while.
And I agree with Comatosed, having a compass is always a good idea.
cheers

 

[HJ]

It is fairly strait forward, follow the Rhine cycle path up stream, cross over the watershed and follow the Danube cycle path downstream. There are cycle guides published by Verlag Esterbauer
, now the bad news is the Rhine books (Rotterdam to Mainz, Mainz to Basel) are only in German, but the maps are good (unfortunately they have changed their website and you can no longer see them in as much detail). However the good news is the Danube books are all available in English.

There was a thread a wee while ago, someone else was doing a similar route and there were detailed instructions on how to get from the Rhine to the Danube...

 

[faith_in_chaos]

Thanks a lot guys, this has been really helpful The only snag is that I'm leaving on Thursday (very poorly planned) so can't order any books/maps over the internet. I like the sound of taking the Rhine/Danube route though. Will Stanfords be likely to have any maps for these purposes? Thanks again

 

[andym]

Stanfords would be a good bet IIRC those books are listed on their site. Why not check the stock situation on their site and then give them a call. Alternatively the mapshop.co.uk are very good. Or there's always Amazon.

 

[faith_in_chaos]

Hey. I have nearly sorted it out now but have come into a bit of trouble. I have books for the Danube section all the way from Donaueschingen to Budapest, but Stanfords didn't have any copies of the maps between the Netherlands and Germany. I need the Rotterdam to Mainz and the Mainz to Basel ones and don't have time to order them over the internet. I know that none of the Stanfords stores have them in stock and they're a special order so take 3-4 weeks to come in if ordered through them.

Does anyone know of any map shops in London? Alternatively, does anyone have these maps and is willing to sell them? Thanks again everyone who's posted so far!

 

[andym]

At risk of being repetitive have you tried calling themapshop.co.uk on 01684 593146? They list these guides on their site (or at least so far as I can tell) and if they have them in stock they will send first class (and maybe even Special Delivery) same day.

Alternatively, could you buy them in Germany? Or order them from one of the online shops on Amazon and then get a friend to ship them to you somewhere en route (poste restante or whatever)?

 

[HJ]

Hey. I have nearly sorted it out now but have come into a bit of trouble. I have books for the Danube section all the way from Donaueschingen to Budapest, but Stanfords didn't have any copies of the maps between the Netherlands and Germany. I need the Rotterdam to Mainz and the Mainz to Basel ones and don't have time to order them over the internet. I know that none of the Stanfords stores have them in stock and they're a special order so take 3-4 weeks to come in if ordered through them.

Does anyone know of any map shops in London? Alternatively, does anyone have these maps and is willing to sell them? Thanks again everyone who's posted so far!

If it is the Esterbauer guides you are after, they should be easy enough to find in Rotterdam...

 

[Brains]

If you have an interest in history on your route then look up "the Limes"

You will be following the Roman frontier all the way, south is civilisation, to the north were the uncharted lands.

The actual route starts at the original mouth of the Rhein which is at Katwijk about 1 hour cycle ride north of Hook of Holland

Then look up the 'Fossa Carolina' for an interesting (and flat!) way to cross the watershed

 

[Andy in Sig]

HJ's right. You'll have no trouble finding the guides in Rotterdam (try any big bookshop or the train station) and certainly not in Germany where every bookshop in towns along the route will have them.

To get from the Rhine to the Danube: either go east from Freiburg and so more or less directly to Donaueschingen or carry on along the Rhine to Waldshut (just before Lake Constance) and go up the Wutach valley. For either option you can get a 1:50,000 map which has the main bike routes marked in green on it. This is again something which you will be able to pick up at any bookshop in the area. The background colour on the map covers in question is blue and they are from the Landesvermessungsamt or something and if memory serves have some mention of the schwäbische Wanderverein on the cover.

 

[Brains]

So what happened to Faith in Chaos ? DId he leave on schedule ? Where is he now ? Does he know where he is ?