EuroVelo Recommendations?

[defy21]

I'm going to be starting my first Europe adventure in May over 4-6 weeks.

Looking into the EuroVelo routes which seem to be the best method as I want to avoid main roads.

Which Eurovelo route is the easiest to navigate, nicest scenery etc?

Ideally like to travel 50-80 miles per day whilst staying in hostels and camp sites.

Any feedback on any of the routes will help me decide as I was thinking of the Eurovelo 8 but there dosnt seem to be much information of people doing this?

 

[snorri]

Looking into the EuroVelo routes which seem to be the best method as I want to avoid main roads.

Which Eurovelo route is the easiest to navigate, nicest scenery etc?el 50-80 miles per day whilst staying in hostels and camp sites.

Any feedback on any of the routes will help me decide as I was thinking of the Eurovelo 8 but there dosnt seem to be much information of people doing this?

I find it difficult to help you as I'm not clear as to what you want to achieve from this tour.
The majority of tourers elect to cycle between two points, say Paris to Budapest and cycle on sections of several recognised routes to make up the whole trip. Others choose to explore a part of one country, say northern Germany.
I would think few tourers will have cycled the full length of several Eurovelo routes, so will be unable to say which is "best", We all seek different objectives, so 'best' to one person could be 'worst' to another.
There are other cycle routes which avoid main roads, see the Bikeline guides. http://www.esterbauer.com/international.html
I think if you give more information regarding what you want from your tour there are people on here who could help you. What do you look for....hills/flat, riverside/mountainous, Scandinavia/Spain, warmer/cooler, coastal/inland, language likes/dislikes? .

 

[defy21]

Thats very true. I was ideally looking at a coastal route or riverside routes but I'm open to different suggestions/routes but it would have to be through Spain/France.

Any guidance would be much appreciated,

 

[SatNavSaysStraightOn]

My experience of Eurovelo signposting is that it is very much hit & miss depending on what country you are in when you are trying to follow it. Some countries have it signed as a national cycle route, some sign it as a Eurovelo route, others just don't do anything and you have to roughly know where it runs to and from: however the catch is, as you have found out, finding that information in the first place. It is not that easy - the concept is still in its infancy and I suspect will be for a very long time, unfortunately, especially with the 'less popular' routes.

I have followed various eurovelo routes starting in Nordkapp (very far north of Norway) and ending in Athens, via the Baltic states & eastern Europe. Hungary has a well signposted network for Eurovelo routes, the best we came across. I actually do not recall seeing any in Norway, Sweden, Finland.... I could go on...

Eurovelo 8 appears to be Cadiz, Spain to Athens, Greece. (going through Spain, France, Monaco, Italy, Slovenia, Croatia, Montenegro, Albania and Greece) http://www.bikemap.net/route/789123#lat=42.027972151317&lng=13.800495&zoom=5&maptype=ts_terrain
has a gps export available - it is probably what someone else has already done and either recorded or created.

 

[rich p]

Why limit yourself to a spurious route? Decide where you want to go and plot loosely a route between the two. Change it overnight en-route to suit your whims. That, for me, is half the fun of touring rather than following a route devised by someone else.
FWIW, the only time I stumbled across a sign for a EV route was in deepest Slovenia and it suggested I climb a stonking hill on a road parallel to the flatter quiet road I actually took. I wasn't impressed.

 

[psmiffy]

Whilst I would consider Rich to be a Luddite of the most odious kind – I would agree with him with respect to planning tours – I do the same – I just pick routes based on places (I was going to use that awful word way-point) or vistas I want to visit – a bit of variety - rivers, coasts, mountains, cities, rural. Typically, I pick the exact route I am going to use after dinner the night before or on the road over a cup of coffee at a café.

However, on recently perusing a map of the Eurovelo system I find that I have ridden quite large tranches of many of the Eurovelos – often without ever seeing any signs except for short stretches that had been made up to motorway standard or the occasional randomly placed sign on the roadside. Nonetheless, it would seem that a lot of the Eurovelos follow lines that it would be natural for a traveller to take and are maybe not so spurious as the correspondent above would believe.

At present as SNsn says the system is in its infancy. In the next twenty years or so the routes are probably going to become much more visible on the ground and more comprehensive guides will become available – probably together with a separate board on your favourite cycling forum.

Personally I am not going to be rushing out to buy Eurovelo guides to plan my next tour – It is a bit too tick in the box for me - I like a bit of spontaneity – but for those with the inclination to pre-plan using streetview and a stopwatch many of the northern routes are becoming well documented and may suit a lot of people.

As to Eurovelo 8 - from my experience of parts of the route it would be a good ride but I would treat it as a ride between Cadiz and Athens with bits using the EV8 – a good indication of how much of the EV8 exists is to look at the opencyclemap page.

 

[vernon]

I've used the Eurovelo Six route from St Nazaire to Budapest. There's a set of maps covering from St Nazaire to Basle and a set of books covering Donnauschingen to Constanta on the Black Sea.

There's enough mapping on the French maps to make significant departures from the banks of the Loire and Doubs. There's stretches of boringness along the Doubs and bits of a canal in France and I wasn't too enamoured with bits of the Rhine and half of the stretch of the Danube between Passau and Vienna though not enough for me to say don't ride these sections.

The Estabauer books enhance the route by giving background information on the area being cycled through and outlining tourist attractions. The French map set shows the location of tourist attractions and services/camp sites and I'd regard them as very useful things to have.

This year's tour will be along the Elbe. I don't regard it as a box ticking exercise as I have no desire to ride every route covered by the Esterbauer books. Even though you will be following a prescribed route every day can be an adventure especially if you just go with the flow. I only ever plan my whereabouts for the start and end of the tour, the only essential planning activities really. Everything else is left to happenstance.

 

[andym]

I suspect that if you are looking for the best-documented, best-signed routes then probably then you might want to look at eurovelo 6 or euroVelo 15. I must admit that river routes aren't really my thing - two or three days is fine but after that I start longing for the hills.

Cycleways have their uses and sometimes they can be the only sane alternative in a busy transport corridor (and sometimes road planners build cycleways so that they can ban cyclists from the main road). In other cases they offer the possibility of profiting from other cyclists' local knowledge which can be a huge help.

That said the Eurovelo network has some criteria like keeping gradients below 6 percent if feasible, and avoiding passes that are closed in winter, that are a bit limiting and rule out many scenic routes.

 

[fatblokish]

Another vote for eurovelo 6. Signposting is (quite) good and the surfacing, at least between Orleans and Nevers which is the bit I used, is excellent. My only problem was finding enough water stops in the August heat.

 

[psmiffy]

From the Eurovelo 8 website

 

[Crankarm]

Thats very true. I was ideally looking at a coastal route or riverside routes but I'm open to different suggestions/routes but it would have to be through Spain/France.

Any guidance would be much appreciated,

A little bit of research on your part rather than getting others to do it for you, should see you riding the route you want. Have you not heard of maps? You don't even need to use these as there is now Google. I think that basically you want a travel agent or cycling holiday company such as Headwater to provide you a packaged tour. Are you going to ride supported or un-supported the latter you will have to carry your own stuff? Headwater can carry all your gear between start and end points for each day and arrange all accommodation.

 

[andym]

A little bit of research on your part rather than getting others to do it for you, should see you riding the route you want. Have you not heard of maps? You don't even need to use these as there is now Google.

Erm going wee bit over the top there don't you think?

Try googling for Eurovelo 8 and you'll see how little information there is around (hence the OP asking on here). And the same is true for most other eurovelo routes. Which is such a shame as the concept is extremely attractive. Look at the map that psmiffy has posted - it looks wonderful, but try getting any more detailed information (although thanks to this site: there's a lot more information available than there was even a few months ago).

 

[fatblokish]

(although thanks to this site: there's a lot more information available than there was even a few months ago).

Some of them North Sea routes look a little fishy...

 

[Spinney]

A little bit of research on your part rather than getting others to do it for you, should see you riding the route you want. Have you not heard of maps? You don't even need to use these as there is now Google. I think that basically you want a travel agent or cycling holiday company such as Headwater to provide you a packaged tour. Are you going to ride supported or un-supported the latter you will have to carry your own stuff? Headwater can carry all your gear between start and end points for each day and arrange all accommodation.

The OP seems a perfectly acceptable request for opinions/recommendations to me. No need to be so harsh about it - plenty of other people ask for route recommendations. If you don't have any info/don't want to give any info, you are not obliged to reply...