London to Barca - Route advice?

[fswebber1]

Hello to all,

Me and two uni friends have decided to cycle london to barca next summer after we graduate. None of us are cycling pro's but we are all fit and enthusiastic.
Will be looking at a route sometime soon as was hoping there was a website/map company that makes it easier to locate cycle friendly roads in europe?
We are looking to cycle down the west coast of france,then accross the pyrannees and across spain to reach Barcalona.

Does anybody know of such a map that shows good cycle routes etc?

Or even betterm has anybody done this trip themselves?!!

thanks
Freddie, Susex

 

[andym]

Your best starting point is to get a decent general purpose map (or maps) from Michelin of IGN (or you can of course find the maps online at viamichelin and IIRC geoportail (can't remember the name of the Spanish equivalent). Michelin maps show scenic routes with a green line alonside - I've always found their recommendations well worth following.

The best general advice would be to stay off the routes nationales/carreteras nacionales and ride the minor roads. In France these are either D roads or chemins communales - CC. In Spain the regional routes are indicated by the iniiatl letter of the name of the region (or at least they are in Andalusia) or for more minor roads the first letters of the name of the province. But if you're using the Michelin maps avoid anything marked with red and white or red - if you can. It's not always possible if you need to go over a bridge.

There are some useful bike map shops eg cartovelo.com is very useful (although you could equally use Amaxon.fr). I've always found the mapshop.co.uk useful and helpful - although stamfords.co.uk is also good. I would do most of the planning online first before you splash out on maps.

For the west coast of France there are voies vertes running along much of the coast (Google).

 

[Anthony]

Hi Freddie,

I've cycled down the west coast of France and over the Pyrannees, then on to Gibraltar. Have a look at my route on my journal at crazyguyonabike.com. I managed to go along some great cycle paths in the pine forests of the west coast for over 100 miles.