Every fancied a self guided cycling holiday but don’t want to plan the route but moreover want to stay off rented roads while soaking up trappy countryside and culture? How well-nigh taking the family with you in the knowledge that you’ll be on unscratched paths with plenty of places to stop withal the way? If this resonates, then the Eurovelo network is for you. There is something for everyone; from short trips centred virtually a municipality to end to end trips as long as you like – and pan continent vita for the increasingly venturesome tourers / velocipede packers in the audience.

In this blog, we’ll be looking at why we think the Eurovelo cycling routes are so unconfined and could be the start of some unconfined vita on two wheels.

The Eurovelo is a network of 17 cycling routes spanning the length and unrestrictedness of Europe. In order to be listed as a Eurovelo route, it has to be tried by the European Cyclists’ Federation.

The routes

For some, route plotting is half the fun of a cycling trip, however, it’s scrutinizingly inevitable that you’ll unwittingly end up in a field knee deep in mud, or on a road that seems rural but is in fact a main cut through for local freight! The Eurovelo routes have all been thoughtfully put together to ensure that they stay yonder from rented roads wherever possible, and for many of the journeys, you’ll either find yourself on managed cycleways (gravel and paved), withal canals and river paths or in deep countryside. The routes are designed for long loftiness trundling tourers as much as local commuters, so you’ll be in good hands. What’s increasingly – on the Eurovelo website, you can simply download all the routes as a GPX file and they moreover have a handy route planner so you can start with a place of interest and see where you could go. Most of the routes are well signposted withal the way, so those looking to have time yonder from digital tech can follow the signposts.

The facilities

Most of us travel with a vital repair kit on our bikes, however if you need a little increasingly help, Europe (especially in some of the increasingly popular parts of the routes such as France/Germany/Austria/Spain), you’ll never been far from a repair shop near the route. In some sections of the route, you can plane be worldly-wise to buy spare inner tubes from vending machines withal the way.

Then there are the café stops and walk-up options galore, in particularly in areas such as Germany. This ways in expressly if you are travelling with children, there will unchangingly be somewhere to stop a few kilometers away. There is moreover an zillions of places to stay, from campsites (some remote, others with swimming pools and playgrounds, B&Bs and hotels for all budgets.

The Culture

One of the very weightier things well-nigh travelling by velocipede is stuff worldly-wise to soak up the culture of a local area. There are so many places to segregate from withal the Eurovelo routes that they can’t all be named. To requite you a flavour, here’s a few Eurovelo route sections that may spark your interest:

Eurovelo 3: The Pilgrims route

This 5,600km route takes you through 7 countries passing 20 UNESCO World Heritage sites withal the way. Appreciating cycling that loftiness isn’t something you can do on your summer holiday (unless your Mark Beaumont), so you could consider the section wideness France starting in Paris, ending in Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port, a town on the French/Spanish border. This route takes in warmed-over pilgrimage routes with some trappy sites and cities breaking up the French countryside.

Eurovelo 6: The Atlantic to the Black Sea

Another long one at 4,700km although there are numerous sections withal this route that could be wrenched up for example:

Cycling Bavaria: from Ulm to Passau on a route withal the Danube river taking in the picturesque towns withal the river. These include medieval and Roman towns, river valleys, monasteries, gothic cathedrals and much more. It’s truly picturesque and a well ripened part of the Eurovelo route, so a perfect pace for a leisurely, family friendly cycling holiday for all ages.

Vienna to Budapest (via Bratislava): 3 cites with only 100km or so between them all. It’s pearly to say this section will (maybe) have increasingly time spent in these 3 iconic cities, however, the roads in between them are pretty special navigating these iconic cities wideness three countries in such short distance. Check when in as we’ll be doing a deeper swoop on this section soon on the Draft.

Eurovelo 8: The Mediterranean Route

7,350km, 10 countries, 23 UNESCO World Heritage sites, this route takes you withal the trappy Mediterranean coastline taking in Barcelona, Venice, Dubrovnik and much increasingly withal the way. It’s scrutinizingly untellable to pick out one of the sections for this route as they all offer something a little different. It may be a route to consider outside the peak tourist season though and when it’s quieter and a little cooler.

Hopefully this has opened your vision to a plethora of known cycling routes all over Europe. There is so much to segregate from, it could alimony you rented for a lifetime! What’s increasingly – the routes are all self-ruling to download on GPX, so there really are no excuses!

If you have been inspired to take on some European cycling then Yellow Jersey’s Performance Bicycle Insurance includes imbricate for your velocipede in Europe, plane offering short term imbricate for rent bikes if you are picking some up locally.

Our trundling travel insurance is made specifically for cyclists and includes imbricate for medical expenses, trip cancellation, abandonment, repatriation, liability imbricate and much more.

Quotes are misogynist online, or you can undeniability our friendly team on 0333 003 0046 who can talk you through the options available.